Cammie POV
The gun in my hand shook like never before as I aimed it at a man I thought I'd never see again.
He was the same height as Joe, had the same colour hair, the same splatter of stubble across his jaw and the same determination in his eyes...but he was not Joe.
'What are you doing?' Zach asked 'Gallagher Girl, it's Joe'
My gaze flickered to Zach wondering if this was all a joke or if I'd walked straight into a trap.
'That's not Joe'
'Of course, it is' Zach took a tentative step forward, slightly blocking my direct line. 'Cammie put the gun down'
'It's good to see you again, Miss Morgan' the man taunted
'Wish I could say the same' I clicked my gun, ready to fire. 'It's always great fun to see a dead man walking'
'That's enough, Cam' Zach's voice slid through the room. I glanced in his direction to see his gun aimed at me. 'Lower your gun'
'You're in on this?' I couldn't hide the hurt in my voice.
'I don't know what you're talking about. Cammie, this is Joseph Solomon. Put your gun down'
'And what if I don't?' I raised my eyebrow at Zach 'Are you going to shoot me?'
Zach's jaw tensed.
'If I have to'
My gaze flickered back to the other man, a small smile on his lips. No, not a smile...a smirk.
'You should listen to Zachary, Cameron. He's had exceptional training. I should know, I taught him myself'
I gritted my teeth, knowing I was losing this battle. I lowered my gun.
'You had this all planned out, didn't you?' I spat out in disgust. 'Even pretending to be Joe, a man far more honourable than you, just to get what you want'
'Cam, that's Jo-' Zach began
'That's not Joe!' I exclaimed, my voice echoing around the room. 'This is Max Edwards! A man who died on a mission with my father and the real Joe'
'If that's the case, Cameron. Then how am I alive?' He asked the sly look in his eyes made me want to punch him. I looked over at Zach.
'Zach, you've got to believe me'
'I'm sorry, Gallagher Girl, but this is the real Joe. He trained me and I trust him with my life. Now, drop the gun.'
I could feel my heart breaking, all the doubt I ever had of Zach came tumbling in. He was not the man I thought he was.
I dropped my gun, kicking it over to Zach for good measure.
'So what now?' I asked Max. He moved over to the desk and pressed a button. A small alarm sounded; moments later several guards entered the room. All of them with guns, and all of them with me.
I held my hands up in a dramatic, mocking fashion.
'Take her to the holding cells' Max ordered, turning away. He then paused and turned back 'And not the cell from last time. We haven't quite cleaned out all the blood'
'You bastard' I hissed, ready to throw hands when two of the biggest guards held me back. They cuffed me, pulling me out of the room and marching me down the corridor.
.
We came to a cell and they threw me inside, I skidded against the cold tiles as they locked me in. I remained on the floor, biting back tears.
This was all a trap.
I punched the tiles.
Zach had tricked me.
I punched the tiles again.
I thought he'd cared.
I continued to punch the tiles, only stopping when it became nearly impossible to bite back my sobs and when my knuckles began to bleed.
The Circle had me...again.
.
An hour or so had passed and not much had changed. There had been several guard rotations, all of them lasting between 10 -15 minutes. Which either means that there are a lot of guards or there's not much happening and they're trying to keep themselves (and me) occupied.
Suddenly there was a lot of movement outside, the sound of shoes scraping on the floor. I stayed in the corner, listening, waiting.
My cell door opened and a figure was thrown in, landing with a grunt. The door was immediately shut before anyone could react.
I came towards the figure, slowly. Their back was to me so I needed to work out if they were friend or foe.
The figure groaned, sitting up and rubbing their head. They cursed in German. I almost laughed with relief when they did.
'Joe?' I whispered. He turned around, his eyes wide, although a little bloodshot.
'Cameron?' He replied.
Simultaneously we pulled each other closer, tightly hugging and holding on for dear life.
'You're alive' I choked
'And so are you' He pulled back, skimming his hand on my cheek 'I wish I could say that it's good to see you, but given the circumstances, I wish we saw each other someone else' He looked in my eyes, searching them. A flash of something passed through his vision for a moment, but like all great spies, he masked it.
'What happened to you, Cammie?' He asked. I don't know if it was the relief of seeing Joe, or the events of the last few days catching up to me, or the feeling of being seen again or all of the above, but I could not stop the tears from coming.
'Joe…' My voice cracked 'I messed up…'
Joe pulled me into his embrace.
'Shhhh' he soothed, stroking my head 'It's okay. Just start from the beginning. Tell me what you see'
And I did. I told Joe all that I could remember, from the day I realised all of them were missing, to losing my memory and ending up all the way to meeting a green-eyed boy at a beach party.
'Max restarted the Blackthorne Boys' Joe said in disbelief. I nodded.
'He's been planning this, whatever this is, for a long time' I stared at my hands for a while, the blood on my knuckles finally dried.
'I don't believe he's the one pulling the strings, ' Joe said. I looked up at him.
'Then who is?' I asked Joe. He sighed, shaking his head.
