Undercover: Book 4 — Chapter 16

Claire’s Point of View

“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.”

Everyone stared at Matt expectantly, waiting for him to continue.

“Where?”

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

“What does that mean exactly?” I asked as I felt fear slowly creep up my spine.

“I don’t know exactly,” Matt said, frowning.

Riley looked at the note in Joey’s hands again before looking back at Matt.

“Does that mean we’re next?” Clover asked, standing up and Matt shook his head.

“Rachel, Emily, and Liam have already checked it out. There’s no sign of bombs or any threat even near your house.”

“Something is not adding up. We’re missing something to all of this,” Riley said, standing up as well.

Joey nodded, taking his place next to her.

“It’s almost like—” Joey was cut off by the front door slamming against the wall. Everyone looked up at the now-opened door and a small can went rolling across the floor. White smoke starting puffing out of the can.

“What is—”

“Everyone kitchen now, cover your mouths,” Liam yelled. Everyone ran through the dining room and into the kitchen. “C’mon out the back door.” He ushered us all out to where we were all standing in the back yard, the back door closed. Feeling the cold October breeze against my skin I frowned, but it was quickly replaced by the warmth of Caiden’s suit jacket. I sent him a small smile, one which he didn’t return, and glanced at my house.

“What was that?” I finally asked, breaking the silence.

“It’s exactly like what we used at Jesse’s party that one time,” Joey said looking through the windows that only showed the white smoke. Suddenly the back door was kicked open and twelve men with guns and masks over their faces came out.

“Hands up,” a man yelled, pointing his gun at us. They all wore black but he didn’t have a mask.

“Who the hell are you?” Joey hissed, reluctantly putting his hands up. Following his lead, we all did the same. I felt Caiden’s hip touch mine as he moved closer to me.

Ignoring him, he turned his gun so it was facing me.

“Which one of you is Clover Thompson?” a man yelled and Clover glanced at us with wide eyes, not responding. Riley shook her head as if saying not to answer.

“Answer now!” he yelled, taking a step closer toward us. With the corner of my eye, I could see the gun in Joey’s holster in the back of his jeans. I looked back at the guys with narrowed eyes.

“I am,” Clover said and took a small step forward. Andrew did the same, not letting his wife go by herself.

“Step back,” he hissed at Andrew, but he refused to move. He shot the ground next to them and Clover screamed.

“I said, step back.”

Andrew took a step away from Clover, returning next to Riley’s side. The man nodded, and two men stepped forward grabbing her and pulling her towards the rest of them. They kept tight grips on her arm as she struggled to get away.

“Who are you and what do you want from her?” Riley asked.

The man looked at her.

“Which one of you is Claire Martez?” he asked, not losing his grip on the gun as he only held it tighter, focusing it on us seven.

“You can go to hell,” Caiden hissed.

He smirked.

“I take it she’s the one next to you then.” He nodded his head at the guys to come closer, but Caiden grabbed my arm and pushed me behind him.

“Don’t you dare try to touch her.”

He sneered at her.

“I’ll give you one more chance, who are you and what do you want?” They once again ignored Joey so in one quick second he pulled out his gun. Riley, Liam, and Matt did the same exact thing at the same time.

“Put the guns down.” Ten guns were pointed at the four of them and Caiden grabbed my wrist, holding on to make sure I didn’t disappear from behind him. I gasped as a hand went over my mouth. Caiden was suddenly kicked in the back of his knee causing him to fall forward. I stared at Caiden with fear, and he looked back at me with a glare on his face towards the man who had my back against his chest. His other hand was around my throat.

“I don’t think I have to ask you again,” he sneered, and the four slowly set their guns down in front of them. “Kick them over.” They hesitated before they listened, kicking their guns over. We were now completely outnumbered as five more men appeared. I was walked over to the rest of the men in black. The guy holding me removed his hand from my mouth but kept one hand around my throat.

