Zach's POV
'Ladies and Gentlemen please prepare for our arrival into Rome' The pilot's voice comes through the overhead speakers as I fasten my seat belt and look at Italy racing passed my window.
'You've been quiet this whole time.' Macey nudges me in my side. 'Shame really, I would have loved to see you explode!' Her eyes twinkle as she checks her flawless makeup in her compact mirror.
'Macey…' I pause, unsure if I should tell her my feelings, I was never good at sharing my feelings with Cammie; perhaps that's why she never came back.
'I know. We'll get her back...then I'm going to kill her.' she turns her face away from me and rummages through her carry-on. If you know Macey then you know this is a conversation stopper.
Once we got through the terminal and passed baggage claim we made our way to the limo that Macey had organised for us. The sun was beaming down on us while we drove through the streets of Rome. The girls were busy chatting about what they were going to do whilst here. None of us could bring ourselves to talk about Cammie right away. I had my eyes fixated on the window, looking out. Hoping.
As we slowed down at a set of lights, that's when I noticed her. Cammie. Blink and you would miss her, that's her job as a pavement artist anyway, to be undetected. Somehow I always manage to see her, even if it is too late. Her hair was back to dirty blond and bunched into a high ponytail. She wore a plain blue summer dress that complimented her toned, lean figure. She topped off her look with a simple pair of trainers, dark tinted sunglasses and a beige trench coat that looked far too hot to wear in summer.
'Gallagher Girl' I exhaled as she started to disappear down a street. She hadn't seen me. This was my chance. I leaped out of the car ignoring Bex and Macey calling my name and swearing at me.
I sped through the bustling crowd always keeping Cammie in my line of sight. She was moving at a steady fast pace through the streets till suddenly she turned down a narrow side street away from the noise of the city. I waited 5.6 seconds before following behind, careful not to make any loud noises (though I'm sure the thumping in my heart would be heard from miles away). She still hadn't noticed me.
'Gallagher Girl' I said, my voice slightly catching. She stopped dead in her tracks and spun to face me. Her eyes were concealed by her sunglasses and her mouth was set in a firm line, I couldn't read her like I used to.
'Zach? What are you doing here?' She asked taking off her glasses and stared into my eyes.
'Spy' I pointed to myself and smirked. Usually she would roll her eyes and get annoyed, but now she just stared at me as if she was seeing a ghost. 'Come on Gallagher Girl, where's that eye roll? Or cute little blush?' My smirk grew wider as I took a step forward.
'Stay back.' Inside her trench coat was a gun, she held it in her right hand and pointed it at my chest. My heart stopped momentarily. Her arm didn't shake, her eyes locked on mine like steel. Instantly my smirk vanished and my hands went up in defense.
'Easy Gall-' I took another step forward
'Don't call me that.'
'Fine.' I took another step forward, this time she took one step back.
'Stay away from me Zach' her voice broke slightly. This gave me some hope. I took another step forward.
'You won't hurt me Cam. I know you.' My voice was hard and my eyes lasered in on hers. Looking directly into her eyes, the barrier she put up started to slip, tears began falling in the corner of her eyes. The gun was still pointed at my chest. She shook her head.
'No, you don't.' With that she lowered her gun slightly and fired a shot into my left leg. I crumpled in pain clutching the wound. As I looked up, Cammie was already gone. I heard footsteps coming up from behind.
'ZACH!' Bex shouted running towards me. 'Liz he's been shot.' She said into her comm unit. Bex came over and started examining the wound. 'We need to get away before the police arrive, Macey, grab one arm.' Before I could think, my arms were slumped over Bex and Macey's shoulders as we half-walked-half-limped back to the limo. No one was staring at us as we made our way through the streets, the distant sound of sirens could be heard. As soon as the door was shut, we were speeding to our location. I laid on the back seats breathing heavily. In my head, the conversation I just had was looping over and over again.
'How are you feeling?' Liz asked
'Pretty good considering she had the gun aimed at my chest' was my response. I looked at the girls, they were shocked, something you don't normally see with trained spies. For some reason I just had to smirk. This in turn prompted Bex to punch me on my shoulder.
'What the hell were you thinking Zach?' The venom in her voice matched the anger in her eyes.
'First of all, OW. Second, I don't know. I saw her and I though…' I didn't finish my sentence, looked out the window. The other's knew what I was thinking.
10 minutes later we were at our location. A small bungalow on the outskirts of the city. A perfect place to lay low. Bex and Macey were helping me out of the car as Liz bounced on ahead knocking on the door. The door opened revealing a large silhouette. The figure let Liz passed and as we got closer, the light shone perfectly to reveal my best friend Grant.
'Jez Zach! Which one did you piss off this time?' He smiled.
'Shut up Grant' All three of us replied in unison.
'Okay, Okay' he backed off allowing us to squeeze through the door and as we moved into the front room, Jonas and Nick were clearing their things off the sofa to allow me to lie down.
'Right, let me have a look at this.' Jonas stepped towards me and examined my wound. 'Hmm' His brow furrowed and a look of confusion set on his face.
'Hmm what?' I snapped
'Well, whoever shot you was a poor aim, they missed all the major arteries. It's just a flesh wound, you'll be fine'
'Thanks' i dipped my head, not wanting to look at anyone. Silence passed.
'This is bullshit' Bex's British accent sliced through the air. 'Cammie is one of the best shooters ever! There's no way that her missing was by accident.'
'Hold up. Cammie? As in our Cammie?' Grant asked
'Correct.'
'Wow, you must have pissed her off big time'
'What happened Zach?' Macey asked, perching on the armrest.
'She asked what I was doing here…' I told them the rest of the story, every detail, every movement. They sat their in silence. Liz was taking notes. When I finished I stared out the window, something I've been doing a lot recently.
'She didn't miss' Macey spoke up. Everyone's attention turned to her.
'How so?' I could feel the anger start to rise inside of me.
'As you said yourself, her hand was steady and she lowered her weapon. If she wanted to shoot you in the chest she would have'
'Thanks McHenry' I spat, my anger was now bubbling
'I mean, Cammie doesn't miss. Never has, never will. She didn't want to hurt you Zach. She probably didn't want you following her. She's scared.' Suddenly, I wasn't angry, I felt cold. Macey was right. If Cam wanted to kill me she would have. Cammie cared, even if she didn't think she did. Then a thought occurred.
'She said that I didn't know her' I said deflated. I got up and walked down the hall to one of the bedrooms. I flopped on the bed not bothering to change out of my blood stained clothes, and was quickly consumed by sleep.
Bex's POV
'She said that I didn't know her' Zach said in barely a whisper. A normal person would have missed it. Not a room full of trained spies. We didn't move or say anything until Zach's door slammed shut. I turned to Liz and Jonas. 'Tomorrow, I want you to hack into every camera in this damn country to find her.' They looked at me with wide eyes before nodding.
'Bex take it easy' Grant placed his hands on my shoulders looking at me in the eye.
'I...I can't...I can't loose her again' This ladies and gentlemen is a rare occasion when my voice breaks, when I truly am scared.
'Neither can we' Macey added, before enveloping me in a hug along with the others.
That night, I lay wrapped in Grant's arms, his heavy breathing tickling the back of my neck as he slept soundly. All I could think about was Cammie, and how much danger she would put us in. Then I though...How much danger is she in?
Let me know what you think :)