Look out for the <>!

"Are you almost ready?" Mara said though the door of my hotel room.

I frowned at the door. "Just give me a minute!" I yelled back. I still had about 15 minutes to get ready but of course Mara liked to be early so she was breathing down my neck for the last 10 minutes. All I needed to do was put my dress on and some lip stick and that was it, she could wait for that.

I looked at myself in the mirror as I slipped on a bulletproof vest. Then I pulled a red dress over top of it. I looked at myself with a smile as I smoothed out the dress. I looked at the knife on the counter then strapped to my thigh. "Perfect," I said to myself as I pushed some of my blonde hair behind my ear with a pin. 

"Annalise, your minute is up and Auggie is with me and..."

I sighed as I opened the door to face her. She stopped in mid sentence and smiled.

Auggie looked at me and I could see his jaw drop a centimeter. "You look beautiful," he cooed.

I smiled at him and blushed a brilliant shade of red that would make roses jealous. After that moment on the elevator, things changed for us. He would be mine and I would be his. After I kissed him last night, I went to bed but I couldn't stop thinking about us. I was terrified that I said yes. But at that moment, I was terrified to say no. I couldn't imagine him slipping out of my life. I wanted to marry him. But I felt like there was some kind of urgency in the air last night as he asked. Maybe it was too soon to ask. But I was afraid to bring it up.

"Thanks. You look pretty sharp yourself," I said as I straightened out his bow tie. His brown hair was parted off to the side and loosely jelled to keep it in place. He was wearing a white button down shirt with a black bow tie. He was gorgeous, he looked like a model.

Mara sighed, breaking us from our moment. "Ok, love birds, let's go, I don't want to be late," Mara agitatedly said.

I looked at Mara for the first time seeing she had her curly hair pined up into a loose bun with bright red lipstick. She was wearing a white halter dress that went down to the knees with a pair of white 2 inch heels. "You looked nice Mara."

"Thanks but let just go," she said turning to face the hall.

The taxi was waiting for us up front and we got to the gala right on time. We got into the big building right at the heart of London, the place was huge and there was at least four different rooms where the people were socializing. There was a spacious bar, a dance floor with a live band playing with space for chairs and couches.

"MI6 really went all out to put this on didn't they?" Mara whispered to me.

"That's the truth," I whispered back with wide eyes, awe struck that it looked this nice for a government function. How come the CIA never put something this nice on?

"Let's split up. You and Auggie go to the dance floor. And I'll go to the bar." Mara thumbed over to where it was.

I frowned, knowing that she would probably get a drink or two. We needed to be fully aware and drinks wouldn't help that. I opened my mouth to protest.

"Oh Annalise. I'll be fine." She said and smiled at me reassuringly. "Remember try to find her, get close and listen to what she's talking about. If I see her first, I'll tell you through the ear wick," she said and walked off to the bar.

I nodded then looked at the dance floor. Dancing on the polished dark wood were about a dozen people.

Auggie smiled at me as Mara left us. "Camille, will you have this dance with me?" he asked, using my cover name.

I blushed and said, "I'm an awful dancer." He knew that as well as I that I had two left feet.

"Please," he begged.

I smiled, I couldn't say no to him. I took his hand and said, "Ok. I'll dance."

He smiled widely and led me to the heart of the dance floor. He pulled me close enough that I felt his body heat. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me even closer. 

About a minute into the song and Auggie said, "You're not bad at this dancing thing."

I laughed. "It's because you're helping me."

"Like always, you give yourself less credit then you actually have. Don't sell yourself sort."

I nodded as I rested my head on his shoulder. I could stay like this forever. The sway of his feet was calming, the music relaxing. For a moment, I forgot we were on a mission. Suddenly my eyes caught hold of a blond woman in need of another dye job dancing with an older man to the left of us. She fit the photo of Tori the woman in my file. "Do you see that?" my voice turned into a whisper to Auggie.

Auggie followed my gaze and frowned lightly, knowing that our moment was over. "Do you think?"

"I do. Let's get closer," I said still dancing with Auggie.

"Ok," he said as he changed positions for dancing, putting on hand of my hip holding my other hand gently as we moved gracefully closer to her.

"Mara, we found her," I said into my watch but then quickly bushed my hair behind my ear to make it look like I was just fixing my hair.

"I'll be there." I heard her say though my ear wick.

Auggie pulled out a bug from his pocket. He had to get close enough to place it on her. He dropped his hands from me and moved over to her. He tapped her on the shoulder and asked if he could dance with her.

I walked off the dance floor and found Mara. We watched as the two of them laughed and talked until the song was over. She was flirtatious with Auggie and it made me slightly jealous.

The song ended but I watched Tori pull Auggie farther away from us. He looked at me apologetically but followed her out of the room. He had a job to do, I knew that, but it was still hard to watch him walk away with another lady.  

"Looks like you lost your date," Mara spoke up. I looked at her with a frown as I saw a drink in her hand.

"Looks like I did." 

