Detective Sullivan rolled his eyes behind his mask.
The formidable Kaplan crossed her arms and stared at me, a triumphant smirk on her lips. I shrunk away from her piercing, green gaze.
“Guys, this is agent Zoey Kaplan from the FBI.” Detective Sullivan pointed at her with a deadpan expression. “I believe the girls have already met her.”
“I’m taking lead on this investigation,” she looked at Scott and Eric. “We’ve had our suspicions about underground gambling in the colleges for a while now and have been struggling to crack it. This whole drug theory has blown it wide open, and we need to act now before we lose our window.”
“Blondie.” She pointed straight at me. “We need to talk.”
I gripped the edge of my seat, feeling like a small kid about to get told off.
“Let’s go.” She opened the door, her movements sharp and non-negotiable.
I rose from my seat, shooting Eric a worried frown. Unlike Scott and Piper, he wasn’t confused by this turn of events. I’d given myself away, and he was just as worried as me about the consequences of my three-second blunder.
Agent Kaplan opened the door to a smaller interview room. There was a desk and one chair.
“Sit down.” She closed the door behind her.
I stood in the room and crossed my arms. Her eyebrow rose emphatically as she pointed to the chair. I pulled her mask off to see exactly the same expression and walked to the seat, pulling it out and slowly sitting down.
“You a mind reader?”
“No.” I shook my head.
She spun to face me. “You’re something. Agent Sullivan had nothing but a smile on his face in there.”
I squirmed in the chair, feeling small beneath this woman’s powerful glare.
“You better start talking, blondie. I want to help you, and I can’t do that if you don’t tell me the truth. Can you read people or not?” She pressed her hands on the table and got in my face.
I leaned away from her and whispered, “I can read their emotions.”
“Knew it was something.” Her eyes lit with pleasure as if she’d just struck a gold mine. “You gotta get better at hiding that. You need to use what you see and adapt.”
I frowned at her. Why was she saying this stuff to me?
“Okay, let’s put it bluntly.” She stepped back from the table and crossed her arms again. Her crisp, white shirt pulled tightly across her breasts. “You’re a terrible liar. Your boyfriend out there is good at keeping things close to his chest, a real poker face. He only shows you what he wants you to see.”
I dropped my gaze and began picking at my nails.
“You, on the other hand, are an open book and it’s going to get you in trouble.”
“I’ve managed for the last few weeks,” I mumbled.
“Let’s be honest here, the only reason you’ve gotten away with it is because that Cameron guy has a hard-on for you the size of California. He’s all loved-up and wants in your pants. You know, I’ve been watching you since Sunday.”
My head shot up.
“Oh come on. Do I look like the kind of person who doesn’t do my research? As soon as Sullivan started asking questions about gambling at UCLA, I was all over it. I had cameras on you four within twelve hours. I’ve been watching you work and although Piper is one pretty little liar, you, my friend, have a talent. I can see it in the way you react to people. Your reactions don’t fit.” She smirked. “I can read people too, you know.”
Her soft confession made me flinch.
“I might not see what you see, but I’ve been interrogating people long enough to spot the small things. Caity, you react to things no one else can see. You were a complete mess at study group today, flinching and squirming as you eyed everyone up.”
“How did you—?”
“Classified.” Kaplan flicked her wrist.
I scowled at her. That was a total lie.
She sniggered at my dark expression and clicked her fingers. “See, there it is again. You saw my lie and are angry with me. You’ve just given everything away.”
I swallowed.
“You need to stop being so obvious...and stop asking the wrong questions. You’d think for someone who can see behind a mask, you’d be better, but you’re useless.”
My eyebrows dipped together. “Fine, I’ll back off then. I don’t want to ruin your investigation.”
“Don’t be stupid.” Kaplan rolled her eyes. “You just need practice. Now, Cameron’s blinded by his affection for you and it’s making it easy for you to hide, but that won’t fly for much longer, especially if he doesn’t get what he wants.”
Fear skittered down my spine. The look on her face was doing nothing to comfort me. She had a plan, and had every intention of using me to carry it out.
“So, I want you to work a little harder. If you can see emotions before they’re properly revealed to everybody else then you have that split-second advantage. If they start looking suspicious, you change your behavior. If you see them getting agitated, you adapt.”
“I’m trying to do that.”
She ignored my quiet comment and kept talking. “I think you forget sometimes that you can see what others can’t. You need to do whatever it is you do, to see which face you’re looking at. How does it work?”
I swallowed, shoving my hands underneath my thighs. “Well, it’s...” I sighed, loathed to tell her. Eric was the only one I’d ever explained it to and I didn’t want that to change.
Kaplan’s pointed look had sweat breaking out across the back of my neck.
I cleared my throat. “It’s like people are wearing masks and I can take them off.”
“Can you put them back on?”
“Yes, but sometimes I forget to, or I react to what I’ve seen before I can put the mask back on and compare that with what everyone else sees.”
She tipped her head, looking mildly impressed, then killed the silent compliment with her clipped tone and sharp orders. “You need to concentrate. You need to control your expressions better. You have to flip masks on and off constantly so you can behave the way people are expecting you to. You can predict Cameron’s moves if you watch him carefully. You need to give him what he wants in order to get what we need.”
