Undercover: Book 4 — Chapter 15

Caiden’s Point of View

I looked around the familiar bright store and saw the usual glass cases everywhere. A perky woman with red hair walked over to me with a bright smile, making me automatically scowl.

“Hello, I’m Kelsey Schwind.” She introduced herself and held out her hand. I quickly shook it before releasing it, almost like it was fire.

“Since you’re looking a little lost, can I be of assistance?”

Not responding, I looked at her waiting to continue. “Soo, uh we have thousands of rings, what is the occasion? Random present? Engagement?”

My body froze and the thought of all of this, could I really do this?

You love her.

I do, I really do. Claire Martez is the only person I truly care about. She’s the only thing that keeps me sane, but this lady doesn’t know me, she doesn’t understand what I go through to just walk into this place. Everyone usually knows to just let me look.

Clearing my throat, I said, “I’m looking for an engagement ring.”

Kelsey smiled.

“Caiden?” someone interrupted.

Looking to where the sound of the voice came from I saw Leigh, a woman who worked here as well. “You’re back again? Are you just looking again or are you actually ready to buy?” Leigh asked with her hands on her hips.

“I think I’m ready to buy,” I muttered.

She smiled. I’ve been visiting this place, at least, two times a day for the past few months during the work day. Almost every employee knew me except this one.

“Great! I can’t help you today, Mr. Anderson, but Kelsey is one of our new employees who will do a great job assisting you.”

I didn’t respond and only nodded.

“Let me know how everything goes and what you decide on,” Leigh said, giving me a knowing look before walking over to a customer who was currently looking at a few rings.

“Well, since you’re looking for an engagement ring you can follow me back here.”

She led me to a familiar room and opened and closed the curtain behind us.

“Is there a certain price you’d like to stay around?” she asked me as she headed behind one of the glass cases.

“No, I’m fine with any price.” A glint appeared in the woman’s eyes before she nodded. She stopped at the last case, farthest from the door before starting to speak about all of the rings. I didn’t care to listen and only looked at them all carefully. These rings were thousands of dollars back here, some even millions, but I only wanted the best one that Claire would like the most.

“I want that one,” I interrupted her and she blinked at me a few times before unlocking the case and opening it. She pulled out the ring I pointed to and bit her lip, a habit that Claire had as well when she was thinking.

“This is one of our newest and most expensive rings, 20 million dollars to be exact,” she said, still holding the ring and staring at me with uncertainty.

“The price is fine,” I said.

The woman walked from behind the counter and then next to me. She handed me the ring to look at and sent me a smile. Her chest was suddenly against my shoulder as she looked at the ring carefully in my hands.

“I think any girl would be happy to have someone like you to spend that much on such a gorgeous ring,” she said, placing her hand on my chest.

Looking up at her blankly, I stared into her eyes with a dark and callous look.

“Are you trying to seduce me, Ms. Schwind?” I asked her.

She ran her pointer finger along my jaw.

“Now why would I do that, Mr. Anderson. All I was saying is that any girl would be happy to have a handsome husband like you who would spend such an amount on a sumptuous ring. It would be such an honor.”

Her voice held a soft yet lust-filled sound to it.

“Yes, well I would only buy such a ring for someone I care deeply for.”

“Of course you would.”

She took the ring out of my hand carefully and set it on top of the glass before pushing me hard so my body was against the closest wall. I didn’t stop her as she stood in front of me, her hand running up and down my chest.

“That would be so kind of you. I think the thing that always happens with marriages though is everyone’s not exactly always happy,” she said, her mouth right next to my ear. She pulled on it a little with her teeth before moving her face so it was only a centimeter away from mine.

“Is that so?” I asked just as seductively, our lips almost brushing as I talked.

“Yes, sir,” she said, her eyes dark and hooded as she glanced from my eyes to my lips.

“How do you think my girlfriend would feel about you trying to seduce me right now, Ms. Schwind.”

She moved even closer so our noses were brushing each others.

“I don’t think we have to let her find out,” she said, letting her hands play with the buttons of my shirt underneath my tie, letting two unbutton, showing the top of my chest.

“Are you suggesting I cheat on her?” I asked and she bit her lip again, trying to tease me.

“You could call it whatever you like,” Kelsey said.

I turned my head to the side a little, looking at her carefully.

“I thought Jesse would be smarter when it came to this, but I guess not.”

I pushed her body back, not caring when she landed on her butt.

“I would never cheat on Claire. Make sure to pass that message to your boss for me,” I said, grabbing the ring off the counter.

