Wow Chapter 15...it's finally here! I immensely apologize about the delay...but I have it now. Life is definitely settling down so look for an update midway through this week. I have to get back to my regular schedule in order to have this story done by the time GG5 comes out! Thanks for all the reviews and happy reading!

Disclaimer: I'm not Ally Carter...'nuff said.

Chapter Fifteen

I froze, unsure of what to do. Taylor could be overpowering Zach and I couldn't let Zach get hurt. It would be hard to take Taylor by myself thought, especially if he was strong enough to take Zach.

Another low moan came from the nearby room. Making my decision, I quickly grabbed a revolver from the backpack. I made my way to the door and slowly cracked it open. Looking out I saw a long hallway ran the length of the house. On the left was an opening I assumed led to the main living room area.

Taking the risk, I moved down the hallway. But I still had no way to see what was going on the other side of the wall. Cautiously I glanced around the corner. Instantly, I pulled my head back and smiled to myself.

Zach was in no danger, far from it. He had Taylor pinned up against the wall and clearly had the upper hand. I listened to what Zach was demanding.

"Where is she Will? You know I don't play games." Zach growled.

Taylor didn't respond, but must have tried to fight because Zach pushed him against the wall harder.

Groaning, Taylor began to speak. "I'm not sure exactly where she is, but the people operate from an estate 10 miles from here."

"Address." Zach tightened his grip. Taylor swore.

"9352 Derby Way." Taylor said.

Clearly Zach didn't need any help so I quietly made my way back to the room. Based on what I'd heard, Zach probably couldn't get much more info from Taylor so I had to hurry. I took pictures of the "Rebecca Baxter" file and then took a picture of all the names labeled on the other folders.

I looked through his desk, but didn't find anything. I pulled a couple of fingerprints from the room for Liz to ID. I decided that there probably wasn't much else I could do, so I grabbed the backpack and jumped the window. I pulled the window close, then I used the camera to take pictures of the other rooms. That was the best I could do.

Back through the woods, I snuck back to the car. In an instant stroke of genius I pulled out a GPS tracking device and stuck it under the red pick-up truck's bumper.

Looking around furtively I hopped back in the car and waited for Zach to come out. In less than a minute, he appeared. A disgruntled Taylor closed the door behind a smug looking Zach.

Zach got in the car and drove down the driveway. When we were a good distance from the house I climbed into the front seat.

"So what did he tell you?" I asked a smirking Zach.

"Everything."

I couldn't hide my exasperation. "Zach, details."

"Well because I'm so Goode I got him to give an address where she might be."

"Yeah I heard that, what else?" I demanded.

Zach looked surprise. "You did?"

"Yeah when I heard a crash I figured Taylor was kicking your ass so I came out to see if you needed rescuing." It was my turn to smirk.

Zach shook his head. "And you yell at me for not having confidence in you."

"Whatever Zach, so what else did you find out?"

"Taylor says that they still have Bex alive form what he last heard. He said that the estate has been a main COC safe house for forever, but if they have Bex there, they won't keep her there much longer." Zach turned to me as he said the last part.

I kept my face neutral, accepting the facts as they came. "Is that it?" I questioned.

Zach hesitated. "He said there was no way that we would be able to save her. He said that Bex knows too much, and the Circle is keeping a tight grip on her."

"Well," I smirked. "We knew too much, but we got out."

Suddenly my cell phone began to ring. I glanced at the caller ID – it was Liz.

"Hello."

"Hey Cam."

"Liz, what did you find?"

"Well, I mean Bex had access to a lot of files so it's hard to be sure if there was on in particular. Plus Bex was careful; I mean she covered her tracks with everything – which makes it so hard to believe that she was tracked down." Liz rambled.

"Liz," I said.

"Right sorry," she continued, "Anyway, one thing stood out. Bex did extensive research regarding an estate outside of Dublin."

"Let me guess, 9352 Derby Way."

"Why yes," Liz deflated when I guessed her news.

"Good Liz. Would you send all of Bex's intel on that over. Zach and I will be surveiling it tonight." Out of the corner of my eye Zach looked at me.

"Sure thing, be safe Cam."

"Bye Liz."

Closing the pone I looked at Zach.

Without looking at me he smirked. "Sounds like its stakeout time, Gallagher Girl."

Surveillance is just about the most important thing spies do. Ops couldn't happen without it and spying wouldn't be, well spying, if we didn't carry out surveillance. And surveillance is fun, if you're with someone you work well with…

But I didn't have time to worry about all that just yet because stakeouts require a lot of pre-work. Including packing highly classified devices, dressing in layers (most of them black), planning escape routes, and planning for meals (because spies get hungry too) and researching.

Our plan was to spend the night watching the mansion. If we were going to go in to find Bex, we had to know something about the layout of the building, amount of security, ect. Too be honest the idea of invading an enemy's castle, literally, didn't scare me nearly as much as the idea of spending a night with Zach in a car.

