Chapter Ten

He drives us home. We chat in the car about our days at work. "So, this man came into the office looking for a place to ship out cars." My eyes grow wide as he says that those are expensive to transfer to other places.

"So the guy, he offered a bunch of money, cash, and we accepted it. We like to send out as much as we can. It brings in more people, just like the post office we have a security process." Blade confides in me and I am very interested in his work. We all order things so it is interesting to hear about the shipping side of things.

You can tell he loves his job because a smile beams on his face as he explains every detail.

"That is so cool that you did that for that man." I am genuinely proud of him for taking that opportunity to help someone.

"He is a very nice old man, who kind of looks like Santa. So maybe that is how he does it. He ships it all months beforehand and hides it." I giggle as he says this because thinking about Santa shipping things makes me smile.

"Enough about my boring day. How was yours at the clinic?" He asks, clearly wanting to learn about my day.

"Well, today we had the birth of eight puppies from a Chihuahua. She was massive and we only thought there were five but three more came out. She has had the biggest litter for her breed I have seen. She is a very busy mama feeding all of them. The runt is getting constantly checked and we are worried it might die because she might not produce enough milk. But she has three girls and five boys. We also had a parrot with a potty mouth today. The foul things he says. The owner got him from a strip club, so he says what men say to women when they are dancing." 

We both smile at each other as we pull up to my place. I get out of the car and he walks me to my doorstep. He kisses me on my cheek and blushes. The blush fades and he deepens his stance. Blade turns to leave but then turns back to me.

"A fool falls in love with a girl, a king falls in love with a woman," he says gazing into my eyes. He pulls my hand up to his mouth and kisses the back of it. He walks to his truck and we part ways for the night.

I walk into my house and get undressed and head to my bed. I lay there for a few minutes before sitting up in bed not able to sleep. I rushed over to my PC to contact my holder, Jamal, back in college I was in a violent gang.  Jamal is an agent for the FBI that monitors me and makes sure I am on the same page as the rest of the team.

Back in the day, I was threatened with it when I was young, and for the last almost three years, I have been working to shut them down. By shutting them down, I mean turning them in and then disappearing or doing it anonymously. I have files and files on all of them and the victims and who and how they were killed by them. Then we have insiders that would never betray me. I have so much, but it is still not enough to take the main three down. One of them was an ex I never want to hear of again. But he always just shows up, including in my dreams. He hangs out there for some reason.

All I can say is I am so glad no one knows. I hope my mother never finds out about my history. Maybe if I go back with Ava, I can show her all this and it could get published anonymously. Her ex-husband will be away for good. But that doesn't help me with my ex.  Ava is a Private Investigator and I helped her start the business. I found rich people who needed help and she helped them. She made enough money to divorce and work somewhere else. They got back together a few years after I left the gang. But I now know they are done for. With all the countless women he assaulted, he deserves hell. He betrays everyone and literally, all his contacts are ready to squeal at him. The gang is how I met Thema, a daughter of an infamous rival gang leader who is a cop who goes undercover with his team. He has a no-violence strategy, he stops the street violence before it becomes violence. He helped me get my connections and put me in the position I am now. I can't turn in the information yet. Or his right-hand man, my ex gets his spot and I would rather rot in hell than ever see that man in power. He would have too many people on his side. He is the hardest to track and catch. 

Somehow, he slips through every system. Catching him in the act, or finding evidence of what he does is like locating the boogie man. Ever since we found out who he was, I have been trying to prove it but no matter what I do, there is no proof. The crazy man knows my family, and even though I have done everything to keep them protected I still don't feel as if they are protected with him running around.

He is a ghost in the system, he could be the world's best at hiding his identity as a serial killer. I know he has killed a bunch because of the number of pictures I found that he took of dead and tortured men and women. 

Thema is the only one who knows what I am doing, in my spare time. I only know computers and a bit of hand-to-hand combat, she even dances at a club they get drunk at and attend. They were based in LA, but due to Ava leaving they relocated. 

I am currently working undercover,  I work for a phoenix task force. If I close this case then they will make me part of the team for sure.

With all my knowledge of the gang and my connections. I get called the Garcia of the team and I am about to call my chocolate thunder. He is a skinny mixed man, with curly hair. He is built nice and every time I see him there is more muscle. He is probably in his late thirties. Never really bothered to ask his age, it's never come up in conversation. He is the only guy who can call someone a baby girl and not make me cringe.

