And here's chapter 23 as promised! Yes, I do think that these once weekly updates will work out nicely (at least, for me, that is.) I like this part of the plot, so the writing is really flowing out now. Be on the lookout for more updates soon (I might get another out this week depending on the work load that I get.) I think I'll have much, much more time next weekend to shoot some more chapters your way.

And before anyone asks, Bex, Liz, Macey, Preston, Zach, Mr. Solomon, and well everyone else will be back, but it will take some time. I need to let this part of the plot fully develop before they can come back. But I assure you, that they will each have their moment of triumph when they do come back. But for now, it's Cammie time! Woooo!

So, please enjoy. I'll stop rambling now.

Sincerely,

Tickgrey

I looked to my left and said, "Are you armed?"

Catherine laughed. At least, it resembled a laugh. It was more of a grunt mixed with a sinister grin. "Of course I'm armed. You could be setting me up."

"I'm not," I said indignantly. A bead of sweat slowly rolled down my neck, but my determination to not look weak stopped my from wiping it off. I preferred the chilling sensation it caused to looking weak in front of this wretched woman.

She shrugged. "Well then, I'll trust that you're not setting me up if you trust that I'm not going to shoot you."

"Shooting me wouldn't do you any good anyway," I pointed out. I knew before I came that I'd need an Ace to play in order for my plan to work.

Catherine clearly wasn't expecting something like this. She raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Someone's been getting a little bit smarter than from our last encounter. What is your grand plan?"

"I don't have the entire ledger with me, you see," I said rather proud of myself. "The last page isn't in the file. In fact, the last page doesn't even exist anymore. I burnt it."

"I'm not giving you anything for a partial list," Catherine grumbled.

I shrugged, "I'd expect no different. The rest is all up here," I said as I tapped my head. "And we both know how good I am at keeping things up there."

I cringed on the inside. It really didn't feel right to flaunt that because in the end, she did kind of win that battle, but it felt like the only possible thing I had to hold over her. I dug into my backpack and pulled out the file. I carefully set it in her hands and allowed her to skim through the contents. The corners of her mouth flickered upwards which indicated that it was exactly what she wanted.

"Alright, I'm satisfied," she replied. She turned to me once again and said, "Alright, what do you want in return? Money? Names?"

I sighed. This was the impossible part. This was the part of the plan that was certain to fail. Not to mention the fact that it was incredibly stupid. I breathed in as much air as I could before dropping the bomb, "I give you that file, and we go after them together."

"I don't follow," Catherine said calmly. Clearly she was following me though.

"Well, you want the people and organizations on this list gone in order to wipe out what's left of the real Circle. I want them gone because they killed my parents. We both want the same thing. So we hunt them together," I said. "And when we're done, we merely part ways. No hard feelings, no hunting each other, and no killing each other."

Catherine turned to think for a moment. She was clearly not in favor of my proposition. "And if I refuse?"

I shrugged calmly, "Then I leave with the file, and you find another way to get this information. I don't need you. You need me and my file."

"What use would you be to be anyways?" She mocked. "Why shouldn't I pull the trigger and go after even a partial list? There's bound to be another copy somewhere out there."

"I'll do whatever is needed. I'll as far as needed," I said coolly. "They killed my parents. I'm willing to get my hands dirty."

"Done," she said as though she'd just completed a routine business transaction. I suppose she was in a way, but this was just a really sick, twisted business.

"Really?" My surprise must have shown through because I wasn't expected a 'yes.'

"Don't make me change my mind," she warned me. She opened the file once more and flipped through it again. She looked up before she said, "Let's go."

"Where?" I asked as we both got up. I jogged to keep pace with her as she made her way to a nondescript white car in parked on the side of the road.

"To our first target," she said matter-of-factly. I gulped. This was getting very serious now.

After three changes in cars and two very long flights, Catherine led me into a plain white building. We had landed in Heathrow first, and after a ten hour lay-over, we hopped on a flight to Moscow. I remembered that several of the names (or rather, numbers) on the list had addresses in Russia, so I figured that that was where we were headed.

The building was quite peculiar. From the outside, it was barely noticeable. No one would think anything of it other than some ordinary storage warehouses or even a workshop. The inside, however, was a modern oasis. The sterile white walls and floors seamlessly blended into the high-tech environment I had just stumbled into. There were computers everywhere in the first room. I felt like I had just walked into some sort of mission control room. Catherine had already instructed me to touch nothing and to talk to nobody.

We continued thorough what appeared to be the main hall passing even more peculiar rooms. One was quite obviously a shooting range. It was abnormally long though and was probably for training snipers. There was a small cafeteria and several office rooms. Every worker we passed looked the same: determined and busy. I wasn't really sure what kind of people typically worked at splinter cells of terrorist groups, but they were as close to my guess as possible.

She led me to the stairs in the very back of the hallway which she descended unusually quickly. It was a struggle to keep up because I was still very jet lagged, but I managed to keep within a few paces of her at all times. I noticed the stairs continued up for at least two more flights. I hadn't been able to tell just how tall the building was from the outside, but I assumed it was rather tall.

When we got to the end of the hall on the upper floor, she motioned towards a room. "There's where you'll stay for now."

She handed me a key, and then, noticing that my tension had just swelled, said, "Don't worry. It isn't a trap. You won't be locked in or interrogated or anything or the sort, but I must ask you to remain in there unless you are told otherwise. Few people here will know your purpose here, and it's better that it remains that way."

I nodded still too tired to speak. She continued once more, "Now, get some sleep. Jet lag can be killer."

I opened my mouth to protest, but I then realized that I wanted nothing more but sleep, so I unlocked the door and pushed it open with all the strength I had left. I noticed that Catherine was doing the same just across the hall. She was looking tired as well.

The room was a decent size. Everything was white and bare, but I figured I wouldn't be there for very long anyway. The bed looked comfortable enough, and there was even a small, private bathroom attached on the side. But the rest would have to wait because as soon as my head touched the pillow, I was fast asleep.