Oh look who's re-awoken from a huge hiatus.

I'm so sorry, but I have warned people on my profile that I'm really bad at updating!

So here it is. Three more chapters and we're a third of the way through :O

(Thank you Lol, Irish Gallagher Girl and Zach-Goode' for your reviews!)

This is unedited so spelling errors may occur!

Getting up was easier than usual this morning. The bed was cold and the urge to wrap up in something warmer than just the duvet and pyjamas Zach had put me in last night was strong.

That and the smell of breakfast cooking in the kitchen.

My stomach rumbling and the chill of the air in the bedroom urged me forward to the kitchen, where I found Zach mixing pancake mix.

I hadn't really looked in the kitchen yesterday since our primary concern was planting the bugs in the target's room and listening out for anything that may reveal who the guy is. It was spacious, with black marble worktops and shiny new appliances. The colour scheme didn't really fit in with the rest of the room's white and very pale pink, which made it stand out even more. The hob was on an island in the middle of the space which is where Zach had set up a pan that was already heating.

He looked up and grinned, "Morning sleepyhead. Breakfast will be done in a minute"

Seeing Zach's relaxed demeanour reminded me of the events of last night. The nightmare, his comfort and his question about the flinching.

He knows.

"Um...Zach, about last night...?" I started but couldn't finish.

"Don't worry about it, just sit down and relax a little"

His tone was careful, as if he was trying not to push any of my buttons. Usually this annoyed me, but for once I was grateful that someone was looking out for me. I pulled a stool out from the breakfast bar and sat down on it, watching Zach cook us breakfast.

Zach ladled the mix into a pan and got a spatula ready to flip the pancakes. After about a minute, he flipped them over and let them cook on the other side.

"They look great" I said to Zach.

"Thanks Gallagher Girl" He smiled at me genuinely.

Looks like the nickname's back.

Zach put the cooked pancakes on a plate, drizzled them with maple syrup and handed them over to me with cutlery. I tucked in hungrily whilst Zach poured out coffee and got the next batch ready of his gorgeous pancakes.

"Never knew you were a good cook" I said through a mouthful.

Zach laughed, "Why thank you"

I polished my plate off and wiped my mouth clear of any stray maple syrup. Zach loaded his own plate with pancakes and placed two more on my plate.

"As much as I love these beautiful pancakes of yours, wouldn't it have been easier to order room service?" I asked Zach.

"If we ordered room service, there's a ten times more likely chance that our cover could be blown" He said as if stating the obvious.

"How? This is just a surveillance op"

"Well do you know all of the staff here personally, and trust them with your life?" Zach raised his eyebrow.

"Well...no"

"Exactly. Plus, I have a feeling this is more than just a simple surveillance op"

I laughed, "Of course it is, the director wouldn't put me on an op that's too-" I stopped myself before I revealed anything.

Shit. Shit shit shit he's going to know.

"Too?" Zach continued.

I felt myself going red. The fear and panic was settling in and I wanted to scream.

"Too...", I tried to think of something realistic but nothing sprang to mind, "Tooooo...strenuous! Erm, I broke my ankle on my last op and it was only a month or two ago so he wouldn't want me to overwork it right now"

Phew.

Zach nodded and seemed to believe it, "Oh okay, I'm sorry about your ankle"

I smiled in relief, "Thanks. I'm going to go and get changed now, if that's okay?"

Zach nodded again, seemingly distracted. I walked out of the kitchen and back into our bedroom.

A shower and a clothes change later, it was time to check the bugs.

As much as I didn't want to go back home right now, I wanted this op to be over quickly. Zach was starting to suspect things and asking questions that were almost impossible to wriggle out of successfully.

Every single time I avoided his questions or gave rushed answers, his suspicions were growing and I was beginning to get nervous.

So as I approached the laptop, the only hope I was hanging onto was that there would be incriminating evidence against this guy and we could report it and close the case.

The laptop lit up as I opened it and showed an empty hotel room.
The software for the bugs allowed me to rewind the recorded footage and watch what happened last night. I started at 2am and worked onwards.

Our guy was sleeping in his bed and so I slowly started fast forwarding the footage. Just at 6x, then 10x when the footage still remained the same.

A small light flashed and I quickly paused and rewound the the footage to the exact moment. At 3:47:33am the target received a text message.

The name that flashed up on the screen was hard to read, but I'd just managed to see a name through the grainy picture.

The name that flashed up was someone who I already knew - Catherine Goode. And I had a funny feeling that she was Zach's mother.

Oh my gosh. It's Catherine!

QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER: What do you think Catherine is doing texting our target?

(This is becoming a thing now)

Please also let me know how you're finding the story. I obviously don't know what it's like to be the reader of this story and I need to know if it needs more clarity.

Danke schön!

- Charlotte.