Chapter Fourteen: Explosion.

"Well look who's finally awake," a deep voice said as I opened my eyes. It was dark, a single lantern hung from the wall in front of me. I heard footsteps as a man walked into the light. He was big, tall, and had dark features. He was the kind of guy you'd want to be on his side rather than against him. I looked around at my surroundings and saw that I was in what appeared to be an empty barn, and from the light on the wall I could see that it was dark outside. I didn't know how many hours had passed, but I knew it was quite a few.

"Who are you?" I rasped out as my throat burned.

"I'm someone you don't want to mess with, but too bad for you since that has already happened." He towered over me, his hands clasped behind his back. I looked up at him.

"Who are you," I repeated again, this time I was more forceful and my throat didn't burn as much.

"I am the one who is going to make your life a living hell, that's who I am." He strode back over to the wall in front of me and I saw him pour something into a glass. "I'd say sorry for giving you that burning feeling in your throat, those chemicals can be hard on the system, but I really don't care. On the other hand I want you to tell me everything and you're voice wouldn't sound so annoying if you had some water." He came back over to me and put a cup of water in my face.

"I'm not taking anything from you." I pulled my head away from his hand and turned my head away.

"Oh it's so sweet that you think you have a choice. Now drink," he growled as he grabbed my face to make me look at him. Then he shoved the cup in my face and forced it into my mouth. I tried to spit it back out but he forced even more into my mouth. When he pulled back his arm I coughed and sputtered as I choked on some of it.

I glared up at him as he sneered down at me and I wiped my wet chin on my shoulder to get the water off. My ankles were bound to the legs of the chair and my arms were tied around the back of the chair. The rope cut into my skin as I tried to move my arms.

"Oh, and if you were wondering, the driver your precious boyfriend shot is going to be fine; although Robert is pretty mad that he'll be out of commission for a little while." I scoffed at him as he set the cup on the counter behind him rather roughly.

"What do you want from me?" I didn't even know who this man was, let alone what he could have wanted with me.

"Revenge, I want revenge." He stalked back over to me and hit me, sending my face jerking to the side.

"And why would you want that?" I asked after I'd straightened my head back.

"Because you," his dirty finger poked my chest as he spoke. "Took away something that was very dear to me."

"Oh really, well how would I know what I took away if you don't tell me who you are."

"You wouldn't know me even if I said my name, but I guess since we're playing this game I'll tell you. I am Visily Romani, you are Cameron Ann Morgan, and you killed my son, Vincent. He was a good guy, a leader, and you killed him. He was feared and loved at the same time for his leading of the Pythons."

"The Pythons, they're the gang that normally hangs on Wilking Lane. Your son led that gang?" I had no idea that Vincent Romani used to run that gang.

"Did you ever think that I've been watching you for a while, Cameron? I've had my eyes on you since you got back."

"The gang was there when I was going to that house after the barbeque."

"Yes, although they weren't prepared for Zach to show up and for you to kick their butts."

"And they kidnapped Bex, didn't they? Why did they go after her?"

"Because if they got her then we knew you'd go looking for her, and after she was found the Detectives would take her back to the station for a debriefing. You'd be home alone and I'd be able to get my hands on you, but then you decided to go to your little boyfriend's apartment for a rendezvous and I wasn't able to get you."

"So you decided that you'd abduct me in broad daylight on the street in front of Roseville's Intelligence Agency with an ex Sniper just down the street?"

"Well you couldn't make it any harder for me, but it was a little bit exhilarating."

"So you've been stalking me for months because I killed your son in the war where a lot of people die?"

"Yes, you shot him three times, and then just walked away without a care in the world." He moved and got another chair, sat down in it, and then leaned forward so that he was a foot away from me. I liked it a lot better when it was Zach being that close to me – I thought as I remembered the night we kissed. I moved back as far as I could to get away from him, which wasn't far because I was tied up.

"I've never killed any fellow Americans; I've only targeted bad people."

"Well, yes, I know that, but he was posing as one of the bad people to get information back to me."

"Are you sure he wasn't just being himself?" He gave me a sharp look. "How do you know what happened over there anyways?"

"I've got eyes everywhere, I make it my responsibility to know everything that goes on. So that is why I want my revenge, but I won't kill you, not yet at least. We're going to have some fun first."