“I hope you know you’re digging your own grave right now,” Caiden hissed, standing up off the grass.

“No hard feelings, we’re just following orders,” the man said before looking at the other guys and sending them a nod. “Let’s start heading out.” One by one all the men started leaving around the house.

“Who sent you? Was it Jesse?” Liam suddenly asked, and the man held up his hand, pausing the guys from moving us.

“I don’t know who Jesse is, but I can promise you one thing. Anyone who we take to our boss never makes it back to their loved ones,” the man said before doing a little motion with his hand.

Clover started kicking and screaming, digging her feet in the ground to try to stop them from moving her.

“Just let them go! She’s pregnant for heaven’s sake!” Liam yelled, holding out his hand so it was pointing to my stomach.

“If I let them go, then I would really be signing my own death certificate,” he said solemnly.

I looked at Clover who stood there no longer struggling since we weren’t moving. She looked back at me with fear in my eyes.

I did a little nod of my head and looked up. Seeming to understand what I said, she nodded and started mouthing the countdown from three. Getting to one, I hit my head back and slammed my heel from my high heels onto his boots. The guy stumbled back a little, surprised by the impact. Since Clover had two guys, she was able to hit the one on the right with her head and slam her elbow into the other guy’s stomach.

Caiden rushed over and helped me by slamming his fist into the guy’s face. We now gained an advantage because there were only four men left here and only one had a gun out.

“Now you’re going to tell us a bit more information,” Joey said, holding up another gun. “Why does this boss of yours want them?” The man placed his hands up in the air in surrender, and Riley kicked the gun straight out of his hand so it went flying across the yard.

“He didn’t say. He doesn’t tell us his reasons.”

“What’s your name?” Riley asked and he hesitated before answering.

“Josh.”

“Well, Josh, let’s clarify something. What exactly are you apart of?” Riley questioned, and he looked at one of the other men who was sitting on the ground not moving as Liam had a gun pointed at both of them.

“We can’t say,” he muttered.

Joey and Riley shared a look before taking a step closer. This time, Riley picked up her gun. Clover took a step closer to Andrew and I frowned.

“You’re not the only one who can grant a death wish,” Riley reminded the guy. His eyes looked over her and Joey before looking to the side and still ignoring them.

Liam sighed before kicking the guy in the chest and grabbing his neck, lifting him up so his face was directly in front of his own. “We won’t ask you again. Who are you working with?” Liam hissed in Josh’s face, causing him to gasp for air, clawing at Liam’s hand.

“Jackson—“ He barely stuttered out, his voice raspy. “—Farone.” Liam dropped his body back to the ground before he looked back over at us.

“Who is that?” Clover asked, curiously.

“Jackson Farone, Jesse Farone’s older brother. He used to be the one that was truly in charge of the old gang before we caught him and got him sentenced him to prison for years.”

Riley said staring at Josh’s face with disgust.

“So you’re telling us that Jackson had all of you do this?” Caiden asked, stepping away from me so he was standing directly in front of Josh.

“Yes, Jackson is more powerful than Jesse still. He’s been organizing all of this in prison too.”

“But why did he want us? We’ve never even met him,” Clover said.

“We don’t ask questions. We just follow orders. It’s something you should try sometime,” he hissed, rubbing his neck that was a reddish color.

“So you’re telling me that I now have two gangs after me? This is great, freaking perfect. No, it’s fucking perfect,” she said.

Andrew looked at her surprised.

“At least your death will be over quick with Jesse. Jackson likes a little more excitement, if you know what I mean.” Josh smirked and everyone glared at him.

“You aren’t exactly in the position to be cracking jokes,”Liam told him.

His smirk dropped.

“Did you see how they all came in, though? The way they moved, the way they held their guns, they were trained. They looked like they went to a police academy or something,” Riley said seriously. Joey nodded.

“I just can’t figure out why they would want you two. Jackson never had a problem with me so I especially don’t know why they would want Claire,” Caiden said seriously.