“They already got a picture by now. There’s no way you could try to cover up this.”

Kelsey held up her iPhone 6 that had a picture that looked like we were kissing.

“She’ll believe me over any of you any day,” I told her, shaking my head at her stupidity.

“Really? I wouldn’t be so sure about that because it seems as if she’s losing faith in you. No one stays only boyfriend and girlfriend for eight years. You should have been over your little Lisa issues by now.”

I kept my face blank, not showing how much her comment affected me. I was trying, I was going to get past everything, I had to.

It was true, I should be over the fact that I was kidnapped and that my parents didn’t care. I should be other the fact that my father married my kidnapper’s sister. Yet I couldn’t get over any of it and that’s what made me weak. That’s why I couldn’t commit to Claire because I was afraid, nothing but afraid.

“I should be surprised that someone at such a low rank in his little gang would know anything about my past, but I’m not because I know that either way it goes, you’re just another little prostitute, or baiter trying to finish the task Jesse can’t do himself. Now next time if I were you I’d try the more classy approach instead of the slutty one,” I told.

An offended look showed on her face as she glared at me. She reached in her back pocket, looking for a handgun, but I knew she didn’t find the weapon she was looking for.

“I’d put your defenses up as well,” I said, waving the gun I now had.

I emptied all the bullets out and threw the gun out in front of her before walking out of the curtained area, fixing my shirt along the way.

“Caiden, did you find the one you wanted?” Leigh asked me.

I nodded, tossing the bullets into the nearest trash by the door. I placed the ring on the counter and she gave me a knowing smile.

“I had a feeling you’d get this one. You’ve been looking at it for months now.”

I didn’t respond and only paid for it before she gave me a date to come pick it up, as she had to have it resized.

“Any particular box you want?” she asked me.

I shook my head.

“Just plain black.”

“Well, come back in two days, and we’ll have it ready for you,” Leigh told me.

“You should keep a close eye on Ms. Schwind. She knew I was choosing an engagement ring for my girlfriend yet she still tried to hit on me. I would appreciate if you would be the only one to take care of that ring and keep a close eye on it,” I said. Leigh nodded, looking appalled and immediately apologized on her behalf.

“I will take care of that right away. I’m very sorry that happen and only will I touch that ring.”

“Good,” I said before taking my credit card from her hand and leaving the store without any problems.

Andrew’s Point of View

“I promise everything will be okay,” Clover reassured me, her hand holding my chin, forcing me to keep my eyes on hers.

“I know, just be careful. I’m sure Aria and Xavier would like their mother back home in one piece,” I said.

She gave me a sad smile, leaning her head on my shoulder.

“I miss them. It’s been so long since I’ve last seen them,” she said sadly, and I moved her head and pressed my lips against hers in a sweet, slow and passionate kiss. A minute later I pulled away and smiled at her.

“We just have to remember it’s safer to be here than at home. We don’t want them in danger,” I told her carefully and she sighed, knowing I was right.

“I love you.” She whispered against my lips again and my smile only got bigger.

“I love you,” I saod before our lips touched again. The spark from the first time we kissed still remained as her arms slipped around my neck and mine holding her face. I brought her body so she was on my lap, not breaking the kiss as I leaned back. A knock on the door interrupted us, and I groaned. At times like this I hated staying at someone else’s house.

“Hey, we’re heading out. We’ll be back later to get you,” Riley called.

Clover yelled back a quick okay before focusing her gaze on me again.

“You know, ot hasn’t hit me that Chris is dead yet,” Clover said.

I nodded in agreement. It hasn’t exactly hit me yet either that someone who we have known and been close to for years now is now gone forever and all we know is that he betrayed us this whole time.

“I feel bad for Stacey and all of their kids. Do you think she knew?” I asked.

My wife shook her head.

“I doubt it. Knowing her, she probably would have left him,” Clover said before rolling off me and laying beside me. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head against my chest.

“Times likes this I wonder how the agents do it. You can’t ever have a normal life with all these problems, cases, and mysteries, it’s sad really,” I said honestly. If I lived a life like Riley and Joey I would probably never have had children. I would fear for their lives, and I would forever fear that my enemies would try to harm them as retaliation.

“Me too.” Her voice was muffled against my chest, but I still managed to hear her. The doorbell downstairs went off, and we both stood up and headed downstairs together since we knew no one else was home. When we got to the door all we saw was a square brown box.

I picked up the box and closed the door behind us. I placed it on the table and saw it was addressed to everyone in the house: Caiden, Claire, Jasmin, Clover, and me.