I internally cringed as he sneered at me again and ran his finger down my cheek. He brought his hand back and I could feel the sting as he hit my upper cheek. He wore a big ring that no doubt had just left a very nasty scratch. I felt blood drip down my cheek as he laughed and I bit my lip to keep from running my mouth. I ran my busted lip over my shoulder and tasted blood.

"What game should we play first, do you have a preference, dear Cameron?" I spit in his face and watched as he wiped away the blood that was mixed in with my spit. "Sorry, that one's not an option," he replied sarcastically.

"How about we play the game of you telling me exactly who you are," I spoke slowly as I leaned forward. I got in his face this time before I moved back in my chair.

"Very well then. Well let's see, I'm someone you don't want to mess with; I don't care who pays the price as long as I get what I want; you killed my son, Vincent, so I want revenge," he said as he ticked them off on his hand. Then with a wicked smile he added, "Oh and I killed your father." My head snapped up to meet his dead looking eyes. "Oh," he said looking at my expression. "You didn't know that? Well, it looks like I got your attention. Now, where were we? Oh, yes, you telling me what I want to know."

"What makes you think I'm going to tell you anything now that I know just what kind of monster you really are?"

"Because if you don't then you'll be seeing your Daddy really soon."

"I thought you said you wouldn't kill me," I retorted.

"Not yet, like I said, I want to have some fun first. But when that fun ends I'm going to have such a good time putting you down just like I did your father." He talked about my father like he was some kind of an animal, like he was dirt. I wanted to hurt him so badly.

"Your father was a fighter, he almost got away, but I always find who I'm looking for. It would have been simple, all he had to do was give me what I wanted and everything would be okay, but no he wouldn't give it up. After years I finally got tired of his games and knew there was no point to keep him around, so you know, a little stab here and another stab there and he was dealt with." I growled out and fought against my restraints trying to get to him. He just laughed and smiled cruelly.

"Are you going to follow in your father's footsteps? I know you followed his footsteps into the Army. Do you want to follow his footsteps in the way you die, because that can certainly be arranged? Oh," he clapped his hands almost excitedly. "We can kill you in front of your little boyfriend just like your father died in front of you. How does that sound?"

"You sick son of a – "

"Now, now, someone as pretty as you shouldn't be using that kind of language." I ground my teeth against each other, seething with fury. He yanked my head back and stood over me. "Now, enough with the games; tell me where it is."

"Even if I knew what you were talking about I wouldn't tell you." I seriously had no idea what he was talking about.

"Your father had something that I wanted, something I needed, and he wouldn't give it up. You must know what it was; you were always Daddy's little girl following him around everywhere. So, I'll ask you one more time, where is it?" I lifted my head in defiance and his fist collided with my face once again. I spit out the blood and looked him in the eye.

"You want to know where it is," I said after a moment of silence. "I'll tell you, but you have to come here." He stopped his pacing and looked over at me. He strode over to me and sat back down in his chair. "Closer," I said in a whisper. He leaned in cautiously. "Ready?" He gave me a stern look and I smiled. Blood trickled into my mouth. "You can go to hell, I will never tell you anything." Then I spit in his face as he screamed in anger. He shot up from his seat and threw his chair across the room before he swung around and his fist connected with my face one last time.

When I opened my eyes it was morning, probably around nine due to the position of the sun in the sky. I was able to look around and see that the barn was basically a long hall with almost nothing in it. The rope around my wrists and ankles dug into my skin that caused an ache, and my muscles were tight. My lip was busted open and my head hurt. When I squinted my eyes against the sun I could feel the dried blood crusted on my face move.

Once I had become aware of my surroundings I started paying attention to the noises I heard. There was the slight rustle of leaves as a small wind picked up, the chirp of birds talking to one another, and a slight ticking. I listened more closely to the ticking, and realized it was coming from under the chair. I looked over the side of the chair and saw the small explosive device that lay under it. There was a wire that ran up to the chair and along the underside. It must have been motion sensitive and when I moved it started counting down. I looked at the numbers that were on the top of the explosive. 1:23:15:09 – One hour, twenty-three minutes, fifteen and nine hundredths of a second.

