Because I had so much fun writing the last one, here we go again. You guys are amazing, thank you for all the votes! Sorry it took so long for me to update after the 850 votes. Some AS*HOLE in my group didn't do his part so I had to do it, and then I had to eat dinner and work on something else for school and then finish the chapter, but here it is now! Please enjoy!!

Erica immediately demanded the security tapes of the morgue. We wanted to see if Mark was never here, or if he was moved after he got here. The old guy looked very frazzled at the disappearance.

"I swear," he pleaded with a very angry Hailey, "I oversaw it myself! Mark Dazy was delivered here, I promise." Hailey wasn't hearing any of it, and was just angry. Plus, she couldn't get that family heirloom ring back.

Mike was out of there in an instant after we were done searching. He stood outside the shop and paced. I wasn't sure if it was out of concern for Mark, but I'd be willing to bet it was more because he was so close to dead bodies.

Zoe was being helpful and was calming down Hailey best she could. Since Zoe had experience with little kids, she was making some progress on Hailey. She was very angry, but Zoe assured that Erica had expertise in this matter and that she was going to take care of it.

I was in charge of getting this creepy guy's name and information, in case he was a bad guy working with Joshua or whoever. I doubted it though. He was creepy, weird and seemed too unusual for even Joshua to work with. He normally employs young and handsome people, not old men who live alone and work at a morgue for over forty five years. Still, you could never be too careful. I took pictures of his driver's license and some other random stuff. I didn't quite know what I was doing, but I was pretending to be helpful.

Suddenly, my phone rang. It was an unknown number. Normally I don't answer those, but the area code was from Washington DC and it could have been for work or something. I walked outside and out of earshot from where Zoe, Mike and Hailey were.

I picked up, "Hello?"

"Hi Ben," someone said in a hushed whisper, "I just installed some secure hardware on your phone remotely."

I recognized the voice, even in a whisper, "Audrey? And how did you install secure hardware remotely? Don't you need my permission or my password or something?"

I heard some moving and rustling on Audrey's end, like she was moving. I also thought I heard a loud engine or something. She scoffed, "Like I need a password. You should really protect your phone better. And you really don't want to know. Anyway, I have to make it brief, since this is, you know, illegal. Are you in a secure location?"

I really wasn't, but I wanted to hear what Audrey had to say.

"Yes I am."

"Okay, so I got your results back," there was more sounds in the background of her call, like she was moving yet again, "And you're right."

That really piqued my interest, "I am? About what?"

"There was something on that cup you told me to test. Specifically, residue on the rim of the cup." Audrey was speaking calmly, but there was a sense of urgency about it, probably because she wasn't supposed to be using CIA equipment for outside matters.

Now I was very interested, "What? What is it?" I asked in a hurry.

"Okay, it's very interesting. It wasn't poison or anything meant to be lethal. It was merely a long-term allergy drug called Xenya. It's even advertised on TV. You know that annoying commercial with over-excited people running through fields of flowers while the calm voice says that the side effects include brain tumors? Yeah that one. Point is, anyone could get the drug that was on the cup. It wasn't any russian poison or anything. Xenya is a fairly strong medication that has long term effects on removing allergies. Many people take it. But it is however recommended that people only under sixty take it, because it has very strong dreary effects on older people. It makes them drowsy, but even if someone older than sixty takes it, it's not lethal. Heck, even if you overdose, it shouldn't kill you. And based on the results, there wasn't enough for an overdose. At most, it seems like it was the recommended serving treatment."

For some reason, this made me disappointed. A part of me was hoping it was some secret russian poison so we had a clear lead on what was going on. Not only were we back on square one, the plot thickened even more. Why would someone put a non-lethal drug on his cup? And if it is supposedly non-lethal, why is he dead?

"How drowsy does it make seniors?" I asked Audrey, "Worst case scenario?" Maybe the drowsiness killed Mark somehow?

"I mean, worst case? I guess now because of Mark, it's death. But I wouldn't be so quick to assume he died because of this. Obviously it's suspicious that this happened the same night, but the cold hard facts don't line up. But coming back to your question, before Mark, the worst case scenario is probably hospitalized, with non-threatening injuries. The doctors would probably want the senior there so they could monitor their vitals and for the old people to take it easy. For a few weeks at most. Nothing too bad."

"Hmm," I bit my lip in concentration. This was definitely new and important news.

"Oh!" Audrey exclaimed, "I almost forgot to tell you. Part of the reason you wanted me to test it was to see what DNA was on it, right?"