I mean, I had learned that dealing with really hot guys is a job hazard of being a spy. But Zach, he and I had a past, and after our dancing and fighting I had no clue where we stood.

Trying to externally hide my frustration, I focused on what I was doing. I was in charge of loading gear into a black duffle. Mentally reviewing my checklist, I pulled out my phone and fired a quick message to Liz letting her know what we were doing.

Liz,

Zach and I are heading to Westerby Mansion to conduct surveillance. Expect a call-in from us tomorrow.

Zach and I had spent all afternoon preparing and it was early evening. I was finally ready; dressed in all black and my hair in a high ponytail.

Again, we took Zach's car because it was black and a SUV.

Westerby Mansion was built in 1807 for the rich Westerby family. Its main building was over 15,. and there were several barns and quarters for the help. It was unknown how long the house had been a meeting place for the COC, but I had a suspicion that the walls of the mansion had seen plenty of evil pass through in their time.

I pondered all of this as we drove through the Irish countryside. The sun was still not visible because of the clouds overhead, but I knew that it was around sunset.

"Here," I pointed a road out to Zach. Obviously we couldn't take the main entrance, but I had found a back road that would get us on the property.

Zach turned off the road and made the car slowly creep down a wash boarded path.

After ten minutes and two left turns, the mansion came into sight. The trees hid us well, even though at first glance the place looked deserted.

The night grew darker as I looked through a pair of binoculars. There were fresh indentations from ties on the moist driveway. And through a curtain on the east side of the house, I saw a light turn on.

After my preliminary observations, Zach and I decided to sit back and just watch.

Not even half an hour later I felt my stomach begin to beg for food.

I turned to Zach who was still intently watching the grounds.

"What food did you bring?"

Zach smirked at me, "You're already hungry?"

I glared, "Yes. Now what do you have?"

Zach's smirk grew bigger, reaching behind my seat he literally pulled out a picnic basket. Where he got a picnic basket, I have no idea.

"Well Gallagher Girl," he opened it up and pulled out two beers and several white boxes with Chinese symbols on them. "It looks like its Chinese for dinner."

I shook my head and smiled. Then Zach handed me chopsticks. I. Hate. Chopsticks. I know several ways to kill men with them, but actually eating with them…not my forte.

But I was hungry so I grabbed a box, sniffed it and dug in, rather unsuccessfully. Zach just watched me with an amused smirk. Finally, he handed me a fork and I took it with relief. Several minutes later, there was two empty bottles and the only food left was soggy spring rolls that neither Zach nor I dared to eat.

It was completely dark now, and there were several lights on in the mansion, but so far we hadn't seen anybody.

There was a deaf silence in the car and I felt like filling it, but wasn't sure how. Courage finally came to me – and I turned to Zach, taking my eyes off the mansion.

"Zach why weren't you at Joe's funeral?" I noticed a twitch in his hardened jaw line. He too, tore his eyes away from the house and met my eyes.

"I just…couldn't. Joe was the one person who made it out of the Circle, and the thought of him begin gone, scared me." I felt Zach's emotions as he spoke and I knew it was the truth.

"It's okay to be scared Zach. We all are." I responded.

Zach nodded, and then reached toward the basket.

He pulled out a small white bag. "Fortune cookies." He explained with a small smile. He extended the bag toward me.

I leaned forward and grabbed one Zach nodded, "Go ahead."

I broke the cookie and laughed as I read the message. "A thrilling time is in your immediate future. I wonder what that could mean."

Zach laughed too. Then he opned his.

"Look ahead to new beginnings." A weird look came over his face, as if he wasn't quite sure how to take it. To be honest, I was a little hesitant to say anything. Zach gave a small smile. "I guess we'll see, right?"

I shrugged. "It's just a fortune cookie." Zach didn't reply, so we both watched the house as time passed by slowly.

"Tell me a secret, Cam." Zach said.

I gave him a confused look, "Why?"

"Because we all have secrets."

I thought a moment, not sure how to respond. "I don't think I ever really loved Mike."

Zach showed no reaction, like maybe what I'd said wasn't really a secret. "Tell me a secret, Zach."

There was another pause as Zach thought. "As a kid, all I ever wanted was a dog."

I stifled a laugh, but let a smile cross my face. "As a kid, all I ever wanted was to be able to fly, so that I could see my parents when they were away," I confessed.

The two of us sat there, swapping secrets, some pointless, some revealing. The moon came out overhead and the woods were illuminated in its glow.

After a good bit of laugher, Zach became serious. "Cam, there's something that you should probably know," he began. But my attention was ripped away from him when I saw movement in one of the windows.

"Shhh," I breathed as I lifted the night-vision binoculars. All I could see were shadows through the curtains, but I could tell there were four people. Three were big males, and one…one was a female. But she was bound and carried herself as if she was injured. "I think I see Bex," I gasped.

So...what did you think? Review please! Ideas are still welcome!