"Oh, yay," I muttered sarcastically to myself as I sat back up and looked straight ahead at the closed barn door.

I thought about my options: sit and wait and hope that Visily Romani came back before it blew because he'd know how to disable it, sit and wait until it went off, or make a run for it knowing that the moment I got off the chair it would blow.

Just as I had finished thinking over my best options the barn door slid open and I straightened my back thinking it was Romani coming back. Instead I found Zach's piercing eyes looking straight into mine.

"Zach," I breathed out when I saw him, but then I realized that he was here and Romani could come back at any time. "Zach, Visily Romani, he's the one who took me, he might come back any second." He'd made his way over to me by now and he crouched on the ground in front of the chair.

"You don't have to worry about that now. Hayden and some others followed him into town; they'll get him. Now we just need to get you out of here." He pulled out a pocketknife and cut off the ropes that tied my legs to the chair; he then moved on to undo the knots that bound my hands.

"I can't get up, Zach. The bomb is pressure sensitive if I move it blows." He nodded and looked down at the device.

"I think I can delay it, if I tweak the right wires it'll give us a few seconds to make a run for it, or I can see if I can disable it altogether. Let me see what I can do." He looked up at me before he got up and picked up a few tools that were lying around and brought them back over to the chair.

"How did you know where I was?" I asked as he got to work unscrewing the top of the bomb.

"When I started shooting, the guards came out and saw the back of the van. I explained what had happened and they took me back inside the building to talk to Hayden. I gave him the license plate and the description of the guys who took you. They told me that they've been trying to get Romani for a long time, but they never had enough to book him. This is what they needed to take him down. You're okay, right," he said looking up from his work. "He didn't hurt you too badly did he?" His hand came up and touched the side of my face where there was dried blood. I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine; although I am sitting on a bomb." His thumb brushed over my lips and he laughed before he turned back to his work. "He killed my father, Zach." My voice was small. Zach nodded and looked up, gave me a sympathetic look, and then turned back to what he was doing.

It felt like hours that he was working on the bomb, hours of me doing nothing, hours of me wondering if we'd make it out alive, hours of me hearing the haunting tick of the bomb as it continued to count down.

"Cammie," Zach's voice brought me back to the here and now. I looked down at him as he sat up from his lying position on the floor. "I can't do anything else. I can only tweak it for five seconds, I can't disengage it all together." He looked sorry, but I nodded and smiled.

"Thank you, Zach, for everything." He got up and walked over to the barn door and pushed it open until it was fully open. He walked back over to where I was and made sure that he wired the delay before he turned to me.

"On the count of three we run." He stood diagonal to me and he looked back to me.

"You go, Zach, you go first. Run, and then I'll run." He shook his head.

"No, we both run, I'm not leaving you." I nodded as Zach counted one and two and at three I bolted upright and sprinted as fast as I could to the barn doors, Zach was right beside me.

Right as we'd gotten outside the doors, there was a blast as the bomb went off, throwing us off our feet and spinning us. Zach tried to protect me as we hit the ground, but I felt the back of my head hit the rough dirt and the wind got knocked out of me. Zach landed over me as he cushioned me from some of the falling debris.

"Oh, God," I heard him say over me. "Cammie, oh God, Cammie." He lightly shook me and I felt his hand on my face. "Cammie, please," he pleaded as he ran his hand down my face.

"I'm fine, Zach, my head just hurts." He let out a breath and I could see the smile on his face once I opened my eyes. "It just knocked the wind out of me."

Zach sat up and helped pull me up into his chest. He held me to him as he looked at me. He brushed the dirt off me and made sure I wasn't hurt.

"We should probably get you to the hospital to make sure you don't have a concussion." He started to pull away to get to his motorcycle that was down the street a ways.

"Zach," I said as I turned to him.

He turned around and I walked the foot distance to him and pressed my lips to his. I wrapped my hands around his neck and he wound his around my waist. I pulled back for a second to whisper a thank you before I placed my lips back over his. I ran my hand along his back and down his side and when I got to his waist he pulled back in a cringe. I pulled back from his hold on me and looked up at him; he looked away.

"You're hurt," I said simply when he didn't say anything.

"I'm fine," he tried to tell me, but I'd already pulled up the side of his shirt to see a big bruise starting to form.

