My Undercover Life

Episode 25

Where are you?
It was a simple text, yet terrifying at the same time. I could literally hear my heartbeat racing, as my heart pounded against my chest. Taking a deep breath, I clenched my sweaty palms together, as I held my phone tighter in my other hand.

Exhaling, I opened my eyes to see another text message from Bradlee.

Av? What happened? Hunter told me you were sick.

I bit my lips, tapping my thumbs anxiously on my keyboard. S–t. What the hell should I even say to that? Maybe I should just ignore him and pretend I didn’t get it or—
“What’s wrong?” Skylar asked, concern itching his voice. I paused mid-thought, cranking my neck around slowly to see his light eyes filled with worry. “You’d been staring at your phone for a while now . . .”
“I—um, I don’t . . .” I started rambling before I gave out a loud sigh in defeat, and showed him the messages. His eyes squinted slightly as he read the messages before understanding dawned on his face.
“Are you afraid of him now?” he asked quietly, watching me with calculating eyes. “You know we’re not sure about anything yet . . .”
“I know, I just—” I paused, gathering up my thoughts, —“everything points to him, you know?”
He lifted his brows in thought. “Do you honestly believe it’s him?”
“I don’t even know anymore,” I told him honestly, as I pictured Bradlee’s face—his smile, those kind eyes of his, and his adorable dimples. I could stare at him for hours if I could. Just the thought of him alone made my breath hitched and my pulse excellerate. I knew I couldn’t deny it anymore. No matter how much I wanted to run away, no matter how much I knew I shouldn’t like him, I do. But then reality comes crashing down when I realized who I was thinking about. A suspect. A suspect that may have murdered six different girls in the last three months no less. A freaking serial killer for God sakes! And yet the feelings I get, were the same feelings I had when I was with that b—–d. Maybe even more powerful, and that’s saying something since I knew Dennis since I was little.
“Lily—” he started saying before my phone buzzed, bringing my attention back to the small device. Seeing the words, Please Av. Answer me under his name practically skyrocketed my pulse rate. Feeling my cheeks heating up, I was completely and utterly conflicted. On one hand I was scared shitless but on the other hand I couldn’t help but be drawn to him. He sounded genuinely worried about me, and somehow that made me feel special. Special to know that I was the only one he’d actually cared for outside of his family. To know I was actually causing him these feelings warmed my heart.
“Just answer him Lily,” Skylar said, probably seeing the confliction written across my face. I chewed on my bottom lip slowly, a bit unsure of what to do, but when he sent me a sad face a second later, I immediately rushed to answer him. Imagining his droopy eyelids, and his lips pulled down in a frown caused a stir in my heart—shattering any feelings of doubt I had. I knew I needed to answer him.

I’m fine. I think it’s just some flu or something. Don’t worry about it. I quickly typed out before hitting send. I didn’t have to wait long before I received his reply:
Where are you? I’m coming over.
I gulped seeing his message. Shifting my eyes out the window nervously, I saw the street Warren blurred by quickly. Even if I wanted to tell him where I was, I honestly had no idea where I was going. For all I knew Demitri was going around in circles but then again it’s not like I knew my way around my neighborhood anyways. Every time I had to go somewhere, someone was always there to drive me to my desired location.
Ah . . . in the car, I decided to text him instead. I knew I was being vague, but a small part of me didn’t want him to know my exact location. That part was probably the rational half of me. The half that was screaming at me to stay away from him—to keep my guard up at all times. I knew I was playing with fire here, and Bradlee was my poison.
Hearing another buzz, I glanced down seeing the words: And that’s going where?
I blew out a sigh, brushing the fallen piece of hair to the side.
“Problem?” Skylar chuckled next to me, seeing my distressed state.
I nodded. “He wants to know where I’m going. What do I even say?” I asked, hoping to God Skylar knew what to do, because I certainly didn’t.
“Give him our address,” Demitri said instead, interrupting whatever Skylar was going to say.
“What?” we both stressed out simultaneously. Seeing Skylar jaw dropped in the corner of my eye, I knew Skylar was just as surprised as I was.
“Why should we do that?” Confusion laced his voice as he stared at the back of Demitri’s head eyeing him in the rear-view mirror.
“Because,” Demitri said, “this is the perfect opportunity to get his DNA sample without being suspicious about it.”
“But what if he sees you?” I asked, glancing at his profile, before he made a swift left. “Wouldn’t you risk blowing your cover?”
“Nah.” He shook his head, before the car started slowing down to a stop. Cutting off the engine, I noticed we were right outside an apartment complex. Looping his keys around his fingers, Demitri cranked his neck to look at us. “Don’t worry about it,” he started saying, assuring us. “It’s not like the killer has seen either of our faces before. We could pretend we’re your older brothers coming back from college or something if he ask.”
“We could, but the bigger problem here is that I’m not sick.”
“You’d acted before,” he said without missing a beat in his sentence. “Make something up, and we’ll do the rest.”
Seeing Skylar nodding his head to the idea, encouraging me to go along with it, I had no choice but to agree. “Fine, but don’t blame me if this plan of yours goes downhill.”
He laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “Don’t worry. I wasn’t kidding when I said it was a good opportunity for us.”
“If you say so . . .”
“It is,” he reassured me. “Once we get the DNA found on the note tested, we can rule out Ian if the DNA matches with the DNA found at the crime scene, and if Bradlee’s DNA comes back negative, we can rule him out too. Which will leave us with—”
“—Hunter.”

