Phew! I finally have Ch. 14! This week was waaayyyy busier than I expected and I have the next two chapters written, but I still have to type them up! So sorry about the delay, but better late than never. Hopefully I'll be able to crank them out faster in the future, this week was just crazy! Anyway...80 reviews! WooHoo! You guys are awesome, please keep them coming!

Also, if you haven't already, please check out my one-shot of Zammie called Love Reunites!

Well, here it is...I hope you like it as much as you liked the other ones!

Chapter Fourteen

I woke up the next morning to find myself smiling. For some absurd reason I also found myself feeling giddy. Although I would never, ever admit it out loud, I'd had fun dancing with Zach last night. The feeling of being in his arms…that brought up emotions I wasn't ready to deal with.

I turned to look at where Zach was still asleep in his bed. This was the second time I had beat him awake. I didn't feel like waking him up just yet, but I did need to clear my head, today we were going to confront William Taylor.

Rolling out of bed I dug through my suitcase to find a swimsuit. I stuck my tongue out at the black bikini Macey packed. Macey, I wished I could talk to her. I changed in the bathroom, in case Zach woke up. Pulling on a cover-up dress I quietly walked out of the bathroom. Zach was still asleep.

Making my way to the pool, I found the hotel mostly quiet. It was only six thirty, so the pool was empty too. The cool water felt refreshing on my skin as I made my way in.

I began doing laps; back and forth, back and forth. Gallagher didn't have a pool, but the CIA training facility had an Olympic-size one. When I had joined the CIA, I found swimming was a great way for me to escape, and refocus from the craziness.

Gliding through the water, I didn't think. Swimming made my thoughts fall in order, without requiring me to do anything.

As much as I had enjoyed last night I knew that from now on it was unlikely Zach and I would get anymore quiet evenings, which disappointed me. But why? Zach and I could never be more that what we were right now, right? My life had proven that romance never worked out for me.

I pushed off the side of the pool and continued doing laps. Bex, she might be running out of time. I was praying Taylor would have something to lead us to her. And then there was Ryan Solomon, we needed to contact him too.

Last night I had sent Liz the info off the microchip. She was probably thrilled to have something to do to help us, and it saved Zach and I time.

As I neared the end of the pool closest to the door, I heard a noise. I stopped swimming and looked to see the door open and a guy step in. For a moment, I panicked, but I tried to play it cool.

My panic wasn't necessary, for the man who walked in clearly wasn't there to harm me. I studied him. He was probably twenty-five-ish with sandy brown hair. Instantly he reminded me of…Josh. He caught me watching him and walked over to the edge of the pool. I'll admit, he looked good in just swim trunks.

"Hey there," he looked down at me.

Fighting a blush, I responded, "Hey."

A look of surprise crossed his face. "You're American too?"

I nodded and remembered my cover, "Sure am. Where are you from in the States?"

He sat down on the edge and stuck his feet in the water. "Boston," he gave me a smile. "What about you?"

"Virginia," I smiled back, trying to appear like I was flirting with him.

"What brings you here, to Dublin?" he asked.

"I'm doing a semester abroad; I'm a student at UVa." I repeated the lie that was my cover. "Why are you here?"

He made a face, "I'm over here for business, so not quite as fun. But my job does give me chance to see the world, so I'm lucky." He gave a shrug.

I pulled myself out of the pool and sat next to him. I noticed him run his eyes over my bathing suit-clad body, but I wasn't offended. He seemed like a nice-enough guy, so to mention good-looking.

"Wow, that's cool. So what's your name?"

He laughed. "Where are my manners? I'm Nate, Nate Gordon," he offered his hand.

I shook it, "I'm Emily, Emily Thomas."

"So you're a swimmer?" he nodded to the pool.

"Ah, occasionally," I responded, "Water helps me relax."

Nate nodded, "I know what you mean."

I stood up. "Well I should go, you enjoy your swim. It was nice meeting you, Nate."

Nate smiled. "You too, maybe I'll see you around?"

Grabbing a towel, I shrugged and grinned. "Maybe," knowing that I probably wouldn't. Hopefully I'd find Bex and be home as soon as possible.

Unlocking the door to the room Zach and I shared I found a very angry Zach.

When he saw me a look of relief was masked by anger on his face. "Where the hell have you been Cammie?" he demanded.

I looked at him. He must have just gotten out of the shower and gotten dressed because his hair was still wet.

"The pool." I finally responded as if the answer was totally obvious, which it kind of was considering I was wearing a swimsuit and towel.

"And did you think about telling me? For all I knew, you were gone!"

I rolled my eyes. "You were sleeping, Zach. And I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I'm just as good a spy as you are, so why don't you treat me like one?" I met his stare across the room.