Mara took a drink of what ever was in her glass and said, "you need a drink. You've been a little too tight recently." Before I could protest, she went off and within second's came back with a cup in her hand for me. She handed it to me and said, "Come on, the mission's practically over. Auggie's doing all the heavy lifting."

I nodded. She was right. I did need to relax a little. I took the glass and took a drink of the champagne. Mara and I sat back and people watched as we listened to Auggie's conversation with Tori. Every laugh he gave was painful to hear, I knew this was a cover but it felt so real as I listened. Finally, I couldn't take it any more and I took out my ear piece.

Mara looked at me with a frown. "I'll tell you when he's done," Mara said as she took another drink.

I nodded at her. "Thanks," I said to her as I stuffed my earpiece into my pocket. I needed some fresh air. "I'm going to see what else they have here. I'll talk to you later." I waved good-bye then left for another room.

I went to one of the sitting rooms and looked around, it was huge but cozy with velvet seats and a roaring fire. My eyes stumbled upon a large table with tons of finger foods in the corner of the room. I smiled, I was starving. I started to walk to the table when I felt someone tap my shoulder. I stopped and looked to see Zach.

I smiled. Florida felt like years ago but as I looked at him, memories flooded my mind once again. I thought about the phone number he gave me. I wanted to contact him a while ago, but since then I had lost his number on the paper. "Zach, it's good to see you," I said looking at him from head to toe. His brown curly hair was shorter now and he was sharply dressed.

He frowned lightly as if I hurt him in some way. "I never got a call from you."

I frowned back at him. "I lost your number. But I would still like help if you are interested."

He nodded then smiled, happy with my response.

"How's the gang work going?"

"I brought them down last month!" he said and straightened his tie proudly.

"That's great! So what brings you here?"

Zach look around the room quickly, as if someone was watching him. "I'm following the man named General Smith. Have you heard of him?" he asked with a hushed voice as if he was right next to us.

Suddenly I felt like I was punched in the stomach. The image of General Smith from last night came back to me vividly. A man that was practically my uncle, a man I thought I knew and trusted seemed to be the opposite of all of that. "I do know him," I said to him.

"I have reason to believe that he's working with MIA," Zach added.

Hearing those words from Zach just cemented my thoughts even more. General Smith couldn't be trusted.

"He's here and I'm trailing him. I'm sure you know the bank called novus suscipio is MIA."

I nodded. "Of course," I shrugged as if he was talking about a simple math problem.

"Well I've seen photos of him going in all three banks."

"Do you have them with you?" I asked, hoping that I could take them and share them with my grandmother. Maybe then she would believe me. Maybe then she would see that MIA was real.

He chuckled lightly as if that was a foolish question. "Please, bring them here? No. Are you insane? What if someone found them?"

He did have a point. I looked at the ground, feeling stupid. That was a stupid thing to ask.

Zach pulled his phone out of his fitted black pants. "I have to go," he said and took out a pen, He took my arm and wrote his number on it. "This time, you won't lose it," he added with a wink.

I smiled lightly. "Thanks," I replied as I watched him walk into the crowed of people. I was once again alone in the huge room with people that I didn't know. Suddenly I was alert and jumpy. If General Smith knew I was looking into MIA, this would be the perfect place to get me. I put in my ear piece and was relieved when I didn't hear Auggie flirting on the other end.

I took one more look behind me before I left this big room but not before I bumped into some man. I frowned at plush carpet. Why did I have to be so klutzy. "Oh I'm sorry. Let me get you another one," I said looking at the drink I just spilt from his hand.

"It's ok. I'll get it," he said with a deep voice.

That voice was familiar to me. I looked up to meet the gray eyes of General Smith standing right in front of me.

"General Smith, hello," I said politely even though I felt like I was a spring, ready to pop at any moment. I was sure he saw me last night. Here he was to get me. He was here to take me away personally. I looked around, hoping that someone would stop this or at least he wouldn't get me in a room full of people. 

"Annalise, what are you doing here?" he asked, sounding worried. Was he afraid I would blow his cover? 

"I'm on a mission for gram. Are you ok?" I asked, looking at him from head to toe. He was known for his calm behavior but he looked a little too stressed. Maybe he wasn't here to get me. Instead he looked like he wanted me to get away form him.

He grabbed my arm with force. "I don't know why you're here, but do yourself a favor and get out. It's not safe you here."

I frowned at him. I wasn't understanding his angle that he was playing here. Was he MIA? If so, why wasn't he getting me? I was right in front of him and he was pushing me away. Or maybe he didn't recognize me from last night.

I shook out of his grasp. He was hiding something, and I was bound to find out. "I'm sorry, but you don't over see me."

He shook his head, he was losing his patience with me. "Annalise, I don't have time for games. Leave before it's too late."

I shook my head. "No." I turned my back to him and walked away without another word. I fished out my phone and turned around to take a photo of him. But when I looked, he was no where to be seen.

"Annalise? Are you there? We need your help." I heard Auggie say through my ear wick. He sounded out of breath like he was running somewhere.