Riley looked at me carefully before looking down at her watch.

“There’s only one way to find out,” Riley said before looking at the guys on the ground. “Stand up,” she told them. They narrowed their eyes.

“I said stand up.” She almost yelled and the tone of her voice, this time, made them listen. “We’re going to let you take Claire.”

“Like hell you are,” Caiden hissed, blocking me with his body.

“Claire has to go undercover in an hour, and the only way we’re going to find anything about what’s going on with Jackson is by someone going in,” Riley said.

I stayed silent. I would do this if I had to.

“Jackson wasn’t supposed to be released for a while still. Yet from the sounds of it, he’s already out so Taylor must have lied to us. Liam will go with her.”

“Now you must be high or something,” Caiden said, shaking his head, his fists tight. “The last thing I’m going to let you do is to put her in possible danger. She can’t die, she won’t die. I won’t let her.”

“Liam will make sure she doesn’t get hurt.”

“I don’t trust him. He’s her fucking ex-boyfriend.”

“Her ex-boyfriend who still cares for her. I won’t let them even scratch her,” Liam said confidently.

I stepped from behind Caiden and took a close look at all of them.

“Can we stop talking about me like I’m not here? I’m doing this, Caiden, they need me and I signed a contract that told them I would do whatever I had to – to help them.

“Fine, when you end up fucking dead don’t expect me to plan a funeral,” he hissed before looking away from me.

“Okay, Claire, we’re going to put this in your heel so no matter what you have to always keep those on,” Matt said, showing me a small chip. “Hand me your pen.”

Liam threw him a pen that he easily unscrewed the top with his hand, showing a small drill. I gave him one of my black heels and he drilled inside the heel. The black chip went in and he closed it up again with some black playdough-like substance. I slipped on my heel again, trying to ignore the slight fear I felt from all of this.

“This was originally for Clover, but we’ll get her a new one. That will help us track your every movement,” he said before unscrewing the other part of the pen and walking over to Josh. Without hesitation, he stabbed that side of the pen into Josh's back before pulling it out.

“What the hell was that?” he hissed.

Matt smirked.

“It will take me less than a minute to hook up to one of the cameras or the computers whereever you guys go. If any of you even say one thing about any of this, the pill that is now located in your body will explode. If you even try to remove the pill from your body it will automatically explode inside your body,” Matt told them before doing the same with the other two men.

“Don’t test us,” Matt said before looking at me. “Liam has a tracker already located in his actual body as well, so stay with him if possible.”

“He’ll kill him,” Josh told all of us. “He won’t even hesitate.”

“So you tell him that you took him to make sure that no one would know who took her. You left behind no evidence because you found just Claire and him alone,” Joey told him and he nodded.

“Go ahead.” Riley nodded to take us. One of the men reluctantly grabbed me as he did before, looking nervous from the look he was getting from Caiden and the other man grabbed Liam.

“Head to the car.” Josh nodded.

“Remember, don’t test your luck,” Matt told them all before we were gone from their sight.

“What took so long and what happened to the other girl?” a guy asked.

Josh just shook his head.

“There were complications after you all left. They managed to escape, and these were the only two we were able to catch.”

“What will we tell him?” he asked, referring to Jackson.

“That we only found these two to begin with. We never saw anyone else so we left behind no evidence,” Josh said simply before they pushed us into the van, a white cloth quickly covering our mouths, causing us both to slip into darkness.

***

Clover’s Point of View

It had been an hour since Claire and Liam were taken away, and in that time, Caiden broke every single picture frame in the house of them. Of course that was done after spending at least a minute glaring at them.

“I’ve never seen this side of him, he’s always so calm and quiet, especially around Claire,” I whispered to Andrew, almost afraid he would somehow hear me talking.

“I’ll even admit I’m worried he’ll take it out on us if she’s not back soon,” Andrew said staring at the bedroom door.

The sound of more glass shattering filled the air, causing us to share another look.

