Undercover: Book 4 — Chapter 14

Claire’s Point of View

We all arrived at the scene, but Riley made sure we were in the back so we wouldn’t be caught on TV. Clover walked around looking at things, and as soon as she stepped away from a garbage can, something blew up inside. I was silently thankful she didn’t get hurt.

“Okay, you two should know some rules,” Riley said sternly, glancing at both of us. Clover had a sheepish look as she continued. “Rule number one of being an agent: don’t die.”

Joey snorted, “Huh, I guess I’ve been living this life wrong for a long time then. I usually try to go for the deathly experience, I mean we all know the saying ‘live life to the fullest,’ ” Joey said.

Riley didn’t seem to find it funny as she sent him a dark glare.

“So what are we doing exactly?” Clover asked. Riley sighed, sending Joey a look that I knew only he would understand.

“At this point, the cops have already looked for any civilians alive. Eventually, someone will come in and try to find the cause of the explosion, which will most likely be a bomb unless Jesse was actually smart enough to actually cover his tracks. Our jobs are to notice things out of the ordinary. For example, if you see all but one room burned to the ground I would obviously question it,” Joey said.

“I want every single paper looked at and anything that is left checked. To be safe Joey and I will go into the main building were the root of the explosion came from. You two will go to one of the side buildings. If you get stopped by any remaining officers, which we should try to avoid, just say you’re with us,” I said simply.

“Okay, but one problem. What if someone from Jesse’s gang is here and tries to make a move on one of us. I know the basics to fight, but you haven’t exactly taught us anything that will help us,” I said.

Another voice pitched in.

“That’s exactly why we’re here as well.” Liam appeared in my view with Emily and Rachel by his side, and I stared at him speechless. I hadn’t seen him since the day I went to the urgent care and found out I was pregnant.

“Emily, you can go with Clover and Liam go with Claire. Rach, you can come with us,” Riley instructed and everyone nodded. I tried to hide my scowl and focused on the task at hand. “Meet back in forty minutes at the latest.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” I muttered to myself.

Don’t be a baby.

“Soooo, how have you been?” Liam asked after walking in silence for a minute.

I shrugged.

“I’ve been better.”

“Yeah, I heard you’re pregnant now,” he said casually.

I narrowed my eyes at him. That day he left before I got my results, so I knew for a fact he didn’t find out from me. Geez, agents really are all up in your business.

“Yup,” I said awkwardly before we stopped in front of a metal door that managed to stay in place. We were at the farthest building in the plaza so I had a feeling the left side, closest to the explosion, would be bad. Liam tried the door handle, but when it wouldn’t open he looked at me.

“Hairpin,” he said, holding out his palm.

I just looked at him.

“How do you know I have any?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest stubbornly.

He chuckled.

“Because you’re Claire. You always put pins in your hair,” he stated truthfully. I rolled my eyes, removing a bobby pin that was keeping little pieces out of my face during work. He grabbed the hairpin from my hand and quickly managed to unlock the door.

The building was dark, and I tried the light switch, which unsurprisingly didn’t work. Liam grabbed two small, black flashlights from a bag and handed me one. I turned it on and scanned the room. “So what is that we’re looking for exactly? Just clues?” I asked.

“Basically yes, so guns, knives, jackets, really just anything,” he said.

I nodded. This was a furniture place, so I knew it wouldn’t be hard to find a clue. The place was pretty big so I decided to go to the back.

As soon as I walked into the back room, I found my back against a wall, the flashlight falling out of my grip as a hand was pressed over my mouth.

“Let’s keep this conversation just between us okay?” Jax said smirking.

I glared at him, barely able to make out his face in the dark.

“You know I knew since day one that you and Caiden would be perfect together because you’re so kind – it’s your weakness,” he said, letting his knuckles on his right hand run down my cheek.

“Jesse seems to want to do things the nice way with you and have you join him because you want to, but there’s a little thing called Stockholm Syndrome, and let me tell you something – it works.” I went to pull my knee up and hit him where the sun doesn’t shine but he stopped me, quickly removing his hand from my mouth and grabbing my leg.