"We should get you to a hospital to get checked out, too."

"Or we could kiss again and you'd know not to put your hand there," he called after me as I started to walk to his bike. I laughed, but made my way back over to him. I cupped his face and pulled him into a soft kiss. When I pulled back he was looking at me and I grabbed his hand to pull him along behind me.

"You should also call Hayden and let him know that I'm fine, but the barn didn't make it." He nodded and pulled out his phone. When he was finished talking with Hayden he turned back to me where I was leaning against the side of the motorcycle. He placed his left hand to the side of me.

"Well now we're even. You saved me from dying and I saved you. I told you it didn't change anything." He smiled and reached over to grab my helmet.

"Danger's always going to be finding us; we'll just have to stick together so we can save each other together." He nodded and handed me the helmet and grabbed his own. He climbed onto the bike and I followed. "Don't worry I won't touch your waist," I said as he started the engine. He grabbed my hand and wrapped it around his waist, anyways. With that we were off.

Two months later:

"Hey, Cammie." There was a knock on my open office door. I looked up and saw Zach step in.

"Hey," I said and walked around my desk to meet him. "What's up?" He held a file folder under one arm as he played with something on my desk.

"I found something for you; it's something you'll want to see." I nodded as he handed me the file. "I found some information on your father, about Visily Romani." I sat down in the chair on the opposite side of my desk and Zach sank into the other one. I opened it up.

"After you told me about your father and what he kept saying, and then that Visily Romani killed him, I did some research to try and figure out what he knew that Romani wanted."

"And what did you find out," I asked as I looked through some of the papers.

"When your father was in the Army he ran across some Americans that were being held captive. He called it in and helped them escape. He learned their names and what had happened; Visily Romani abducted them for information on what was going on in D.C. His plan was to blow up a conference with the McHenry's inside. All he needed was their inside information to know where the McHenry's would be and when. Your father got in the way of that. As it turned out, Romani hadn't even gotten their names, so he then needed to know their names in order to find them, but your father made sure that didn't happen. When he put it in his report for his platoon he encrypted the names of the hostages. He still wants the names because a man like Visily Romani isn't just going to walk away from something like that. He's going to keep looking for the names, keep killing until he can get to the McHenry's."

"I looked through all my father's reports, there was nothing in them about Visily Romani or a rescue." I looked back down at the file.

"I know. They knew what kind of man Romani was and they hid the original document so he couldn't find it. I went to your mom and asked if he'd ever sent any letters to you in that time frame. She gave me some of the letters and I ran a test on them. Underneath the writing is more writing; it's the original documents of his findings.

The names were encrypted but I had a friend of mine who has a knack for cracking codes unscramble them. On this page I wrote the names of the people in invisible ink that can only be seen with this light." He handed me a small light that was attached to a pen and when I clicked it on I saw the names written across the page.

"Zach," I said in awe. "This is incredible."

"That's not all, in one of his letters it talks about different numbers throughout the writing, and when I put them all together and ran them through my friend's software program a bank box in Rome popped up.

Since I wanted this to be a surprise for you I asked your mom to come with me and we opened the box. Inside were several documents on Romani. Your father was following him, gathering information, and the information in these files is enough to put him away for the other crimes we thought he did but we never had enough to charge him with. He'll go away for life with these documents, your father knew what he was doing." I stood up from my chair and wrapped my arms around Zach; he wrapped his arms around me.

"Why didn't he kidnap me when I was younger, why wait until now?"

"He probably wanted to wait until you were older because he thought you would remember it more and understand what he wanted more than you could when you were younger. I don't actually know, but I'd assume that he probably wanted you when you were eighteen, but then you went into the army and were untouchable." I nodded and smiled at him.

"Thank you, Zach, for everything. You found out why my dad died and you helped put away the man who killed him, so thank you." He never said anything, but I didn't need him to say anything, he'd already said all that he needed to.

Author's Note: That's the final chapter, everyone; I hope you liked it. There won't be a sequel; I feel it wrapped up everything it needed to in this chapter.

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving, for those of you who celebrate it, and I hope you have a great rest of your week.

Quote: "When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand." – Henri Nowwen.

-GymGirl904.