“I’m not going to sleep with him.”
“I’m not asking you to. I just want you to do a better job at making him think you’re going to.”
I bit my lip, hating that idea. “Why are you telling me all this?”
I thought I knew, but needed to double-check.
She spun on her heel and faced me, that steely look in her eye making me quiver. “Because you’re going to be part of this sting operation.”
The door opened as she finished the sentence. Detective Sullivan didn’t bother hiding his annoyance. I peeled the layers back and forth and saw it clearly. “No way. She’s not even nineteen. You’re not doing this to her.”
“Oh give me a break, Sullivan. She’s our best bet. Even you’re smart enough to figure that out. You wouldn’t have let these guys be a part of this if you didn’t think so. Her connection with Cameron is key and something we can’t foster as easily.” She turned to look at me. “So, here’s the plan. On this date, that you somehow miraculously blundered your way into, you’ll have a hidden mic beneath your shirt and we’ll be watching you.”
The idea made my blood run cold. “What do I have to do?”
“We need the location of the new lab. He told you he wanted to design the perfect drug to help you out, which means he has a lab set up. It might not be the one he uses for the Vita-Lite ruse, but there may be evidence there that will lead to bigger things. If we’re lucky, they might be using it as a base while they set up somewhere else. Hoffman has to stay on schedule with his deliveries or it’s going to cost him too much money. You need to get Cameron to show you his little chemistry set.”
My mouth dropped open before I could form any words. I blinked and stumbled through my next questio
n. “You—you need a location? He’s not going to tell me that.”
“If you play this right, Caitlyn, he will tell you everything. Stroke his ego. Swoon. Pretend he’s the world’s greatest human being and he’s inspiring you to study chemistry. Tell him you want him to teach you...and make him think he’s going to get lucky when he does.”
My nose wrinkled. “But he’s smarter than that.”
“Don’t be so sure. When it comes to you, his dick and his brain have traded places.”
I grimaced. “I’m not sleeping with him.”
“We’ve already been over this. We’ll be in there to get you out before things go that far. The best way to keep yourself safe is to keep reading him and adjusting your behavior to match. You’ve got until Friday to perfect your show. You can do this. ” Her green gaze felt like a bee sting. “Just don’t screw it up.”
I wanted to cry.
Blinking rapidly, I looked over at the door and spotted Sullivan’s sympathetic gaze. His mask fell away as he looked over at Kaplan. He was fuming. I put his mask back in place and saw a neutral expression.
With a sigh, I realized Kaplan was right. I could control what I saw on everyone else’s faces; now it was time to control what I gave away on mine.
33
Eric
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” I asked for the millionth time. Caity was sick of the question, but I was desperate to give her an out.
When she’d come out of the interview room after her chat with Kaplan, her skin was near grey. I’d lurched from my chair and tried to get the goods, but she wouldn’t say a word until we were out of the station and sitting in a quiet corner booth of an Italian restaurant.
We’d ordered two pizzas and she’d spilled her guts.
I’d been livid. It’d taken both Caitlyn and Scott to stop me from storming back to the station and demanding Kaplan leave Caity the hell alone.
“I’ll be okay,” she whispered.
I didn’t believe her.
She’d had three full days to process what she was supposed to do and she grew more nervous by the day. Piper had been running practice drills with her twenty-four-seven, trying to teach her how to hide her emotions. I had to admit, she’d gotten better. I’d been watching her like a hawk and she was definitely keeping her mouth and eyes in check when she was reading, forcing her expressions to remain bland. It made her a little wooden at times and I hated that. One of the things I loved about Caity was her openness, and all this practice was killing that side of her.
As soon as the night was over, I’d work on bringing it back. She never needed to hide her emotions from me. I’d love her regardless.
I gazed down at her as she tried to pin the tiny mic to her bra. Her fingers were trembling. The tech man hovered in front of her and adjusted it. I bunched my fists in an attempt to stop myself from slapping his hands away. Once he was done, I helped Caity slide on her black shirt. Her hands were shaking so much, she couldn’t do up the buttons.
“Here, let me.” I stepped in front of her, trying to slow my breathing as I carefully fastened each button.
Caity swallowed and squeezed the back of her neck.
“I’ll be here listening the entire time, okay?”
She nodded, meeting my gaze. Her lips fluttered with a smile.
I felt sick. I couldn’t believe Kaplan was forcing her into this position, but Caity’s good heart wouldn’t have been able to refuse. So we stood in this cramped van, filled with all kinds of sound equipment and computer monitors, ready to send Caity into the most dangerous situation she’d ever been in.
The tech man stepped up behind me and passed what looked like a kidney bean to Caity. “So you can hear us,” he said.
Caity pushed it into her ear and winced as they tested out the volume.
“Okay?” Another guy dressed in black gave her a thumbs-up.
She nodded and went to touch her ear.
“Try not to do that,” the guy called. “Just pretend it’s not there.”
