Chapter 20
Zach pov
I regret my decision. I should have never left Cammie, especially now when she needs me the most. The rational part of my brain decides to join in and point out that what she needs is medical attention not someone crying over her. I have to be strong for her.
If she was here she would probably smack me for thinking she couldn't handle herself. Then I would laugh, and hug her whispering in her ear that I know but it doesn't stop me from worrying.
Cammie is a survivor. History has proven it time and time again. She showed this when she came back from The Circle. I still remember how she looked then, I still remember all of her bruises that would poke out of her uniform. She wears her battlescars proudly, I just wish she didn't have so many.
This time won't be any different, she would get through it. She has to.
As of right now, I have a job to do. A simple task that has been attempted on multiple occasions and resulted in failure. I need to get Luke, then it is all over. The Eye will fall. If not otday, then soon. I could care less about them at this point. Luke was the reason this mission started, once I get him then everything will be over. Once this entire mess is over then I could finally breath easy again.
I need a long vacation after this. I just have to get through it first. It's much easier said than done.
In the past we have failed to save Luke. Now I can finally understand why. We knew there was a traitor among us, therefore making all of our plans obsolete. He would just tell them our plans and give them enough time to escape. That was how they were always one step ahead of us. I just never thought it would be Preston who would betray us. I still have some trouble wrapping my mind around it.
How could he betray us? Well, they were threatening to hurt his mother. The same goes for Jonas, they were both trying to protect the people they care about. I probably would have acted similarly if anyone threatened my Cammie. I don't think that is a realistic scenario because I know she can handle herself.
Jonas and Preston were trying to protect loved ones. I, on the other hand, am seeking revenge for my loved one. I hope I still have a loved one after all of this is over,
The director will pay for what he has done to Cammie, I'll make sure of it.
Everything ends tonight. I am sick and tired of this mission. I don't care about how many peple I have to kill to end this. I don't want to be apart of their stupid little games anymore. I don't want to be anyone's pawn in a grander scheme that I could care less about. I want this to end, I need this to end.
I want to get back the little bit of normalcy I had left in my life before all of this started, but that is besides the point.
My priority was getting Luke out of their hands so I can go be at Cammie's side where I was regretting not being there. Deep down I know I couldn't stay with her, I would drive myself crazy. So instead, I am channeling all of my anger, frustration and worries into violence. I am ready to punch some mindless minions in the face.
The plan we came up with was simple for one reason, it was barely a plan. Since the start of this mission, all of the plans we came up with ended disastrously. So many of our plans went wrong, and none of them worked out in the slightest. Now I know it's because of Preston. He was their inside man and since he knew every plan, there was no way we could succeed.
So this one was simple, walk in and while all hell breaks loose, attack as many people we can, get Luke then leave.
How could I have missed it?! There was so many clues to him being the traitor, like when he tried to get close to Cammie. I'm glad I punched him for that. He should be lucky if I don't punch him soon. It's obvious that Preston is with them since he wasn't there when we found Cammie. He didn't have a choice, he had to choose where he stood. And he choose them. Maybe I won't feel so guilty now when I smash his face against a wall like I would do to the others.
I know Preston would be at the warehouse. I may have made a lot of rookie mistakes such as getting emotionally involved thus clouding my judgment, but this wasn't one of them. The Eye used the traitor and our emotions for Cammie to distract us and make simple mistakes. Now that one of them is out of the way, we are one step closer. Preston is not here so our plan wouldn't be compromised.
I wouldn't be hard for them to figure out what we were planning on doing. But at this point nothing can distract me from what I came for. We can adapt to any situation, we are spies, it's all part of the job.
The drive there was silent. We had a lot on our minds, wondering about Cammie was one. The other being if we would be able to finish this. I had my own doubts, however, my rage was enough to push those thoughts out of my mind.
We weren't going to fail because we owe it to Cammie to win. I owe it to her.
It wasn't until we were outside of the door that I realized this may be harder than I originally thought. They have to know we were coming here. Liz already disabled all of the cameras on the outside so we can have the element of surprise.
I remembered how well that worked last time I thought bitterly. I forced my thoughts away from that. Negative thoughts aren't helping us right now. I shared a look with Solomon before kicking the door down. We stormed inside with our weapons already positioned in our arms. I lead the way to
All I had was a small hand gun. I had the most important weapon inside of me, my brain. I hated to rely on guns or other weapons, they made me feel slow. I feel most comfortable with my fists. I could do a lot more satisfying damage then.
I hated holding a gun after Blackthorne. I am not an assassin, yet when I touch one everything changes. I hate that it feels familiar in my hands. I tried my hardest to leave that part of my life behind me.
I'm taking Cammie on a nice long relaxing vacation after this. I think we both deserved it.
I thought the hardest part would be trying to find Luke. They knew we were coming for him so the logical thing to do would be to conceal him. I spotted him immediately, it was hard not to.
Luke was in the center of the empty warehouse sitting on what looked like a throne. Behind him were about a hundred men with their guns pointed at us. We were clearly outnumbered. Luke sat there with a smile on his face while his gun was aimed at my chest. What was going on, I thought Luke was being held captive?
We got over the shock quickly. How could we have known he was against us? Despite being outnumbered we raised our weapons and pointed them at Luke. Once the leader falls the rest of the gang falls apart. All we need is one shot. I was the closest to Luke, I could shoot him with my gun easily. Granted he could do the same. I couldn't miss.
"You're late." Luke said smirking at us. The gun in his hand never faltered. It remained fixated on me.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked never taking my eyes off of him. Out of the corner of my eyes I could see some of his men in the back shift. I was trying to stall him by getting him to tell us what the hell was going on. Our main objective was to get Luke. It's hard to save someone when they have a gun pointed to your chest.