"Well Cammie, in case you haven't realized; we're on this mission together. Neither of us knows who's out there; we have to communicate! Did anyone see you at the pool?"

"Yes," I admitted but there was anger in my voice. "But he believed every bit of the lie I told him," I spat.

Zach shook his head. "How do you know? He might report back to someone!"

"And you think that you being there could change that, Zach? I know what I'm doing! You don't have to protect me." I marched over to my bag and grabbed a random outfit. Giving Zach a glare I went into the bathroom and locked the door.

How had things gone from the way they were last night to right now? I wanted to scream in frustration.

After my shower, I was a little more relaxed. Zach and I couldn't let stupid arguments get in the way of our jobs.

Taking a deep breath I walked out of the bathroom. Zach was sitting at the desk looking at satellite images and reading a file.

Looking at me, I could see he wasn't angry anymore. Zach cleared his throat. "Cammie…I'm sorry."

I walked over to the desk and sat on it. Looking into Zach's eyes I spoke. "I am too. You're right, we have to communicate and stick together. And we can't let stuff like this mess us up."

Zach nodded. "Okay and I'll try to allow you to prove yourself to me." He smirked. I punched his arm and smiled.

Zach frowned and rubbed his shoulder.

"So are we ready to talk to Taylor?"

Zach turned to the pictures. "Yep. I've got a good idea of where we're going." He pointed to the house. "I think that I'll pull up to the house and talk to him. Meanwhile you sneak around back and I want you to look through his house to see if he's hiding anything. This way, if everything goes as planned, he will only know about me. He won't have any idea that you are even involved, so he can only blow my cover."

I frowned at the last part but I knew Zach was right. The less Taylor knew the better. "What should I look for?" I asked.

"Clues to who he talks to; who he knows. Anything you think could be related to the Circle." Zach suggested.

Nodding, I took it all in. "Alright sounds good, as soon as I'm done I'll go back to the car and meet you there." I said.

Zach pointed to a small backpack on his bed. "Everything you'll need is in there." Then he smiled, "Let's head out."

Zach and I only took one car. Two cars would have added to the risk, and more riskiness was the last thing we needed.

Driving through the lush Irish countryside outside of Dublin, we only passed a few cars on the winding roads. Unlike previous days, it had been raining and a thick fog began to settle in. While Zach drove, I studied William Taylor's file. Taylor was definitely not the type of guy who you should trust. But I had dealt with many people like that in the sport of espionage.

Taylor's house was easy to miss. In fact, you couldn't even see it from the road. The gravel driveway was only marked with an old mailbox.

Slowly, Zach pulled in. The driveway was about a quarter of a mile long. As we continued, a small cottage appeared in the fog. A thick forest backed up to the house. In all, it looked pretty ominous but the woods would make it easy to sneak around back without being seen.

Zach parked the car. I was in the second row so if Taylor looked out the window it would seem like Zach was alone. Zach looked at me in the rearview mirror.

"You good?"

"Yeah, try to keep him occupied, kay?"

Zach smirked, "Oh I will. I have a feeling Taylor will have a lot to tell us." Then a serious look passed over his face. "Be careful Cam."

I smirked. "I will."

With that, Zach opened his door and got out. I watched as he walked up to the front door. There was a rusty red pickup truck in the driveway, so hopefully Taylor was home.

Zach knocked on the door. It didn't open immediately, but when it did I recognized William Taylor instantly. His hair color was different and he had grown a beard, but I could still tell it was him.

Taylor gruffly exchanged a few words with Zach before allowing him in.

I waited two minutes and forty-five seconds before leaving the car. Swiftly, I made my way into the woods before making an arc around to the back of the house.

The house was one story, but looked like there might have been a basement. The windows on the main floor were right at my eyelevel. I peered in each one. One of them led into what looked like Taylor's bedroom. There was a desk with a laptop and filing cabinets. Trying my luck, I pushed the window up. It easily opened; apparently Taylor wasn't too keen on security.

Being as silent as possible, I pulled myself through the window and into Taylor's bedroom. I left the window open in case I needed to make a quick exit.

My initial reaction to Taylor's room was that it was beyond neat. Everything was in pristine order, something he must have learned from Blackthorne.

Walking over to the desk I looked around. Nothing seemed unusual, except for a blue stick note with an email address and password. I pulled a small camera from my backpack and photographed it. I kept my ears alert for sounds of someone coming but so far there was just low voices that I assumed must be Zach's and Taylor's.

Next, I moved to the filing cabinet. I searched for a folder labeled "Baxter". Somewhat surprisingly, I found one.

But as I opened it up, I heard a loud crash come from a nearby room. The sound was followed by the cry of a deep male voice that caused my blood to run cold.

Ooohhhh I know I'm evil, another cliffy! But I promise you won't be in suspense for long...

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