Three days later, I hadn't spoken to Zach at all. Things between us were at an all-time low – something that was fine by me. It was better without the subtle flirting and haunting memories that aroused whenever I said anything to him.

I woke up in the morning and took a quick shower. I put on tight, vintage-looking jean shorts and loose white peasant top. I put my hair into a messy ponytail and slid my feet into golden goddess sandals. I heard Zach get up while I was putting my earrings in and I heard him turn on the TV as I was putting golden hoop earrings in.

I walked out and continued my routine of ignoring him.

There was a knock on the door. Zach and I glanced at each other in alarm and I decided to keep my cover.

"Who is it?" I asked in a singsong voice.

Zach glared at me. "Why would you let them know we're in here?" he whispered angrily. I rolled my eyes at him.

There was a gruff reply. "Agent Morgan and Agent Goode." Heavy footsteps began walking away from our door.

I looked at Zach curiously.

"Go get it, then," Zach said in a "you're-stupid" voice.

I walked cautiously to the door and finally, with a sharp breath, I opened it.

There was no one there. I looked up and down the hallway even though I already knew nobody was there. That was the first thing I registered. The second thing I registered, as soon as I stepped out, was that there was a white envelope at my feet labeled "Alyssa Carter and Justin Clay."

I closed the door quietly behind me as I walked in, fumbling with the paper and finally opening it. Inside were two tickets to a formal ball in celebration of some politician.

"What is it?" Zach asked.

"See for yourself," I snapped.

He raised his eyebrows and snatched the tickets out of my hand. "Finally talking to me, honey?" he said drily. I watched as he read what the tickets said and his expression became surprised.

"We need to buy me a dress," I said matter-of-factly. I guessed, now that I was talking to him, I would finally begin my plan of taking everything professionally. No strings attached.

"Alright then, let's go. The ball's tomorrow," he said.

I turned around and we went down to the lobby, the tension in the elevator so thick I could almost taste it.

We walked around for a while until we entered a cute little boutique with formal ball gowns. Zach and I assumed our cover of the cute couple Alyssa and Justin.

"Isn't this one beautiful, Justin?" I gushed over a black strapless dress. After trying it on, we decided to buy it because the shop was getting slightly more crowded.

We walked outside and gave each other a little kiss, and, walking hand-in-hand, we returned to the hotel.

"This is it," Zach said to the cab driver as he pulled up to a majestic building where people were already entering.

"Thank you," I said, paying the driver. He sped off and Zach and I turned to the building. I glanced at Zach, who was looking handsome in a tuxedo. No – don't think that, Cammie. I looked away.

The full moon shown brightly, lighting up the marble steps up to the fancy palace (seriously, it looked like a palace). Zach and I joined arms and I did my best to cover up the bitter expression I had had on my face all day thinking about Zach. I might be more willing to let him explain his story and forgive him if he stopped lying to me and saying he hadn't cheated.

We approached the building after we put our Comms Units in. I gasped as soon as we entered. It was gorgeous – crystal chandeliers hung from the endless ceiling and the cream colored walls were complemented by golden designs and flowers that decorated the room. There was a low hum of chatter and by the right of the room stood a table complete with every appetizer you could think of. Tables covered the right corner of the large ballroom, but even with a large amount of them, a vast amount of the room was available for attendees.

"Who are we looking for?" I said in an undertone to Zach.

He slipped out a small piece of paper with headshots of three men with sullen faces. "Any of these three. They're our main targets."

I nodded and smiled at him (for the cover – believe me, I wouldn't be even going near him if it weren't for this mission). He leaned down and kissed me.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom," I said quickly, pulling away from him.

"Alright, dear," he said, waving me away. I hurried away from him and walked to the bathroom.

Since I had just made that up to get away from him, I paused in front of the mirror. My dress was gorgeous – it was strapless with diamonds lining the top. My hair was in an intricate braided-bun with two curled strands hanging down, something my friend Macey had taught me. I had successfully applied the "smoky-eye" makeup perfectly so my blue eyes were more noticeable. I gave myself a little smile in the mirror and turned around and opened the door.

Almost immediately I ran into someone. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" I gushed in Alyssa's voice but stopped short when I saw who it was.

I froze. It was one of the guys Zach showed me. He had tan skin and looked to be about forty years old. His face was lined with stubble and he smelled obnoxiously like disgusting cologne. He wore a cheap-looking suit and his teeth were yellowed and crooked.

"It's okay, darling," he said with a thick Russian accent. His voice was deep and gravelly and hurt my eyes to listen to.

"No, no, no it's not," I said quickly. I was rambling. I couldn't let him get away from me – there were thousands of people here all moving and it might be impossible to find him again. "Can I get you a drink?" I pointed over to the bar area at the other side of the ballroom.

He hesitated for a moment and glanced at the ceiling, but relented. "Okay," he said. I followed him to the bar and didn't see Zach.

"Zach, I found one," I said quietly into my Comms Unit as I pushed through a crowd of people. "Come to the bar."