While Luke is talking hopefully he would be distracted enough so I could shoot him, in the leg, something non-life threatened. That would make it so much easier to bring him back to headquarters. Two birds, one stone.
"I know what you are trying to do Zach." It doesn't matter if he knows I'm trying to stall him, it's a common technique. "You can only stall for so long. But I'm in the mood to tell a story." He leaned forward in his seat built like a throne. I can assume that the director told you all about how he was involved. How we bribed him with money. He failed to mention that even without it, he was willing to comply. We didn't even have to resort to blackmailing him."
I knew he added in the last part at the end to bring up Preston and Jonas. Speaking of Preston, where was he? Was he one of the men pointing a gun at us?
"I'm sure he told you all about how The Eye was formed by a former Circle member and how we want public attention on how strong and powerful we are. He was right, of course. As The Eye we have become more well known in the public. It's what the Circle members failed to understand."
"Infiltrating the CIA was easy. Your security really needs an upgrade." He was mocking us. "By the time the director found out it was too late for him to do anything. I told him he was either with us or against us. He choose wisely, just like your friend." He brought up Preston again, that can't be a coincidence. I scanned the men behind him, none of them was Preston. What did they do to him?
"Don't fret Zach your friend is fine, along with the director. You'll see them shortly." Were they dead? I couldn't wait for him to finish his involvement in The Eye. This was taking too long, now he was stalling. The question is, for what?
"The director told you all about the former member of the Circle. Yet has the identity of this man ever occur to you." Of course, it was him. He seemed to young to be apart of the Circle, then again they recruited young.
"I'm sure you have it all figured out by now. I despise Cammie for destroying the Circle. Sure it gave me the opportunity to do all of this, but it was a tragedy nonetheless. We pretended like I went MIA and put Cammie on the mission to get her out of the picture. Then all of you would be obsessed with finding her and too emotional to do anything. It gave us the time we needed to plan our big finale. And using the director was a stroke of genius on my part seeing as how I was never suspected." Now I understand why we couldn't find any information on him in the beginning.
"I was always in control of the situation, even now. You think you are sly Zach, I see your hand on the trigger. Assassin or not the moment you fire your weapon you are all dead. You don't seem to understand I have been studying you. Every last one of you. I know your next move before you do. I am always one step ahead. Nothing can change that. So put your weapons down." No one moved.
"NOW!" He shouted. Reluctantly we all dropped our weapons and kicked them over to the other side of the room. Some of his men stepped forward and grabbed them.
"You were all just pawns. I am the king." This guy sure thinks highly of himself. I think he needs a reality check, and I can't wait to give it to him. All of our fire arms were in the hands of the enemy but we still have one last weapon. Our brains. We just need to get his men to distrust him.
"I have been planning this for years. I know everything about you from the psychic profiles I created over the past couple of years. I looked at every single mission you were on, your actions, what you said, who you trusted. I know your next move before you do. Just like how I know Zach is reaching into his back pocket for a spare knife." How did he know? Well he just revealed how he knew, but how could he see that. I was being subtle.
"Drop it." He ordered. I was in no position to refuse, I hope the others had something. That knife was my last resort. I needed to stall for a little longer.
"Bring them in." Luke told one of his minions with a sick smile on his face. I really wanted to punch him in the face. What was he doing? Who was he bringing out?
Two guards came in holding two other men beaten badly. I couldn't see their faces from this point as their heads were facing down. They did look oddly familiar.
"Meet the victims." The guards lifted their faces up so we could see. I heard Macey gasp from behind me. It was Preston and the director, each one sporting a black eye. "Now that you all know each other, we can get down to business." Luke said as the two guards brought them closer to us. They were in the middle between Luke and I. They also blocked any clear shot I could get of him. On the other hand, it was the same for him.
"I'm going to give you a choice Zach. You can shoot either one of them but you can only choose one."
"Why would I want to shoot any of them?"
"Because for every minute that you don't I will kill an innocent civilian I kidnapped as a hostage." This leaves me no choice, I have to do it.
"You always have a choice Zach." Preston shouted before getting hit in the head by guard. I turned around and looked at Solomon. He smiled at me and pointed towards his pocket. He had another weapon in there, of course! I learned the knife in the pocket trick from him. I gave him a quick nod.
"Are you going to kill the traitor who tried to get close to your girlfriend or the man who stabbed her and left her there to die." I made my choice quickly.
I held my gun up and shot the director in the stomach. I'm not an assassin. I just needed a distraction.
As soon as I fired the bullet Solomon fired his at the guards standing above the director and Preston. He pulled out his knife and threw it towards Luke. Unfortunately he missed, but it did send the warehouse into chaos.
A/N: Hey everybody I'm still alive! I left this chapter on a slight cliffhanger. What is going to happen next? How do they get out of the warehouse alive and take down The Eye at the same time?
I know it took me almost a month to write this chapter but I have 4 ongoing stories right now and this chapter is a little bit longer than my regular ones. I really wanted to start my two new stories and this got pushed off to the side a little. The good news is that since there is only 1-2 more chapters left I can update quickly.
And speaking of other stories, I finally published the rewrite of So Much for Ever After, Classic. The first chapter and the prologue are up, and on my profile. I didn't delete So Much for Ever After because I still wanted it to be there for people who enjoyed it, I just won't be updating that at all. All new updates are going towards the new story Classic, which is pretty much the same idea just written better, longer and a little more interesting in my opinion. So go read it and let me know what you think in the comments!
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