Cammie POV

Mother.

That's what he called her. That was a word that fell out of his mouth.

Mother.

She was focused on Zach.

Mother.

This woman was…

'She's your mother?' I looked between them. They continued to look at each other. A staring match only with one of them pointing a gun. I looked at them carefully, the same eyes and the same smirk. How did I not see this earlier!

'It's a pleasure to see you again too, Cameron' The way she said my name...it brought back shivers and memories.

'You don't get to talk to her' Zach snapped, he moved half a step towards me, shielding me slightly

Zach's mother smirked.

'Oh, don't be like that Zachary. Cameron and I are...old friends. If fact, we're practically sisters'

Sisters….no...no...no

'You're...you're a Gallagher Girl' I realised.

'Tell your mother I said hello'

'You bitch' I stepped forward 'Where is she?'

Zach's mother raised an eyebrow in the same way that Zach does. I hated it.

'I have no idea' She said

'You're lying' Zach hissed. Her smirk, somehow widened even more.

'I most certainly am not. Cameron knows this because-'

'-Because you promised not to lie to me' I muttered without realising.

'Do you remember when I said that to you?' She studied me carefully. 'It was right before I showed you your father's grave'

I felt everything leave my body. All the pain and rage and everything left. I felt hollow and empty.

'You tortured me, didn't you? You, Max and Dr Steve. All because of those names on that fucking list'

'You wouldn't give them up' She said 'No matter what we tried, you just wouldn't give them up. So we had to take extreme measures'

'Shut up!' Zach snapped

'But still, you just wouldn't give them up for so long...we had to break you and put you back together again'

'SHUT UP' Zach fired a shot, past his mother's head. She didn't flinch.

'You still don't remember do you?' She continued to look at me. Staring into my soul 'Those memories coming back in blips...You're not sure if you should believe them or not...We didn't want to take your memories but we had to, you knew too much'

'That's why you're after me now isn't it? Because I still know those names,' I said. She sighed.

'It's a chase, Cameron. And I don't like losing' There was an edge to her tone, something that stuck out in a wrong way…

Then it clicked.

'You're not working with Max' I realised. She stiffed, the first tell she has shown this whole time 'He has my mom, doesn't he? And you're trying to get those names before he does. That's why you were at Blackthorne, you were chasing him and hoping you'd find me'

'Clever girl'

'You saw her at Blackthorne?' Zach asked me. His face full of anger 'Why didn't you say anything?'

I opened my mouth to speak-

'Because Cameron doesn't remember me. Not properly. I'm just a figure in the shadows of her memories' She chuckled, proud of herself.

'But she knew you! I asked her-'

'Whilst under the influence of truth serum' Zach's mom turned to him 'Zachary, you should know that truth serum will find the deepest darkest truths, even if you don't realise you said it. We tried very hard to stop Cameron from remembering us. It wasn't that hard for Dr Steve, it's not the first time he's had control of her brain…'

'London' I whispered. 'How did I escape from you?' I found myself asking. I know a lot of my memory was a blip but this was the biggest one. Did they let me go? No. When that goon, Charlie, attacked in Roseville he asked how I got out. So I must have escaped.

'That is something I'd like to know too' She snapped. Annoyed that at some point, in some way, I had outsmarted her. 'Anyway,' She began 'as you can imagine I am a very busy and wanted woman. So let's wrap this up quickly, shall we? I will let you take dear little Princess Amirah and I will leave you and your precious school alone...for now...in exchange for what I want…'

'I'm not going to give you those names' I hissed

'That's not what she wants' Zach sighed. His gaze was locked with his mother's. He then slowly lowered his gun to his side.

'Then what is it?' I asked, my voice small.

'Cammie, take Amy and go'

'No' I grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at me, but he didn't 'What does she want?'

'She wants me' He slowly turned from his mother to look at me, his eyes sad 'She knew that you'd bring me and she knows how you operate'

I looked at his mother. With utter hate that she was still in my brain. Something that happened in my dream came back to me; I still have everything. I still have you.

