Undercover: Book 4 — Chapter 22

Unknown Point of View

24 hours in the future

Love. It’s a strange thing. It comes out of nowhere, hitting you so hard that it takes the breath out of you. Love grasps your heart and refuses to let go. It tangles its fingers into your heart and doesn’t ever release until you accept it and let it stay apart of you. The special thing about love is that it can be deadly.

Hatred. Now, hatred is a funny thing. It consumes your whole body and masks you with nothing but the sight of red fury. Hatred goes a long way as it fills your body with a speed faster than lightning. Your body doesn’t get the choice to stop that pinch of anger once it’s been started, once the fire’s been lit. Soon you’ll find yourself with enough anger to kill.

Death. Death was an interesting thing. It’s just like love and makes you succumb to its every demand. Death takes your heart and crushes it, leaving nothing but ashes and dust. As love, it takes you in, but as death, it forces you to leave. You can never recover from that darkness, and you can never get that part of your heart back. Suddenly you’ll find yourself laying there in hell and next, you’ll find yourself never returning.

Ah, now let’s mix them together. Love can turn into hatred once the heart has been broken and ripped out of your chest. It causes a pain that can’t be fixed right away. That hatred leads you to do things that you shouldn’t. It leads you to become a monster at times. Why? I wasn’t sure, but part of me was sure it had to do with the fact that the love is still there. The love in your heart never actually leaves, and you hate yourself for that. This is why we do those stupid things. This is why we hurt the ones we love the most, not physically of course, no, emotionally. We can’t control the path our heart creates with our brain. We can’t stop the unexpected love. Just like we can’t stop death.

Blood. That was something I always found quite compelling. It releases from your body just by a simple scratch. Your body had plenty of the stuff, and if you lose some it doesn’t take much to regenerate it. But for some, blood was disgusting. They would throw up or pass out because they can’t handle the thought of the liquid leaking out of someone’s body, drip by drip, pint by pint, quart by quart. Some were in love with the liquid. They would lick their wounds and others would donate it often because they truly enjoyed the feeling it gave them as it left their bodies. It was like a high.

Now, I didn’t ever have a problem with blood. I wasn’t the type to throw up or pass out and I wasn’t the type to lick it either. I mean that’s just disgusting. But I didn’t ever mind donating blood ever so often either because it was for a good cause, yet here I sit. Blood dripping onto the concrete one drop by one. The red liquid was drowning me. I was sitting in a pool of it and barely staying afloat as it continued to try to pull me under. It was on my lips, my cheeks, and my nose; my forehead, my hands, my arms, and my clothes. It just kept appearing.

“Shh, you’re going to be okay," I whispered holding the body in my arms closer. “Just close your eyes,” I said tucking her blonde hair behind her ear. “It will all be over soon.”

“I’m scared,” she whispered, her eyes never leaving mine as her body shook.

“Don’t be. It was inevitable,” I said just as softly.

“This was bigger than all of us,” she said coughing, blood sputtering all over my face. I didn’t move to wipe it and only continued to stare down at her as I held her in my arms. “No one is strong enough to take on a case like this.”

I didn’t reply as I felt the tears surfacing once again.

Don’t cry. Don’t cry.

“I’m so cold,” she mumbled. I only held her body tighter against me.

“I know. Just close your eyes,” I told her once more. I bit my lip to keep a sob from escaping. How could this be happening? We did everything we were supposed to.

“I feel like I’m leaving things incomplete,” she said, opening her eyes again.

“You are a hero. Your name will go around the world and people will hear what you did. I promise you,” I responded shakily.

“I need you to tell him something for me,” the blonde said, squeezing my bloody hands with hers.

“Anything.”

“Just t–tell him that I’m s–sorry,” she stuttered as she coughed up more blood. “No, tell him I love him.”

“Of course,” I promised. A small, sad smile appeared on her face. She closed her eyes again and part of me feared that it was the last time I was going to see those eyes. Her breathing got even slower, and I knew that this was it. It was happening. How is it that we were all healthy even a few months ago. We were all too serious for our own good over these past months, and although we started as strangers we were ending as best friends. Leaving as best friends. Dying as best friends.

