Yay! Chapter 15! We are oh so close to the big action sequence, so you may now begin to wait on the edge of your seat! ;) I'm enjoying writing this a lot, but I'm going to enjoy the action sequence even more (and hopefully you will too!) I love all of you guys (especially my fantastic reviewers, and I am taking what you guys are saying into consideration as I write this stuff.) So, please, enjoy! -Tickgrey

"Stop!" I said which ended up coming out much harsher than I had intended it to come out. The rest of the room must have agreed because they abruptly halted the conversation that was forming to turn and stare at me. I felt awkward when I said, "Why won't anyone tell me what's going on?" I tried making my question sound nice to counteract my initial abruptness, but the question itself doesn't exactly lend itself to subtlety, so I'm pretty sure I still sounded like an angry teenager (which I guess I was.)

Mr. Solomon looked a little hurt as he glanced back at his map. I felt bad because he had obviously tried really hard to make sure I felt in the loop. "I'm telling you about the recon operation in place," he offered.

"No, not that. I mean, where were you four? What was going on?" I began. "And why does the CIA and you guys and well, everyone but me know where my mom is?"

Zach opened his mouth to say something, but I never got my answer or even excuses because Aunt Abby and Townsend walked into the room together. They stepped apart when they walked into the room to avoid appearing as though they had been getting along. Townsend quickly began, "We both just received calls briefing us on a joint CIA-MI6 to commence tonight."

Abby continued, "The CIA received a threat earlier today from the Circle that Rachel would be killed within the week if the ransom weren't paid – which it won't be."

"The decision was made an hour ago to send in a task force to breach the compound at 10:15 Eastern Standard time. There will be a reasonable cover of darkness as well as our best guess at a shift change in the guards staffing the look-out points. We're working on limited intel, so we're not sure of the chances of success," Townsend finished. He turned to me and said, "By this time tomorrow, Rachel could be back home waiting to see you."

I nodded unsure of what to say really. On one hand, I could have my mom back the next day, but on the other hand, the chances of success were frighteningly slim. In fact, I'd have better chances of getting into the White House without any sort of ID than they had of getting my mom out of there alive. But strangely enough, there was a small comfort to knowing that someone was doing something.

The silence turned awkward as if everyone was waiting for me to say something, but luckily Abby added, "The CIA has agreed to patch us into the radio communication that they will be listening to. So if you want, Squirt, you can listen with us tonight."

I nodded. "Thanks."

I looked at my watch and realized that I was missing way more class than I had planned to. Don't get me wrong, I probably still wouldn't be able to concentrate, but I had already done so much make-up work my senior year that I was getting very tired of missing class. "Can I go back to class now?"

Professor Buckingham nodded and waved me off. I scurried out of there before any of my friends could say anything else. I didn't really want to talk to them right then. I had somehow convinced myself that they had betrayed me, but they were actually trying to help. I sighed. Everything would be so much easier tomorrow when this whole operation was finished with.

I ate dinner rather quickly that night. Well, I actually ate at a relatively normal rate of dinner consumption, but I only decided to eat a piece of bread and a spoonful of peas which were both good, but I just didn't have an appetite, and I really wanted to get back up to my room as soon as I could. I opened the door and fell onto my bed ready to not move until it was time for the operation.

"Hey," I heard a soft, familiar voice. Despite my want to be alone, its softness and general caring tone was comforting right now.

"Macey?" I sat up. She was sitting at her desk busy at what was presumably make-up work (something I had become quite accustomed to doing.)

"Sorry, I didn't even see you there. Hi!" I said trying to sound more enthusiastic that I really was. It was really hard to act strong all the time.

She smiled and then assured me, "You really don't have to pretend. I know your worried and anxious. I would be too."

I nodded, "I just- I so desperately want this operation to work. I need this to work. This can't happen again."

Macey walked over and sat next to me. She sighed and said, "Look, I don't know your mom as well as you did obviously, and I don't know what its like to have this happen once let alone twice, but I know she's really strong, and she's going to fight. They're going to get her out of there tonight."

"My dad was strong too," I whispered as if to prove to myself that the situation wasn't worth getting my hopes up for. Macey didn't seem to know how to respond, so I quickly changed the topic to keep it from getting awkward (well more awkward). "So where did you guys go?"

"Munich," Macey said. "Purely on a hunch of Zach's."

"And you guys found out where she is?"

She nodded, "Not too long after the CIA either."

"I guess for all the commotion I caused, I never did tell you where I went," I said. "I went to London on a suicide mission. I was trying to draw the Circle out. I figured if they killed me, they wouldn't need my mom anymore.

"I know it sounds stupid now, but then it seemed like a good idea," I explained.

Macey shrugged, "I probably would have done something far more stupid, so that's not too bad in my book."

"I got to see Townsend's apartment," I smiled a little.

Macey perked up, "What was it like?"

"Cold, boring," I listed. "You know, it was exactly what you'd expect from Townsend now that I think about it."

We both laughed. It felt good to laugh a little. Things were going to be tense enough that night without being tense all evening too.