Cam POV

Joe punched the wall. Several times. Anger fueling his every movement. Salty tears clung to the edge of his eyes, clouding his vision but he wouldn't let them fall. He refused to let them fall.

'Are you positive?' He turned to me, asking for the hundredth time.

'Liz did a DNA test. It's a match' I repeated.

'Damn it!' Joe punched the wall a final time. I heard the definitive shattering of one of his fingers. Joe sucked in a breath, not letting his pain show.

'What do the circle want with you?' I asked.

'They want information' He used a broken piece of cloth to tie around his hand 'Which apparently your father had. Evidently not. That didn't stop them though. Once your mother, Abby and I were captured. They used us. Pitted us against each other, separated us, used one of us as leverage and…' His sentence trailed off. His arms absentmindedly wrapping themselves around his torso, protecting him.

'Tortured you' I replied. Joe could barely keep eye contact with me. He nodded.

'One day, there was a huge security breach. Two in the same week in fact. We didn't see Matthew again, so we assumed that he'd…' Joe paused 'We thought he'd escaped'

The words hung in the air for a moment.

'The security breach wasn't him' I realised 'It was me'

'You?'

I nodded.

'I found you all somehow. I came in to rescue you but I got caught and I was tortured too' I admitted, the walls bring back the painful memories, especially the screams. 'Dad and I were about to escape when he gave himself up so I could go free' I blinked back more tears 'He's dead because of me'

'Don't think like that, Cam' Joe knelt in front of me, holding my hands 'Matthew died protecting you, not because of you' He squeezed my hand 'But now, that makes a lot of sense'

'Why?'

'After that week, everything changed around here. They separated the rest of us completely. I haven't seen Abby or Rachel since'

'Abby's safe. She washed up on a beach in England. Edward Townsend rescued her, she was in a coma for a while, but she's at Gallagher now'

'Edward Townsend?' Joe gave a small chuckle 'When we get out of this, remind me to buy that man a pint'

'That's not all' I said 'Amelia helped too'

Joe dropped my hands.

'Does she know?' He asked

'That her dead husband is actually not dead and is actually the bad guy? No, she doesn't. I've only just found that out myself, but she'll find out soon'

'It'll crush her'

'And Nick' I added 'He's just started to pave his own life and now…'

'I know' Joe sighed. 'And your mother? Where is she?'

'I was hoping you could tell me that'

A noise from outside startled us both. Joe headed to the door to look out of the tiny grate. He spun back around and grabbed my shoulders roughly. Looking at me dead in the eyes.

'Cameron, what's about to happen to one of us is going to be bad, it's going to hurt and-'

'Joe, I know' I gave a grim nod, accepting the fate I have now been put into.

Joe pulled me into a hug, kissing the top of my head.

'I love you, Camster'

'I love you too, Joe'

The door opened and three large men with guns entered. Joe and I stood apart, knowing what was going to happen.

Two of them came towards me, grabbing either of my arms.

Without another word, they marched me out of the room, down several more corridors until we came to the white-tiled room from my nightmares.

And right in the centre of it was a single wooden chair.

The guards forced me into the chair, but they did not strap me down...strange.

A second door opened and in strolled Max Edwards...and Zach…

...

Zach POV

I entered a completely different room, a sterile white room that looked oddly familiar from somewhere. As I was looking around the room, my eyes rested on the wooden chair and the girl sitting on it.

'How are we feeling now, Cameron?' Joe asked 'More co-operative?'

Cam spat at him, directly on his glasses. Joe took them off, inspecting them in the light before putting them down on the small trolley that had been wheeled in after me.

'I must say, I was hoping that you would be in better spirits. I reunited you with your family, didn't I?'

'They're here?' I found myself asking. Looking between Cam and Joe. Cam glared at me, utter disgust. I hated her looking at me this way.

Cam turned to face Joe, folding her arms.