Present

Claire’s Point of View

“Who are you and what do you want with me?” I demanded as the woman pulled me out of the car, leading me into an old factory.

“You’re the one that took Clover. Aren’t you?” I questioned.

She laughed in response.

That wasn’t a laugh. That was some evil cackling stuff.

Not the time.

“Clover Thompson? Never heard of her,” she said, making me roll my eyes at this stupid game she was playing.

“You’re working with Jesse,” I stated.

She clapped her hands together excitedly. She pushed me down on a chair, and just like the chair at Jackson’s place, metal cuffs came from the chair and went around my ankles and my wrists.

“Now, want to hear a bedtime story?” The woman asked sweetly, pulling a chair over. She held a scrapbook in her hand.

“No,” I spit, but she only kept a disgusting smile on her face. “I want to be let go and I want to be left alone.”

“Shh,” she said, placing a piece of duck tape over my mouth. “Now, once upon a time there was a boy trick or treating, way back when, and he truly was a beautiful child. But then—”

“Lisa,” a man called, cutting off her story.

The woman clenched her teeth.

“What did I tell you about interrupting me, Matthew?”

Lisa. Her name was Lisa. Could it – no, there was no way. Caiden killed her. This can’t be her, this can’t be his kidnapper.

“I–I’m sorry. I was told to alert you that Riley Scott is here in Jacob’s possession. She’s in the basement,” he said, making my breath hitch in my throat. They caught Riley?

“How wonderful. Take this doll and put her behind the bars as well.” The woman, Lisa, said standing up before looking at me. “The story will have to wait until next time.” I watched as she walked out of the room, her heels clicking against the floor.

The man walked over, pressing a button on a remote that undid the cuffs on my wrists and ankles. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered when he grabbed on to my arm to make sure I wouldn’t run. I ripped the tape off my mouth, wincing at the feeling.

“I am too,” I said before slamming my heel on his foot and trying to elbow him in the stomach. He easily stopped my attempt by twisting my arm behind my back and pulling my hair back with the other.

“Nice try,” he said before pushing me forward. He kept me in the painful position until we went down a set of stairs. My wrists were tied up with rope before I was thrown into a cell. Riley helped catch me even with her tied up hands, so I wouldn’t have the chance of injuring the baby when I hit the ground.

“Thank you,” I mumbled turning around to see a beat up and bloody Clover was thrown in here too before the cell was locked.

“We’re totally screwed,” Clover said once she saw the both of us in here.

“Royally screwed,” I added.

“Bloody hell,” Riley muttered, leaning her head against the bars as she sat down again. I followed her lead and took a seat on the floor as well. I had a feeling we’d be here for a while.

“So I’m going to die today, right?” Clover asked, nodding and sliding down to the floor.

“No one’s dying,” Riley told us. “I’ve had to be out for hours. Joey and the others will notice if I don’t come home.”

I felt relief flood through me.

“That’s good. Great even. Caiden’s probably still stuck in jail with Nathan and Nick,” I said aloud, causing Clover’s eyes to widen.

“Ah, jail can be a fun place when with friends. I’m sure he’ll be okay. He seems like the type to spend quite a bit of time there,” Clove said before quickly adding, “No offense.”

“Where’s Andrew? Do you know if he said he was going anywhere?” Riley asked her.

“No, after Tori got the kids again, he said he was going to take a nap,” she said letting the frown show on her face.

“What did they do to you exactly? Are you okay?” I asked Clover.

“I’m just peachy. I’m pretty sure my rib is broken, but other than that I should be okay. Oh, and I may need some alcohol, so I can forget this nightmare.”

“Preach that,” I said, sending her a sad smile.

“It gets better, you know? Once we get through this you’ll feel great about yourself and you’ll get to move on to living the lives you want to,” Riley assured before her eyes suddenly brightened.

