you guys are so privileged. i was gonna split this up into two chapters, but thought they were a little wimpy on their own, so i decided to give y'all an extra big THANKS for reviewing!
also, i'd like to give a big thank ya thank ya to emmettsmyfave ! i love it when people review on every chapter, even when they've already been published.
I'm excited to write the next chapter. I have a good feeling about this... hehehe....
-- :+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+: -- (IF YOU CAN READ THIS, YOU ARE NOW OBLIGATED TO REVIEW. YOU CAN'T BACK OUT OF IT NOW. OR ELSE, THE COOKIE MONSTER WILL GET YOU. HAHAHAHA.)
CHAPTER 11
I pushed Zach away from me, hard. "You idiot!" I whispered.
He looked skeptical. "I'm the idiot? What did I do?"
I shushed him quickly by slapping my hand over his mouth. "Well I wasn't the one who broke into this room, screwed the lock up beyond repair, and just—just—" I sputtered. "It's not my fault!"
Zach pushed my hand off his mouth, the corners of his lips twitching in an amused fashion. "Oh, I see. So this is all my doing."
I could barely contain my frustration. "You—"
"Cam! Bex!" Raye pounded even harder on the door. "Let's go!" I nearly shrieked in pent-up vexation. Things were already too messy for Raye to coming walking through that door and catch Zach and I here together. So, in standard Cammie-style, I did the first thing that came to mind. Throwing last wary glance at the door, I pulled Zach into the closet and shut the door as quietly as possible, leaving just a tiny bit of space to peek through. The closet wasn't a walk-in, only big enough to hold Zach, me, and Bex and mine's clothes. My back was pressed up against Zach's chest in an extremely head-spinning way and something sharp was poking my leg. It was an all-over not so enjoyable experience.
Bex rolled over in her bed and I froze. She snorted sleepily. "Coming," she mumbled. Funny how that one word sent my heart pounding maniacally. I turned around to face Zach and gave him a desperate look. "She'll be awake any time! Do something!" Then I poked my head out of the closet and said as loudly as I could with out waking Bex, "We'll be right there, Raye!"
"Um--okay," he called, still sounding a little unsure, but pacified for the moment. "Just meet us downstairs in the lobby in ten minutes." His receding footsteps down the hall were audible. I turned at looked pointedly at my fellow closet occupant.
Zach grinned, completely calm, his face shadowed by the darkness of the enclosed area. "Alright, I'll leave." I started to speak again, but he cut me off by raising one hand. "As long as you promise to meet me on the Santiam Beach at noon today."
He wanted me to sneak out again. I groaned internally and cracked the door open slightly, peeking through at Bex, whose eyes were shut, but wouldn't be for long. The closet was getting stuffy and the sharp object felt like it was about to impale my leg. Zach started humming the song on Jeopardy. "Doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo…"
"Oh, fine," I hissed. "Just go!"
He grinned, flashing me the peace sign, opened the closet door, and, after hooking a rapelling rope to my windowsill, climbed down out of my hotel window. I breathed a sigh of relief and slumped against the wall of the closet, engulfed in the dark. Suddenly, the door swung open, and the bright light felt like a slap in the face. I shielded my eyes, but not enough to miss seeing Bex standing in a stately manner, her arms crossed and lips pursed. "So," she said, completely awake. "When's the honeymoon?"
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As it turned out, Bex had been awake the whole time.
The whole. Entire. Time.
When I asked her why she couldn't have given us a little more privacy, her reply was, "Hey, we're spies. We don't know the definition of privacy."
We got ready in a record 47 and a half seconds, each yanking on some standard spy attire: tight black pants and a black top. I even strapped on some extra gear today. Part of it was because I felt like I needed to compensate for seeing Zach behind the guys' back and breaking promises and trust by being more lethally equipped. And maybe it was partly because I wanted to prove to myself that I was doing the right thing.
Plus, all the spy-ware-jewelry I'd gotten at the Armory was sooo cute.
When we met in the lobby, Jason relayed the information that the Chief had sent to us. He wanted us to find the identities of the three core people in the rebel society. All we knew was that there were two men, one in their mid-thirties, one about twenty years old, and one woman who was at least forty. But this information wasn't necessarily relevant, because each of the rebels could have easily gotten a face transplant to disguise their age. The only way to identify them was a signal implant the rebel agency gave all of their agents. The rebels weren't aware yet that Stonell knew of the implant and could distinguish it from other signals. The only downside to the implant was that it took a full-body scan to identify it. We would have to be extra thorough.
Jason told us that the Chief wanted us to split up into two groups: Bex and Raye; and Jason, Dominic, and I. We would comb the city, scanning the crowds with a wide-range infrared and do our best to locate the roots of the rebel society.
Before we split up, I gave Bex a hug, while whispering into her ear, "What am I going to do about Zach?"
"No idea," she whispered back. "Good luck with that one." I rolled my eyes and pulled away. "Good luck to you too, Raleigh." We were strictly using legend names today. She winked at me, and grabbed Raye's hand, pulling him with her out the door. I turned back to Dominic, who had dressed and gelled his hair back to make himself look like a waiter at a restaurant, and Jason, who was disguised as a college computer geek, sporting a backpack and wide-rimmed glasses. I nodded at them, and we each left separately, Dominic heading towards the kitchen to use the exit there, Jason making his way to the technology center for a rappel-escape. And me? I was using the good old-fashioned, walk-out-the-front-door egress.
The cool morning air blew against me as I walked down the street, the silver peace-sign charm on my necklace scanning every one who walked by me, my diamond earrings ready to send out shock rays if pressed hard enough, my big blue ring able to extend a five foot long razor blade if I twisted it. I breathed in deeply and confidently, Zach completely out of my mind.
I was focused. I was strong. I was ready.
Let the games begin.
ta da!
what'd ya think?