What She Thought She Knew (Rachel Moore Mystery Book 1), стр. 54

Agent Claire replied. "I'm from Ireland. I joined the Seekers because of my uncle. He's actually on this mission with us."

A light bulb went off in my head. "Your uncle doesn't happen to be Agent Cian, is he?"

The woman smiled. "That's him all right. Old son of a bitch won't quit for all he's worth. I worry that his conspiracy talk will get him in trouble with the Seeker high power, though." She sighed.

I smiled in reassurance. "Your uncle is a very capable man. I'm sure that even he's smart enough to not piss off the Directors."

Agent Claire shrugged. "Eh, I guess we'll see."

I nodded, and stood up. "Well Agent Claire, it's been a pleasure meeting you, but I'm afraid I must retire to my quarters. I'm pretty exhausted. Have fun you two." I winked at them which caused a mixture of reactions from both of them: Agent Claire blinked at me repeatedly while Fear looked like he was about to murder me.

I blew him a mock kiss, and quickly went out the door before he could follow me.

The outside air was a lot cooler than the bar, and I shivered despite the layers of cloak I had on me.

I brought them closer to me, and walked back to the Shroud.

Even at night, the view was just as spectacular with all of the lights it had on.

With the amount of alcohol in my system and no work to keep me focused, my thoughts automatically trailed to Rachel. My heart curled as a result.

I sighed as I stopped, and looked up at the sky.

There were no clouds, so I had a great view of the beautiful stars.

My eyes softened as I imagined finishing the mission and seeing Rachel again. "Soon Rachel." I said softly. "Soon."

Chapter 27: Order's Collapse; Chaos's Rise

I woke up abruptly the next morning at around 5am.

I shivered despite being covered in sweat. I pressed a hand to my chest in an attempt to slow down my rapidly beating heart as I wondered why I had woken up that way.

Once I finally calmed down, I sat in bed for a few minutes to catch my breath.

My gut told me that something was terribly wrong, though I wasn't sure what. Maybe it was just the long shift and the alcohol getting to me…

Restless, I finally got out of bed, and made my way to the bathroom.

I turned on the tap and generously wiped my face and chest with cold water.

After I took a couple of deep breaths, I looked up at my hazy reflection.

My eyes were bloodshot from the alcohol combined with the lack of sleep, my hair was sticking up all over the place, and sweat was slowing dripping down my chest.

I figured that I wouldn't have been able to go back to sleep, so I stripped off my remaining clothes and took a shower.

The cold water automatically woke me up even more.

Once I was done, I felt refreshed.

Satisfied, I turned off the water, and stepped out to dry myself.

Once that was done, I wrapped the towel around my waist, and walked to the mirror.

I wiped away the condensation, and proceeded to shave my growing beard.

For the next ten minutes I continued on with my hygiene care, before I left the bathroom.

I shivered slightly at the drop in temperature when I entered my rather large bedroom. The accommodations were quite generous with us.

I dropped my towel to the tiled floor, and put on a simple pair of dark jeans and a tight black t-shirt.

Once I was dressed, I fell down onto my bed, and stared at the ceiling blankly. Now what? I asked myself.

After a couple of minutes of pointless staring, I got up again and a thought came into my mind. Rachel's probably back home by now, maybe I should call her?

I walked over to the phone and dialed the general number for Seeker HQ. They would be able to connect me directly to Rachel, wherever she was.

The phone ringed continuously, but then it had the noise that suggested that the line was not connected before the ringing stopped all together.

Puzzled, I hung up and tried again.

The same thing happened, although that time the ringing didn't go on for as long.

Confused, I hung up for good and stared at the phone. What was that all about? I wondered.

I shrugged as I thought that it was just a mechanical issue, however my insides twisted uncomfortably.

I decided to go try Fear's phone.

I left my quarters, and went next door to where Fear was staying.

I pressed the doorbell, and waited.

I heard shuffling from the other side of the door, as well as a thud sound followed by some swearing.

I bit my lip to prevent myself from laughing.

Alas, Fear in all his half naked glory opened the door, and glared once he realized that it was me. "What the hell do you want at this time?" He asked roughly.

I shrugged carelessly. "I couldn't sleep; thought that I might as well use my time wisely to come bother you."

Fear's glare got more intense. "Yeah, well in case you hadn't notice, some of us actually sleep at this hour. So fuck off." He was about to close the door when I pressed my foot against it.

"Now now, sunshine. Don't be like that." I teased.

One of Fear's eyebrows twitched at my use of the nickname, but then proceeded to glare at me once more. "What do you want?" He asked again.

That time, I decided to get straight to the point. "I tried to call Rachel, but for some reason the line with Seeker HQ never went through. I wanted to use your phone to see if it'll make