Chapter 23 everybody! A big thanks to all those who reviewed the last chapter! This chapter is the longest one yet I think, and this story is now over 40,000 words! Haha I'll admit this one was very easy to write, I hope you guys enjoy ;). I hope everyone's having a great summer!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Gallagher Girls series.

Chapter Twenty-Three

I replayed the video feed for the boys to watch. Zach grabbed the file we had on Jason Snider and held his picture up to the screen as I paused it on the split second Jason had turned to face the camera. Sure enough, the man in the two images was the same.

"It's him." Ryan said.

And all of a sudden, the sad feeling that had been lingering in the room since Ryan had declared his love for Bex vanished. All of us were filled with a new sense of purpose. We had a lead, and there was hope. No longer were we spies with nothing to do, we were spies who were intensely close to completing our mission objective, and more importantly, rescuing someone that we all care about.

"Should we contact Interpol? He's wanted as an international terrorist, so they could go in and arrest him on the spot." Ryan made the first suggestion.

"No," I shook my head. We have to capture Snider some other way. He's the one who can lead us directly to Bex."

"Yeah," Zach agreed. "Plus Interpol is guaranteed to screw things up."

Ryan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Well then, what do we do? We need to get him, but we have to do it quietly. So that rules out storming into his room and out-manning him. Plus, how do we get him out of the building? The whole place is crawling with employees and possible COC agents, and it's not like Snider's going to politely allow himself to be taken hostage?"

Zach and I didn't reply right away. I switched the video back to live feed so we could see if he left the room at all. All of us took a couple of minutes to think about what to do next.

Zach was the first to speak. "What if we made everyone leave the building? Like causing a mass evacuation? We'd be on the street, waiting for Snider, and then in all the chaos we can grab him without anybody noticing?"

"That could work…" I said, then I looked at Ryan to hear what he thought.

A slow smile was spreading across Ryan's face. "Do you guys have any idea how we would cause an evacuation?"

Clearly he had an idea, so Zach and I just shrugged and waited for him to continue. "We have to make it so that the COC agents genuinely believe there's danger and comply with the evacuation. But, we can't make it too serious, or we could end up having people get hurt. Right?"

"Yeah," Zach said, "So what do you have in mind Ryan?" Zach was trying to get him to get to the point.

"Let's just say I know how to create a slight…explosion in the basement. I know a way that will be loud and can be felt, but other than that it shouldn't do too much damage." Ryan said.

I finally smiled too. "Perfect. Do you know a way to make the explosion look like an accident?"

Ryan nodded, "Of course."

"Can we detonate the explosion from a distance? All three of us are going to have to be on the street ready to search for Snider when the evacuation begins." Zach questioned.

"Yeah, I think I can. I'll have to go out to get supplies tomorrow morning. I'm assuming you want to do this as early as possible." Ryan began to pace along the window. "Tonight we can take shifts watching the feed, that way if Snider leaves his room, we can do something about it."

"Good idea," Zach said.

"I'll take first shift." I volunteered. There was no way I would be able to sleep with the recent excitement. My mind was going into overdrive and I wanted to sort out everything.

"I'll take the couch." Zach said. That left Ryan in the single bedroom.

Thirty minutes later I was changed into cotton shorts and an old T-shirt. Zach had changed into sweats and a white wife-beater. He was rummaging around in a closet, trying to find a blanket and an extra pillow. Ryan had already said goodnight and was in the bedroom. Clearly, he was both emotionally and physically exhausted, as we all were, but him especially.

I sat in the desk chair; computers were lined up in front of me showing me all of our bug feeds. Zach had a copy of the building's blueprints pinned up on the wall. We also had aimed heat sensors through the window and they picked up on movement throughout various floors. Wires ran anywhere and everywhere, overall the place looked like an electrical fire waiting to happen, but as long as everything worked, we didn't care.

Zach finally found what he was looking for and made his way to the couch. I spun my chair so I was facing him. He didn't notice me watching him; well he probably did, but he didn't acknowledge it for a while.

He sat down on the couch and ran his hands through his dark hair, and then he finally looked up at me. When he noticed the thoughtful expression on my face he commented. "What are you thinking about?"

I held his gaze as I answered. "Everything. Bex, Jason Snider, tomorrow."

Zach cracked a small smile. "Is that it?"

"No," I shook my head. "I'm thinking about what Ryan said earlier."

Zach didn't even bat an eye. "Me too," he said. I got up and walked over and sat so that I was sitting on the couch with him, but there was space between us. For the moment, I was willing to forget about the computers.

"So what are we going to do about it…about us?" I asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

"This," Zach whispered. And then he moved so the space between us was gone. He gently cupped my face with one hand and braced the other on the back of neck as he moved in to kiss me. There was slight hesitation in his movement, but I eagerly moved forward to meet his lips.

My hands rested on his shoulders. The kiss was slow and meaningful. After getting lost in each other for a few seconds we both pulled back at the same time, and Zach rested his forehead on my own. "Cammie, I never want to lose you. Ever." Zach breathed. He then placed a light kiss on my lips.

"Zach, I'm scared." I told him.

"Me too, but I love you Cammie." My eyes widened. Zach traced my jawline with his fingers. I looked at his beautiful green eyes, and knew exactly what to say.

