The Connection (The Claudia Belle Series Book 3)

by C. S Luis

  I walked alongside Michael down the hall; it was quite early, and so I always waited with him in his class before I went to my own. We stopped by the main office. Michael usually picked up his mail from the previous day before we started up to the second floor.

  As we entered, there seemed to be chaos everywhere. Mrs. Wallace’s phone was ringing off the hook with calls, and it seemed that once she was done with one, another one would ring to life.

  “What’s going on this morning?” Michael asked, taking the mail from the pigeonhole and coming around as Mrs. Wallace took a moment to breathe.

  “Looks like an overnight sinkhole; it has everyone off their rockers this morning,” she said.

  “Any word of evacuating?” Michael asked, glancing over at Dr. Black’s door.

  “Not sure yet. The city crew is checking the damage; it might be nothing serious, but they’re not sure yet,” Mrs. Wallace said. “They’re not telling us anything informative, really.”

  “Dr. Black is in a meeting with the superintendent right now. Hopefully he can offer us more information regarding that,” Mrs. Wallace said as Michael once again glanced over at Dr. Black’s door.

  “He arrived early this morning. It’s looking bad, Michael. The school might have to close down if they find the sink hole to be dangerous.”

  Oh no, I thought. That couldn’t happen. All of this was my fault.

  “You mean if the superintendent decides it’s dangerous,” Michael said, and Mrs. Wallace shook her head in agreement.

  7

  Dr. John Black

  I awoke to an alarm going off five in the morning and slammed my hand over the button. Sitting up immediately, I put my hands over my face and pushed my hair back as I rose. In the bathroom, I gazed at myself at the mirror.

  Had fun last night, John? I asked myself grinning. I bet you did.

  I brushed my teeth, turned on the shower until it was the right temperature, and then took a moment to do some sit-ups and a few pushups. Once I’d completed a quick set of thirty each, I jumped into the shower. I’d find time to take a quick run after work.

  The water hit my face, and its rewarding warmth filled me with a sense of renewed energy. I layered myself with Gillette body wash for men, scrubbing it upon my chest and then my cock, only to smile finding red lipstick on my member. I was now recalling Karen’s pretty red lips on my cock.

  After a few drinks, we had quite a nice night. I hadn’t had a blowjob in a very long time, not since I had taken up this mission. If there was something John Slater loved more than getting a blowjob, it was the taste of pussy, and Karen had a sweet one. Just the thought of her now was making me hard, but there was no time to please myself.

  She left after because we both had to be at work the next day, or perhaps she would have spent the night. Not that that was a good idea. I was waiting for the call from Nicholson to tell me to lose the bimbo again. Even if it was only foreplay, it fucking sure was better than nothing, but the whole time I was pleasing Karen, I couldn’t stop thinking about my job and what I needed to get done.

  After the shower I toweled myself dry and walked up to the mirror. I wasn’t a bad looking man; my best feature had to be my smile, the slight curve of my lips, and then my green eyes, some would say. Why didn’t Claudia find me irresistible like all the others? Didn’t I smell wonderful? Didn’t I smile beautifully? Why couldn’t I stop thinking about her?

  Was it my self-confidence? That I couldn’t help. John Slater had always been, and will always be, very confident, well-mannered, and well-spoken, especially towards women. I did my best. Why did she haunt me? What did she want from me? I had come to the conclusion she possessed me in some way I couldn’t quite understand or explain.

  I smirked, was I trying to justify my feelings justify the very reason she didn’t sense what I had sensed between us?

  This connection I felt between us was distorting my mind. She was a fucking distraction to the very idea I could possibly be attractive to her. But not just attracted possessed by her in some strange peculiar matter I couldn’t begin to put together. Just like the link I had with Project X that I couldn’t yet understand or begin to explain.

  I splashed some Armani cologne over my chest, not too much, but just enough to create a certain air. I put a bit of mousse in the palms of my hands, spreading it and layering it upon my honey brown locks, pushing back my hair from my face. Perhaps it was time for a small haircut.

  I walked over to the closet and grabbed the white dress shirt from the hanger and tossed it on the bed and then grabbed a pair of clean dress pants from the top shelf of the closet and dress shoes at the right bottom. I had a few nice clean pairs, an immaculate stack of clean pairs of dress pants and dress shirts and suits of all varieties. They were all nicely cleaned and pressed, hanging and neatly stacked in order. I liked order. I never lacked it. I preferred it. Disorder was not my friend. Not that I was a neat-freak or anything.

  I walked out and over to the top dresser, grabbing a pair of clean briefs from the top drawer and a pair of black clean socks. I slipped into the briefs and pants and grabbed the clean dress shirt. I walked back into the closet and grabbed a tie and suit jacket.

  Fully dressed now, I adjusted the red tie. It was my only red tie, and I wore it well.

  I put on my black suit.

  Not blue this time, John?

  I wanted to break away from the Man in Blue for now. He doesn’t always wear blue suits, but I wanted to break away from him mentally; he was driving me crazy. He thinks he’s always right about everything. He makes me do things I don’t want to do. Well, that’s not entirely true. He enjoys it a little too much; I hate it because he’s me.