“Should we wait for everyone to open it?” Clover asked.

I shook my head.

“By the time Claire and Caiden get home, you’ll be heading off with that little gym rendezvous with Keith,” I said.

She rolled her eyes at my words.

“Well then, here we go.”

I was handed a pair of scissors and I quickly opened the box. Inside of it was a white envelope. Opening it, I pulled out the white letter and read it out loud.

Dear acquaintances,

It’s been awhile hasn’t it? I sure have missed you all. We’re all going to play a game again. This time, you’re not going to get out so easily. You see the key to this game is you can’t tell anyone what’s happening, more specifically not those agent friends you all seem to have. Before we start this new game, I’d like to remind everyone of something special that will get those hearts racing. Maybe we’ll even have a few panic attacks if we’re lucky.

First of all, the saying, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer” is a stupid saying, don’t you agree Clove? I mean that just makes it harder to trust everyone you’re close to because you don’t know who’s being a fake bitch and who is being real, but I guess in the end you always find out, huh?

Second of all, Andrew, babe, you know daddy isn’t happy you haven’t visited him or gave him a paycheck ever since you found the so-called “love of your life.” It’s pretty harsh actually. Maybe pay him a little visit sometime soon? Yes, that means actually returning to your other home for once.

Third of all, This is getting exciting, huh? Caiden, darling, don’t you think it’s a little rude to not visit your family too? You boys are all the same, never showing respect to those who care for you. Maybe the adults need to try the alternative route and show you all a bit of discipline.

Fourth of all, Claire, honey, it’s time to stop the act you’re pulling. I mean we all know that baby isn’t Caidens. For goodness sake, we’ve all known you’re supposed to end up with Nick. That’s how the story was always supposed to end, right?

Now Jasmin, sweetie, you’re getting a bit too friendly now aren’t you? You should know playing devil’s advocate never ends up well for anyone, but hey, make sure to say hi to your brother for me when you join him in hell.

Is anyone else getting excited to find out what this game is yet? Well, in case you aren’t, let’s start with a few appetizers. Anyone interested in a few kisses? Trust me, friends, some get a little hot and steamy.

Looking forward to our next touch,

You’re one and only friend. Xx

Inside the envelope was a set of pictures. One was Claire with a black dress on with her lips connected to another man who definitely wasn’t Caiden. The next one was another one of Claire but with a different outfit on. She was now sitting on a man’s waist with nothing on but a sheet that pooled around her. Another one photo was of Caiden kissing a red head girl who was definitely not Claire and then him with another girl that had jet black hair, his mouth on her breast. The next photo was of me sitting next to my father with a bright smile on face. The one after was of me sitting on the ground, my arm bleeding with a glass beer bottle broken in front of me. Clover was in the next photo with her arm around Katy and Tori who were smiling brightly next to her, a photo from early high schoo, since Clover was wearing her wig. Then there was a piece of newspaper that stated Katy Richard went to jail.

The last photo in the envelope left my body even colder and left me even forgetting to breathe for a moment. Chris’s dead body laid on the ground with blood all around him, the blood that completely surrounded his body was shaped in flames. Chris’s lifeless eyes stared at the camera, and I felt sick.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Clover spoke my thoughts as I dropped everything back in the box. “This has to be Katy again. Only she plays games like this.” She shook her head, tears filling her eyes.

“She’s definitely playing on a new level then, I mean how the hell would she get this picture of me, of Claire, of Caiden! How does she know so much?” I asked aloud, sitting at the table.

“I don’t know Andrew, I don’t know,” she said, putting her face in her palms.

“What’s going on?” Claire asked walking into the kitchen, placing her keys on the counter. I held my wife in my arms as she sobbed and Claire frowned. “Are you freaked out about searching the building earlier? I think we’re still safe since no one found anything that hinted it was from Jesse’s gang. It was most likely just a smaller one trying to get the eyes of them.”

“We were left a little note,” I said, my tone hard. Claire noticed the box and looked inside, picking up the paper. She took a few minutes to read it, her eyes showing her anger. Picking up the pictures she looked at the one of Chris with disgust. When her eyes finally found the one of her with a guy and Caiden with a girl her eyes teared up.

“What is this person playing at? These are old. Last time I kissed Nick or even slept with him was when we were in college and dating. And Caiden, he would never cheat on me.” The last part of Claire’s sentence didn’t come out as confidently as she probably hoped, and I cringed. This person seemed to know the exact buttons to push for all of us.

“We think it’s Katy Richards. She was my ex-best friend and played little games with me anonymously while were in high school,” Clover said.