'I don't know. There seems to be a strong hierarchy. The core group - the inner Circle you might call it...they haven't shown their faces. Your father was here...I don't know where now. I think he escaped'
A pit in my stomach grew.
'Joe…' I began, a fresh wave of tears coming in 'There's something I need to tell you'
...
Zach POV
I had never seen Cammie act so out of character before.
Was this all a ploy?
Was she planning on killing Joe?
Was she on my side?
With the way she was looking at me with utter disdain, I assume now that we are not on the same side.
Cam gave up without a fight, which was strange. Perhaps she knew that someone would get hurt unnecessarily, or that the game she was playing was finally up. Either way, she's not who I thought she was.
'Take her to the holding cells' Joe ordered, turning away for a moment before turning back. 'And not the cell from last time. We haven't quite cleaned out all the blood'
'You bastard' Cam hissed, stepping forward. Instinctively I reached to raise my gun again, but there were two guards that grabbed her before anything got messy.
She left the room without a struggle, disappearing down the corridor. The door slamming behind them, leaving Joe and I in silence.
'I'm sorry you had to see that' He said, picking up Cammie's gun and examining it. 'Cameron always had a fiery temper'
'She's been here before?' I asked, some of the information she told me wouldn't have been lies, but maybe they were.
'Indeed' Joe began to disassemble Cam's gun. 'Miss Morgan has information that we need. And she escaped before we could get it.' He paused, holding the gun up in the light 'I must say, I am mightily impressed with how quickly you were able to bring Cameron here, Zachary'
'Sir?' I raised an eyebrow confused. Joe looked at me.
'Your mission was to always bring the Chameleon back here, and me disappearing seemed to be the perfect leverage to get her out of the shadows' He patted me on the shoulder 'Well done. Did you manage to find the Gallagher Academy?'
'I did, sir. They're situated underground, beneath the ruins of their school'
'And you were able to gain access?'
'The boys and I could practically walk in, sir' I said. Joe smiled.
'Fantastic. And our target? Did you see her?'
'The princess? We did'
'Excellent. I will inform the others' He turned to leave through a different door
'There's one thing…' I began, causing Joe to stop.
'Yes?'
'She...she seems safe there. I don't think there's a threat'
'What you need to understand, Zachary, is that there is always a threat. And we have just apprehended our biggest one. Come on, it's time…'
'Time for what?' I asked
'To interrogate'
Author's note: So Zach is not the man Cammie thought he was. Can she still trust him? Is this all part of a bigger plot? Cam came face to face with Max Edwards, the man pretending to be Joe. Max has also trained Zach, Grant and Jonas - tricking them into believing he is Joe...what else has he lied about? Cam is finally reunited with Joe, THE REAL JOE! So that's Abby, Matthew and Joe that have been found...so where is Rachel? Hope this makes sense! For a little while it might be confusing, so from Zach's POV he'll say 'Joe' but obviously 'Joe' is Max. Let me know if you want me to specify the difference clearer in future chapters. Next chapter on the 15th! xxx
Allycarterfan101: Happy New Year to you too! Zach believes that Max is 'Joe'. Which means that Max has been planning this for a long time, for many years even...I can't wait to share with you where this is going too! I've had a writing binge recently and am super excited with the next few chapters. I love using books as much as possible, it's meant that I've reread them again and fell in love with them again. A parallel universe is the best way to summarise it. I don't know how many chapters this story will be exactly, but I think it might be the longest story I've written so far. Thank you so much for all your support girly xxx
Smiles180: Zach is sweet...though not so much now. I know in the book that Max's description is different to Joe's but in this story, they look kind of similar (which helped Max lie) xxx
covertoperative456: The plot is about to be a WHOLLLLLLEEEE lot thicker. Zammie is adorable but how long will it last...a divide is coming between Zach and Cammie...so what will happen? xxx
Alecks454: Exactly! There's always a mystery around Joe. And Max pretending to be Joe this whole time...what do you think will happen next xxx
thelastoneremaining: Thank you so much! *blushes*. Glad that you are enjoying my stories xxx
Tessa Jane: Hahahaha Joe wouldn't be so blatant as to walk into the room so casually. There's a lot of lying and deception to come. I don't know if this is going to be a series or not. I'm planning on making this a super long story (and I've got the ending worked out) so not sure what will happen after. You never know though! xxx
GallagherGirlzRule: Cliffhangers are my favourite! I'm sorry! I've uploaded early especially for you :D. Joe doesn't have a twin, but Max Edwards is pretending to be him. Joe (the real Joe) is alive. Rachel is still missing though...you'll just have to wait and see xxx
gymnast1150: Cam knew that Zach would follow her and I think she trusts him enough to tell him the truth...but after the revelation of Max/Joe and Zach pointing his gun at Cammie...what will happen next? Heartbreak and betrayal are on the horizon. Brace yourself...It seems that Zach has snapped back into 'Blackthorne mode' where he masks his feelings and only cares about an objective. He thinks Cammie lied to him and Cammie knows that Zach has lied to her...Thank you so much as always! Teehee, I think you'll hate me for the next few chapters...it's gonna mess with your emotions xxx
Roxie: Hope you're enjoying it xxx