“Claire, be careful now. We don’t want to forget about your little friend in there,” Jax said, releasing my leg and placing his hand on my stomach making me feel sick.

“Go to hell,” I hissed.

He smirked.

“What if I told you I’ve already been there and back,” he asked.

I sent him a wry smile.

“I wouldn’t be surprised.”

I glanced at the door and still saw no sign of Liam. Jax didn’t miss the movement and placed his index finger over my lips.

“Shh, don’t worry, I won’t hurt you, so there’s no need to call for another one of your boy toys.”

“What do you want with me then?” I asked.

He stepped away, dropping his hands and moving away a little, taking his time to answer the question as he sat in a spinny chair.

“I mean there’s the obvious one that everyone wants from you, which is sex, but you’d be too annoying so I think we’re going to play a game. That’s okay with you, right?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“It would only take five seconds for me to escape this room or even call for Liam,” I said, stepping closer to the door.

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Go ahead then, try it,” Jax said before slipping a gun out of his pocket and clicking the safety off.” C’mon Claire, we’re feeling a little risky today, so try it out for me.”

I didn’t move and stayed put – one shot could kill me and if not me, then possibly the baby. The thought made me place a hand on my stomach.

“See I knew you could be smart sometimes. Now about that game?” he asked before making a movement with his hand for me to come closer. I did what he said and took a few steps closer to him.

“What’s up with your gang and its stupid games?” I asked.

“Your gang, my gang. I actually like the sound of that,” Jax said, tasting the words on his tongue before shaking his head. “But that’s beside the point, we like to play with our friends a little, you know, to get them excited for everything that’s going to be coming to them,” he said standing up.

“Now Claire, I want you to meet me at this address, by yourself. And you’re not going to tell anyone about this or our meeting later if you want one of your friends to stay alive, okay?” Jax asked.

I glared at him with hatred.

“Where?” I asked and he scribbled a hotel and a room number down on a piece of paper. The motel was on the sketchy part of town and every time I’ve ever seen it, it looked like it could fall to pieces.

“See you there in about an hour?” he asked. I narrowed my eyes, not responding.

“Bye Claire, see you soon. Say hello to Eddie for me next time you see him okay?”

His disgusting lips touched my cheek before he went out the emergency exit door a few feet away. I stared at the door for who knows how long, but I felt the familiar ache in my heart remembering my old friend. Jax deserved to rot in hell for everything he’s ever done.

“Claire? You okay?” Liam asked me.

I plastered a fake smile on my face.

“I’m fine, perfectly fine,” I said, picking up the flashlight and looking at him.

“Let’s keep looking.”

***

Riley’s Point of View

Joey and I ended up splitting up, going into different buildings since we were both definitely strong enough to protect ourselves. I frowned when I found nothing in the half burned up store.

“Riley Scott, Reese Scott,” a familiar voice said, as if they were testing my name on their tongue.

Wuickly turning around, pointing my gun at the figure, I caught sight of Taylor who was sitting on the counter where the register was.

“Sounds all the same to me.”

“Taylor, it’s been a while hasn’t it?” I asked, turning my head to the side a little as I looked at him through the flickering lights.

“Has it, though? I mean we just spoke yesterday, but maybe you’re right because that’s all just one of those fake undercover acts, right?” Taylor said, sending me a challenging look.

“You barely got in trouble last time we met. Was that a mistake? Here I thought you actually wanted to get out of Jesse’s gang. Heck, you even saved me at one point in time, yet here you are again following in those same footsteps,” I said, shaking my head.

He stood up, walking closer to me, causing me to hold on to my gun even tighter, ready to shoot.

“You actually don’t know a thing Scott. For once, I actually know more than you and you know it truly does feel great, except we have a problem.”

“Yes, the problem is you and your gang are killing hundreds of people and just blew up a whole plaza,” I said and he waved me off, stepping even closer.

