Only The Goode Spy Forever

Chapter 75: The Roommate

  ("Be still in the presence of the Lord and wait patiently for Him to act." -Psalm 37:7)

  I ran through the CIA gripping papers in my hand. I only waved at the wave of "hi Cammie" that I got from everyone I passed. I turned a corner and bolted down the long hallway. I stopped at the door on the end and threw it open.
  "Do you ever knock?" A man asked. I took the sight in. My uncle/father in law was sitting at his desk. His curly dark brown hair was now mainly gray. His ice blue eyes pierced into me. I knew he would retire soon.
  I turned and looked at the man sitting on his desk. The man that looked like him. My husband was grinning at me.
  "A little late, Gallagher Girl," he chuckled.
  "I've got my paperwork," I said all too cheerily. I held up the papers in my hand and waved them around. I smiled a fake smile. Ed rolled his eyes and huffed.
  "I don't care about your paperwork," he snapped. "I care to know if you're ready for your next mission." Zach got up and kissed my cheek.
  "Come on, Gallagher Girl. Let's do this before we give the old man a heart attack," Zach said with a grin. Townsend shot him a deadly look.
  "This is no joking matter! This is one of your most important missions," Townsend snapped. Zach quit smiling and nodded.
  Townsend was right. Zach and I had never had a lead like this. This lead could bring us straight to Catherine. We were both nervous.
  "What exactly do we do?" I asked. Townsend grabbed a file.
  "You're going to go speak to Tamari Carlisle. She lives on the edge of Virginia. Cameron, I expect you to do all the talking. Don't frighten her, she's been through a lot. Oh, and don't tell her that your last name is Goode," Townsend informed.
  "Why?" I asked.
  "She was Catherine's roommate at Gallagher. She must know that mother dearest is crazy. It's best that she doesn't suspect anything," Zach said. I nodded. I grabbed the file and turned.
  "Let's go."
*                                          *                                         *
  I knocked on the door to the small house. "Tamari Carlisle?" I asked. I heard footsteps and the door slowly cracked open and I put on a fake smile.
  "Yes?" She said softly. She had deep brown eyes and gray streaks all throughout her black hair. I smiled.
  "May we come in? We have a few questions for you about someone who went to the Gallagher Academy with you," I said. I dropped my voice and was honest with her. "You're safe. We won't hurt you." She slowly opened the door.
  "Who are you?" She asked. Zach and I took a seat.
  "I'm Cammie. Cammie Morgan," I said. It felt strange to call myself Cammie Morgan. I hadn't been Cammie Morgan in years. I was stunned to see recognition cross her face.
  "Is your father Matthew Morgan?" She whispered. I smiled and nodded my head. My father was a good man. He was one of the good guys. I was certain she would trust us once she heard who my father was. I totally didn't expect her to pull out a knife and hold it to my throat.
  Zach jumped to my aid, but Tamari held him back.
  "What do you want from me?" She screamed.
  "I just want to ask you a few questions," I squeaked.
  "No! I know who your mother is! No child from Catherine Goode would ever be good," she hissed.      
  She was holding the knife all too close. Maybe that was why Zach shouted "she's not Catherine's child, I am!" Tamari looked genuinely confused.
  "But your father is Matthew Morgan," she said as she slowly let the knife down. "I thought that meant she was your mother."
  "My mother's name is Rachel Solomon. She went by Rachel Cameron back when she was in the academy. Maybe you knew her. She was a few years older than you," I said. Tamari nodded. She had heard of my mother. "Zach is not a threat. He wants his mother dead. He's not like her. He's my husband. Now please calm down so we can talk."
  "Okay," Tamari said. "Let's talk." I sighed a breath of relief.
  "My mother is crazy. She's after someone who has they key to end the world. We need to stop her, but she's so hard to find. You're the only person from her past that we know. The only person that new her when she was a teenager. We need you to tell us everything you know," Zach explained.
  "Why don't you ask your father?" Tamari asked me. She looked very confused.
  "He didn't know her in her teen years. We need information from that time," I replied. Tamari looked at me like I was crazy.
