Okay, I absolutely loved writing this chapter. The original idea was for Zee's dad to be dating someone else, but I scratched that once I came up with this. I hope you guys like it! Oh, and I might be taking a break from writing for a while, because my Mom says she thinks I'm starting to get Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Which is really quite possible. I've been obsessive compulsively writing for the last month or so. Really, natural sunlight hurts me now. Keep writing! Peace!

~Eyes for Eternity 8-)

Oh, and there's links to the dress and blouse at the bottom of my profile.

The Life and Times of Zee Lynn

*~*

Well, the trip yesterday wasn't very exciting. Or interesting. Or anything much whatsoever. In fact, I can probably sum it all up in a few words.

-Boring

-Snoring

-Sleeping

-Arguing

-iPods

-Cell phones

Well, there you go. The entire trip, from Lansing, OH to Washington DC. Six words. Six words that finally led up to the arrival at our hotel .

The CIA didn't get us anything really special. Just two rooms at Embassy Suites. One for the girls, and one for Zach. We would stay for a week, then they had a new destination for us to move to. Apparently the tails we sighted back in Lansing were threats, so we had to move, and get new covers again. Next destination: Coldspring NY. Hadn't gotten any information other than that. I decided I'd try to do that goth idea. Boys are officially the most annoying species on the planet. But then again, they might give me a cover like Cammie's previous one as "Angela". She really didn't like the whole obsession with pink thing.

I finished putting my stock of clothes in the drawers across from the bed. I had half an hour until we were leaving for the memorial, and Macey insisted on making us all look pretty. Lucky Zach. He just had to throw on a tux and he was done. But the girls, no. Macey had to find us dresses, tailor said dresses to fit perfectly, find perfect heels, give us mani/pedis, do our makeup, do our hair, find perfect earrings, perfect necklaces, perfect hair accessories, perfect purses, perfect everything pretty much. I didn't even have my ears pierced (probably the only thirteen year old girl in the country who didn't, but when the Circle of Cavan is after you, you have more important things to worry about) but Macey went through the trouble of finding diamond clip-ons. Sometimes I wonder how we're related. She came in the room, and the torture began. She pulled a beautiful dark grey dress out of the closet, and walked over to me. It went down just below the knee, and had spaghetti straps. It was soft velvet, fitted to be tight, but still loose enough to not form fit my body. The edges had black lace trim an inch thick. Macey handed it to me, and went back to the closet. She came out with a long sleeved shirt…well, it wasn't really a shirt. It was just a black lace blouse, completely see through.

"I want the lace underneath the dress, then I have to alter it a bit. Go change," she said, handing me the blouse. I nodded, and went in the bathroom. I slipped my jeans and t-shirt off, and pulled the lacy top on. It fit amazingly well. Then I remembered I was wearing a dress, and slipped a pair of shorts and a camisole on underneath. I didn't really like wearing dresses. I slipped the lace on again, and you could barely tell I had a top on under. I pulled the dress on over it, and walked back out. Macey smiled, and pulled me up to a chair. She spun me away from the mirror, and started smearing stuff all over my face. Well, it ended up looking a lot better than the expression just now used would imply. And Cammie was just sitting back, watching my demise. She was next.

"Guys, come on! We have to be there in fifteen minutes!" Zach called, banging on the door. Macey rolled her eyes, but finished my makeup and did a quick job on Cammie's ensemble. Then she threw her dress on, put on some lipgloss, and tied her hair up. How she could make such simplicity look so good, I'll never know. We walked out, and went with Zach downstairs and out to the car. We all got in his Mercedes, and sped off to HQ.

