Spy School Revolution

Chapter Thirteen: Hunting Down

DC; Catherine's Car

Somewhere in DC

July 2nd

0400 hours

Ben's POV

Zoe and Mike stared at me intensely, as if I was sharing a joke or something. Mike rolled his eyes at me. "Yeah, right. And I'm the Queen of England," he said flatly. I sighed and looked toward Erica. "I told you they wouldn't believe it." 

She shook her head and said, "You know I'm not one to joke. I don't even understand why people do it. A waste of time, in my opinion. But back to the point. It is Murray Hill. If you think I'm lying, then fine. Get out of the car and try to go defeat the massive organization that's trying to kill you by yourself. Go ahead!" She exclaimed with a fake smile as if we were talking about going to Disney World.

Zoe nodded. Mike, on the other hand, still looked confused. "Wait... so this means... Murray has a crush on Erica?" Zoe smacked him on the head. "No, you moron! He was acting!" Mike rubbed his head, and then nodded, thinking. "Ow! And that's unless he was acting about, acting about, acting about liking Erica. Get it?" He said. 

Erica was not happy about this. "If you say that again I'll rip out your rib bones and play the xylophone with them. Got it?" He nodded meekly and mumbled sorry. "So, what are we going to do?" I asked. "Do you think Murray is leading CROATOAN?" Erica shook her head. "Murray is too much of a dimwit to lead an organization. Though I wouldn't be surprised if it was him who leaked the name."

I snorted. That much was true. "Should we tell Ms. Hale?" Zoe piped up. A voice came from in front. "Oh, no, dear, that won't be necessary, I heard it all. Murray is an unloyal snotrag, I must say. And do call me Catherine, Zoe." Zoe smiled and then turned back to face the road. "Sorry, Catherine. But what should we do?"

"Well," said Catherine. "I think we should figure out a way to track him and then-" "Done and done," interrupted Erica. Zoe and Mike looked to her, dumbfounded. "What are you talking about? How'd you track him?" Zoe asked.

Erica rolled her eyes. "After you told me about Ryan possibly being Murray, I slipped out of the car and ran inside, pretending to have forgotten my purse. I don't even own a purse. Ha, amateurs. Anyways, I slipped a tracker onto Murray while I was "looking for my bag." It was quite easy, actually."

Zoe and Mike continued to gape, yet I'd gotten used to the fact that Erica continuously did the unexpected. "Why are you so surprised? This is Erica Hale we're talking about," I added after Zoe looked like she was going to list 100 reasons why this was shocking. I can't be sure, but I thought I saw a small smile on Erica after I said this. 

Mike was still staring at her. "But- I swear- you were only gone for 5 seconds! I didn't even notice!" Erica snorted disdainfully. "She was gone for 4.2 seconds, actually," I said. Erica smiled slightly at me and then added, "And there's a lot of stuff you don't notice," she said. As she said this, a click was heard and Mike exclaimed, "Hey! Who undid my seatbelt?" Zoe laughed and I snorted. Mike then turned red and muttered, "Point proven."

As Mike redid his seatbelt, Erica smiled satisfactorily, glanced at her phone, and then went silent. She turned to her mother. "So, Mom, Murray's apparently on the run again." She pursed her lips. Mike leaned forward to glance at her phone. "Or, maybe he's just going to Target!" Zoe smacked his head again. Erica then muttered, "Sometimes I seriously doubt Grandad's judgment for recruiting this kid."

I smiled slightly. Although Erica claims she never jokes, I've seen her do it. Example: right here. "Where's Murray headed?" I asked her. She frowned and then said, "Nowhere, honestly. He's just walking around and around the National Mall. But he's not coming close to the building whatsoever, just walking around the landscape."

I sighed and then asked, "Catherine, where are we headed now?" "Well, since Erica is still under attack from the CIA, and we're suspects for going to find her, we'll need to find a hotel close and stay alert," she replied. I nodded and then asked, "How much longer until we find a hotel?" Erica frowned at me. "Well, considering we're in the middle of nowhere, a long time, big brain," she said, snorting. 

Catherine frowned at her through the rearview mirror. "Dear, be kind. And Benjamin, I'd say around two or three hours. Four at most." Zoe sighed and laid back and closed her eyes. "Might as well sleep, there's nothing else to do." Mike agreed and did likewise. I nodded and tried to fall asleep as well. Erica, however, was constantly staring at her phone.

I closed my eyes, trying to fall asleep but failing miserably. Catching snippets of the radio was the only thing entertaining. But it wasn't very fascinating anyways, only talking about Independence Day parties and whatnot, alongside some songs now and then. As I was about to fall asleep, I heard a faint whisper. "Ben?"

I opened my eyes and looked around. Catherine was driving, Zoe and Mike were asleep, so I turned to Erica. "Yeah?" She frowned and gestured to her phone. I leaned in to glance at her phone, getting overwhelmed by her scent of lilacs and gunpowder. Pushing that out of my mind, I focused on the screen.

It was supposed to show an image of Google Maps with a tracker that identified Murray Hill. Yet, all it was now was static and an occasional flash of colors. I shook my head and tapped the screen. Erica rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm so stupid. I've been staring at this for the past 10 minutes, and all I had to do was tap the screen and it'd fix it all," she remarked sarcastically.

I shrugged. "Do you think Murray found the tracker and destroyed it?" She shook her head. "Murray couldn't find his way to his bedroom if he was sitting on his bed. It obviously fell off and got crushed by a car or something, or somebody hacked my phone."

I jerked upright at this. "You said your phone was untraceable!" I exclaimed. She rolled her eyes once more. "Untraceable, genius. Not unhackable. I'm not Orion." 

I frowned at the news. "Well, we can't really do much now, we're on a road somewhere in DC," I pointed out. She nodded slightly and turned to face the window, but then changed her mind and turned back to me.

"Oh, and Ben?" She asked. I turned back to her. "Yes?" I replied. "Thanks for coming to get me. I know blowing up the cafeteria wasn't really the smartest thing to do, but you believed in me, so thanks for helping my Mom and saving me," she said, with a small smile on her face. I couldn't believe it. The Ice Queen just thanked me. 

"Yeah, sure. I'm just positive you wouldn't turn to the dark side." She smiled again and turned away, but I thought I heard her mumble something along the lines of, "and I'm starting to think you won't either." I smiled to myself and tried to hide the fact I had heard this as I closed my eyes and fell asleep listening to the gentle noise of the car.

Happy Halloween, and Happy All Saints Day! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm trying to upload more regularly now. Please be sure to vote and comment if you can! I appreciate it! Have a blessed day, until next time! - Mary Lolo