"Yes!" I responded quickly, "Of course!"

"Right, so here's who DNA was on it. The people aren't too surprising. Mark Dazy, obviously. Diana Dazy, who you said prepped the food that night, right? But here's where I think you got your answer to who-" Audrey stopped speaking abruptly.

"What happened?" I asked, a bit annoyed that she stopped talking at the most pivotal moment.

"Do I hear footsteps behind you?" She whispered this into the phone.

I whirled around and Hailey and Zoe were walking towards me. "Yeah," I frowned, "It's just Zoe and Hailey Dazy."

An urgent tone rang through her words, "Zoe and Hailey?" Audrey spoke in a hurried tone, laced in stress. "I have to go. I'll call you later."

"Wha-?" I asked but the line went dead. Ugh, I know why. Audrey doesn't want to get caught by a civilian, even maybe Zoe, running these tests using CIA property. It could cost her her whole career and the CIA still doesn't completely trust her all these years later. It's taken years to build their trust with her, Audrey doesn't want it taken away by Zoe or Hailey overhearing our conversation.

"Hey Ben!" Zoe said cheerfully. Hailey looked significantly calmed down, which was good. I guess she finally realized that there was no use to get mad since, at the moment, there was nothing we could do. Once we have and review the security tapes, we should have a clear idea on how to proceed. Erica was still inside, downloading all the tapes from the moment he was delivered to now. It was taking kind of a long time.

"Who was that?" Zoe asked as they approached me.

"Oh just someone from work," I lied with a weak smile.

Hailey still looked rattled, but grabbed my arm and pulled me away from Zoe. Zoe gave me a happy, knowing smile. Then Zoe joined Mike in examining a lost dog poster.

"Hey, Ben, can we talk?" Hailey asked very timidly. I had no idea where this was going, but nodded.

"Of course," I told her.

"I really enjoyed our conversation last night," she smiled, "Well, I guess this morning. I know this is such a bad time, but I keep thinking back to this. I know you're single, and I'm single, but I don't want to rush things at all. I learned my lesson. But if you're open to it, I would like to pursue this relationship and see where it goes. If you're up to it."

I couldn't help it but a huge smile graced my face. It had been a long time since a relationship, and even longer since the girl asked me to hang out. Especially someone as smart, pretty, funny and kind as Hailey has been. There was a hint of suspicion, as I had just met her, but worst case scenario she'll break up with me. I was excited though. It has been a while. And she didn't ask to jump into a relationship. She merely asked to see if there was an opportunity for us to become something.

"I would really like that," I said with a smile.

Before she could respond, Erica came out of the morgue with a DVD in hand. We both walked over to her.

"Got the security tapes. I have a computer in the car we can look at it on once we get WiFi." Erica started moving towards the car.

"Wait," Hailey jogged over to Erica, "The farm doesn't have WiFi. We need to go somewhere else."

Erica looked mildly annoyed at that, "Wow, I'm surprised you even have electricity at the farm then. Luckily, there's a coffee shop only a few shops down that we drove past. We can walk." With that, she turned on her heel and marched off. After an awkward second, Zoe, Mike, Hailey and I followed her.

Hailey and I walked next to each other, a little closer than we would have normally. Mike and Zoe were behind us and Erica was in front of us. I looked over at Hailey and smiled, which she returned. Suddenly, Hailey reached down and interlaced her hand through mine. I instantly held her hand back. It made me so happy.

While we were holding hands, Erica turned around to say something, and then saw our hands together. My face heated up for a second and I could feel my hand getting sweaty. I didn't have feelings for Erica anymore, I think, but it still was awkward for me for her to see that. She opened her mouth, then whirled back around, saying nothing. Her eyes were cold.

It seemed like Hailey didn't even notice Erica even turned around. I knew that look though. Erica was jealous. It made me smirk a little that she was. It's been a long time since anyone was jealous for me. I'm not going to lie, it felt nice. I grabbed Hailey's hand even harder.

We got to the coffee shop. It was a cute little Italian theme one. Even better, it was empty, save for us and the workers there.

Erica avoided looking at me. Once we entered the cafe, Hailey let of my hand. We all sat down and ordered coffees and pastries. Erica wasted no time. She pulled out her laptop and inserted the disc. The security footage was pulled up immediately. There was over a month of footage on there, so it was taking a while to get to the part where Mark is delivered, even sped up.