  After putting on my dress shoes, I grabbed my briefcase and walked into the kitchen. I grabbed a protein shake from the refrigerator and was out of the door by six. My cell phone rang as I climbed into the Shelby Mustang.

  “Where are you?” I recognized the voice. It was The Man in White in all his glory.

  “On my way to Milton,” I said.

  “I see.” His voice was calm, with the slightest tone of arrogance.

  “Then I’m assuming your aren’t aware of our little problem,” The Man in White said again.

  “Problem?” I swallowed hard; it was too early for this now.

  “I’m here at Milton; don’t keep me waiting.” The phone went dead, and I put my foot down on the gas and sped off. I was there in thirty minutes, and I saw that my retrieval team was on the scene. I knew it was them, even through their phony disguises of City of Houston uniforms. I recognized the glasses, their abnormality detectors. They were all wearing them; it’s required when detection is established. And Milton is a hot zone.

  I drove up, and the phony officer let me through. Bryce’s SUV was nearby, and only when I took a parking space and stepped up did I notice what they were all looking at. At the other end of the parking lot was a fairly large sinkhole with a few cars piled into it. Far off there was a car that appeared to be bent in half from the roof down. It looked like a wrecking ball had gone down through the middle of it.

  What the hell happened here? It was my first question, and it looked to be the question of the day.

  The men at the scene looked over at me; perhaps they wanted an explanation, but no, it wasn’t that. They look towards the building. They knew I’d just missed my chance, and they knew Bryce was not very happy. The only retrieval here was the obvious damage.

  I drained the protein shake on my way into the building, and as I came into the main office interior, I was expecting to see Bryce standing at the entrance of my office, but he was not there.

  I unlocked my office door and walked in. I put my briefcase on top of the desk and opened the laptop. Mrs. Wallace entered and walked to the entrance of my office.

  “Dr. Black,” she gasped, but I knew what she was going to say long before she did.

  “Yes, I know Mrs. Wallace,” I said, coming around my desk and logging into the AD
A site as she stood at the entrance of my office glaring back at me.

  “What happened?” She asked. I had nothing to offer her, taking a seat behind my desk as her phone began to ring. She headed back out the door to answer it. I was looking at the screen waiting for the message that never came. Mrs. Wallace was once again standing at the entrance office, but this time she had news.

  “Dr. Black, the Superintendent is here to see you,” Mrs. Wallace said, gazing at me. She looked spooked, and then I realized why. I didn’t know what to say; in fact, the words nearly dropped out of my mouth until I saw him there at the door, and then it all made sense, and the expression upon my face immediately changed to the Man in Blue.

  * * *

  As soon as I saw him I knew something was quite wrong. He was calm. He usually never made an appearance during a project or assignment until after it was completed. That’s what he paid me for. But there he was, standing at the entrance of the office in his clean, white suit and burning red, flashy tie. His bleached blond hair was neat and short and without a single strand out of place.

  “I hope I haven’t disturbed you, Dr. Black,” he politely offered. It was a show for Mrs. Wallace who was standing behind him.

  “Not at all,” I said, sitting up and closing the laptop.

  “Mrs. Wallace, no interruptions please,” I said to the woman standing behind Bryce. She moved to close the door, but Bryce beat her to it, slowly closing it behind her as she moved away.

  He slowly turned, standing at the entrance looking over at me; he made me nervous, and I wondered curiously what he knew and why he was here. I feared it was about Miss Belle. Although the sinkhole would have been my first guess, I don’t know why I thought of her. My thoughts of her were starting to make me uneasy and nervous.

  “I can see you’ve taken your role quite well,” he emotionlessly said. I was about to get up, but he put his hand out.

  “Please don’t get up,” he said, moving forward toward one of the seats in front of my desk. He motioned to the seat. “May I?” He asked, and I nodded.

  He carefully sat, leaning back upon the seat, slowly crossing one leg over the other, resting both elbows on the arms of the chair and then clasping his hands together in front of him.

  “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” I nervously asked.

  “Pleasure?” He began. “This is business. You want to tell me why there’s a giant hole in the parking lot?” he immediately came out and said.

  “How would I know that?” I snarled in response. But that was the wrong answer.

  “You would know because I sent you here to investigate. It’s your job to know!” His voice rose slightly, but his posture was calm just as always.

  “You and I know the alien is responsible for the damage outside,” he said again.

  He rose suddenly and came forward, putting both hands upon the top of the desk and leaning down towards me.

  “He was here. Where were you?”

  I was confused as to what he meant as he examined the expression on my face. He turned away and walked around the chair.

  “You would know, if you were performing your job as I asked,” he said patiently, even though I could sense the frustration and anger in his tone.

  “The alien has found what he's been looking for, and you’re no closer to finding him.” Bryce looked over at me. How did he know so much?

  “Why haven't you made any progress? I need to find the source. My patience is growing thin.” He scolded like an angry mother.

  “I'm trying Nicholson, but it’s not as easy as you think. You wouldn’t believe the shit that goes on in a school. This is your fault for giving me this position. I warned you,” I said with my poor excuse for defending myself.

