What She Thought She Knew (Rachel Moore Mystery Book 1), стр. 33

Our stalker turned to face the speaker. "No," he replied.

The first speaker nodded. "The bitch went with them. Let's go."

With that, the newcomers ran back towards the lab.

The figure in front of us gave our direction one last look, before he too disappeared through the narrow darkness.

Fear and I stayed in that position for a few extra minutes to make sure that we were in the clear.

The Assassin then decided that we were safe, and backed off.

I let out a shaky breath, stunned by our close encounter.

I was brought out of my trance by Fear who waved a hand in front of me. "You alright, Agent Moore?" He asked.

I merely nodded.

I then stared at the cloak in his hands. "Is that what I think it is?" I asked in slight awe.

Fear's mask wrinkled. "Yeah, it's the brand new item from the Seeker market. I borrowed it from Agent Elvira. Hopefully, she won't mind."

I stared at Fear in stunned silence for several moments.

I then shook my head, and turned the other way. "Let's get the hell out of here." I said, and ran forward without waiting for a reply.

Immediately, I heard footsteps behind me as Fear wordlessly followed me.

Eventually I stopped as I allowed us to catch our breaths. I leaned my back against the wall, and breathed heavily as I willed my rapidly beating heart to calm down.

As I looked over at Fear, he was bent forward, and was catching his breath as well.

Sensing that he was being watched, Fear glanced over at me, and let out a sharp laugh. "You're crazy for staying behind. You could have been killed!"

I grinned. "Sounds like someone I know, though he's more of a show off about it than I am."

Fear merely chuckled as his eyes twinkled in amusement. "You're not bad after all."

I felt pleased that the normally moody Assassin found me bearable.

It wasn't until a couple of minutes passed that I decided that it was best to leave.

I stood up. "I think we've had a sufficient break. We better go before the others assume we're dead, or worse, the Phantoms come back."

The Assassin nodded, and stood up as well.

We then continued our walk through the tunnel that seemed to have gone on forever.

Our blind walk went on for a while, but eventually we found our salvation. Meters away was the exit.

I allowed myself to laugh in relief as we finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel.

Chapter 19: Momentous Victory

The tunnel led out to a ditch of sorts.

The need to go on my knees, and kiss the ground overwhelmed me as I smiled wildly at the sight of the sun.

Fear apparently felt the same way: his normally stiff posture was relaxed, and completely at ease with our newly found safety.

"We made it." I exhaled a sigh of relief.

"We sure did." Fear replied.

As I closed my eyes, I subconsciously spread my arms out, and welcomed the much wanted warmth.

After a nice stretch, I placed my arms back at my side, and opened my eyes.

Movement in the corner of my vision caught my attention, and I turned to the source.

It came from the Assassin who placed his hand over his lower face.

"Looking to see if you've got a zit?" I teased as I gave him a sly look.

Fear raised an eyebrow, but otherwise did not appear annoyed by my comment. "No, I've just got a rip in my mask. No point of wearing one that shows skin."

The Assassin swiftly took off his sleek mask to reveal an attractive face that was surprisingly void of scars.

He caught me staring, and smirked at me.

He titled his head in a way that made blond strands of his hair fall over his eyes. "Like what you see, Agent Moore?" He asked teasingly.

I snorted. "More like I'm surprised that you have such a feminine face. Let me guess, you kept it clean by going to the spa regularly?"

The Assassin glared at me, and I couldn't help but laugh.

Not long afterwards, he chuckled as well.

For a moment, we both allowed ourselves to enjoy the light atmosphere. As Seeker agents, we both knew just what was at stake and the high cost if we failed. With such a heavy burden on our shoulders, it was quite rare for Seeker agents to find any humor in the present world.

Unfortunately, even the smallest of good things must come to an end as the Assassin and I had to remain focused on our task at hand.

"We better find the others," Fear said.

I nodded in agreement and was about to step onto the small terrain when a random inquiry popped into my head. "Hey Fear, who's John?" I asked curiously.

The Assassin merely blinked at me and opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the sound of static coming through our ear pieces. "..oss … you ther…?" Those were the only syllables that came from the overpowering static.

"Barely, there's too much static. Repeat?" I replied as I covered my ears in an attempt to better hear the message.

"What's your …sition?"

I let out a loud breath in annoyance. "Change the channel; there's too much interference in this one."

I switched the dial on my ear piece. "Can you repeat please?" I said again.

"Can you hear me now boss?" Came Gizmo's voice.

"Yes!" I exclaimed.

"About bloody time," Gizmo murmured, though the static-free ear piece allowed me to hear his comment.

I stifled a chuckle. "What's your position? Is anyone else with you?" I asked.

"Just climb up the hill and you should see the van parked on the bridge over it. Everyone managed to find me."

It felt like a huge weight