  "But Matthew did know her when she was 18. He knew her better than anyone," Tamari countered.
  "What?" Zach asked. We both had shock written all over our faces.
  "Catherine was obsessed with Matthew. He was the only person she ever seemed to care about. Matt was changing her. I really thought he would help her. I hated Catherine. She was a freak. Although I do have to admit that Cat and Matt were quite the cute couple," Tamari told us. Zach and I looked at each other. Our mouths had dropped in shock.
  "Couple?" We both exclaimed. There had to have been some kind of mistake. Catherine only knew my father later in her life. And she killed him.
  "I'm guessing they didn't talk about their romance at your wedding?" Tamari asked.
  "Mother dearest didn't get the invite," Zach said.
  "And my father is dead," I snapped. Tamari's face fell.
  "I'm so sorry," she whispered as she looked to the ceiling. "Matthew was a good man." I nodded.
  "Tamari you need to tell us everything. Everything you know about Catherine and the circle," Zach said. Tamari nodded.
  "Where do I begin. Well, I met Cathy in 9th grade. She was new, so she was behind the rest of us in class. The year that she came to us she was a broken girl. I took pity on her. Her mother had left and her father had just killed himself. She was always so weird. Always so broken. I hated her, so did our other roommate, Malia. Her mom only put her in the academy because she hated her too. Cathy was crazy. She always talked in her dreams. I'll admit that we made fun of her. We never let her forget how worthless she was," Tamari said with a grin. Her face fell. "We were so cruel."
  "Your grandfather killed himself?" I asked Zach.
  He shrugged. "She never mentioned him."
  "Oh, well he sure did. Cathy became bitter towards the world. She hated it at our school. She hated our sisterhood. Then she met Matthew. We were seniors, he was older than us. He was a guard at the academy. Fresh out of training. Matt was different. He saw the good in Cathy. Or what little good that she had. I knew that they had a relationship. She always snuck out to see him. No one else knew. They were breaking so many rules by being together," Tamari went on.
  "My dad and his mom had a relationship?" I asked. Tamari nodded. I tried not to gag. It was weird how all of our family was attracted to each other. Zach's dad had fallen for my aunt and my dad had fallen for Zach's mom. Zach mirrored my disgust.
  "I kept their relationship to myself. I didn't care about Cathy. I mainly felt bad for Matt. But one day I told Malia. Malia was so angry. She had a bit of a crush on Matt. Malia screamed at Cathy and told her off. Cathy snapped and bashed Malia's head into the wall. I watched it all. It was so awful!" Tamari started crying, remembering what had happened. "She was my best friend and Catherine killed her!"
  "I'm so sorry," I said as I reached out my hand to touch hers. She jerked away.
  "The guards should have stopped her. They could have. It was rumored that your father caught her and let her go. I never saw her after that. That was the day I vowed not to be a Gallagher Girl. I didn't want to be one if she was. I gave up on being a spy," Tamari said with the shake of her head. My heart hurt for her. Zach didn't look as sad.
  "Why should we believe a word that you say?" Zach asked. Tamari looked shocked.
  "I'm not lying!" She exclaimed. "There's proof! It was rumored that Matthew kept a journal. He wrote about his time at the Academy."
  "Where is it?" I asked. Tamari shrugged. She had no idea.
  "That's all I know. Don't contact me again. Please leave," she said and gestured us out the door. I gave her my card right before she slammed the door in our faces.
  Zach kicked the dirt. We were silent. We had no idea what to say to each other.
  "So," Zach started.
  "So," I repeated.
  "I guess mommy dearest and your dad dated. That's kind of..." he trailed off.
  "Disgusting," I finished for him. He laughed and looked me in the eye with a small smile.
  "Yeah," he said.
  "She wasn't lying, Zach. She told Chase that my dad loved her. She said she had proof. It wasn't a lie," I said. Zach nodded.
  "I know, but we have no way to get your dads journal. And that's assuming it exists."
  "We're going to get it."
  "You seem confident."
  "I'm going to get it if it's the last thing that I do."