"I love you too, Zach. I..I don't know what I'd do without you." This time when our lips met, the kiss lasted. Zach pulled me so I was sitting in his lap and his arms wrapped around me. I let one hand run through his soft brown hair. Zach lips trailed along my jawline down to my neck and my collarbone. It felt amazing, and I fought a moan.

"Zach," I breathed his name into his ear. I reached to pull his chin back up so I could put my mouth on his own.

"You're perfect Cammie, you know that?" Zach whispered as we pulled apart for an instant. I allowed my hands to roam all over his muscular chest and Zach let a low sound that sounded like a growl escape. We continued to kiss with a hunger and burning passion for several minutes.

When I pulled back, we were both breathing pretty heavily. Zach looked disappointed and I bit my lip, trying to keep from smiling.

He pulled me close and I rested my head on his chest and listened to the beating of his heart. The moment was so perfect and so intimate that I never wanted it to end. We sat there in perfect silence for a few minutes that were entirely too short.

"You need to sleep." I tilted my head so I could look at him. "And I'm supposed to be keeping watch." Zach didn't say anything; he just looked at me and let his fingers absently played with the ends of my hair. I reached up to give him one last kiss on the cheek.

Reluctantly, I moved off of Zach's lap and his arms released me. I walked over and sat in my chair. I pulled a pair of headphones onto my neck and glanced over my shoulder at Zach. He lay down on the couch and smirked. "Goodnight, Gallagher Girl."

For once, I didn't roll my eyes, but smiled. "Goodnight." I said before turning back to the computer.

My three hour stint seemed to last forever. Not once was there any action in the hallway. The bug in the lobby showed a few couples come in, all of the slightly tipsy, but they seemed harmless and headed straight for the elevators. I listened to the audio frequency, and all of the conversations from that day had nothing to do with Bex. I paid attention to see if I could catch possible code words, but as the hours wore on I found I more and more difficult to focus.

Instead, my mind began to wander. Zach cared about me, he had made that clear. But would we be able to last, unlike last time? I hoped so. I felt more for Zach than I had ever felt for anyone else, including Michael.

I was just about to doze off when I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I turned and saw Ryan standing over me. Quietly, to not wake Zach, he whispered. "Did you find anything?"

I shook my head, "No, nothing." I whispered back.

A slight look of disappointment crossed Ryan's face. But he tried to cover it with a small smile. "Okay."

I stood up and we switched places. I uttered a quick "Thanks Ryan," and then headed to the bedroom. I was exhausted by now and fell asleep almost instantly.

I didn't dream at all that night. I didn't even move until the morning. I felt large arms wrap around me and a deep voice speak. "Wake up Gallagher Girl." I groaned and then realizing what was going on I opened my eyes.

The first thing I saw was Zach's face. For a moment I was caught completely off guard. Then I remembered last night, and felt a smile automatically come over my face.

"Good morning." Zach said and then he leaned in for a kiss. After our lips brushed together, I thought about Ryan.

"Zach, where's Ryan?" I asked.

Zach laughed, "He went to go get supplies for his little explosion." He brushed a stray hair out of my face. I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment longer.

"What time is it?" I opened my eyes.

"A little after five." Zach whispered, before he kissed me again.

I groaned, it was way too early for me to be functioning. "Alright," I said as I sat up and maneuvered out of Zach's arms, as much as it pained me.

I walked out of the bedroom and over to our little setup. I glanced at all the screens and I felt Zach walk up behind me. "Is Snider still in his room?" I asked as Zach wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Yep," Zach began to nuzzle my neck. He planted little kisses everywhere. When he playfully nibbled my ear, I gasped and turned around to face him.

"Zach we need to focus." I said. Zach didn't respond, but leaned into kiss me. Before he could, a knock on the door caused me to jump and Zach pulled back and walked over to open it.

Ryan entered, and must have noticed the slight blush on my face, because as he threw several paper bags on the counter he winked, "Sleep well Cammie?"

The thought that Ryan must have heard Zach and I last night crossed my mind. But I played it cool and answered with a simple "Yeah."

An hour later, the sun had begun to rise over Dublin. I had eaten something and was dressed. We all sipped coffee as the three of us sat around the coffee table. Ryan explained exactly what was going to happen.

"I'll disguise myself as a service guy and feed the manager a line about having to check the air conditioning system to check for a recalled part. The air conditioning system is obviously in the basement, so as soon as the manager grants me access, we're golden. I'll leave the bag with the explosive in the basement, in an air conditioning vent. I can remotely set it off using a cell phone. That way when it goes off, the smoke will be sent through air vents and will make people think the situation is way worse than what it is. Hence, the mandatory evacuation of the building, and we'll be outside waiting." Ryan explained.

I nodded, the plan sounded pretty smart. "Okay, but if anything goes wrong Ryan, we don't have to go through with this, we can't mess this one up. Don't let your feelings for saving Bex mess with your judgment, okay?"

Ryan gave me a look that said he was offended that I would doubt him.

"Okay then, let's go get Snider." Zach said. He stood up and offered a hand to pull me up too.

Well? What'd you think? I'd love to hear thoughts and suggestions!

We made it to 190 reviews...just 10 away from 200! *hint hint*

I only estimate about 7 more chapters for this story, and my goal is to have it basically finished by the end of June. The weekend is really busy for me though, so look for an update next week!

Thanks for being awesome readers!