The man and I sat at two empty stools and ordered our drinks. "So, how come you're here?" I asked nonchalantly. I couldn't let him get onto me. I glanced to my left and right but Zach wasn't showing up.

"Een my country I am very vealthy," he said, his dark eyes glinting at me menacingly. I nodded as though he wasn't a scary man who was probably thinking of ways he could kill everyone in this room.

"Really?" I said, still searching the room. Zach wasn't showing up. I was beginning to get worried. He hadn't said anything into his Comms Unit even when I had spoken into mine.

I know it's not professional to be freaking out about this as a trained spy, but this was my first mission and the man sitting next to me was looking at me with a sinister smile. I desperately wanted Zach to show up and use his smooth talking to get me out of this situation.

"Vhat's a pretty little girl like you doing here?" the man asked, taking a sip of his wine that he had ordered.

I flipped around from my search to face him. "My mom and dad are soooo rich. I got an invite and totally wanted to come. This place is so amazing," I said.

I was beginning to get even more creeped out because this guy wasn't looking at my eyes anymore. He was looking at my chest and a look of lust was beginning to come over his eyes.

I pretended to drop my bracelet. "Oops! Let me just grab that," I said. I knelt down and whispered into Comms, "Zach, please, come to the bar now."

I stood up and smiled at this guy.

Fifteen minutes later, it was clear Zach wasn't showing up. I didn't know where he was or what was going on, but it wasn't that hard to walk around a group of people to come to the bar.

"It's so loud here," I yelled over the chattering. "Let's go somewhere more private."

He nodded excitedly and my insides began squirming in disgust. But hey, if I was going to get any information on this group, I was going to have to do something. And if Zach wasn't going to be here to help me, I would have to do whatever it took to succeed in this mission. If that meant pretending to be interested in an evil guy twice my age, then hey, I would have to do it for our country, right?

The man brought me to the side of the ballroom and opened one of four doors that brought us to a large hallway. A few people were out here talking and eating appetizers off of plates so the guy brought me to a dark, empty room.

"I know you're here for something else, aren't you?" I asked seductively, figuring I had to get this over with as soon as possible.

"Clever little girl," he answered in the same tone, moving closer to me. I tried to hide my disgust.

"Where are you going after this?" I asked, wrapping my arms around his waist and batting my eyelashes.

"Ze fourth floor, girlie," he said as he leaned in toward me. He pressed his lips to mine and I shuddered as the overwhelming fumes of cigarette smoke engulfed me, but I kissed him back.

In the back of his pocket I had felt something – a card. In my training I had been taught that small cards like these could hold lots of information and could grant access to special rooms. If I could just hold out I would be able to grab it and Zach and I could probably leave (if I ever found Zach).

I tensed as this gross guy began putting his arms around me and feeling me up but I braced myself and knew that I couldn't miss this chance. I pulled his shirt up slightly so that I could actually get my hand into his pocket.

It took every ounce of courage in me – but I stuck my hand into his pocket and in on swift movement pulled it out. He didn't even notice.

He pushed me onto one of the couches there and was beginning to pull up my dress. "Stop," I breathed, finally able to pull myself away.

"Why should I?" he asked and began trying to unzip me.

"I said stop," I repeated, stronger this time. I pushed him away from me.

"I don't take orders," he said angrily. "Kiss me."

I straightened my dress again and slipped the card into an unnoticeable pocket at the waist of the dress. "I have a boyfriend," I said weakly.

"He doesn't have to know," the man said, grinning evilly. He lunged for me but I dodged it and he ran straight into the hard part of the velvet couch.

He stood up and glared at me. "You'll regret that, darling," he growled. He pulled back his fist but I kicked him in the stomach with my heel.

I assumed my fighting stance as he caught his breath. He looked up at me in surprise and pulled a knife out of his jacket. He slashed it at me but I ducked. He ran toward me but I swerved a chair and hit him by the side.

"Who are you?" he gasped in surprise.

I advanced at him and punched him square in the jaw. He quickly recuperated and kicked me in my shin, hard. His shoes had a thin layer of metal at the bottom. I yelled out in pain and clutched my shin. He took my moment of weakness punched me in the jaw and pushed me to my knees. He grabbed my arms and twisted them behind me but I leaned forward and shoved my foot to his groin area.

He yelped out in pain and I stood up quickly. He held out his knife again and slashed at me, but this time I wasn't fast enough. It grazed my cheek and I felt a sharp pain. He pushed me back to the ground, only this time I was sprawled on my back and he held me in that position by placing himself on top of me.

"You die," he growled. He raised his knife and swung it down and I flipped to the side and his knife stuck into the ground. While he struggled to pull it out, I attempted to wriggle out of his grasp.

He noticed me and glared at me. He raised his fist and punched me in the jaw again, much harder this time. I let out a yelp of pain. "Justin!" I yelled desperately.

I heard singing and music and laughing from the ballroom distantly, and assumed that a band had begun to play and the main course was out. That meant that all the people in the hallway had probably retreated into the ballroom.