"What's going on?" I asked, fear taking over me. This was why he wanted me to leave. General Smith was going after my friends and he didn't want me to get in the way.

"We got the info we need. Tori is selling info to the other spy agencies," Mara said. "Auggie confronted her and she ran off. We need your help to find her." 

I let out a breath of fresh air that I didn't know I was holding. They were safe for now. I scanned the room for her. Suddenly my eyes skimmed over someone that looked like Tori. I watched as she took an emergency exit. I frowned at the door, knowing that this would lead to a chase. "Great. I'm not dressed for this," I said as I started to chase after her.

I ran through the exit door and looked up at the staircase above me. I frowned. "Guys, she's going through the roof,"I said into my watch. I kicked off my white colored heals and I started to sprint up the stairs.

"I'll take the elevators," Mara said in to my ear piece.

I started to take three steps at a time. I could feel my lungs burning in my chest. My legs started to feel heavy but I wasn't about to let her get away. Suddenly, I heard a rip. I looked down and saw that my dress had ripped about three inches above the knee.

I frowned at it then looked up at her who was still trying to get away. I swore loudly. "This wasn't cheap!" I said as I tore the fabric off.

A few more flights of stairs later and we were on the roof. I looked at Tori with a frown as the cold London wind whipped my face. "It's game over Tori," I said to her as Auggie and Mara came through the exit door. 

"Stop Tori, you have nowhere else to run," Mara said fiercely as she pulled out her gun.

Tori pulled out her gun but quickly realized that she didn't have a chance. She dropped it and kicked it to the side. "You win," she said putting her hands up in the air, giving up a little too easily.

Mara pulled out her hand cuffs and cuffed her. "We'll wait here until the helicopter picks her up."

"Ok." I rested my back against the roof stair case wall.

Mara looked at me. "Did you do something to your dress?"

I frowned at my dress. "It's a new style I'm trying out. It's called 'On The Edge' by Annalise Phillips," I said with only disappointment in my voice.

She chuckled. "That's...hot," she said, trying to find the right words to describe it.

"Yeah, it is," I said folding my arms over my chest. I couldn't believe I ripped my $400 dress. This was the most expensive dress I owned.

"It still looks beautiful on you," Auggie added and kissed me.

"Gross. get. a. room," Mara said with a wink as the roof lights went out.

I got up from the ground and looked over the wall. The whole building was black. I frowned at the darkness as I looked around at the night sky. Something wasn't right, the lights weren't turning on.

Suddenly we all heard loud static coming through our ear pieces. We all quickly took them out with a frown. Someone was jamming our systems. Worry shot through me. This is what General Smith was talking about. Something was happening down stairs.

<>

"What's going on?" Mara asked as she held Tori by her arm.

I frowned. "I think it's MIA," I said, not afraid that Tori was listing to this conversation.

"Look, if MIA is after you, you might as well give up now," Tori spoke up.

I shot her a look. Thanks for the confidence booster. "What do you know about MIA?" I asked her.

She shrugged as she looked at her hand cuffs.

I frowned at her, knowing exactly what she wanted and I was willing to give it to her. "Mara, give me the key."

Mara frowned at me, knowing what I was about to do. "No," Mara said as she put herself in front of Tori.

I shook my head at her. She didn't get it. We needed as much information as we could get and I was willing to risk everything for it. "Give it, Mara."

She looked at me with a frown, knowing she wasn't going to win this fight. With a sigh, she tossed me the key.

I caught the keys in my hands then quickly unlocked her hand cuffs. "Spill."

Tori looked around the roof as if making sure it was safe. "I worked for MIA about a year ago. They wanted me to gather information on different CIA bases. They wanted me to find the ins and outs and their weak spots so I did. For six months. I painstakingly took details of their computer systems and buildings. They believe they are better, smarter, faster. They will attack the CIA, and they will bring it down. And if you don't think that's enough, they are going for MI6 next."

I frowned. I wanted to know how she walked away with all this information.

"They have been hunting me down ever since I quit. They do not mess around," Tori said then dropped to her knees then fell face first to the ground.  A gun shot echoed the city around us.

"No!" I screamed as I ran to her, but she was already dead. They didn't let her walk away. We all dropped to our stomachs as we waited for something to happen. I was sure they were going to get us next.

"Is everyone ok?" Auggie asked as he laid on the ground.

Mara and I looked at reach other as we assessed any damage. We were fine. "We're fine," Mara spoke up.

We stayed there as seconds turned into minutes. Suddenly the lights turned back on and I knew that for now, we were safe. For what ever reason, they did not kill us. They needed us for something and I couldn't figure out what. I frowned as I got up from the ground.

Mara brushed herself off and frowned at me. I could see fear in her eyes. "Annalise, if MIA knows all of our weak spots, how can we possibly stop them?" Mara asked with concern in her voice.

I looked at her. She was right. MIA seemed impossible to stop. I was starting to believe that we were in over our heads on a death mission.