'And I always will' She smirked as if reading my thoughts. I raised my gun again but Zach grabbed my arm, stopping me.

'It's not worth it Gallagher Girl' He whispered.

I stood there watching her. She revelled in my outburst.

'I'll be in the car. You have five minutes, Zachary. Don't keep me waiting. And Cameron...be careful who you trust. Your family...they've been keeping secrets from you' She said before turning away, walking back into the shadows. I waited until I was certain she was gone before turning to Zach.

'You're not seriously going with her, are you?' I asked

'She knows that I know some of the names. It will buy you some time' His gaze was down, avoiding me

'You can't go with her. If you do, you'll be wanted by every agency'

'I know' He gave a half, pathetic laugh 'She's always wanted me to join her. I never thought I'd turn into her but it seems like I'm the bad guy'

'You're not' I grabbed his chin forcing him to look at me. There were tears in his eyes. 'Zach-'

'Looks like I'm the one that's not coming back' He tried to joke. I shook my head.

'Don't go with her. Come with me, we can fix this. We can find Max, we can stop your mom, we can-'

'It's not going to work like that Gallagher Girl' He raised his hand to brush my cheek. 'You need to tell Grant and Jonas that I'm sorry'

'You can tell them yourself! Just come with us. Come with me' I tried to pull his arm but he wouldn't budge. He shook his head. He glanced at Amy.

'Get her back to Gallagher' He said.

'Zach-' I began. But he didn't give me time to reply. He pulled our faces together, kissing me passionately. It was a kiss with so much meaning. So much passion and pain. This was goodbye.

Zach pulled back first.

'Cammie, I love you' He said. I stared up at him as my vision became blurry. I looked at my hand to find...you guessed it...a sleeping patch.

Zach caught me as I lost my balance. He began to talk to Amy, but his words were fuzzy and deformed.

He looked back at me, his green eyes seemed so vivid against the darkness around my vision. I saw a tear fall down his cheek and then darkness.

I opened my eyes slowly, finding myself lying across the back seat of a car. I sat up to see Amy trying to drive.

'Cammie!' She squealed 'You're awake'

'Where are we?' I asked groggily

'On our way back to Gallagher'

'Pull over' I ordered. Amy dutifully followed. Once we stopped, I crawled out of the car and stretched. The positioning of the sun told me I had been unconscious for about 8 hours. Zach would have been long gone by now.

I looked around me as I tried to process what had happened with Zach and his mother. She was the woman who tortured me, she wasn't working with Max, she knew Dr Steve, she'd taken Zach...and Zach said he loves me.

I exhaled, letting out a shaky breath.

'Are you okay?' Amy got out of the car and stood next to me.

'I'm fine. Sleeping patches are more powerful than I remember. That's all' I shook my head remembering to stay focused 'Give me the keys, I'm driving'

'But…'

'But what?' I asked

'Zach. He told me to keep driving. No matter what.' She looked up at me with big vulnerable eyes. Zach had given her a mission and she was going to do it. No matter what.

'Amy you don't have your license-'

'Yet! I'm close to passing'

I looked at her sternly, like an older sister (which, to some degree, I am). Begrudgingly, Amy handed me the keys & we set off again.

'When we get back to Gallagher, the teachers are going to ask you what happened. Do you remember?' I asked. Amy nodded from the passenger seat

'We were practising the brush passes and that woman grabbed me from behind and pulled me into the car. I didn't have time to think'

'Did she hurt you?' My fingers gripped the steering wheel tightly until my knuckles were white. If that bitch even touched Amy I was going to fucking kill her more than I already plan on doing.

'No' Her voice was small. I glanced over at her, she was chewing her lip nervously, something was on her mind.

'What's wrong?' I asked. Amy looked over at me. She sighed.