The man was laughing now, probably realizing the same thing I was.

"No one here to save you?" he asked.

"Get away from me," I said.

This caused another series of laughter. "You will be dead soon enough."

I flipped over quickly and suddenly he was the one under me. "I don't think I will," I told him. I punched him in the temple and watched as he lost consciousness.

I stood up and looked at the window, where my reflection was. "Shit," I whispered. I couldn't go back into the ballroom, not like this. I had bruises on my face and my hair was completely ruined. My makeup was slightly smudged and my dress had a rip at the bottom. "That's just lovely," I said under my breath.

Meanwhile, Zach still hadn't said anything into the Comms Unit. "Zach, are you there?" I snapped into mine. Just as I suspected – no reply.

I knew I needed to get out of the room. I took one last glance at the man and turned toward the door. I opened it a slight crack and there was no one in the hallway. I took a left to where an elevator was.

I decided I was going to go to the fourth floor, where the man had told me he would be going. I wasn't going to leave without Zach (he was my mission partner) so I had to start somewhere. I pressed the up button and stepped onto the empty elevator, my heels making a loud clacking noise with every step I took.

I was beginning to feel annoyed at Zach. He couldn't even take the time from whatever he was doing to give me even one word?

There was a ding and the elevator opened to a completely different-looking hallway.

Everything in the hallway was paper white. The floor, ceiling, walls, and doors were shiny and white and clean. I felt out of place in my messed up outfit and tan skin. I pulled off my shoes so that I could walk silently.

"Zach, please, I need you to say something," I whispered.

Up at the end of the hallway, a door was opening. I gasped and dove into the room to my right (luckily the door was unlocked).

"Wow," I breathed. This room was dark and small but in the center stood a huge computer screen.

As I was trying to decipher numbers and pictures that kept flashing on the page, Zach finally said something into my Comms.

"Where are you?" he asked urgently. It sounded like there was a lot of background noise but it didn't sound like the music in the ballroom.

"Fourth floor, first door on the right," I replied quickly and quietly.

"Cammie, we need to get out of here," he said a minute later.

"Zach, get up here," I said. I pulled the card out of my pocket with shaky hands. I whipped my head around at a sound, but there was nothing there.

Fourteen minutes and twenty three seconds later the door to my room opened. I turned around, prepared to attack, but Zach stood in front of me.

"Where have you been?" I hissed.

"Doing my job! I lost you after you went to the bathroom," he told me.

"Why didn't you say anything into your Comms?" I demanded.

"I couldn't! I met one of the guys we were after and it would look stupid if I just started randomly talking to my wrist!"

"I ran into one, too, but I was able to talk to you!" I snapped.

Again, I was getting more and more annoyed at him. Here he was, perfectly clean and nothing messed up and getting mad at me, when I had gone through a fight with a Russian guy and gotten a valuable card!

"Why are you in here?" Zach asked his voice softer.

"There might be something in this computer," I said sharply.

He smirked at me. "Okay, then, go ahead. Find it."

I rolled my eyes and turned to the computer. "Okay. I got an intelligence card, by the way," I added. "And what did you find?"

"I kept my cover! Based on how bad you look –"

"Thanks, Zach," I cut in.

"Based on how bad you look," he continued, "you let them know we're here."

"He's unconscious right now," I said defensively. "At least I did something!"

"Just go on the computer and let's leave."

I walked over to the computer and began typing rapidly, trying to remember every hacking tip I learned from Liz. After about four tries, I cracked the code for the passwords. "We're in," I whispered excitedly.

There was a list of people that were part of this group. I gasped as one name bounced out at me from the page.

"What? Who is it?" Zach asked me worriedly.

"John Wilden," I murmured.

"Who?" Zach asked, sounding confused. I turned around to face him.

"My ex-boyfriend after you."

Wow! First of all, I'd like to thank all the reviews I've been getting. I really appreciate it even though I said I'd update whether I'm getting reviews or not. This is a really long chapter (I think, right?) and I'm finally trying to get some more action into it. (Oh, and also, as I'm rereading it, the name John Wilden sounds familiar, so if it's from another book or anything I don't take credit for it and it's not the same person)

I got a few anonymous reviews with some really good suggestions, and I'd like to thank you, you know who you are :)

I'd also like to thank everyone who's added this story to favorites and/or subscribed to it. You guys are really great!

Please Inbox me any ideas you have because right now I'm not sure what direction I want the story to go! I'd love it if you would help, you'll get a shout-out!

I'd also like to thank blubrryblu for giving me a review that motivated me to write this chapter! I was actually not going to review so quickly because I didn't want to rush my writing and have it be horrible and stupid but I'm actually quite pleased with how it turned out! Thank you all soooo much!

Next Chapter: Sorry, but I'm not sure what will happen. I think there will definitely be some drama about Cammie's last boyfriend, don't you think?

Fun Fact: The 5th Gallagher book will be called "Out Of Sight, Out Of Time." (Sorry if you already knew that - I just found out today! :)