“I understand his pain, though. I can’t even imagine what I would do if you did something as stupid as offering yourself as some sacrifice or something,” Andrew said honestly. My eyes skimmed his face, noticing his honesty and sincerity.

“Are you sure you’re okay with me going undercover?” I asked.

He shrugged.

“It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Yes, but the first time it was some silly high school thing. This time, it could get to the life or death point.” I took a deep breath, clearing my thoughts, waiting for him to say something, anything.

Andrew placed his hands on both sides of my face, causing me to look at him directly in the eye. “I’m not worried because you aren’t just Clover Carte, you’re Clover Thompson and you haven’t been to hell yet and this may finally be your time but everyone who goes to hell comes back from it. You’re going to go out there and be completely fine. You’ve been through more than most people and you’ve been closer to death more than most people as well. You’re going to be the best damn actress you’ve ever been and you’re going to pull this off, right?”

“Yes, but what about that letter? Someone’s watching us again,” I said still unsure.

Giving me a stern look he replied, “You’re not in an episode of Pretty Little Liars. This isn’t five years later and you’re still getting messed with. This is nine years later and this time, we’re ready for a fight.”

I looked at the man I loved with a foreign look, to this day I still wasn’t sure about how I came to be with Andrew Carter, yet I don’t think I’d ever be ready for it to end.

“I love you,” I whispered and a smirk appeared on his face.

“Of course you do, but trust me when I said not as much as I love you.”

I placed a long kiss on Andrew’s lips, pulling away only when a knock sounded on the door.

“It’s time to go, but before you go you should know you have company,” Joey said, making my curiosity spike. I took one more glance in the mirror at my black, skin tight yoga capris and my black and green sports bra that zips in the front. I fixed my hair so it was in a higher ponytail before heading downstairs with Andrew directly behind me.

“Mom, Dad!” a little girl's voice yelled from the living room, making tears start to well up in my eyes. I ran to my daughter with my arms wide open as I dropped to my knees, pulling her into me immediately.

“I’ve missed you so much,” I whispered into her ear before feeling another small body wrap their arms around me. I pulled Xavier’s into my arms, lightly squeezing them both to me.

“Why haven’t we seen you in so long?” Aria asked quietly as I reluctantly pulled away from them, letting Andrew pull our kids into a hug.

“I’m so sorry. I’ve been very busy with work sweetie. Staying at Grandma’s is okay, though, right,” I asked her, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear.

“Grandma makes us go to be early,” she said, scrunching up her nose.

“And she makes us share a room,” Xavier said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“She only does it to make sure you get enough rest.” Andrew told them. I looked up and saw Tori standing in the doorway with a small smile on her face.

“Hey, ot’s been a while,” I said, standing up and pulling her into a quick hug. “But why did you bring them here?”

“I’m sorry, I know you’re busy but Andrew’s mother couldn’t handle the stress of dealing with them while she’s sick so she asked me to take care of them. But I’m going on another business trip tomorrow so you were the only option. I talked to Jasmin and she said it would probably be fine because you were staying in a house now, plus I figured you missed them and—”

“I got it, Tori,” I said, cutting her off, causing her to give me an innocent smile.

“Is this our new house?” Xavier asked.

I gave Andrew a tight smile before looking down at my son.

“No, this is just a friend’s house we’ve been staying at.” I told him before changing the subject. “But I was just on my way out for work so how about you tell your dad all about what you two have been learning in school and I’ll see you later, okay?” I suggested, pulling them both into another hug.

“You’re not leaving us again are you?” Aria asked, a sad look on her face.

“No, honey, I’ll be back soon,” I said, kissing her cheek.

“I’ll see you both later, I love you,” I said, blowing a kiss to Xavier who was in Andrew’s arms.

A bright smile appeared on Aria’s face. One of her bottom teeth missing, “I love you too!” they said in sync, causing a sad smile to appear on my face before I nodded to Riley who looked awkward about the whole situation.