I did get my degree, so I could be a receptionist. But I am also a computer graduate, I got my first degree for college while I was in high school. I skipped multiple grades and that is how, as a minor, I got my nudes posted when I was fourteen and he was eighteen. He was a creep and after turning him down multiple times for nudes he figured out a way to get his own. I thought I had a thing for older men when I was fourteen. Nah, I was a victim. 

I graduated high school at fifteen, found my love for technology, and got caught, and once a local gang found out about me. Sixteen-year-old me was toast. I was twenty before Thema found out about me, all because I had their system hacked. I knew about a bunch of undercover cops pretending to be in a gang. I made a deal to repair their system and help them out for my freedom.  

I told them everything and how I was only doing it to protect my family, they were constantly threatening me and I was a prisoner. I left the gang, thanks to the leader for kicking me out for taking his ex's side. Even though I was his most valued asset. I told him I wouldn't work without Ava. I lied and said she knew stuff I couldn't do. I made systems more secure and acted as if I couldn't get in. Suddenly, I wasn't an asset. I lost value and he cut me off. 

I call Jamal's number, he picks up the phone right away.

"Hey, princess. How's life behind the matrix?" This comment makes me smile from ear to ear. He knows my love for those moves.

"Good, but in the next couple of months, expect to take him down. I have almost located all his trafficking rings. I still can't get HIM." I lean my face on my hand that is propped up on my desk by my elbow.

"Baby girl, how is it that over a hundred people have worked on this case? You and that damn computer have been doing so well. We have been trying to shut down him and his father for a decade now. We have to figure out something to do. Your ex can't be in power." He explains, his face looking worried for me as if I am in too deep.

I love the team, but I feel like the kid on the project at school who does all the work. I know they are going to take credit. Even though it is my work that will be given to them. They have the power to shut them down.

"Men are sloppy. No one gets to be a leader without having the morals of a sewer rat. For all their "code" the only one that counts is the most barbaric scum-bag rules. Be loyal or be more savage, that's the way it is. That's the way their estate is going. They are devolving into apes again, metaphorically beating their chests by brandishing weaponry and moving as thuggish herds. With Ava gone, he is more sloppy." I log into their server and look at what they are all doing. I go through emails, everything. 

"Doll, you are the most unsuspecting person when it comes to all these talents." He is always complimenting me and there is something about him that is comforting.

"As long as the whole team has my back, with guns loaded I am fine." He laughs, "Sure thing sweetheart," and he hangs up the call. 

The next day, I get ready like usual for work. One of the girls from work is on my route so I am going to pick her up. She is a new intern. I 

 It is halfway through my day.

The man I hate has the swagger of someone I don't even want to lock eyes with, let alone cross paths with again. His arms are more ink than skin and his dirty blonde hair is so closely cropped that from a distance I had mistaken him for being bald. When his trajectory is set for me I decided to busy myself on my computer. I don't even look at him, but as I go to leave, to give the animals treats, he hails me in the kind of tone you don't ignore if you like breathing without a respirator. 

"Alicia," he calls out.

After so many years running with his gang. I can smile on cue, and put on my cloak. I call it a cloak because it covers me when things like this happen. He extends his hand and in reply, I show him the ink on mine and shrug apologetically. Beneath his pierced brows his eyes are as direct as I remembered, not even blinking as much as the average individual. Then from the doors comes two more just like him, but not so pale. Before they open their mouths I smell an offer or a threat coming.

"The club, eight tonight," he says and then he turns around and is out the door with his thugs. 

"Is that the guy you have been seeing?" My boss asks, hovering over my shoulder.

"He is kinda cute. You would think he was in a polyamorous relationship with those two guys if it wasn't for you two going out." I roll my eyes and want to laugh at what she said, and then text Thema quickly. 

SAM, I typed in all caps.

I continue to work and deal with everyone. Two dogs come in with ear infections. Three cats came in to get neutered. I finish my day anxiously awaiting whatever fate is offering.

I got a text from Jamal. Call us as soon as you can.

My hands start trembling as I get in my car to drive home. I keep looking in my rearview mirror making sure no one is following me.

One thing I know is that I am never going back. That is not my life and that is not who I am. They can do the time, while I put them away for their crimes.