The van door flew open and Kaplan stepped up into the small space. She drilled me with a pointed glare, which I stood tall against. We’d had more than a few nasty exchanges during prep for this operation and I was pretty sure she all-out hated me. From what Caity whispered to me, Kaplan thought I was narrow-minded and overbearing, but she wasn’t putting a loved one straight into harm’s way; she was making me do it, and it was killing me.
Kaplan grabbed Caity’s shoulders and spun her around to give her a final once over.
Her critical eyes scanned Caity from head to toe, her sharp lips pursing to the side as she opened up two more buttons on Caity’s shirt.
“But the mic,” Caity whispered.
“It’s small enough he won’t notice it. Besides, it’s black like your bra...and if he does get his hands on you, it’s small enough that he’ll think it’s just some diamante.”
“He won’t be getting his hands on her,” I gritted out between clenched teeth.
“Oh lighten up, Twitchy. These boobs still belong to you. She’s just letting Cameron borrow them for a few minutes.”
“I’m not—”
Kaplan cut Caity off with a click of her fingers. “You need to stay focused. Don’t think about the guy standing behind me. You think about the job and what you have to do. I need you to get Cameron talking. I need the location of the lab. And if you can get me anything that will incriminate Christopher Hoffman, I’ll give you a damn medal. Okay?”
I glared at the back of Kaplan’s head, wishing my eyes could shoot bullets.
Keeping a cap on my anger was becoming near impossible.
Caity shot me the sweetest look past Kaplan’s shoulder and I wanted to cry.
“Okay, are we good to go?” Kaplan looked to the technicians.
“Camera.” The tech in black shot from his chair and handed Caity a necklace with a black, oval pendant. She put it on, running her fingers down the silver chain.
Kaplan adjusted it so it sat right and stood back with a nod. “Good. Go for it, blondie.” She slapped Caity on the shoulder and moved to take a seat in front of one of the monitors.
Caity ran her hands down her arms and gave me a trembling nod. Her lips wobbled as she smiled at me and then turned for the door.
“Caity, wait.” I jumped from the van and took her arm, gently pulling her to face me. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
“I know,” her voice was small.
“Look at me.” The light was dim outside, but I hoped the street lamps would provide enough of a glow for her to really see me. I poured as much love and promise into my expression as I could.
It must have worked, because her lips rose with a genuine smile, her eyes sparkling.
“I love you,” I whispered.
Her hand touched my face, her eyes glassing over as she pressed her body against mine. I held her tight, kissing her lips with all the soft sweetness she deserved.
Caity jerked in my arms and pulled away from me, touching her finger to her ear.
“All right, all right, I’m going.” She threw me an apologetic smile.
Oh how I hated Kaplan.
My girlfriend stepped away from me and I squeezed her fingers one last time. The look in her eyes was pure gold and I knew without a doubt that if we survived this, we could survive anything.
My heart felt like it was being ripped in half as I watched her disappear into the darkness. I headed back to the van, shoving my hands in my pockets and only just feeling in control. As I stepped up, Detective Sullivan leaned toward me with a pair of headphones and pointed to a spare seat behind Kaplan. His smile of sympathy did nothing to ease my nerves, because when I slipped on those headphones, the only thing I could hear was Caity’s erratic breathing.
34
Caitlyn
Cameron’s bony hand felt sweaty in mine. I wanted to wriggle it free, but knew I couldn’t. Dinner had been painful. I was so aware that I had a truckload of peop
le listening in on my every word, including my boyfriend, and I was somehow supposed to be playing the role of a swooning girl.
As if Cameron would ever do it for me.
He was polite and everything, but his arrogance made my skin crawl. Spending the evening stroking his ego was hardly my idea of fun.
The only positive from the night was that I had managed to stay focused. I whipped Cameron’s mask on and off so many times, my head was screaming by the end of the meal, but it didn’t matter. I had managed to pretty much control all my own emotions and keep up the charade. I had giggled and flirted my way through multiple conversations—all revolving around Cameron’s intellectual brilliance.
I was confident that he believed I would change my courses next year to focus on Chemistry. From the triumph beaming off his unmasked skin, I knew he was picturing me on his arm for the foreseeable future. The very idea made me shudder.
As Kaplan suggested, I kept veering the conversations toward Chemistry. Cameron had started off pretty tight-lipped about it all, but my enamored ego-stroking loosened his tongue as the evening progressed.
So far, he’d given away the fact he liked to play around with different chemicals and was working on formulating safe drugs that could be used to help students like me. I oohed and aahed like I was supposed to and that was when I’d told him my idea of taking Chemistry the following academic year. That made him euphoric with pride and was a great way to end our meal.
“Get him to show you the lab,” Kaplan kept chirping in my ear.
I bunched my fingers, resisting the urge to whip out the kidney bean and throw it in the trash.
We walked through the dark street, my mind running with different conversation starters that could get me where Kaplan wanted.
I grinned up at my tall date, keeping my eyes on his face.
Lust was thick in his gaze again and I knew it was time to put some major flirt on.
“You know, I have to say I’m disappointed.” I bit my lip, my eyes dancing at his insulted expression. Stopping, I placed my hand on his chest and circled my thumb over the top button of his shirt. “You told me you were gonna help me and so far, you’ve only fed me.”
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