That night, Alex couldn't sleep. He fought the urge to toss and turn so that he wouldn't wake Camryn who was curled up against his bare side. He gazed into the darkness, waiting for sleep to come, but it wouldn't come. Alex picked up his cell phone to check the time. It was almost three in the morning. Suddenly, the phone rang. In surprise, Alex jumped and dropped the phone onto the floor.
"Alex…"
"Sorry, Cam," Alex muttered.
"Who's calling you in the middle of the night?" Camryn mumbled.
"I don't know." Alex reached down and grabbed his phone. He answered it. "Hello?"
"Alex, it's me."
"Smithers?"
"I'm sorry to call at this late of a time."
"It's okay. I wasn't asleep."
"I was," Camryn muttered quietly.
"Who was that?" Smithers asked.
"Never mind. What's up?"
"Mr. Blunt and Mrs. Jones have sent out a missing person's report for you. You'd better throw your phone away so they can't track you."
"Hasn't Jack told them that I have an infection?"
"That's what she told the school. Mr. Blunt and Mrs. Jones know better. They know you've gone off somewhere. Mr. Blunt hasn't made your disappearance public yet. If you don't come back with in the next few days, it will be made public. It's going to raise suspicion."
"You'd better lay low so you don't get in trouble," Alex advised.
"Yes, you too."
"Alex, can't you tell him to call in the morning?" Camryn whispered, snuggling closer to Alex and sliding her hand across his chest.
"Alex, is that Camryn?" Smithers asked.
"Uh…maybe…"
"What exactly are you doing there? Never mind, don't tell me. I don't want to know."
"I have pants on!" Alex said defensively.
Smithers chuckled. "It's hard to trust someone's word when they're on the other end of a telephone call."
Alex blushed. "I swear I'm not doing anything. Would I lie to you?"
"You can only trust a teenage boy so much," Smithers laughed. "Well, I'll leave to…uh…do whatever you were doing. Be careful okay? And get rid of the phone."
"Sure." Alex hung up and put the phone on the nightstand. He put his arms around Camryn and held her tightly. "I can't sleep."
"Why not?" Camryn murmured, gently stroking Alex's hair.
"I don't know. I just can't. I have a lot on my mind, I guess."
"What did Smithers want to talk to you about?"
"MI6 is looking for me."
"Why did you tell him that you have pants on?"
Alex blushed again. "He just thought I was doing something that I shouldn't be doing. Apparently, he doesn't trust me to keep my pants on around you."
"That's such a lie."
"What's a lie?"
"You definitely don't have pants on," Camryn said, squeezing Alex's knee.
"Boxers are close enough. I was telling the truth when I said I wasn't doing anything."
"Well, I agree with Smithers anyway."
"What? Why?"
"Jeez, Alex, I don't know," Camryn mused sarcastically. "You seemed pretty close to taking off your pants yesterday afternoon."
Alex smiled. "Yesterday afternoon was…amazing."
Camryn kissed his neck. "I think you enjoyed that a little too much."
Alex kissed her and pulled himself on top of her. "You're right – I did enjoy that little too much."
"Stop it, Alex," Camryn chuckled, pushing Alex off. "Go to sleep. I'm tired."
"It's kind of hard to go to sleep when you're lying so close to me," Alex said as a wolfish smile pulled at his lips.
"But I'm cold."
"You know, friction creates heat," Alex murmured, running his tongue over his lips.
"Shut up, Alex."
"You wouldn't be so cold if you weren't wearing such skimpy clothes."
"Is that a complaint?"
"No, of course not." Alex rubbed his hand against the inside of Camryn's thigh. Camryn pulled his head closer and kissed him, still stroking his blonde hair. Alex couldn't hold back a moan of pleasure.
"You're getting a little loud, Alex," Camryn murmured.
"Is that bad?" Alex challenged, pushing his hands beneath Camryn's camisole.
"I don't think my dad would be too thrilled if he knew where you're touching me."
Alex smiled. "You don't have any objections, do you?"
"No. Actually, it feels good."
"Yeah, you do feel good."
"Pervert," Camryn whispered.
Alex kissed her softly, then again, and again. The intensity grew with each kiss. Alex wanted to do more than just lie beside Camryn. There was only one thing on his mind. Alex felt dirty just thinking about it.
"Cam, I want to-"
"Wait," Camryn interrupted. She sat up. "I thought I heard something."
Great, perfect timing, Alex thought sarcastically, pulling his hands out of Camryn's shirt.
Camryn got out of bed and pulled on her jeans and shirt.
"Cam-"
"Quiet."
Yeah, just as we were getting serious, Alex thought angrily. As Alex pulled on his shirt, he heard soft footsteps stop outside the bedroom door. He froze. His heart started pounding wildly. If Sokolov caught Alex in Camryn's bedroom in just his boxers, Sokolov would kill him. The footsteps continued down the hall. Alex relaxed a little.
