Only The Goode Spy Forever

Chapter 23: Gallagher

Zachary Goode smiled in the rear view mirror. He was watching his daughter Annalise. Her eyes were wide as they drove up the long driveway of the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. Zach and Cam knew Anna would be sad that her brother was leaving, so they decided to do something special for her. Well, that wasn't entirely the reason. They had just pulled up to the very front as they saw Rachel Morgan-Solomon running to the car with outstretched arms. Anna ran and Rachel swallowed her in a hug.

"Hey, kiddo! Are you excited?" Rachel asked. Anna nodded, still squeezing her grandmother.

"Yes! Where's grandpa Joe?" She asked. Rachel winked at her.

"Gallagher classes have already started. He's teaching. You get the full tour while classes are in session!" Rachel exclaimed. Rachel hugged Zach.

"Hey, mom," Cam said as she hugged her mother. She shot Zach a quick glance. "I actually have some errands to run. Is it okay if I leave while Zach stays with you guys?" Rachel was a highly trained operative. She saw the glance that Cam had given Zach. Rachel looked at them both with a frown. She quickly beamed again at her granddaughter.

"Of course! You'll just have to miss out on all of the fun!" Rachel said. Zach was also a highly trained operative. He knew her voice was too high pitched.

Cam hugged Annalise and her mother and then crawled into the car and drove off. Rachel locked her arm with Annalise's and walked through the front gates. Anna had been to Gallagher many times, but never had she looked at it in a way that she would be attending there soon. Rachel was showing Anna Gillian Gallagher's sword. Zach huffed. "I'm gonna go now, you seem to have this under control. I actually have someone I need to go see." Rachel shot him a warning glance, but nodded.

Zach made his way to the elevator that lead to the sub levels. He looked at his watch. He needed to go to Sublevel 2. He pressed his thumb to the scanner and let the needle take his blood. He shot down sublevel 2. He waited for approximately 3 minutes and 45 seconds before the hall was crowded with Juniors coming out of class. Zach moved back into a shadow and was happy to realize that no one had seen him. He waited for all of the girls to get in the elevator.

"Come in, Zach," Joe said from inside the classroom. Zach rolled his eyes. Joe was such a show off. He strolled into the classroom and shook Joe's hand.

"Is Cammie gone yet?" He asked. Zach nodded slowly. "Does Anna suspect anything?" Zach shook his head again.

"I wanted to go. Cam said she'd know something was wrong if we both went. Joe this is our 1 lead. Someone said they saw my mother conversing with another woman. Chase is gone again, we're low on protection," Zach replied. Joe nodded and motioned for Zach to take a seat. Zach sat in his chair. He looked up at the picture frame. It was 2 years old. The Townsend family stood on the left side of the frame and the Solomon's on the right. The Goode family was in the middle. Zach smiled. Jaycee was just a little baby back then, and he was holding her tightly to his chest.

"How much does Chase know?" Joe asked.

"Too much. I was the one who told him about Anna when he turned 10. Going to Blackthorne hasn't helped. He knows stuff now. Stuff that could make him an asset for Catherine," Zach sighed.

"Ah yes, how did his first semester go?" Solomon asked.

"Well, he hasn't changed, so that's good. He's already so much stronger. His shirts barely fit. His muscles are getting too big," Zach said with a smirk. Solomon smiled.

   "Do you think Catherine will go to Blackthorne again? To recruit more boys?" He asked. Zach shook his head.

    "No. She doesn't want us to find her. It's nearly impossible. She wouldn't be that sloppy," Zach replied. Zach looked back to Solomon's desk. He had another picture. It was his wedding with Rachel. They were standing holding each other. Him and Cammie stood next to them doing the same pose. Zach smiled, remembering the day.

   "Dad?" A voice said pulling him out of his thoughts. He looked up and saw Anna and Rachel standing in the doorway. He put on a fake smile and joined the girls on the rest of their tour.

   They made it back to the front of the school. Cammie pulled up and got out of the car.

   "Hey, Joe," she said and hugged her step father. He hugged her back. The adults all looked at Cammie with questioning eyes.

   "How were your errands?" Rachel asked. Cammie chose her words carefully. She looked Zach straight in the eye.

   "I didn't find what I was looking for," she responded. Zach's face fell. He felt Joe stiffen next to him. Rachel's shoulders dropped. Their mission had failed.

The Goode's said goodbye to their family and left to go home to DC. Zach and Cam were quiet as they listened to Anna ramble about how amazing the Academy was. Zach looked at Cam. He could tell something was wrong. He reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. She gave him a grateful smile, and he kept her hand in his the rest of the way home.

They made a quick stop at the Townsend home, so that they could pick up Riley and Jaycee. It was around 9:00 when they finally got home. Zach and Cam put the 2 younger kids to bed and left Anna to do what she wanted. They told her goodnight and escaped to their bedroom.

After waiting forever without saying a word Cammie finally spoke. "The man who swore he saw her showed up at the cafe. His name was Chris. He told me that he was sorry. He couldn't tell me anything. Catherine got to him. When I was driving back I got an alert. He was killed on his way home. They said it was an accident, but it was her, wasn't it?" Cam said. Her voice cracked as she said, "he was a husband and a father. He had a little girl. She's only 5." Cammie was tearing up. Zach got up and held her tightly.

"Hey, it'll be okay, Gallagher Girl," he soothed. Cam let the tears fall and shook her head.

"We can't do this. We're putting people in danger. What if next time it's someone we're close too?" She cried. Zach said nothing. He couldn't promise her that they'd be okay. He couldn't say anything. All he could do was sit and hold his wife as she cried.