“They wouldn’t do something so easy, the gang likes to torture people and let them pay for what they’ve done. This was another small gang that’s already being taken care of.” Taylor said before quickly kicking the gun out of my hand, causing it to go sliding across the tile floor, far away from me.

“By who?” I asked raising an eyebrow, not worried that my gun was across the room.

“By my agency.” This caused an amused smirk to appear on my face.

“Your agency?” I asked and a smirk appeared on his face.

“Don’t look so amused Scott. You are, after all, on my territory,” Taylor told me, and the twitch of his hand told me he was about to throw a punch. I quickly dodged it, sliding to the left and missing it. I went to kick his chest, but he quickly grabbed my leg, stopping me.

“We’ve had the same training now, so good luck trying to get me down,” he said, twisting my leg and causing me to flip over and land on the ground on my stomach.

“You’ve had probably a couple of years of training, that’s very impressive, I’ve had over 15, so if a little fight was all you wanted Jones, then that’s all you had to say.”

I rolled over and quickly brought my foot up, hitting him in his precious jewels, causing him to groan, bending over a little.

“You see as a guy that’s always your weakness, but if you were smart you would have had some type of protection there or you would have been faster if you were really that good. Be prepared next time you want to pick a fight with another agent, Jones,” I said as I stood up before slamming my foot in his chest, causing him to be pushed back and hit his head on the wood from the counter.

Taylor quickly recovered, doing the little quick jump up onto his feet and watching me. “All I’m telling you is this is my case,” he said.

I raised an eyebrow.

“Every agency in the world knows Jesse Farone’s case is always my agency’s. Sorry if your new boss didn’t get the memo, but you’re wasting your time fighting me on this.”

The LA agency didn’t have anyone to take up the case so they sent a message to all agencies. We were the first to respond, hence us going undercover and being in charge.

“Well, this is a new case. He isn’t just a drug dealer—”

“I know he’s a bloody assassin now too, which is why he won’t just end up in prison this time,” I told him.

Taylor seemed to understand what I was implying. Jesse would go to trial for a death sentence, which may be pretty rare these days, but it had to happen. He was a cold-blooded killer, and he needed to be put down if he doesn’t do something that gets him shot first.

“I don’t know who the boss is over in the Seattle agency, but I’m telling you this Jones, us agents don’t work against each other. We work with one another, and if you want to do that then that’s fine, but if you’d rather fight over a mission then we can do that too, but I can guarantee it now you will lose,” I told him.

He stared at me for a long time.

“My boss, Melody, doesn’t want us working with you,” Taylor told me.

“I don’t know if you know this or not Taylor, but I own the Europe agency. Everyone follows my orders and they do the jobs I assign them. If I am counted as the untrustworthy one by your boss, then I would be questioning her motives not mine because I’m the one who cares so much that I left my position for a while to get this case done and finished,” I said seriously. All of the agents trusted each other, yes we all may not be friends, but we still could trust our lives in any agency or any agent’s hands. But if an agency had a problem with another, then that should definitely be questioned.

Taylor didn’t respond, at first, only watching me carefully, unsure of what to say.

“Fine, let’s do this together then,” he said nodding.

“What are you doing here?” I suddenly heard Joey's voice, causing me to look as he came up beside me, prepared to help fight.

“He’s on our side, apparently he’s apart of the SA.”

“Since when are you an agent?” Joey asked.

I couldn’t help but wonder that myself.

“I’ve been one for a few years now. When I moved to Seattle I did every single thing I could by telling them about Jesse’s letters, his plans he sent from prison. And even if we take care of Jesse, it won’t be the end because Jackson’s getting out soon and then we’re all screwed,” Taylor said.

I frowned thinking about the date: today was October eighteenth and Jackson was due to be released November second.

“He has no gang, everyone is following Jesse’s new one now, and who knows, Jackson may have changed his ways,” Joey said.

“Yeah, just like how Jesse changed his ways.”

