Game of Secrets and Shadows (Book One in the Covert Operations series)

Fourteen

A fine layer of dew had settled over the grass. The sky was dark, stars twinkling above in the sky. The moon was half-full, lighting up the dirt road just enough so that it was visible. There were no cars on the roads. It was both too late and too far away from the city for them to be seen.

I walked just off the road, down in the ditch on the left, where my footprints would be masked by the tall grass and natural debris. Even so, I kept my tread light, being careful to avoid areas where my prints would be noticed quickly. I was acutely aware of the fact that everyone would be searching for me by the time they awoke in the morning, but I was hoping to have bought myself a couple of hours before they rose from sleep.

Somewhere in the back of my head was a voice berating me for going off on my own. It was stupid and reckless and went against nearly every rule that I'd been taught during my four years at Oaks. Max and Lia and Tasha would be pissed at me. Brent and Lydia would be worried and disappointed. I had no idea what kinds of feelings the Ortiz's would be experiencing towards me though I had an inkling that Daniel, much like my friends, would not be happy about my solo mission, especially after the talk we'd had only hours prior.

Still, I couldn't risk anyone else. It was enough to know that I'd been the reason my parents were dead. Hard enough knowing that Wes was being tortured because of me and that they wanted to use me as bait to draw out Jack Briar, though that was in the off chance that he was still alive. With all of that in my plate, there was no chance in hell that I would risk the lives of my friends. They had their whole lives ahead of them. They shouldn't have to risk that on me.

This was the only path I could see for myself. A solo one. A path that could very well end in a dead end, emphasis on the dead part, in just over a day.

I'd already wasted one of the two days allotted to me by Scorpion listening to everyone argue and debate about the best way to get to my brother without involving me. They were planning on taking MI6 issued helicopters from the school to the outskirts of Paris at 04:00 hours. The trip would take, approximately three hours, giving them an hour to arrive and coordinate with the representatives from MI6 and the France Intelligence agency who were skulking about the catacombs tonight, preparing for the day ahead.

As a result, everyone had turned in early. By nine o'clock, the halls had been empty. By ten, everyone was asleep. That meant that it was relatively easy for me to sneak out. Lia, Tasha, and Max had left me alone in the training room, angrily throwing punches into the bag. They'd figured that I was just working out my frustration from the day. While that wasn't entirely untrue, mostly, I was just buying time.

I hadn't had to worry about anyone else. Lia's parents had gone to sleep around the same time as their daughter. The Ortiz's had conferred in one room, talking quietly to one another. Daniel had been with them which meant that I didn't even have to worry about stumbling into him. My ex-Professors, along with Rachel Trotter and Gregory Lauer, had all been in the dining hall, going over the schematics one last time before it we had to put the plan into action.

It had been relatively easy to slip out unnoticed. With nobody paying any particular attention to me, it didn't take long to grab the bag I'd filled with a few spare changes of clothes, cash, fake ID's, maps, a flashlight, and five-days worth of rations, just to be safe. I'd grabbed my knife which disguised as a pen, the only weapon I could afford to carry on me due to the travelling I would be doing. Nothing else, certainly not a gun, would pass through security.

From there, I'd simply gone to one of my favourite passageways in and out of the mansion—the one behind the statue of Jonathon Oak which led out to the garden decoration of an angel in the West Wing of the building. Coincidentally, it was the same passageway Max and I had used to sneak into the school only a few weeks before during the fire.