“I have an idea,” she said.

I raised an eyebrow.

“We’re listening,” I told her, causing her to continue.

“Let’s fight. Not physically, but if they hear us arguing or if they see us not getting along they’re going to have to do something about it. They want each of us for a separate reason. Clover, they want you dead. Claire, they want you for Jesse. And well me, they want to kill,” Riley whispered to us, causing my heart to beat faster at the thought of us truly losing this battle.

“Don’t be scared,” Riley said firmly to us.

I stared at her with determination.

“Never.”

I heard footsteps, moved my tied hands up to my mouth, and pressed a finger to my lips before pointing up. Both understood what I was hinting at.

“Seriously this is all your fault,” Clover suddenly whined, trying to move her hands that were tied up behind her back.

“I swear if you whine one more time I’m going to leave you here to fucking die when I get out,” I hissed.

“That’s if you can even get out,” Riley said snorting.

I sent her a glare, a fake one might I add.

“Well, you’re the agent here, so why are we still sitting here behind bars tied up?” I asked, and she responded by returning a glare towards me.

“You’ve been locked up for like two hours at most. You can’t even complain,” she snapped back.

“Those two hours are a long time when you’re pregnant! Plus, it’s not like you’ve made an attempt to get out in those two hours,” I retorted.

“I have kids at home with my best friend. I don’t care if you two die as long as I get out here alive,” Clover said. If I could move I would bang my head against a wall after strangling her to death, that is if she wasn’t acting of course.

“Do you ever shut the hell up?” I asked.

“I see someone’s jealous. I’m a model and I actually have a family,” she muttered.

I wanted to smash her head against the wall now instead of my own. I blame Caiden for making my thoughts so menacing. Acting or not, I still wanted to hit her. I let a smirk appear on my face as I heard multiple steps coming closer now.

“I can’t concentrate with you two bickering,” Riley said glaring at us. Clover only huffed while I rolled my eyes.

“Riley Scott, you don’t know how long I’ve waited to see you tied up like this,” a guy suddenly said. He was standing in front of the silver bars. He had blonde hair that went a little bit over his eyes, he was wearing a black shirt and black jeans.

How typical.

“Well if it isn’t the one and only James Ward. You know I remember perfectly how you got sent to prison. You went straight through our agency,” Riley said. I didn’t say anything since I had no idea who this guy was.

“Yeah, once you’re dead the agency will go down into flames,” he said, causing me to snort.

He’s such an idiot.

It’s nice to know it took over twenty years for us to finally agree on something.

“Um, James is it? You can’t be that much of an idiot, right? I mean you do realize my best friend is Cole’s son. He would take over if something were to happen to Riley and her fiancé Joseph.”

“And I have hundreds of agents who would take over if something were to happen to him,” Riley added.

“Wow, this is the guy we are seriously fighting against?” Clover asked, looking amused.

“Now, I’m actually curious about something. Did the rest of your group make it here? I mean I know Jack is dead, so I guess that’s already one down,” Riley asked, a small smirk rising on her face. I thought back to hearing about that. Jesse killed his own gang members by blowing up one of his own clubs, for what? To prove a point.

“I’m not here to chat. I’m just here to tell the blonde one she has a visitor.” We all looked at him blankly since we were all blondes. “Oh, I mean the model,” he added smirking before a woman took his place and Clover narrowed her eyes.

“Katy, I should have known you were the one that wanted me killed,” Clover hissed when a brunette appeared.

Katy? Why does that name sound so familiar?

Ah, she got a boob job and her cheeks lifted. That explains the familar name, yet the unfamilar face.

“You little bitch, just wait till I get out of here.”

Katy let out a sinister laugh.

“You won’t be getting out of here. I just wanted to pay you a visit so you at least know who paid for your assassination.” The woman waved before leaving and the room turned silent.

What the hell did I get myself into? Or better yet, what the hell did Caiden get me into? If Jesse wasn’t looking for Caiden then he would have never tried to get closer with me.