  “I’m aware you’re undercover, but your lack of progress is unacceptable!” Bryce snapped, still calm, and never losing his demeanor. There was a slight moment, a disturbing silence.

  “I doubt it has anything to do with this position. Are you certain…it's the job? Or perhaps there is another distraction. Perhaps a certain young girl that has you disregarding your assignment?” The Man in White sneered.

  “Leave her out of this! It’s not her,” I responded. “I’ve been a good boy. I assure you,” I firmly said.

  Bryce came back towards the desk and leaned forward again. “Then find me that source, or I'm closing this project down and taking matters into my own hands, and you know what that means?” He stated, and his face became firm and cold.

  Of course I did. He would kill everyone because the people outside worked for The Company, even the police officers. I knew exactly how he would do it: a gas leak and explosion, and the people wouldn’t even know what happened. The media would report it as a freak accident. I couldn’t let that happen. And yet why did I care, but the answer in my very being didn’t surprise me. And that scared me.

  “If I don’t get what I want, you don’t get your money,” Bryce again said.

  But I was no longer thinking of the money. And that strangely surprised me again.

  What? Is the great John Slater not interested in money?

  “You have forty-eight hours to assess the situation. The Alien is here. He’s been here all along under your nose, so find him, or I’m shutting you down.”

  With that, The Man in White took a step back from the desk and very slowly buttoned his white suit and walked back over to the entrance and opened the door and stepped out; immediately, I rose, following him out of the office, catching sight of Michael and Claudia standing in the interior of it.

  The Man in White gazed over at Claudia and then found my eyes staring madly over at her. I nearly panicked when I realized he had seen the hunger I had felt within that moment of weakness.

  “Remember, forty-eight hours; the clock is ticking,” he whispered over at me then stepped away towards the door. Michael and Claudia stared over at him, and he never once said a word to either one of them; although, it frightened me the way he kept staring at Claudia. I feared he would sense something different about her, and then I would have more questions to answer, like why I hadn’t reported her abilities to him. But if he had sensed something, he didn’t show it.

  8

  Claudia

  A man dressed in a white suit with bleached-blond hair and a red tie stepped out of Dr. Black’s office; he and Dr. Black exchanged a few words before he glared over at us and started walking away. Not once did he glance back until he was at the door and gone.

  He gave me the creeps; there was something about those clear blue, icy eyes and that calm smile upon his face that wasn’t right.

  “I don't like him,” I softly whispered.

  “That makes two of us,” Dr. Black said, coming to stand beside me.

  I couldn't believe he had heard me, but there he was, looking right at me.

  “Is everything alright?” Michael asked, coming from behind me.

  “For now,” Dr. Black offered.

  “We’ll have to shut down the school until they fill in the hole,” Dr. Black said again.

  “Oh, that's not good,” Michael uttered in disappointment. “Is the hole that bad?”

  “I'm sorry,” I accidentally whispered, but they didn’t hear me.

  “That still hasn't been confirmed, but I’m sure we'll know very soon the extent of the damage,” Dr. Black said as he gazed at me and smiled. I was a nervous wreck knowing what I knew, the reason for the hole. He stared at me searchingly and made me nervous, and his eyes were questioning my uneasiness.

  9

  Dr. John Black

  Who didn’t find Bryce frightening? Even the toughest of agents, including me, found him scary. The man was a mystery to me; he was unpredictable. He gave you that vibe by just looking at you. I had never thought much about it even when at the academy; he had been the only man that had come close enough to being some sort of a father figure to me.

  Growing up in the academy I was under his direction. I didn’t care to understand why
, only now did I think about it. I’m not sure why; perhaps because of her. She made me think of a lot of things I would never normally consider. But the one thing I was sure of was that with the facts I had been presented, I had no choice left. I had only two days before the ADA took matters into its own hands. I would have to hurry and find what I had come to find, if I wanted to avoid any casualties. Especially if I wanted to save her.

  Why John, why does she matter? I don’t know.

  Claudia looked worried; in fact, I heard her say I’m sorry, and I wondered why. It made me curious as to why she thought this was her fault. Her eyes blinked up at me as if she had realized I had perhaps heard her, and she nervously walked up to Mrs. Wallace’s desk a step away from Michael and me. Did she know anything about the hole outside? My mind doubted it, but suddenly I worried that perhaps she did. She nervously avoided me, even more than usual. I wanted to ask her but decided it was best without Michael around; perhaps she would be more forthcoming if he wasn’t here.

  “Well, I hope it’s not as bad as we’re assuming.” Michael made himself say. “I hate to think what would happen to Milton.” Michael again said.

  “Well, I’m sorry to say that until further notice, I’m instructed to cancel classes.” Michael looked surprised and worried.

  “Just for the safety of the students. The staff is permitted to remain until further notice,” I simply said. Claudia glanced over her shoulder at us.

  “Is that what the superintendent instructed?” Michael curiously asked.

  “Until further notice,” I lied. It was clear what Bryce wanted, and I had to clear the building to do what I needed to do. Besides, I wanted to save as many lives as possible before he took matters into his own hands. The less people in the building, the better, but I knew I couldn’t save everyone. And I realized it immediately when Michael volunteered to stay.