“Correct.” He smiled. “Which I’m sure we’ll find a way for that as well, especially since you’re his tutor.”
“Yeah. I guess you’re right.” I nodded slowly, hoping to God a miracle happens and the DNA comes back negative for all three of them. They’re honestly good people—and couldn’t possibly be pretending. But then again . . . Hunter does have that weird amnesia thing, while Ian has that weird split personality and Bradlee does have a record. Ugh, why does DNA results have to take so long to process?
“—Apartment 13.” I managed to catch Demitri uttering the last bit of his sentence once I realized he was talking. Shaking my head, I came back to reality to realize he had given me their address. My lips formed an oval, as I laughed awkwardly.
“Um . . . could you repeat that, but um, slower?”
He rolled his eyes at me. By the annoyed glint in his eyes, I knew full well he knew I wasn’t listening to him.
“1768, Orchard Road. Apartment 13,” he repeated deathly slow, making sure I had typed out the address correctly before I sent it to Bradlee.
Once sent, I saw the speech bubble with the three little dots. I didn’t have to wait long before I saw his response:
Got it.
“He’s coming.”
“Good.” Demitri’s lips pulled up into a smile. “Let’s head inside, and go over the game plan before suspect number one comes over.”

I nodded, following both Demitri and Skylar out of their car. Heading up the two flight of stairs, my eyes focused in on the surprisingly clean patterned floorboards. No matter how much I looked I couldn’t find a speck of dirt in sight. Either the landlord keeps his or her complex super unblemished or the residents are neat-freaks.
“Alright, here we are!” Demitri announced before apartment number thirteen. The door was painted a pale blue color with the number 13 painted in big blocky text. “Welcome to our temporary home,” he said, as he twisted his keys in the doorknob. Pushing the door open, Skylar strolled inside, before plopping his butt down on his living room couch. He gave out a tired sighed before shutting his eyes.
“Temporary is right,” I commented, stepping inside. The apartment barely looked occupied, let alone lived in. It was mostly vacant save for the two couches, a big flat screen, and some random placed clothes here and there.
Demitri shrugged, shutting the door before locking it. “It’s not like we’re going to be here for long. We only need the necessities.”
“And your definition of necessities is a flat screen?”
“Hey!” he yelled, sounding mildly offended. “I’ll have you know, that TV is hooked up to security tapes and equipment in the other room.”
I blinked. “So, it’s for spying on people.”
“Simply put, yeah.”
“You’re such a total spy.” I laughed, taking my shoes off. “So where exactly is my room?” I asked, eyeing the space. The only doors I saw was the front door, and a brown wooden door off to the side that said closet.
“You can take Skylar’s room for now. My room isn’t exactly the best place for Bradlee to be in.”
I raised my brows to that. “Spy room?”
He laughed but lowered his head in a nod. “Spy room.”
“Alright. So, what exactly will I be doing?”
“It’s simple really,” Demitri spoke, leaning against the cream-colored wallpaper. “You pretend to be sick. Say something that will make him touch the kitchen supplies, and while he’s with you, we’ll collect his fingerprints.”
“How would you know he’s done though?”
“Skylar will be in the living room. He can notified me.” At the mention of his name, his eyes snapped open, before going to an upright position.
“Why can’t you do it?” he asked with a groan.
“You’re more welcoming than I am,” Demitri pointed out. “Plus, I need to be in my room, checking in on Lily, while you stay guard.”
“Fine,” he said before laying back down saying something about a raise, before shutting his eyes once more.
I couldn’t help but laugh at this reaction. “So, Skylar, where exactly is your room?”
“Down the hall, it’s the door at the end,” he said in the same position he was in just moments before. If it wasn’t for the slight movements of his chest rising, and falling I would probably think he’d stopped breathing. He was that still and unresponsive. Now I saw why he’s a FBI agent.
