Free Classified Material by Ally Carter

Number of Hours Since Cammie Was Last Seen: 10. Day 1: Liz
     
    As soon as Liz saw the empty bed, she knew something was wrong. Of course, people at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women were used to Elizabeth Sutton’s knowing things no one else had figured out, but that morning she wasn’t recalling something she’d read in a book. Her realization wasn’t the result of years of research and experiments. Although, technically, Liz was a genius, it was her gut and not her head that made her stare at the empty pillow, the perfectly tucked covers, and say, “Oh no.”
     
    “What is it?” Bex groaned, half-asleep. “If you’re complaining ’cause you lost your lucky highlighter again, I’m gonna—”
     
    “It’s Cammie,” Liz said, still staring at the pillow. “She’s gone.” Bex, however, didn’t seem concerned as she rolled over and pushed her hair out of her eyes. “She probably just got up early to study.” “Earlier than I got up?” Liz asked.
     
    It must have been an excellent question, because Macey threw aside her covers and searched the four corners of the suite with her big blue eyes, as if Cammie were there, hiding in the shadows, ready to jump out and say boo. Liz began to shake. Her mind began to race.
     
    There were hundreds of places that Cammie might go to be alone or think, to study or cry. Everything would be okay, Liz told herself, and took a deep breath. But it was the look she saw in Bex’s eyes that scared her. And, with that, the girls knew it was time to go to work.
     
    COVERT OPERATIONS REPORT
    At 0500 on the morning of June fourth, Operatives Sutton, Baxter, and McHenry awoke to find Operative Cameron Morgan was not in her bed and had, apparently, not returned to her room the night before. The Operatives did not, however, panic.
     
    “Where do you think she is?”
     
    Liz didn’t want to yell, but she couldn’t help it. She’d always been the smallest of her friends, and her voice had always been the highest. At times like that, when adrenaline mixed with fear, Liz had to lash out. She felt like a hot-air balloon, too light and inconsequential to be held down.
     
    “You don’t think she did something stupid, do you?” Liz asked. “Because I’m starting to think she might have done something stupid.”
     
    “Cam’s got to be here,” Bex said. She was pulling on her uniform, scanning the floor for her shoes. “She’s here somewhere. She couldn’t have gotten far.”
     
    “Unless she has a jet.” Liz stopped cold. “Do you think Cam has a jet?”
     
    Macey shook her head, no, but Bex just plowed through the door and said, “I think she has a death wish.”
     
    PLACES WHERE THE OPERATIVES LOOKED FOR CAMMIE MORGAN:
The PE barn
Dr. Fibs’s lab
Madame Dabney’s tearoom (because Operative Morgan has been known to stress-eat the chocolates Madame Dabney keeps stashed in the credenza)
     
    “What about Zach?” Macey said three hours later. “Shouldn’t we ask him if he’s seen her? Maybe they’re just off somewhere together. Maybe she’s not… gone.” She kept her voice low because the halls weren’t empty anymore. The sun was up, and light streaked through the windows while girls darted down to the labs or outside for a pre-test run to clear their heads. It was finals’ week at the Gallagher Academy, and the whole school was awake and alive and looking for answers.
     
    Unfortunately, not everyone was finding them.
     
    “That’s true,” Liz said, hopeful. “Maybe she’s just with Zach.”
     
    Bex asked the scariest question of all: “What if she isn’t.”
     
    “Still,” Liz said, “we should ask him.”
     
    She didn’t see the dark shadow that stood in the doorway, broad shoulders looming over them, saying, “Ask me what?”

Day 1: Zach
     
    Bex and Macey and Liz were staring at him, speechless. If there was one thing Zach had learned from his time at the Gallagher Academy it was that jabbering, talking girls are