No, this isn’t Caiden’s fault and you know that.

I let out a small sigh. No, it really wasn’t his fault. It was mine. I got involved with Jesse against his wishes and that’s how I ended up here.

“Are you sure they’re not going to bite each other’s heads off in there? They all sound like they’re PMSing,” I heard Katy say from the hall.

“Who cares. It makes my job easier,” said a man.

I felt my heart beat quicken at the sound of a gun being loaded, the clicking sound heard even in here.

“We’re dead,” Clover whispered before her eyes widened. “No, I’m dead.”

“No one’s dying,” Riley snapped quietly. “I just need to think.”

“Go ahead and think. Think all you want because Riley, you’re a great person and all, but there’s nothing you can do in this sitaution. We’re tied up and in a freaking cage. It’s not happening,” Clover said.

“Is she in there?” I heard someone ask, making me take my focus off their argument.

“Yes, they all are.”

“I don’t care about the rest. I want her and only her.”

Jesse. Jesse was finally here. The door suddenly opened and in walked the one and only.

“Jesse,” I whispered, causing his eyes to focus directly on me. For once, his hair wasn’t a curly mess as he stood there in a nice suit. Riley and Clover immediately stopped talking and looked at the man who was holding us here.

“You’re an angel. A pure, innocent angel,” Jesse whispered, bending down to my level. He reached his hand through the bars and placed his hand on my cheek. I didn’t flinch back in disgust like I wanted to. I only silently stared at him.

“A pure, innocent distraction,” he said. I watched as his warm eyes turned cold. “A distraction I must get rid of,” he whispered.

I turned my head making his hand drop.

“So you’re just going to kill us all? Might as well just send a bullet to head now then,” Riley said and Jesses eyes snapped to hers.

“What are you doing?” Clover whispered, making me roll my eyes. Sure, because whispering to Riley when Jesse was standing two feet away was going to make a difference.

“Why don’t I? I mean it would be the easier option and you would just be out of my life forever. All I need is to take out Joey – oh, wait,” Jesse said, suddenly stopping himself mid-sentence before a dark menancing look appeared on his face. “I already did. I guess you’re it, Riles.”

“Who are you?” I questioned, shaking my head in disgust when I saw the look of fear in Riley’s eyes. She was scared for Joey. Did Jesse kill him? “You are a true monster. I used to trust you, cared for you even. Is this really all worth it? Killing them? Killing me? You can change, Jesse. You don’t have to go through all of this,” I said, not removing my eyes from his. I saw the flicker of emotion and knew I was getting somewhere.

“You don’t have to be a monster,” I whispered moving directly in front of the silver bars. “You are better than this Jesse. Contrary to what your brother may think, you can be someone. It’s not too late.”

“I’m going to prison either way. Not killing a few more people won’t change that,” he said, letting his eyes turn hard again.

“No, you’re right, but it will make you a better person because you’ll already be on your way for change, on your way to help.” I tried once more.

“You’re only saying this because you want out. You don’t mean a word of it,” He snapped.

I stared at him with pity.

He honestly thought he was stuck being this monster.

“Jesse, you could take these ropes off and let me out in the middle of a public place and I still would say these same words to you,” I said sincerely. “Everyone can change. Are you telling me you can’t or you won’t? If you won’t then that’s fine. Why am I trying? Why am I sitting here on death row?”

“I love you that’s why,” he whispered

I shook my head, letting a sad smile appear on my face.

“If you loved me, then you wouldn’t be doing this,” I said softly.

Jesse was about to respond but his eye noticed something else.

“I don’t think it matters if I love you. The ring on the finger shows you won’t be mine until someone else is taken care of.”

“Hurting Caiden just makes you a killer once more.” I yelled. “You’re ruining yourself. You’re sick, Jesse. Something is wrong with your head to kill this many people.”

“It’s called being an assasin, babe,” he said standing up. I followed his lead, struggling a little because of the ropes.