I got my coffee while we were waiting and Hailey got hers plus a chocolate croissant. Mike, Zoe, Hailey and I were talking while Erica was sitting quietly and watching the footage. Most people would think she was just really focused, while I couldn't help but think that she was still a bit upset about what she witnessed. An evil part of me wished that was the case. It's time that someone had feelings for me after a six year dry spell.

"Do you want some?" Hailey asked me with a smile. She gestured to her croissant.

"Sure!" I replied. Hailey ripped a piece off and to my suprise, fed it to me. I didn't hate that at all. But someone else did. Erica was glaring at us from over the top of her laptop and I tried to ignore it, but it made me a bit happy. I think I even smirked again.

I laughed after she fed me the croissant. Zoe was grinning at us, while Mike gave me the thumbs up. I kicked him under the table.

"Here," Erica said coldy out of nowhere.

We all gathered around her to watch the footage. The creepy guy held the back door open where the trucks were parked. They were all labeled correctly as legit companies. . Nothing suspicious yet. Two men wheeled a gurney inside with a body covered in a white sheet. Erica groaned.

"We can't see the body or the face. We have no idea who that is," she concluded.

We still continued watching. The two men, who were about fifty and weren't familiar (thus probably not evil) wheeled the body over to the compartment marked MARK DAZY. They carefully slid the tray out and laid the body down. They slid the tray back inside the wall and shut the cabinet.

"They didn't do it," Zoe said thoughtfully.

We all turned to her, "Did what exactly?" Hailey asked.

"Check the body," Zoe explained, "We have no idea if that body is actually your father's or not. It's just a body. It could be anyone."

We all paused and considered this. She was right.

"Well sh*t," Mike said plainly, "We're back to square one."

All of us, except Erica, groaned. Mike was right.

"I'll watch the rest of it to see if anyone removed the body from then on. Then we'll have a better answer." Erica turned back to the computer, "And after that, if we find nothing, I want to question Susan, Mark's former competitor for the house position. But we still have to wait until I review all this footage."

So there was nothing to do but wait there longer. Hailey's hand was resting on the table and when I made sure Erica was looking up, I put mine over hers. This time, though, Hailey didn't hold mine back, just yanked it away. I felt my face turn red in embarrassment, but it didn't seem like anyone noticed it happened. Thank god.

After that, Haiely wasn't really talking to me anymore. Whenever I asked her something or talked to her, she responded with a brief and curt quip back. What happened? Mere hours ago she was asking me to pursue something with her. Did that exclude holding hands?

I even got her some french macaroons (and they were $4 per tiny cookie!) to get her to talk to me again. I tried to give them to her (consistently while Erica was watching) but she declined them, quite rudely in fact. What the hell was happening?

Even Zoe was treating me differently, like I was being an as*hole! Their behavior towards me changed almost at the exact same time. Did girls have ESP and where they talked to each other?

I couldn't dwell on this for too long because I got a very mysterious message.

An unknown number, with a Washington DC area code, texted me in all caps. I realized it was Audrey.

Audrey: BEN GET OUT NOW

I grabbed my phone so quickly and tapped out a response.

Me: What's happening why??

I also realized that Audrey's texts send on a timer and delete after ten seconds of receiving them. I had no proof she had texted me to show Erica or someone to see what we should do. I was drowning out all other sounds as the three little typing bubbles showed up.

Audrey: LEAVE THERE NOW. GO ANYWHERE, I DON'T CARE. MAKE SURE EVERYONE LEAVES THEIR ELECTRONICS BEHIND.

Me: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

Audrey: Ur such an idiot leave RN.

So I stood up very suddenly, making the coffee slosh in their cups. I trusted Audrey.

"We have to leave right now!" I said in a rushed panic.

Everyone eyed me with confusion, but stood up quickly as well. All except Zoe.

"What? No! I order a fourteen dollar coffee and I am going to drink it! Why do we need to go so suddenly?" Zoe looked a bit peeved.

I checked my messages again. Another text had popped up.

Audrey: I am trying to protect you! Hurry!

"Please!" I pleaded, "We need to go now!" Despite if Erica was jealous or mad at me, she still saw the sense of urgency in my body language and tone. She quickly collected her things, the computer and took one last bite of a tart before standing next to me. Erica could tell I was being serious and credible.

"I trust him. Guys, we're leaving NOW." But as Erica was saying that, one final text came through.

Audrey: You're too late.

Suddenly, the door to the coffee shop burst open. A dozen guys in full body armour with machine guns in hands entered. Their guns sweeped the cafe while they yelled,

"Get on the ground! Hands laid flat against the floor!"