'You know, I never pegged you as the kind of guy who would fake his own death, Max. I'm sure Amelia and Nick would be very interested to find this out. Or did you forget that they exist?'

Joe stiffened, his jaw clenched. Cam tilted her head slightly.

'Where are they?' He asked. Cam shrugged.

'I don't know. Last time I heard they were in between Budapest and Dubai'

'She's lying' I said instinctively 'They're in London'

Cam glared at me again, hurt and betrayal in her eyes. She once again turned back to Joe.

'So what is he?' She gestured to me 'Your minion? A pawn? A soldier?'

'He is a Blackthorne Boy' Joe said, patting me on the back. 'And a damn good one at that. Shall we begin?' He moved over to the trolley, opening the box to reveal an assortment of equipment. All of them were made to inflict pain.

'You're going to torture her?' I realised.

'We're going to interrogate Cameron. And if she doesn't cooperate, then we have ways to make her talk'

Joe picked out several cuffs and offered them to me.

'Tie her to the chair' He ordered. I looked between the cuffs, Joe and Cam. Cam was looking back at me expressionless. I looked back at Joe and nodded slowly.

I made my way over to Cam, she didn't resist when I tied her feet to the chair, nor did she complain when I tied her wrists. But when it came to binding her torso to the chair, I had to put my head close to hers. She turned away, not even able to look at me.

As my hands skipped her stomach, she sucked in a breath, trying to keep as much distance between us as possible.

'I hope you're proud of yourself' She muttered under her breath. I glanced up at her but she refused to look at me

I stepped away, standing with my back against the wall.

'Can we get this over with?' Cam moaned, complaining as if this was a tedious task that she was already bored with. Joe chuckled, pulling out a knife and playing with it between his fingers.

'There's no need to rush this, Cameron. You know I like to savour every moment' He faced her again. 'Where is it?'

'I don't know what you're talking about' She said. Joe flicked his wrist, launching the knife at Cammie. I found myself stepping forward. What the hell was going on.

But Cam didn't move, she didn't flinch or blink as the knife landed in the small slither of the chair between her head and shoulder.

Cam glanced down at the knife, unimpressed. She looked up at me.

'Now I know where you get your bad aim from' She quipped.

'Tell me the names on the list' Joe asked

'I don't know what you're talking about' Cam repeated. Joe slapped her across the face. Cam rolled her head, once again unimpressed.

'Come on Max, you can do better than that' She taunted.

He withdrew the knife and pressed the button in his hand.

Suddenly, several volts of electricity coursed through the chair, causing Cam to convolve slightly. She clenched her teeth, stopping a scream that was no doubt rising to the surface. After several moments, the shock stopped. Cam took several deep breaths.

'Fuck. You' She spat out

'Now, now, Cameron. There's no need for that language here' He pressed the button again, causing Cam to once again recoil in pain.

My fists balled at my side.

'Is this really necessary?' I hissed. Joe looked at me quickly before releasing the button.

'A tip to remember, Zach, is to remind your interrogatee that you are in charge' He strolled over to Cameron, kneeling in front of her.

'Is that all you got?' She chuckled between deep breaths. Why was she making this so difficult for herself?

'Do you remember much about what happened last time you were here?'

'Not quite. But I take it that you sent me the polaroids, so they give me a little hint at what happened' She snared. My eyes widened, remembering the polaroids that she was so freaked out about. Cam had been tortured here.

'I was thinking about recreating them,' Joe said, digging the tip of his knife into Cam's forearm. She sucked in a breath. 'Do you want to co-operate now?'

'Do you want to keep wasting time?' Cam asked.

'Cam…' I warned. Her gaze flicked to me for a moment, her body seeming to relax for a moment.

'That's it' Joe whispered. Cam snapped her attention back to him. 'Zachary, come here'

'Don't' Cam whispered. Slight panic crossing her face.

'I think it's time for the next step in your training' Joe stood up 'Time for you to learn how to interrogate...the Blackthorne way'

He offered me the knife.