I squeezed her hand tightly, showing her I was here for her.

“Katy Richards, as in Damien Richard’s wife?” she asked. We both nodded.

“No, I think it was someone else, someone from the gang,” Claire said, shaking her head. No one responded. Katy isn’t a part of the gang so I guess she may be right. Clover hasn’t been contacted by Katy in years.

“So that is an old picture of you and that guy right?” Clover asked curiously.

Claire hesitated before nodding.

“The one of us having sex was old, back when I was dating him, Caiden’s best friend, but the one of us kissing was a few hours ago,” Claire said.

I shared a look with Clover. So she cheated on him? “But it’s not what you think! Jax from the gang gave me an option with a gun to my head: kiss him or he kills both of us. I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone I was even going there, I may even get in trouble now.”

“I’m sure Caiden will understand that," Clover reassured her softly.

“I don’t understand how they got this picture so fast,” she said.

“This is a professional gang. I’ve come to learn they can do just about anything,” I said.

She groaned loudly.

“They want to break us up. I bet this was either Jax or Jesse,” Claire said standing up, grabbing the note.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

She looked at me with a determined look.

“I’m going to confront the asshole himself,” she said.

Clover quickly stood up grabbing her arm.

“No, you’re not meeting with any one of them by yourself, and it wouldn’t be smart to do anything stupid right now, especially by yourself. We need to tell Riley like right away and we need to get everyone here. I am calling a group meeting!” Clover declared.

My lips twitched up at the sight of my wife trying to be all calm and professional about all of this – not that she couldn’t be. But it was cute that she was trying.

***

Third Person Point of View

“Hello, we are all gathered here today at Claire’s house to officially announce that we are all royally screwed,” Clover said with her hands in the air like a V shape as if she was preaching before she sat down again. Rolling her eyes, Riley grabbed the letter and read through it, looking over the pictures too.

“There wasn’t a warning,” Joey noted.

They nodded.

“Just in case, we’re going to keep this a secret because it does say not to tell us, so remember we don’t know a thing about this,” Riley said.

Once again they nodded, agreeing.

“I think everyone needs to explain what each point made at them means, starting with Clover,” Riley suggested.

“I don’t think that’s really necessary,” Claire said, glancing at Caiden whose fists were now clenched. She knew he wouldn’t want to share his past because they both understood what that message was saying. They hit him exactly in the hardest spot, and they closed him all back up again.

“It is if we want to figure out who’s behind this,” Riley snapped back.

Caiden glared at her causing Joey to narrow his eyes, not liking the look on his fiance.

“We’re trying to solve a case here not play games, so just do it and get it over with,” Joey ordered them, looking at Caiden the whole time so the point went across.

“Okay, well I told Claire earlier, my best friend in high school betrayed me, and for a long period of time sent anonymous notes and little gifts and stuff too. Eventually, I found it was her when she tried to take my job but failed in the end, so I’m guessing she was talking about that. Or she could have been talking about Jasmin staying close to me all these years and, in the end, stabbing me in the back,” Clover said shrugging.

Her message didn’t bother her as much as this person probably wanted it to, but it was most likely the latter one. They wanted to take a stab at her about Jasmin and Chris faking their whole friendship, but she was really only mad, not really sad.

“Andrew, your turn.” Joey nodded to him and Andrew sighed.

“This is a touchy subject that I barely even told Clover,” Andrew said, looking out the window behind the couch. “When I was younger I use to get abused by my father, and as a result when my mom found out she got a divorce from him. My sister and I went and lived with her but since he was my father, I would still go visit him sometimes when I got older. He was poor and almost living on the streets so I got a job, and I used to give him most of my paychecks. But when I met Clover I kind of slowly stopped visiting him and giving him all my money because he was a piece of shit father only using me.”

All eyes watched Andrew who was gazed out the window looking angry.

“I don’t know how this person knew about my father because I never mention him. I never tell anyone about him. I treat him as if he doesn’t exist.” Clover pulled Andrew’s body closer to hers, pulling him into a hug, which immediately relaxed him. Andrew hated his father with a passion, and he hasn’t seen or even heard from him in years since his senior year in high school.

Everyone felt pity for Andrew, but no one dared to show it knowing it was a sensitive subject for him.

“Caiden?” Joey asked.

Caiden gave him a dark smirk, one that surprisingly gave him chills.

“I don’t speak to my family anymore since they’ve all betrayed me, and I’m guessing when this person talks about discipline they’re probably referring to when I was kidnapped and the woman abused me.”