“Jackson has big plans, starting with you,” Taylor told us as I went over, picking up my gun and putting it back in its holster.

“What kinds of plans?” I asked and Taylor smirked.

“See it’s more like you need me in this situation. You know nothing about the plans because you just joined the gang. Jackson has ordered your assassination,” Taylor said, grabbing a beer nearby on the floor and opening it before pulling himself up to sit on the counter.

“They don’t even know I’m here,” I said.

He shrugged.

“They figured you would come down eventually, and if they can’t get to you just yet, then they’ll get to Joey and then Emily and then Rachel before finally you.”

“That won’t happen,” I said.

“Why, because you say so?”

I let my eyes skim over him before responding. I knew he was testing me and he could try but I know how to do my job.

“Yes, I won’t let it happen. That gang will be taken down no matter the cost,” I said confidently.

Taylor raised an eyebrow, giving me a challenging look.

“Even at the possible cost of your life,” Taylor asked.

“Even at the cost of my life,” I confirmed, nodding.

***

Claire’s Point of View

I stood in front of the peach colored door. Half of the paint was missing and the door handle was rusted. I wouldn’t stay here even if somebody else paid, but I had to do this. I couldn’t let anyone die because of me.

“How long are you planning on standing there?” a guy asked, holding a twenty-ounce bottle of mountain dew.

“What?” I asked dumbly.

He nodded his head towards the door, pointing his drink as well.

“How long are you planning on standing in front of my door?” he asked.

I looked at the number and realized I was at the wrong room; the right one was next store.

“Sorry, wrong room,” I said awkwardly stepping aside and letting him enter his room, receiving a look that told me what I already know: I’m crazy. I mean who would actually listen and not tell anyone? I had the perfect chance to tell Riley earlier when we were leaving the plaza all together but I didn’t. Why? Because I’m stupid as hell.

Walking over to the next room, I brought my right hand up, knocking on the door.

“Claire? What are you doing here? It’s such a pleasant surprise, please do come in and make yourself at home,” Jax said.

I sneered at him, reluctantly walking into the room. My eyes landed on Nick, who sat on the edge of the bed, hands tied up behind him.

“Don’t worry, you get to play the game too,” Jax said in a reassuring voice before grabbing my hands from behind me. The sound of clicking and metal cutting into my skin was a sign I had handcuffs on.

“Kinky, huh?” Jax said before pushing me face first in the bed.

“Let’s not forget I’m a pregnant woman over here,” I hissed, my voice smothered by the bed.

“Oh, how could I forget? You’re the size of a cow,” Jax said smacking my ass. I growled and silently regretted wearing one of my work outfits, a black dress here. “Now we’re going to get started,” he said before turning me around. I moved up so I was sitting on the bed and glared at him with what I hope looked like a dark glare. I’ve never really tried the look before, but it seemed to always work well for Caiden.

“Claire, you’re going to get on top of Nick and kiss him,” Jax said.

“Like hell I am,” I sneered.

He sighed.

“Don’t make me take out the gun. It ruins the game,” he said, running his knuckles down the side of my face. I turned my head to the side, trying to get him to remove them. “Just do what I said and no one gets hurt.”

“Claire, just do it,” Nick said solemnly.

“Why? What on Earth does he possibly get out of this?” I asked Nick.

“I get to watch you and Caiden fall apart,” Jax said simply, pulling out a gun.

“Earlier you were just saying how perfect we were together and now you want to break us up? I really don’t understand your mind, Jax,” I said and he shrugged.

“You don’t have to understand it. Caiden was good at the time, you two were the typical love story. You cured the bad boy of his haunting past, but then something happened. His past came up and consumed you, pulling you in it and now you’re drowning in it,” he said.

I felt goosebumps appear on my arm as we stared into each other’s eyes.

All my words were suddenly caught in my throat. I hated saying it, but it was true. Jax was actually right, Caiden’s past came up and bit me in the ass harder than anyone, and now I’m suffocating, drowning with problems. I’m twenty-eight years old, yet I feel sixty with everything I’ve be through. My baby boy is going to grow up into a world that I’m lucky to survive, that he’ll be lucky to survive.