Camryn grabbed a gun from her desk and approached the door. Alex grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
"What are you doing?" Alex hissed.
"Something isn't right. I want you to stay here."
"But-"
"Don't argue with me."
"Camryn-"
Camryn grabbed Alex and kissed him hard. She pressed her body close to Alex and snaked her tongue into his mouth. Alex's heart slammed against his ribcage. His breathing became shallow. Before he knew it, Camryn was gone out the door. Alex leaned back against the wall, dazed. He smiled, impressed with the way Camryn used herself against him.
The sound of gunshots brought Alex back down to earth.
"Get down!" Sokolov roared. An explosion rocked the house.
Alex went against Camryn's orders and ran out into the hall.
"Alex, move!" Tubs yelled from behind.
Alex turned around and ran toward the front door. A hand reached out and grabbed him, pulling him into the kitchen. Alex was forced under the kitchen counter with a hand clamped over his mouth.
"Keep quiet," Darya said.
Alex listened to the gunfight at the other side of the house.
"What's going on?" he demanded.
"Shh."
Alex heard Sokolov, Camryn, Tubs, and Jack screaming over the gunfire. Footsteps approached the kitchen. Alex held his breath. A light came on.
"Alex? Alex, where are you?" Camryn called.
Alex opened his mouth to answer, but Darya clamped her hand over his mouth. He heard the flip of a switchblade. The sharp, cold metal was pressed to his throat.
"Stand up," Darya commanded.
Alex obeyed. He slowly stood up. Darya kept the knife pressed to his neck. Camryn stood in front if them with her gun aimed for Alex's head. Alex's duffel bag hung on her shoulder. She slowly put it on the floor, careful not to make herself vulnerable to an attack.
"Camryn, drop the gun," Darya said.
"Let him go."
"Drop the gun, or I'll slit his throat."
"Why are you doing this?"
"Camryn-"
"Answer me! Why are you doing this?!"
"I'm finishing my brother's work. I'm going to avenge my parents' deaths."
Another man appeared behind Camryn. He raised his gun and unlocked it.
"Camryn!" Alex cried.
Camryn drew in a deep breath.
"I know what you're going to do," Darya said. "If you drop, and the bullet misses you, it will kill Alex. It's either you or Alex. Whose life matters more to you?"
"Both." Camryn snatched another gun from her belt and unlocked it. She aimed one gun at Alex and Darya and the other at the man behind her, and then fired. That technique looked familiar. The last split second seemed to play out in slow motion. The man behind her fell. The other bullet whizzed by Alex's ear and burrowed into Darya's forehead. The knife dropped to the ground. Alex was still petrified.
Sokolov, Tubs, and Jack stormed into the kitchen.
"Move!" Sokolov shouted.
The five of them ran out of the house and piled into the blue van. Tubs floored the accelerator.
"Blow the house," Sokolov ordered.
Jack typed furiously into his laptop. Seconds later, Alex heard a huge explosion. He felt the ground vibrate beneath the van.
"What did Darya say in her message, Alex?" Camryn asked.
"What message?"
"The one from Moscow. She was impersonating me."
"Give me my bag."
Camryn handed Alex's bag to him. Alex rummaged through it and pulled out the Latin textbook that concealed the minidisk player. He turned it on and handed it to Camryn. Camryn watched the video, her silver eyes watching for the minutest details. Her eyes widened in surprise and fear. She looked up at Alex.
"What is it?" Alex asked.
"I'm just surprised how accurate her flesh mask was. She even matched my voice perfectly."
Alex was still confused. He wasn't sure why this shook Camryn so much.
"Hey, Tubs, where are we headed?" Camryn asked.
"A new base in the next town."
"Good."
"Jack, how much stuff did you salvage from the base?"
Jack handed Camryn his laptop and messenger bag. Camryn rooted through it. Satisfied, she put the laptop into the messenger bag and fastened the clips.
"Who were those people anyway?"
"I'm pretty sure those were the men Darya was working for," Sokolov answered.
"She worked for the Chechens?"
"I think so. There's no other reason for her to attack us like that."
Camryn pointed her gun at Sokolov's head. "Who are you?"
"Camryn, what are you talking about?"
"Who are you?"
"Camryn-"
Camryn kicked the back door of the van open. "Alex, jump!" Alex had no idea what was going on, but he trusted Camryn. Alex jumped out of the van with his duffel bag. He fell onto the cold street and rolled. Camryn did the same with Jack's duffel bag slung over her shoulder. She pulled a grenade from one of the pockets of the bag and threw it into the open doors of the van. Alex sat up, panting. What had just happened?