Ties and Spies

Chapter 48

ZACH'S POV

"Wow," Macey sighed, "It's so beautiful." 

We were all hovered over Macey as she used some very sharp tools to pick at the ruby necklace.  

I never knew Macey was good at this stuff until now when she was here with white gloves on and goggles picking at a precious stone.  

"Macey," Simon urged quietly, "Be careful. If you break that chip we are done." 

"Shutup geek," Macey spat back at him.  

Simok shrunk back, clearly afraid of Macey. 

After five minutes of Macey picking at the ruby she finally used a pair of tweezers to hold up the small black chip.  

"Open your hand," She commanded me.  

I did as she said and she dropped the black chip into my open hand.  

"Thank you," I said to her sincerely.  

Macey smirked and shrugged her shoulders, "No problem." 

"We did it. We're done," I sighed. 

"Thank you," I continued, " I couldn't have done this without you guys." 

"God you sound like you're accepting a freaking Oscar," Dempsey scoffed.  

Just then, Hale walked in waving his cell phone.  

"I made a call. The jet will be here in 2 hours to take us back to DC.  

"Perfect," Kat said with a tight smile.  

"Our flight will actually be leaving in a few hours," Liz said.  

"We booked early," Simon clarified.  

"Well thank you for all the technical help Simon and Liz," I nodded at both of them.  

"Anytime," Liz smiled.  

••• 

"So what are we going to say to your Father's 'offer'?" Hale asked.  

We had all said our goodbyes to Liz and Simon and had packed our things. Now we were just in the living room waiting for Hale's jet to arrive.  

"That's a good question," Macey popped her bubblegum and tightened her grip on Hale's bicep.  

I noticed Hale shift uncomfortably and I wondered if he was really happy with Macey.  

"I think we should do it," Dempsey responded.  

"Were we asking you?" Macey smirked.  

"Hey. I'm part of this crew now. I helped with this mission and I wouldn't mind going on another one," He shot back at her.  

"Kat?" I said glancing at the silent girl.  

"I think we should do it too," She gave a small smile.  

"Hale?"  

He let out a long sigh and scratched the back of his head. 

"I don't know, I think I may just need a break," He admitted.  

"I'll go with whatever Hale says," Macey replies blatantly.  

Again, I saw the shift in Hale's eyes and demeanor. 

"I guess I'm the tie-breaker," I sighed.  

"I want to do it." 

"How about we compromise," Kat suggested. 

"Compromise?" Dempsey asked.  

"We take a 2 week break and then go on the mission." 

"That doesn't sound half bad," Hale said.  

"I think that could work," I nodded.  

Suddenly, Hale's cellphone rang.  

He picked it up, nodded, and then shoved it in his pocket.  

"The jet is here."

note: seriously, 1.5k reads?! thank you guys!  

TWO. CHAPTERS. LEFT. and an epilogue! 

also, some big news coming next week!xx