Riley frowned at the short explanation. If everyone else had to dig in and share their past, he had to as well. That little explanation won’t do anyone any good, Riley thought.

“You’re going to have to go in a bit more detail for us to get anywhere,” Riley said.

His fists started to turn white, obviously not happy with having to talk about his past. Claire placed her hand on top of his and whispered soothing words in his ear, telling him it would be okay. Caiden’s hands slowly unclenched at hearing Claire's soothing words and the feeling of her hands on top of his.

“My mother and father barely cared when I returned ten years later after being kidnapped. They got a divorce and my father married my kidnapper’s sister. Simple as that,” he sneered, his eyes ice cold looking at Riley and Joey.

“And if you’d really like me to go deep into detail I will. I can explain to you all about the discipline she showed me since she was my ‘mother.’ She use to play little games with me, cut me, beat me. She would sometimes even let me think I had a chance to get out and be free, but as soon as I would try, she would beat me so hard I would end up with bruised ribs or something broken.”

Caiden left everyone silent, unsure what to say, unsure how to react. His voice held no emotion while he spoke of this woman making it all more uncomfortable and causing everyone to feel sorry for him.

How did the agency here not take care of that? Joey wondered to himself. Their agency would have taken a week, at least, to find him and get the kidnapper in jail.

“How did you escape then?” Clover suddenly asked, breaking the silence. She was curious and even though curiosity killed the cat, she still had to ask the question because satisfaction always brought the cat back and having nine lives helped too. She slightly smiled at her thought before focusing back on Caiden.

“I gave it all back to her. I murdered her with my bare hands and to this day, I still feel no remorse,” Caiden said. A dark smirk came to his face as he thought back to the day he murdered her. He remembered his fists pounding in her face, her gasping for air but not succeeding to get any, her ice blue eyes pleading for him to stop. A cold-hearted monster people called him – a cold-hearted monster was a compliment.

Clearing his throat after a short silence, Joey said “Claire, it’s your turn.”

“To me, mine sounded more like a jealous ex-fling or something of Caiden’s because I haven’t been with anyone since Caiden for years. The baby boy inside of me is mine and Caiden’s and if anyone, Caiden especially, doubts me for one second on that then a blood test will be taken, proving what I’ve already said,” Claire said seriously, her eyes meeting Caiden’s, who had a speck of disbelief. And about the Nick part, that’s completely BS. Which makes me wonder though if it was someone from our college years.”

“How do we know it’s not this Nick guy. He’s the one you’re kissing in this photo, right?” Riley asked curiously.

“That kiss was fake and forced by Jax when he threatened to kill my baby, me, and Nick. I don’t think Jax would threaten Nick’s life if he was on their side.”

Everyone agreed, but the thought didn’t leave Caiden’s mind. It was a huge possibility, he thought, narrowing his eyes at the letter in Joey’s hands. Nick was close with Jax for years, knowing exactly who he was and how he worked with Leon and the other’s secretly spying on him for Jesse all those years.

“Okay then, Jasmin, go ahead,” Riley said nodding her head for her to talk.

“I’m guessing it means the secret’s out, and they know I told you all about everything I’ve been doing with Jesse. It may have been a warning to stop the act, though. Pretending to help Jesse and then come back and tell you all of his plans will only result in me dead,” Jasmin said.

Clover scoffed.

“I’m not surprised, but in the end, everyone gets what they deserve,” Clover muttered to Andrew. His lips twitched up into a small smile.

“Well everything’s going smoothly then,” Liam said after awhile of silently watching. “We’re still absolutely nowhere. Can someone please explain to me how a bunch of gang members are smarter than a bunch of agents?”

Claire stared at Liam frowning. Although she didn’t care for him like the way she used to, she still wanted to be there for him and help him like she used to when he got stressed on his missions.

“They’re not. We have an overall plan that’s already starting to work.”

“Do you? Because I mean we’re like sitting ducks in here. It’s time to get inside,” Liam said.

Matt sighed.

“I think he has a point. We need to go in,” Matt said agreeing.

“We already have Riley undercover and technically Taylor too.”

“Taylor?” Claire asked, not hiding her surprise. Everyone waved her off, telling her they’d explain later.

“No, you’re both only at the gang house where the drugs happen. I looked at some old news reports and to all the places that either killing sprees have happened or places that have just randomly caught on fire and they all surround one spot.”

Eyes stared at Matt expectingly, waiting for him to continue.

“Where?”

Matt hesitated for a moment before finally responding, “Here.”