HCC (TWENTY-THREE)

Hannah Carmichael Chronicles TWENTY-THREE

Your Briefing:

Hannah Carmichael has been trapped underground in her mother, Evelyn’s secret bunker. With her friends and fellow CGT agents Stephanie and Ian, they had no way out. CGT is not who they claim to be, working for profit and chaos and Hannah had been undercover, reporting to Zeke Anderson – her husband and a real government agent. While Hannah was chasing her mother Evelyn, a known terrorist, she was trapped for not handing over a drive with plans that Evelyn needed for her next attack.

Zeke went out in search of Hannah after she failed to check in with his partner and friend Baxter. When they arrived at the bunker, they heard noises below them; Hannah. What will Zeke find when he opens the bunker? Will Hannah and the others be ok? What will they tell Ian, who doesn’t know the truth about CGT? What is their next move? Find out now with TWENTY-THREE!

TWENTY-THREE

Zeke watched as his wife was led out of the bunker and towards the waiting ambulance outside. He hung back a moment while they asked her questions and she shrugged off their blanket. When she spotted him, she nodded in his direction and he made his way over to her.
“Evelyn shot Moroz.” She said, reaching up and grabbing onto a chain nestled underneath her shirt. “She wanted the drive.”
Hannah’s voice was almost clinical as she stared at him. Zeke reached out and put a hand on her arm, softening his eyes. Her shoulders loosened and he saw the hint of a smile. Stephanie came up behind him and slapped him on the shoulder.
“Nice to know you’re alive.” She said, rolling her eyes. “Thanks for letting us know who we were working for before now.”
Zeke stiffened and glared at Hannah. She shrugged,
“Would you have preferred her to kill me?” Hannah asked, a smile behind her eyes. Zeke rolled his shoulders and glanced over to Ian being examined by paramedics.
“Does he know too?” Zeke asked, unable to hide the disdain behind his words. Hannah rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest.
“No he doesn’t.” She frowned and he cleared his throat.
“Although I’m sure now he’ll be suspicious.” Stephanie said next to him, nodding to where Ian was staring at the three of them huddled together. Zeke nodded and sighed,
“We’re going to have to loop him in.” He said, dragging his feet as he walked over to Ian Longford. Ian frowned when he saw Zeke and looked behind him to Hannah and Stephanie. Zeke stopped in front of him and nodded to the paramedic, who left them alone.
“Longford.”
Ian narrowed his eyes at Zeke.
“Anderson. Nice to see you’re alive.” His words were flat and insincere and Zeke clenched his jaw.
“There are some things that will obviously need to be addressed about this…” Zeke paused and looked back to Hannah. “Situation.”
Ian rolled his eyes.
“You could say that.” He said, standing and shuffling off the blanket the Paramedic had placed over his shoulders. The two men were similar height but Zeke had more muscle tone than Ian. He was confident that he would win in hand to hand combat. Smiling at Ian, Zeke took a breath.
“It seems you’re now being dragged into a situation with two choices.”
Ian frowned and glanced back at Hannah. Zeke cleared his throat and took a step to his right, blocking Ian’s view of his wife.
“And what would those be?” Ian asked, staring at Zeke.
“You’re an agent of CGT, correct?” Zeke asked, watching as the subtle indicators on Ian’s face pointed to his answer of yes. When Ian didn’t reply, Hannah moved past Zeke and next to Ian.
“Ian, Zeke works for the Defence Strategic Policy and Intelligence Group.”
Ian’s eyebrows raised slightly and he looked over at Hannah, his gaze softening.
“CGT isn’t who they told us they are.” Stephanie said. Zeke stepped forward and motioned for Baxter to join them.
“Ian, CGT is not working for the government as you were led to believe. They are working for their own profit and chaos throughout the world.” Zeke said, shifting his position slightly, to where Baxter was quietly approaching. Ian shook his head and took a small step backwards, glancing at his angles for escape.
“I don’t believe you.” Ian said, looking at Hannah. She gave him a small smile and shrugged.
“That doesn’t really matter at this stage,” Hannah said simply. Zeke pulled back slightly, his eyebrow lifting.
“All that matters now, is that we stop Evelyn.” Hannah shrugged her right shoulder, “What happens with CGT after that is not up to us.” Hannah looked over at Zeke and gave him a half smile as Ian looked over to Baxter. Zeke tried not to smile and nodded.
“Evelyn Carmichael is more important than CGT right now. We need to stop her imminent attack, then we can talk deals.” He said. Ian snapped his head back to Zeke and scowled.
“Even if your story is true, I wouldn’t make a deal with you.” Ian spat his words and Zeke tried to remain calm. After a few moments, Ian moved with Baxter to be debriefed and Stephanie left Hannah and Zeke standing alone.
“I thought about you, when I was stuck down there.” Hannah said quietly, staring to where agents were collecting evidence and preparing the inside of the barn. Zeke exhaled.
“I will always come for you. You have to know that by now.” Zeke’s voice was low and he watched the love of his life, her long hair falling across her face in the wind. They had been through too much to jump back to where they had been before, but he couldn’t help leaning forward and moving a strand of hair behind her ear.
Hannah leaned her head into his hand and a small smile appeared. She cleared her throat and spun, walking back to where Stephanie and Ian were talking logistics with Baxter. Zeke sighed, they would make it through this if it killed him.

Author’s Note:

Things are heating up for Hannah and will only be getting more exciting and complicated as she moves forward in her journey.

Thanks for reading this week’s instalment of the Hannah Carmichael Chronicles! Hannah will be back next Thursday for the next part of her adventure – we both look forward to seeing you there!

Christy Grace