“You better hurry before Bradlee gets here,” Demitri alerted me, rushing me forward. “I have no doubt in my mind he’s breaking the speed limit at the moment.”
“How long does it usually take?”
“Ten minutes, or so. He could probably get in oh—” He paused, glancing at his watch —“seven minutes.”
My eyes widened. “Crap! I better—” The rest of my sentence was drowned out when the doorbell ring, signalling us that he was here. Hearing the pounding in my chest, I took deep even breaths, trying to stay calm. It’s just Bradlee, Lily. He’s not going to hurt you, and if he does, Skylar and Demitri will be watching.
After settling down, I gave Demitri a slight nod before I ran towards the direction Skylar described earlier. Hearing Skylar’s name being called, I knew Demitri was also going to his respected room.
Finding the door, I twisted the knob, and shut the door quickly. I didn’t even have time to look around before I dived for the bed, and threw the covers over me. I la!d still, smelling the faint cologne of Skylar’s scent on his sheets.
Thanking heavens that he didn’t drowned his body with the smell, I peeked my head out, trying to listen to any sound that would indicate Bradlee being near. But when I didn’t hear anything, I ducked my head fully out from the covers in confusion. Did Skylar not let him in?
I gave it another minute before I pushed the covers back. My body was half way out of the bed when the door whipped opened. My eyes widened when I saw Bradlee, clearly standing there in all his glory. I gulped, seeing those electrifying eyes of his staring dead at me with concern, tenderness, and relief.
“You shouldn’t be getting out of bed,” he whispered softly, before he rushed over towards me, and gently touched his hand with mine. I ducked my head down, gazing at his hand that shot sparks of electricity up my arm.
“I, um . . . ah I wanted food,” I stuttered embarrassingly, making sure to make my voice sound a bit hoarse.
“What do you want?” he asked, jumping at the opportunity to help me. His voice was practically coated with worry. I bit my lips, feeling ashamed. Here he was at my beck and call, and yet, I was lying my a-s off. But, I knew it had to be done. I needed to know if he was the killer or not.
“Ah, soup.” Peeking up slowly, I almost jumped back slightly seeing how close he’d gotten to me. If I wanted to, all I had to do was move my head up a bit, and our forehead would be touching.

“Wait here, I’ll make you something,” he mumbled quietly, as I got a whiff of his minty breath. He smiled warmly at me before he ran his fingers through my hair, tugging it behind my ear. “I’ll be right back.” He retracted his fingers before he stood up, shoving his hands in his pocket. He gave me one last look, before he turned his back towards me and headed out the door.

Once he was gone, I touched the spot his fingers had last been, before I felt the familiar heat rushing up my neck. He’d been so caring, so gentle. Almost like he was afraid to hurt me even though he barely touched me.

There’s no way he was acting—he looked so genuine, so loving. Not even the best actors in the world could be that good at acting. His eyes would’ve given him away. And trust me, his eyes held so much warmth, it was almost breathtaking—to the point that I couldn’t even look at him.

Sighing, I la!d my head down on Skylar’s pillow, imagining those piercing blue eyes of his. I couldn’t help but smile when I heard the noises coming from the kitchen. I knew he was trying, I knew he was doing this for me. Even though he practically had no idea where anything was in the kitchen, he was still willing to listen to my request and make me food just because I was ‘sick’. I couldn’t help but smile at that.
The last thing I remembered hearing before I eventually blacked out was the faint sound of the door shutting and closing, and the soft voice of someone calling my name. My real name.