'Zach…' Cam's voice croaked. I looked at her big pleading eyes

'Zachary' I turned back to face Joe 'Take the knife'

Author's Note: Hello everyone! First of all, I'd like to say thank you to everyone for your patience. It was a strange experience waking up to multiple messages from people saying that they got access into my account. Thankfully those that messaged me were really kind but I think that there were others who accidentally got access and just didn't say anything. But once again thank you all for understanding why I had to take a short break. Annyyyyway, back to the story - Cammie and Joe are trying to put the pieces together and work our who is behind all of this. And then we have Zach, seemingly caught on the fence between Joe/Max and Cammie. Will he take the knife? Will he hurt Cammie? Is he a double agent? Triple agent? Things are about to heat up in the next few chapters...stay tuned! ALSOOOOOOO! I NEED YOUR HELP! I'm trying to find the part in the books where Cammie mentions the fair with her dad. I know it was in one of her reports but I can't seem to find them. If any of you could direct me to the book/chapter/page that it's mentioned in, then I'll be forever grateful (and it will help me upload the next chapter sooner!). Much love, thank you all again and see you soon xxx

Alecks454: Can Zach be trusted? Is he just playing the long game? Will he save Cammie? Max isn't Zach's father in this story, but he's like a father figure (the same way Joe was a father figure in the books) but Max is also pretending to be Joe so it's a very complicated situation. Cammie's friends will not be happy once they realise what's been going on xxx

GallagherGirlzRule: Teehee, you probably won't be happy with how this chapter ends either! I love cliff hangers when writing and hate them when I'm reading because I want to know more - I know how you feel but I just love the suspense! Trust me, I have no plans to abandon this story at all! I can't wait for the next few chapters! Thank you so much for all of your support! I know it's not a hate comment, you're just passionate. Lots of love xxx

Smiles180: There are many more twists and turns on the way! Basically Max has been pretending to be Joe for a long time, Zach and the boys have only ever known him as 'Joe' and since it's been a few years, it's a pretty big lie to keep up...why indeed...all will be revealed soon...xxx

AllyCarterfan101: It does seem that way, it is fair to assume that he's being tricked...He might be on the right side, or on the wrong side, or in fact neither side. Zach will have a lot of making up to Cammie when this is all over...that is if they both make it out together...Bex and the others are most certainly not happy. Glad that you love this story, thank you for all of your support over the last 5 years. Never apologise! I love your reviews! xxx

Gymnast1150: I'm sorry! I don't like to make you suffer (though it is funny sometimes!) There's one thing that is certain about Zach and it's that he's loyal till the end - Max/Joe saved him when he needed it, taught him everything he knew about being a spy/assassin and then all of a sudden this girl (who he doesn't 100% know) says that it's all a lie, I'd find it pretty hard to believe too. The reason that Max is pretending to be Joe might be all because of one person. Zach hadn't heard of Joe before BB but Max/Joe saved him so there is loyalty there. Things are about to be tense between Cam and Zach in the next couple of chapters, the betrayal will feel monumental. Zach is going to do something that Cammie would never do to him...and the heartache will hurt more than any physical pain. The escape from the Circle will not be as you expect...but there will be more to it than meets the eye. I hate Zach at the moment too...be prepared for more hatred to come his way. Zach being tasked with bringing Cammie in seemed to come as a surprise to him too...is he being tricked? Everything interconnects and everything will be revealed within the next chapters. Someone wanted Zach and Cammie to bump into each other and went to a big effort to make it happen...there's more than meets the eye...(I've said that before but it's true!). xxx

TheReadingSloth: Thank you so much! It was such a scary and sad thing to happen. Some of my documents were corrupt and I don't know if the website corrupted them or someone else did, but thankfully I had all of my chapters saved elsewhere. xxx

Bball101: Thank you xxx

Blue: Thank you so much xxx