I made eye contact with Erica and she gave me a slight nod. She lowered to the ground with her hands up and we all followed suit. Hailey and Zoe looked scared and Mike just looked annoyed, but we compiled.

The men walked around us laying on the ground with guns pointed at us. But then, a familiar person walked into the coffee shop. Audrey.

She was wearing a black tactical chestplate and dark cargo pants. Her blonde hair was tied back in a tight pony tail and was wearing dark sunglasses, despite being inside. One hand was holding a handgun and the other was clutching a megaphone.

"CIA," Audrey declared in a firm and authoritative tone into the megaphone, "You are all under arrest for using CIA property without consent or permission. Whatever you say can and will be used against you."

Hailey, Zoe and Mike looked around in confusion, still on the ground. Erica seemed very calm and knew why this was happening. I had a good idea what this was about too. Using CIA property? They must have figured out someone used their equipment to find the substance on the glass and somehow traced it to me. Audrey must have stayed protected. Audrey could have set me up though. But that was what the warning must have been about! I realized. She just then must have realized what was happening. So I'm guessing she didn't set me up, but tried to protect us.

Mike looked up and his face lit up with recognition.

"Audr-" he started but Audrey quickly cut him off with the megaphone.

"Silence!!" It was very evident that Audrey didn't want the other agents with her to know that we knew her. It would be very bad and suspicious if Audrey knew us alleged 'criminals'. And that was a good thing too, because Hailey didn't know we were actually formally CIA. She still thinks we're FBI.

"Please, ma'am," Hailey pleaded, "We don't know anything. I'm sure this is a big misunder-"

"No more talking," Audrey said calmly, yet coldy. It was a very familiar tone that Erica used. It was also very intimating and terrifying still, even though I knew her.

"Cuff them," she told her soldiers. They got handcuffs out and started to cuff my friends.

Audrey, however, made a beeline straight towards me. As she bent down to cuff me, she whispered very quietly in my ear,

"Kick me."

"What?" I whispered.

"Stop being such a baby and kick me," she hissed into my ear. Trusting her, I lashed my leg out and awkwardly hit her in the side. But the way she reacted made it look like I shot her in the side.

Audrey rolled over and groaned, like she had been kicked with all my weight. The two comandos closest to us pointed their guns at me, fingers itching on the triggers.

"No wait," Audrey called out, pretending to wince as she got up, "I'll deal with him. You take care of the rest of them."

"No, Ben!" Hailey called out desperately, believing Audrey's act. Zoe and Mike didn't look like they were concerned for me, just very confused. Erica was acting like nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

Audrey finished cuffing me and harshly dragged me into the back and out the door, to the back alley. It was very sketchy back there. Her whole intimating, scary facade dropped to a sympathetic one.

"I'm so sorry," she said, "Look, we don't have much time to let me explain really quickly. I used the equipment to test your glass. The CIA doesn't know that it was me. They think that you somehow got a hold of some equipment to run your own test. That part is my bad because I must have screwed up when I installed the secure malware on your phone because when I put the results on the phone, the CIA found out. And these idiots I'm with don't know you know me or that I did the test and I'd like to keep it that way. And the agents who found this out don't know you all, except for Hailey, were former spies at the CIA itself so again, I'd like to keep it that way. I tried to warn you. And when I called you the first time, I didn't know what I was doing or where I was going. I just thought it was some random drug lord or something here in Nebraska. They don't tell me about the missions until I'm practically there. I called you from the plane."

So that's what the loud sound in the background of the call was.

"Wait, but what about what you said on the call that you were going to tell-" I was cut off by someone banging on the back door to the coffee shop from the other side.

"Agent Hale," one of the other agents called through the door, "The rest of the suspects are secured."

Audrey looked at me with a bit of paic in her eyes. She quickly switched into her 'scary' voice, "Coming. Almost done."

And without even warning me, she punched me in the face. It wasn't too hard that I was collapsing on the ground, but it hurt so bad.

"Owwwww!" I howled, "What the hell was that for?" My face was throbbing.

"There has to be some evidence of a scuffle back here," she answered like it was obvious, "And suck it up. You're a big boy. I didn't even hit you that hard." She grabbed my face and twisted it into the light. "And it's bruising nicely already."

I tried to scowl but it hurt to do so. With that, she marched me back inside and to the waiting CIA truck.

Oh my gosh, OC's are so fun to write!! I love to write Audrey haha.