Hello, hello. This was a fun (well... sort of... you'll see...) chapter to write. Thank you guys so very much for the lovely reviews! Your suggestions are well considered, and I have even added in some stuff you guys wanted to see (not just in this chapter but in others in the future). I might get another chapter up tonight because I'm almost done with it, but I'm not sure. If not today, then tomorrow. Happy reading! Tickgrey

It was almost time for the operation to start, so I slipped out of the room quietly being careful not to wake the now snoring Macey. Liz and Bex hadn't come to the room after dinner, so I assumed they were in the library studying. I really wanted to talk to them before going down to Sublevel 1, but I knew they had plenty of make-up work to do. I decided to take the long way all the way around and through the teachers' corridor mainly because I didn't want to run into anyone.

Sure enough someone said, "Cammie?"

I turned around ready to shoo away Tina or Anna, but instead saw the comforting eyes of Zach. I tried to sound a little cheerful, "Hey, Zach!"

"Listen, we went to Munich-" he began getting ready to confess everything, but I closed my eyes and cut him off.

I waved my hand dismissively and said, "Macey explained everything. It's okay. And I'm sorry for being all moody lately. There's just so much stress."

He shook his head, "You have every right upset or moody or whatever you need to feel right now."

Zach walked over and grabbed my hand. His felt warm and soft and well, perfect. I felt a lone tear begin to stream down my cheek. I wished it wouldn't have left my eye, but it did feel good to cry. "I just want everything to go right tonight."

He rubbed my hand and said, "It will. They've got the best operatives going in there."

"I know," I nodded. I just wished I could be there being the one to save my mom. I looked at my watch, "I should get down there. It's almost time."

Zach pulled me close and kissed me. It felt good and right, but at the same time I felt a little guilty for enjoying myself while my mom was still being held. Tears were streaking down my face rapidly now, but I just closed my eyes and enjoyed the calm before the storm. When Zach finally pulled away, I wiped my tears and turned to leave before I remembered something that had been festering for a few hours. I called after him, "Hey, Macey said that you knew to go to Germany. How did you know?"

He shrugged mysteriously, "Just a hunch."

Right then, I didn't even care that it was a horrible lie. It was time to get my mom back.

When I got into the familiar classroom at the end of Sublevel 1, Abby, Townsend, Mr. Smith, Professor Buckingham, and Mr. Solomon were already there sitting around the table. They all look calm, but their expressions switched to sympathy when I walked up to the door. Abby patted the open seat next to her which I slipped into quietly hoping their eyes would flicker back to whatever they were watching before.

There was a lot of static and some background chatter on the radio feed that was already playing. There were snip-its about weather, temperature, final preps, and even something about explosives which I would have actively listened to in any other situation. Today, however, my mind was anywhere but the educational aspects of listening to an actual operation. All I could think about was the last time I had seen my mom. I thought the danger was all gone. After all, the Circle didn't need me anymore. Mom was going to go hunt them for a few weeks, but it wasn't supposed to be this dangerous. We were supposed to be hunting and killing, not them. Mom kissed me on the forehead and wished me luck. Why hadn't I wished her luck? Or kissed her back? Or hugged her even harder?

Finally, I heard the all-important countdown begin with a commanding female voice, "Operation New Dawn to commence in 10 minutes. Please await my signal."

Abby whispered, "Agent Jones. Best exfiltration expert in the CIA."

I guess it should have been a little comforting to know that the very best were on the case, but it felt like I didn't have enough time to whisper back to Abby. Suddenly I heard, "Five minutes. Take your positions for breaching."

Where had the time gone? My breath was heavy now. My vision was blurry. "Two minutes. Set the explosives."

No air was entering my lungs. I couldn't breathe. It took all my might to keep from making a weird gasping noise as I finally took a breath. "One minute."

Abby looked calm. How could she be calm when a rescue attempt for her sister was about to be made? Why was everyone else in the room so peaceful? I closed my eyes and waited until I heard the stern commanding leader say, "Go."

There was a loud bang which I knew was the breaching explosives. They must have entered the compound's grounds by now. There were gunshots, but none of our operatives reported being hit. "Three targets neutralized."

"We've taken the watch tower. All clear to enter building," a new male voice said.

My heart raced even faster now. It was running a 100m dash while I was sitting in a room under close surveillance trying to look calm. A different man said, "We're in… there's no one in the front room."

"All clear. Moving into back room."

Then there was the sickening sound of a bullet meeting its target. "I'm hit!"

"Conners was shot!" There was more gunfire. "Enemy has been taken down. There's a second body in here."

No, no, no. There were plenty of people that body could have been: a Circle agent, a friendly agent, a different hostage...

"Female, mid-forties, maybe?" A voice said. My heart accelerated. She couldn't be dead. There's no way. "Gunshot to the head. It wasn't us. No pulse. Looks like she's been dead for a few hours already. We need to get an ID on the body."

I heard the voice I recognized as Agent Jones come across, "I can ID it. We've got complete control over the compound. I'm on my way inside now."

Ba bum. Ba bum. My heart rate picked up. The body had to be anyone else. Not Mom. There had to be female Circle operatives, right? Ba bum ba bum ba bum ba bum! How long could the walk possibly be? Ba bum ba bum! I didn't dare open my eyes. I didn't want to know what everyone else was thinking or doing right now. Ba bum ba bum! Abby's hand grabbed mine. I squeezed hard. Ba bum ba bum!

"Oh, no!" In a split second my heart went from the speed of light to zero. Agent Jones' voice came back sounding even more distressed than it had been before, "Oh, no, no, it's Rachel."