Only The Goode Spy Forever

Chapter 65: Split

"Zach, what's wrong?" I asked. My husband was shirtless as he beat a punching bag. Sweat dripped down his face. He locked eyes with me. He looked away and continued beating the bag. "Zach?" I huffed as he ignored me. I hauled off and kicked the bag. It hit Zach in the stomach.
  "Jeez, Gallagher Girl. What's your problem?" He asked between gasps for breath. I wanted to strangle him.
  "Me? You're clearly the one with a problem! You're ignoring me and beating this bag! You only do that when you're upset!" I shouted. Zach held up his hands in surrender. He took a deep breath.
  "Townsend called," he said. "He said that a missing child was recently found."
"That's great," I said confused.
"I'm not finished," Zach said. "This kid went missing 20 years ago. He was kidnapped. His parents said that he was drug out of his bed screaming. He was identified as an assassin. They finally caught him." I raised my eyebrows.
  "Like what Regina O'Dare used to do," I realized. "So... it was your mom." Zach nodded and continued to beat the bag. "Is Ed any closer to finding the descendant?" Zach shook his head. "Do you want to go do something?" Zach shook his head and I threw my hands up and turned around. I started for the door.
  "Wait, Cam," Zach said and grabbed my arm. He spun me to face him. I smiled. I had been wanting a date night forever. I looked hopeful. "Can you make grilled chicken for dinner?" My mouth dropped open
  "You're unbelievable!" I exclaimed. I grabbed the keys and headed for the door.
"Where are you going?" Zach asked.
  "Home!"
  "I'll call you when I'm done?"
  "You can walk!" I shouted back. Zach was as confused as ever. I turned the car on and prepared to leave when Zach opened the door and hopped in.
"Did I do something wrong, Gallagher Girl?" He asked. I sighed.
  "Not really," I replied. He gave me a questioning look, so I went on. "How come we never go on dates anymore?" I looked him in the eye and he looked like he was about to laugh.
  "You're mad that we don't go on dates? We do! We went on 1 last month in Georgia," Zach countered. I rolled my eyes.
  "That was for a mission, Zach," I replied. He considered what I said for a second.
"What about when we went to the baseball game last week?" He countered.
  "That was Riley's little league game, Zach!" I said in frustration. "What's romantic about that?"
  "We aren't in high school anymore, Cammie. It's not like I can be mysterious and sneak into your bed at night because, well, it's my bed too," he laughed.
  "I just wanted to spend time together," I said softly. Now I felt stupid. It seemed like he didn't want to do anything.
  "We are spending time together," he countered.
  "You know what I mean," I grumbled.
"We're just busy, ya know?" He said. I nodded.
  "Yeah, I guess," I replied sadly. Zach's face fell.
"Look, Gallagher Girl, once we get everything figured out I'll take you on a date night. A GOOD one. Okay?" He offered. I smiled and nodded excitedly. I gave him a quick kiss and we made our way home.
* * *
"I have to get out of here!" Chase Goode shouted to his roommates. Tanner and Daniel sat on their beds looking as stressed as Chase. "I can't do this!"
"None of us want to," Tanner admitted. "But it's either that or be killed." Chase slammed his fist on the table. He ran his hands through his hair and paced.
"Are you just mad because you don't want a certain pretty blonde girl to think badly about you?" Daniel teased. Chase knew that Daniel was trying to make light of things. It was what he always did when he was stressed.
"Bree can never know about us," Chase said seriously.
"You really want to lie to her forever?" Tanner asked.
"No, I'm not lying. I'm not a monster. That part is true," Chase countered.
"But Chase," Daniel started. His playful tone had long vanished. "Soon you will be. There's not a choice anymore. We can't fight it anymore."
"I know that!" Chase stressed. "I sent a message. Anna is going to get me out of here, I just know it."
"Isn't Bree's psycho sister her bodyguard?" Tanner asked. "How do you plan on having her sneak out with that?"
"We're family. She'll find a way," Chase replied confidently.
"This is crazy," Tanner whispered. "They can't force us to do this. They can't! Right?"
Chase dropped into a chair. Tanner was talking about their fall semester final. Blackthorne had changed. There was no longer a choice. If Chase stayed then he would have to be a monster. Their final was to murder an innocent. Chase didn't know how he could ever take the life of someone who had done nothing.
"They're doing this because of me. They know that I'm done going through their training. They're trying to break me," Chase whispered. Deep down he had known that headmaster Marcus was gone. Someone else was in charge. Someone that wanted his sister. And that someone was training the Blackthorne Boys to be their own personal army. They wanted Chase on their side. Of course they did, Chase was the best in the school.
"Why are they doing this?" Daniel asked. "What does making an army of us do?"
"It makes it easier to kidnap my sister," Chase stated. Part of him didn't want Anna to come get him. He didn't want her to take that risk. Yet, the other part of him knew that he couldn't make it through this part of training. He needed her. He only hoped that she would hear his cry.
"Haven't you heard the whispers?" Tanner asked. "If we pass all of the new training then they'll recruit us to the army of Regina O'Dare. They want us to become sort of like the boogie man. The thing that children only dream about in their nightmares." Chase's eyes widened. He didn't know that this was for Regina. He took a deep breath. His grandmother was in charge of this.
"Well, let's get to work," Chase said as he jumped to his feet.
"What are we doing?" The boys asked.
"We're going to break out of here."