“You aren’t an assasin. No one is paying you to kill all of the people you’ve killed. You’ve blown up clubs, plazas, heck, you even set one of my parties on fire,” I said. He smirked.

“It’s called starting a new business. I need to let people know I’m on the market. Katy was one of my first clients. She wants Clover dead, but unlike everyone else she’s choosing the longer route, the suffering one,” he said.

I heard Clover suck in a sharp breath from behind me.

Jesse looked at her. “What? Did you really think my gang was that weak and couldn’t take out one model? Sorry, sweetheart, but we’re using you. Your friend Jasmin made us a good deal in exchange for her life.”

I glanced at Clover to see her break. Her heart showed the anger she felt for the betrayal of her friend once again.

“One of you is dying tonight. Remember that,” Jesse said before turning to leave.

“Funny way of showing your feelings,” I muttered but he still heard me. He glanced back and looked at me.

“Yes, well, I have to get rid of the distraction. Distractions are how I get caught,” he said before slamming the door shut behind him.

“Well, that did nothing,” Clover said, leaning her head back on the bars.

I glanced at Riley, curious about why she was so quiet.”What’s up?” I asked and she shook her head.

“It’s just so strange. This man I’ve talked to quite a few times in the gang, his name was Keith. Clover, you were going undercover and spying on him,” she pointed out. I felt my blood run cold.

“Keith Mabry?” I asked, Riley raised an eyebrow at the name.

“Yeah, how did you—”

“He replaced my doctor a while ago. I’ve been doing checkups with him for weeks,” I said, feeling disgusted with the thought of a gang member even touching me, looking at my baby.

“But what about him?” Clover asked, wanting her to continue on.

“He’s in the gang. Completely rich from actually going to college and becoming a hot shot doctor, yet he’s here. He joined an illegal business,” Riley stated, her eyebrows furrowed as she thought hard about the man.

“He just wanted the high,” Clover said, clearly not understanding why she was thinking so hard about this.

“No, that’s the thing. He could buy truck loads of drugs without joining the gang, yet he still joined it. Now, if we could only figure out why.”

“No offense, but how on Earth does that help us in this situation?” I asked, feeling slightly irriated. We didn’t have time to work on any case besides getting our asses out of here.

“We just need to connect the dots,” she mumbled in response. “Wait, wait,” she said jumping up.

“Taylor lied. He made up some bullshit story about being an agent. I never checked on it because we were so busy, but what if he wasn’t the agent? What if all this time the agent has been right under our noses?”

“I’m not following. I thought you were the only agent? Why does there have to be two?” I asked, looking at Riley confused.

“There doesn’t, but there is. Keith is an agent,” Riley stated confidently.

“You just said he was doctor? You can’t be an agent and a doctor? It’s impossible. Those schedules would clash,” Clover said. I agreed. You can’t fight crime and be a hot shot surgeon.

“Dr. Mabry is the key to all of this. We were so wrong about everything,” Riley said shaking her head. “I know how we’re going to end this thing.”

“Riley, I don’t know if you’ve realized, but we’re all getting caught undercover. It’s not working anymore, so whatever is turning those little gears in your head, make it stop. It’s done. We’re caught, and if we get out of here alive I’m going to the police,” I said.

Suddenly Riley stood up, her ropes falling to the ground. I stared at her in amazement. Her ropes were like Clover’s and were tied behind her, yet she still got the tight knot undone.

“Just trust me. We’ll make it out of here,” Riley promised, undoing our ropes.

“Claire, I need a bobbypin,” Riley said, holding out her hand once all of our wrists were free from the rough ropes. I rubbed my wrists, wincing at the pain I finally noticed. I grabbed a pin out of my hair and handed it to her. I watched carefully as she bent the pin until it was completely straight. She reached her hand in between the bars and moved the bobby pin into the lock.

Click.

“This is too easy,” Clover said.

I nodded.

“Something’s going to go wrong.”

“It wouldn’t be my mission if something didn’t,” Riley said, sending me us a wink. “Now, let’s go.”