“Thanks for bringing them all the way here, Tori,” I said, pulling her in another quick hug.

“It was no problem. As soon as I get back in a few days I can bring them back,” she said.

I shook my head.

“Don’t worry about it. Once Andrew’s mother gets better, he can drop them off, if we’re not done with everything by then,” I told my best friend.

“Okay, if you’re sure. Once your schedule clears up, and you’re back home, maybe we can go get a drink?” she suggested.

I nodded.

“Sounds good.” I watched her walk out to the waiting taxi.

“We need to leave. You’re late,” Riley told me as we followed her lead, getting into their car. “Just so you know, bringing kids into this situation was probably the worst thing you could have done. You’re endangering their lives.”

“You act like I’m trying to. There was nowhere else for them to go, and they’re my kids! I haven’t seen them in what a month or are we already hitting the  two-month mark? It physically hurts to miss even that much of their life,” I said, my hand on my chest. Riley only shook her head in response.

“You’ll miss all of their lives if you’re dead.”

I didn’t respond and only looked out the window, looking at the buildings that started to become familiar. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for us to get to the gym.

“There’s not many people here,” Joey noted. “You know what to do if there are any problems.”

“I’ll text you when we’re done or if we leave here.”

“Try not to leave,” Riley said. I only nodded before shutting the door. I put my black headphones in my ears before walking into the gym.

“Huh and here I thought you weren’t going to show up,” Keith said as he stood up from a bench. The first thing I noticed was the fact that he was shirtless and he had a few tattoos on his chest.

“Ouch, already don’t trust me?” I asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking as I took out my headphones.

“It’s the blonde hair,” he said, flicking my ponytail.

“So do I get to know your real name now?” Keith asked, causing my heart rate to increase.

“What do you mean?”

“I know your name isn’t Keara. You don’t look like one,” he said before circling around my body slowly. Checking out every inch of it.

“Why’d you give me the nickname Ky then?” I asked.

He paused a second before answering.

“You look like a Kylie.”

“Try Kyrie, people use to call me Key because of the Ky part.”

I lied. I guess I would need a name. If he truly didn’t believe my name was Keara, then it would only cause problems in the future.

“Like the basketball player?” he asked amused.

“No, but you didn’t take me as the basketball type,” I told him as I slowly walked over to a treadmill, him following my lead.

“And you didn’t take me as the flirting type, but I guess we both have some surprises.”

“I guess so,” I said as I started the machine. It was strange to run on anything but the street or sidewalk, but I would have to get used to it.

“You’re very interesting, Ky,” he said after a minute of watching me run.

“Oh really? How so?” I asked, glancing at him as he started his own treadmill.

“I can see you have secrets, lots of them,” Keith said, smirking as he ran a hand through his dark hair.

“And I can see that you’re all dark inside,” I replied, causing him to shake his head, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Are you always going to have a smart ass reply?” he asked me.

I didn’t respond, turning up the speed.

“Are you always going to question everything I do?” I asked, my lips twitching into a smile.

“No.”

“Oh, well good to know,” I said awkwardly, unsure how to respond.

“How about the next time we go out and do something, we go get a meal or something instead of this? I would suggest going after, but you don’t take me as the girl to go out to a restaurant half-naked,” he told me.

I looked at him surprised before quickly covering it up. I wasn’t expecting him to ask me on a date so soon.

“Are you asking me on a date? You didn’t take me as the romantic type.”

“I’m not, which is why it’s a simple hangout. Maybe we’ll fuck after if you’re lucky.”

“You’re real classy,” I said, rolling my eyes as I took out the little card, making the machine stop almost right away.

“I know, I get that a lot. Already running?” he asked, referring to my sudden stop.

“From you? No,” I said as I headed to a different machine nearby. I needed a break from all of this. This wasn’t me and I felt slutty. Andrew would be disgusted with this fake me. Keith only hummed in response and continued to jog. This was going to be a long night.