'You told me to watch my six and I didn't! I failed'

'You didn't fail' I reached across and squeezed her hand 'There are people in this world who will do anything to get what they want. No matter how hard we try to stop them' I said 'But you're smart. Having that bracelet on you was a good idea' I looked at Amy's bare wrist 'What happened to your bracelet?' I asked. It was on her wrist when I first rescued her but not anymore.

Amy looked too, checking her pockets and the interior of the car. It was nowhere to be found.

'It must have broken off' Amy concluded.

'Hmm' I pondered

'Cammie?'

'Yeah?'

'That woman...she...she's like us...she's a Gallagher Girl'

'She's nothing like us, Amy. Not one bit'

'She told me her name was Catherine' Amy said

'Did she tell you anything else?' I asked. Amy scrunched up her face, thinking.

'She did' Amy realised 'Boston was only the beginning. Does that mean anything?'

'I think it does...and I don't like it'

We continued travelling, only stopping to grab food & use the restrooms before setting off again. Amy drifted off to sleep along the way, her head resting against the window, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Zach loves you.

His mother tortured you.

He loves you.

Your family have secrets from you

He loves you

They're still after you

He loves you...and you didn't say it back…

Author's Note: EVERYBODY STAY CALM! ZACH CONFESSED HIS LOVE FOR CAMMIE! AND THEN HE PUT A SLEEPING PATCH ON HER! So Catherine has come back and Zach has gone with her to keep Cam safe. Amy & Cam are on the way back to Gallagher, what will happen when they return? So Catherine has Zach, Max has Rachel & Dr. Steve is somewhere...things are about to get very interesting...I hope you like this chapter! I'll see you all soon xxx

Guest: I promise that Zammie will be coming back soon! It might not be happy for the next couple BUUUUT it's full of surprises! xxx

Blue: I thank you for reading this instead of beauty sleep - I feel like this is the biggest compliment ever. Zach's just irresistable to everyone! But now he's confessed his love to Cam...there's only one girl for him. Ahahahahah when you said 'this time, no sleeping patches' I laughed out loud because I'd already planned for Zach to sleeping patch Cammie after he kisses her. These two just love knocking each other out! You did guess Catherine! I just like to keep you all on the edge & make you doubt yourself. Teehee! You too! I hope you're keeping safe xxx

Alecks454: Cammie knew of Zach's mother but never completely recognised her. xxx

bookhawks: Nick is from the Heist Society Series which is also written by Ally Carter, same with his mother Amelia. I just thought that they'd fit in nicely into this world. I've used Nick before in my stories but more as an OC. Thank you so much! I'm glad that I've captured the characters' personalities xxx

gymnast1150: Hello lovely! I've missed your reviews! The drama is about to get real serious! Catherine is planning something BIG - which we'll find out a little bit more of next week! It seems as though all of these villains were once working together, but once Cammie escaped, the went their separate ways. You'll find out more about Dr Steve next chapter. Cammie was planning on handing herself in to save Amy. I agree that Zach would stop her, but I think that if Cammie asked him to protect Amy, he would because (a) he loves Cammie & (b) he needs her to trust him again. HE ADMITTED HE LOVES HER! AND HE SHED A TEAR! This is a big step for Zach who always has his guard up, seeing his mother really freaked him out. Not quite the reverse of the tombs scene, but definitely the reverse of all the sleep patch scenes that have happened so far. It's like their couple thing - knocking each other out! More Zammie coming soon! (which sounds strange because they're separated for now but there's a slight time jump and DAMN things get hot *wink wink*). Don't worry at all! I'm so glad that you're back! When your name popped up I couldn't help but smile! :) xxx

Smiles180: The girls didn't come in time...but how will they react when Cam returns? Zach was not happy to see his mother but Catherine knew that. She knows a lot. She is always in control...xxx

Guest: You guessed it! Zach sacrificed himself to save Cammie...it's exactly what Catherine wanted. Oh no! I'm sorry that they won't be happy emotions for a while! Zach has now admitted that he likes Cammie! Progress! xxx

Guest: Thank you! Catherine & Cammie have an interesting past. xxx

RoxieRR: Thank you xxx