CHAPTER 13

Zach POV

At 8.30 pm Serie Mulana knocked on our door. We looked at each other briefly before I got up to get the door. At the door I met a man who I had seen from the photos of our briefings, he was tall but buff, his tanned skin slightly dark. I greeted him softly and led him inside. He looked around at the crew who looked up briefly as he entered and then went back to the opera. Cammie stood up and walked up to him.

"Mr Mulana, so glad you could come," Cammie said smoothly, her slightly Italian accent kicking in. He smiled at her and stuck out a hand. Cammie grasped it lightly and daintily shook hands.

"Mr Mulana, I am Daniel Nathans and this is my girlfriend, Leanne Howards," I said as I shook his hand. He looked back to Cammie and sighed.

"She is already taken? Ah, you are a lucky one, my boy," Mulana's accent was slightly South African, and he smiled at Cammie as she blushed lightly. She batted her eyelashes. I tried not to laugh.

"I know, she is beautiful, is she not?" I replied taking her hand gently. She smiled at me lightly. Mulana laughed softly.

"Ah young love," he said surveying the two of us before apparently satisfied and grasped my hand and a small envelope appeared in my hand. He nodded at the turn of us and abruptly turned with a smile and walked out the door. A silent breath was let out of the room, as everyone relaxed slightly. It was over, short and brief. Jonas and Liz started up their computer as I slowly opened the envelope and took out a single strip of paper. On it:

Meet me at the abandoned factory near the Canals Monday, 7 pm. -Mulana

That was it. The whole thing in 11 words. Liz scanned the piece of paper and changed the 7 to an 9.

"Is 2 hours enough time?" Liz asked, slightly worried. I looked at Cammie.

"It should be enough. It can't be too long otherwise someone could get a message to party number 2," Cammie said thoughtfully, staring at the piece of paper. Jonas printed off a copy. We resealed the envelope. Everyone in the room stared at it in silence. Finally Cammie said what was on everyone's mind.

"Phase two."

…

Cammie POV

We watched the opera in a silence, each thinking about something different. I held Zach's hand lightly, my eyes on the opera but my heart elsewhere. I thought about the envelope hidden under my skirt and then about the slip of paper which was now in shreds at the bottom of the bin. I thought about a lot of things. I weighed out our chances and realized that we had an 84% chance of pulling it off. I smiled at Zach who smiled back. My mental clock was counting down to when party 2 would arrive. I didn't know what to expect. A small Asian man, possibly or maybe a very tall Latin American? This time however, at 9.15 pm, we heard him come up, his footsteps a soft thud. We looked at each other and took a breath. It was time to play. I was still holding Zach's hand when the man came into view. Suddenly I couldn't breathe. My heart stopped. My world crashed. And then I realized that the previous 16% failure was going to increase a lot. The man was still on his way up and I felt like screaming.

"What's the matter?" Zach looked at me, wincing slightly. I looked down at our hands. I was clutching him so hard that his hand was starting to go purple. I let go and curled my hand into a fist, my nails cut into my palm but I didn't care.

"What is it?" Zach was getting steadily more worried. And yet I couldn't reply. I couldn't move. I saw the man, his dark blonde hair slightly ruffled, his clear brown eyes dark and unforgiving. I bit my tongue and felt blood.

I felt like I was drowning, in a memory that could kill me instantly.

I looked at the man who was at moments from the door. Even though he was wearing very different clothes I could still remember him. I would always remember him.

There was a knock at the door.

I. Couldn't. Breathe.

Because the man that haunted my dreams was at the door. The man that pulled the trigger that killed Jonathan Ross was about to enter the room.