“What happened? Cat got your tongue?”

“Are you telling me it will be much better with Jesse? I’ll be stuck with gangs and drugs and the color of blood forever stuck on my hands,” I told him, trying to move my hands around behind my back. There had to be a way to get out of these handcuffs.

“No, I’m trying to tell you to leave town. Get out of here while you can. I actually feel bad for you, shocking I know, but you were dragged into this life. Eventually those agents will take care of all of us, and you’ll be left behind scrubbing blood off your hands anyways, but not your blood darling, Caiden’s or someone you dearly all over again.” Jax’s words stabbed a knife in me, a knife I couldn’t seem to pull out. It was stuck and suddenly blood was pooling around me, drowning me.

“Since when do you care what happens to me?”

“I don’t. I care what happens to him,” Jax said, nodding to Nick. I glanced at Nick who gave me a soft smile.

“He’s right Claire, you need to get out of town. It’s not safe here and you don’t deserve the pain from all of this. People are dying everywhere and I’d rather you not be one of them,” Nick said.

I stared at him in shock.

“So you brought me all the way here and handcuffed me to simply warn me?” I asked.

Jax shook his head.

“Nah, we’re still going to have a little game since I have a job to complete, bosses orders, but I’m trying to somewhat help you.”

“Jesse will only follow me,” I said.

He shook his head.

“He’ll be taken care of before he even has the chance to skip town.”

“If you care so much about Nick, then why is he here tied up too,” I asked accusingly.

Jax rolled his eyes and untied Nick’s hands, proving he trusted him.

“Because he just so happens to be on the list of things I need for this job.”

“When you said the agents will take care of everyone what did you mean exactly?” I asked after a minute of silence.

“They’ll take every single person in the gang out until they’re either dead or behind bars, and I know you Claire. As I said earlier, your kindness will be the death of you. People will die during all of this. It’s no longer a simple case for anyone. It’s war, and does anyone ever really win in war?”

The answer was no, no one actually wins and everyone only ends up dead whether it be physically or mentally.

“You know what Jax, you’re smarter than what I thought, but I think it’s a risk I’m willing to take. I’m an optimist. I believe we’re all going to finish this and everything will be fine,” I said confidently. It will all be okay.

“Half of the gang are professional assassins. You’ve met Jacob, he jokes around with you and gives you that cool guy, right? Yeah, he’s fucking killed more people than you could ever remember.”

“I’m not stupid, I know what I’m in right now so you can stop lecturing me like I’m some teenager who doesn’t know what she’s getting herself into,” I snapped.

“Fine, then let’s get started. Claire, kiss Nick. The faster you do it, the faster we all get out of this and make it look real,” Jax said pressing the gun to the side of my head.

“I can’t exactly kiss someone the right way with handcuffs on,” I muttered. He rolled his eyes, taking them off before pressing the gun on my head again.

“Nothing less than thirty seconds.”

I let out a sigh and closed my eyes, pressing my lips to Nick. It was a strange feeling kissing anyone else besides Caiden, a feeling I didn’t like. Nick's hands went into my hair and mine went around his neck. The sound of an iPhone camera went off, making me quickly pull away. I stood up and threw my hands up.

“Happy?” I asked and he looked at the picture and nodded.

“Very.”

“That was just as good as I remembered it being,” Nick winked at me.

I rolled my eyes.

“That’s cause I still got it,” I said, winking back before heading towards the door.

Jax grabbed my arm, stopping me before I opened it.

“Remember what I said.” He gave me a look I didn’t understand, and I only gave him a nod before pulling my arm out of his grip and leaving. Nick was suddenly walking next to me, and I gave him a questioning look.

“Caiden’s going to kill me.”

“No, I’ll be honest with him and tell him it was all because of Jax,” I said .

“You know he’ll think that’s complete bullshit,” Nick said.

