Taken

Zoey (Chapter 32)

We still had no idea where we were going.

Carson and Daniel were in the front discussing their next move while I was in the back confused. I had already told them what I had found in the Troops room, and they determined just from my description that there probably wasn't a big struggle. There were so many unanswered questions; nothing was adding up. I was making a mental list of questions that I wanted answered.

1. Were those women I overheard talking in the White House last year somehow part of this? 2. If there was a traitor in the C.I.A., why would they let Carson and Daniel into the terrorist organization; why didn't they alert someone sooner? 3. What is this group trying to obtain; were they really just trying to teach America a lesson? 4. Is there more than one group? 5. Where were the Troops?

My head started to pound. There were way too many to keep thinking about them.

"Zoey," Daniel said snapping me out of my thoughts. "We're going to take you to the airport-"

"No you're not," I cut him off nonchalantly. "I'm way too invested in this to be just 'taken to the airport'. I'm part of this now, there's no way around that. No matter where I go, they've proven that they can still get to me. Hell, they tracked me all the way to Fresno and here; no where's safe. So we're either going to waste time arguing about that, or we can focus on the real problem at hand." I was feeling very sassy for some reason.

There was a brief pause before Daniel spoke again. "She's right Dad, no matter where she goes they're going to try and get her. I don't know about you, but I would personally feel better if she stayed with us rather than her fly by herself."

Carson didn't argue the point. "Let's go over what we know," he said instead. I was so happy he wasn't going to try to talk me into leaving like the Troops had done at headquarters.

"Ok," Daniel said. "I'll start. We know that there is someone within the agency who is protecting terrorists."

"We know," Carson said. "Whoever the traitor is they have to be higher up in the chain of commands since they were able to completely erase files."

After a short awkward silence, Daniel turned around and looked at me. "Oh, my turn?" I asked. He nodded. "Oh...well we know that your guys cover was blown." Brilliant old me, always stating the obvious.

Daniel nodded. "And we know that the Troops are missing." Hearing him say that, I didn't feel too bad about my obvious statement. It must run in the family.

"Now for what we don't know," Carson said. "We don't know why the traitor let us infiltrate the group; why let us get so close?"

"We don't know who the traitor is," I pointed out.

"And we don't know where the Troops are being held," Daniel said. I was getting the feeling he was really worried about them.

"We also don't know why they were taken," I said. "I mean, we really hadn't done anything that important since we've been here to be threatened and then kidnapped."

Carson looked at me using the review mirror. "You guys were threatened?" Whoops, I hadn't meant to say anything about the goats. I couldn't take it back now.

I told them the whole story and by the time I was done I thought for sure Daniel was going to puke. "That's just... unpleasant," was all he said.

"Here's my theory," Carson started. "I think that the same group is all behind this; the group Daniel and I worked for is the same one who kidnapped the Troops and the same one with an agent n their pocket. I don't know what they're play is besides, as Zoey found out, that they want America to 'learn a lesson', which, in my mind, means that they are probably going to attack the U.S. in some way. Back to the Troops, I'm thinking that they are being held at the base that Daniel and I were at. If they are, we have to move fast because the terrorists know that we know where the bas is, so they could move the Troops at any moment."