We were greeted at the door by my dad, and Arthur Masters. Oh, no. This was supposed to be a nice event, to try to get my mind at ease about my mother's death. But if Kody was here…oh no. Dad motioned for us to follow him, and we ended up in a big auditorium-type room. Agents were seated in theatre-ish chairs in rows, and there was a screen hanging down over the stage. We were led to the front row, where Mr. Solomon, Mrs. Morgan, Kody, and some other agents were seated, along with four empty seats. I also noticed Bex, Liz, Cassie, Kelli, Caitlin, and some other Gallagher girls and Blackthorne boys sitting a few rows back. We sat down, and Dad walked up to the stage.

"We're here today to remember my beautiful, talented wife, who was brutally murdered recently. We have some volunteers who are speaking, so please welcome Mr. Arthur Masters," he said. I figured that I really didn't want to listen to this right now, I'd just watch it all on surveillance later.

"I'm gonna run to the bathroom really quick," I lied to Macey. She nodded, and I got up. I walked down the isle, and out into the hall. I went to my Mom's office. They hadn't cleaned any of it out yet, due to my Dad's request. I sat on the sofa at the back of the room. The last time I was in here, I was fighting with her. The last time I saw her, I was angry. The last time…

Then I saw it. A stub of black. Sticking out from behind the bookshelf. I hurried over, and pulled the shelf away. It was a gun. A sleek, black pistol…CIA issue. But it had an emblem etched into the base of the handle. Circle of Cavan. I grabbed a tissue from off the desk, and picked it up. I set it on the desk, and dug through the drawers until I found what I was looking for. Fingerprinting equipment. Just powder, a brush, and transfer cellophane, but it was enough. I dumped some powder over the handle, and brushed it away. I thought I recognized the prints at first, but I didn't know who's it was until I transferred them. I quickly slipped the evidence into a Hefty bag, and ran back to the auditorium.

I ran up to the stage, where my Dad was doing his speech.

"Say you didn't," I demanded. I held the gun in the plastic bag up, and his eyes bulged.

"Pumpkin, I-"

"Don't waste your time. I grew up in the CIA, I know when someone lies. How could you! My mother! And then frame someone else. Or was he just an accomplice? You killed her, Dad. If you really are related to me," I finished. He looked extremely guilty, and panicked. The rest of the room just looked confused. I handed the bag and prints to Solomon. He looked over all the proof, and nodded.

"Lock him up," he said. That's when "Daddy" made a run for it. Oh, very inconspicuous. That sent the agents into mission mode. He was grabbed from every angle, and pinned. I saw him reaching for a gun in his back pocket.

"He's getting a gun," I said calmly. Someone grabbed it away from his hands. And then they came. Cavan agents ambushed the room, through doors, windows and vents. I spun around to see a black mask staring back at me. I quickly roundhoused him, and looked around. Zach had an opponent. Kelli, Cassie and Caitlin were circled. Cammie had just knocked a guy out. Liz and Macey were back to back, fighting off enemies. Bex was cornered by five masked figures, knocking them out quickly. Then my eyes landed on Solomon and Mrs. Morgan, who were accumulating a pile of motionless bodies before them.

"ZACH! Get the girls out of here, now!" Solomon shouted, taking a punch. Zach grabbed Cammie and Macey, and I raced through the commotion to meet him at the door. He came running up, Cammie and Macey in tow. I pulled the door open, and they rushed out. I was pulling the door shut, when the impact hit. I felt a blow in my shoulder, and heard a deafening crack. Zach spun around when he heard it as well, ran over, and knocked out the guy who shot me, taking his gun. I started running out to the car with Cammie and Macey, and Zach followed after a few seconds. We all jumped in the car, and he started driving before the doors were even closed. I turned and looked out the back, where black cars and vans were speeding towards us.

"What do we do!?" I yelled.

"Why don't you tell me!" Zach answered.

"Because I just got shot in the shoulder!" I said, nodding towards my bleeding joint, which Macey was now pressing a jacket to.

"Zach, what options do we have? That's the main base for the CIA, we can't go to Gallagher, that'd put both schools in danger…" Cammie said.

"Then we'll go to Blackthorne. It's empty anyways."