“I’ll do whatever I have to do to get him to believe me.”

“You really love him, don’t you?” Nick asked me.

I looked at him and sent him a small smile.

“Probably more than is healthy.”

“Well, you know the saying, love never dies.”

I sent Nick a huge smile and pulled him into a hug.

“This is why we were close friends back then,” I said. Love Never Dies was the sequel to one of my favorite musicals, The Phantom of the Opera.

“Aye, I only watched that stupid shit because you forced me to. It’s sad I can still reference it,” Nick said, pouting.

I lightly smacked his chest.

“Whatever you say, Nicolaus,” I said, giving him a knowing look. When I forced him to watch it the first time he was so into the movie he cried at the ending.

“I have to stop in at work. I’ll see you soon and don’t worry about Caiden, I’ll take care of it,” I said.

“Don’t be a stranger,” he said, smiling, and I nodded, giving him a quick hug before heading out to my car.

It was about a twenty-five-minute drive to my job, and it made me smile at the sight of the building. It feels like ages since I last was in here. Walking in, I smiled at the woman sitting at the front desk.

“Welcome back, Claire!” she said, pausing her typing.

“Thank you, Jacqui. It’s nice to see you,” I said, sending her a smile before heading into the elevator and going up to the floor where my office was.

“Elena, what do you have for me?” I asked my assistant.

She pulled out a file.

“There have been lots of orders that have been all taken care of, but Mr. Franklin would like to meet with you as soon as possible,” she said.

“Do you know what for?”

“No idea, he said it was a private matter.”

“Next time tell him that nothing is a private matter. Anything he’s going to tell me he can tell you too. And you can tell him he can meet me in my office in thirty minutes,” I said.

She nodded.

“I’ll tell him right away, and by the way, congratulations on the pregnancy," Elena said, nodding to my stomach.

I smiled, sending her a ‘thank you’ before grabbing the file and heading into my office.

Thirty minutes later, I managed to sign and approve all the order forms Elena gave me. I handed her the file back before I headed into the conference room, which was on the floor directly underneath.

“Ah Claire, it’s a pleasure,” Mr. Franklin said, standing up and holding out his hand for me to shake when I entered. I quickly shook his hand before taking a seat across from him, ignoring his eyes on my stomach.

“What is so important that it needs to be discussed at this time?” I asked him curiously, causing him to pay attention to my face again.

“I would like to be your new business partner,” he announced.

I raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to continue.

“I think your work and all your styles would look great with mine. Think of what our brains combined could make together. Our work would be everywhere, on everyone,” he said.

I leaned back in my chair as my matte black nails lightly tapped the desk.

“I don’t mean to sound rude or arrogant, Mr. Franklin, but I’m very big in this industry and around here. I see my clothes and my designs on plenty of people, and I sign enough shipment orders and agreements to know they’re not just big in quite a few places around the world.”

“As am I. But that’s it, Ms. Martez, you see your clothes around here and you know they’re being worn in different places, but that’s simply among the celebrities.”

“People follow celebrities styles all the time,” I interrupted.

“Yes, but here’s what I’m thinking.”  He opened his Macbook, airplaying a presentation to the screen. “We make a new clothes line, one never seen before with gorgeous clothes, but cheap clothes. We need to make items for lower class people, and I think a man and a woman working together could do it perfectly. “

“Yes, but in reality can’t you just do this clothing line yourself?” I asked, unconsciously twirling my pen with my fingers as I listened carefully.

“I could, but for once in the fashion industry we need a man and a woman clashing heads, combining heads, to make a less expensive and more excitingly new brand of clothes.”

I looked at him carefully, studying his face. His eyes shined with excitement, with curiosity, while the biting of his lip and the fiddling of his hands showed nervousness. He was sincere about the idea and it was truly a great one.

I stood up, walking directly in front of him. “Mr. Franklin, I think you have yourself a deal.”

I held out my hand and he placed his large one in mine and shook it, smiling.

“Great.”