by Ana Ban
“Get your head out of your ass,” the voice that I assumed to belong to Al spoke.
“Hey, man, this isn’t my screw up. Why don’t you get Ricky to fix it?” That had to be Marco.
“Ricky’s busy right now, you know that.”
“What do you want me to do with these guns?”
Alec and I glanced at each other.
“Now,” I spoke just loudly enough for Adam to hear me.
Waiting just a beat longer, Alec and I burst through the door, guns drawn. “Baltimore PD! Hands up!”
We walked in to a very startled Al and Marco. Al immediately lunged for the crate of weapons sitting on the floor, but Alec was faster. While he tackled Al and restrained him, I kept my sights trained on Marco.
“Hands over your head,” I told him calmly. “Kneel down, link your hands and place them on the back of your head.”
He did as he was instructed, though his eyes were spitting fire at me.
Just a minute later, four officers from the southeastern district came through the door, guns drawn and cuffs ready.
“Alfonso DeLuca, you’re under arrest.”
“Marco DeLuca, you’re under arrest.”
Alec and I backed away, allowing the officers to wrangle the brothers out of the building.
Chapter 10
The precinct was abuzz when I walked in the next day, and when I glanced to our meeting room I could see why. The Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner were both seated at the table, along with our chief. Alec met me at my desk, a solemn look on his face.
“They need to see you,” he told me.
Even more curious now, I followed my partner and Malone to the windowed room which held a long conference table. When I entered, they all looked up at me with the same solemn look. Alec and Adam followed me in, closing the door behind.
“Gonzalez,” the chief nodded at me. “We haven’t released this yet, and don’t plan on it. This needs to stay in this room, between the people in this room. Understand?”
“Yes, sir,” I said firmly.
Laying a photograph on the table, he slid it in front of me. I looked down, did a double take and gasped.
It was a side shot, catching three quarters of a woman’s face as she glanced over her shoulder. I peered closer, scrutinizing, but it was unmistakable.
It was me.
“Where did you get a surveillance picture of me?”
The men exchanged glances, seeming satisfied by my question. My confusion only grew.
“That’s not you, Mia,” the chief answered gently. “That’s Selena.”
Looking up in bewilderment, I studied each face in the room, waiting for one of them to yell ‘Just kidding!’ But they didn’t.
“We had a team undercover for a year, acting as petty criminals, before they were finally hired by Selena. They were able to get this shot the same night you spotted Donovan on Thames,” the chief continued.
“How is this possible?” I asked in a whisper, understanding now the hard faces of the men surrounding me.
“You don’t have a sister, or any family that looks like you?”
Shaking my head, I was dumbfounded. “I’m an only child. I only have one girl cousin, but she’s in high school.”
“Perhaps your father had another child...” began the Deputy Commissioner before getting cut off.
Waving a hand to show I didn’t take offense, I spoke up. “None that I know of, but it’s a possibility, I suppose, no matter how small.” After a brief pause, I asked, “You’ve had this photograph for nearly six months. Why wait until now to show it to me?”
I looked directly at the chief, waiting for explanation.
“We wanted to keep it under wraps, didn’t want this leaked to the public.” Opening another file, he slid that before me next. It was a report of Marco’s questioning, dated yesterday. “Marco DeLuca was more than happy to flip on Donovan when he was faced with life in prison. He claims he overheard Donovan saying Selena has been missing for 4 months. Backed up only by the reduced activity on their front. Alfonso isn’t talking.”
Continuing to study the eerie photo of my doppelganger, my mind spun out, analyzing every angle of the impossibility. There was a reason these men were in this room, why I had been invited in.
“You want me to go undercover.”
“No,” Alec said immediately. Malone placed a restraining hand on his arm.
Sparing him a glance before meeting the chief’s eyes, I continued, “That’s why you called me in. Why you don’t want this photo getting out. You want me to go undercover.”
“Yes,” he answered briskly.
Taking another long look at the photo, I nodded my head. “I’ll do it.”
The chief nodded satisfactorily. “I knew you would.” Glancing at his superiors, the chief spoke again, “Do you mind if I spoke with Detective Gonzalez alone?”
They nodded, gesturing for Alec and Adam to leave before them. Once it was clear, the chief turned back to me. He sat beside me at the head of the table, hands folded atop it and head leaning close to mine.
“There’s a few things I’d like you to know,” he began. Nodding, I waited for him to speak. “The night you were drugged, I was going to take you off the case either way. Though I hated what happened to you, it did serve as a legitimate cover to reassign you.”
“Sir?” My head tilted, not sure I was fully comprehending what he was saying.
“I’d gotten the photo that morning. Had I known you were staking Donovan out that night, I would have stopped you, realizing then that I would put you undercover at some point, and I didn’t want Donovan to see you. The problem was, we didn’t know when it would be, and I couldn’t risk anyone with the knowledge that you are Selena’s spitting image. Even you.”
“The psych evals?” I asked.
“Normal procedure before a candidate can be cleared for undercover work. You passed.”
“You understand I’m feeling deceived right now,” I murmured, thinking the last six months over with new eyes.
“Rightly so. Just know, everything I’ve done is because I believe in you. I believe you’re the one able to take Selena down.”
“Thank you, sir,” I said, not sure what else to say. “What is the plan?”
“You still have more training to do, now that you are able to know your assignment. Within the month, you’ll begin life as Selena.”
“How will I cover the fact that we know nothing about her?”
“Simple. Donovan will find you held hostage, tied up and tortured. Memory loss is a common side effect.”
This took me aback. “Tortured?”
He smiled sadly. “Unfortunately, most of your injuries will have to be real. Are you going to be okay with that?”
I thought it through. What was ending the ring of terror worth? “Yes,” I said firmly.
He leaned toward me more, forcing my gaze on his. “Mia, I’m not going to lie and tell you undercover work is easy. It’s not. And this is not some sting operation to arrest a drug dealer. You will be living another life, becoming another person. It’s really not even the type of case we would typically handle, but given the special circumstances…” He trailed off, swiping a hand towards the photograph. “The Commissioner decided this was the best course of action. The FBI is loaning us a specialist to prepare you. I need you to understand this will not only affect you physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. This is also incredibly dangerous, and I will understand completely if you’d like to back out. You won’t have support, you won’t be able to speak to anyone from your life right now for an indeterminate amount of time. I’d like you to take tonight and think through everything, really think about it. You can let me know your decision in the morning. If you do decide not to go through with this, you will still be back on the case. If your answer is yes, well, your final training begins tomorrow.”
Sucking in a deep breath, I nodded. “I understand.”
“Take the rest of
the day off. It may be the last vacation you get for some time.”
Shaking his hand, I stood up and left. Alec was at his desk, staring at me with questions in his eyes. Stopping at my desk for my purse, I went to Alec before leaving.
“The chief has asked me to take the day to think about my answer.” He nodded, and though he didn’t voice them, I knew the arguments brewing in his mind. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?” Briefly I placed a palm on his arm, conveying without words my need for discretion.
“That you will,” he said to my retreating back.
Chapter 11
The knock on my door was no surprise. I had been expecting it since the chief had dropped the bomb this morning. Checking the peep hole as I always did, I confirmed it was Alec and opened the door.
He was fuming; I could tell he’d let this build up all day. I waited patiently, knowing it was best to let him get it off his chest.
“This is idiotic! I can’t let you go undercover with absolutely no back up. I can’t! How could you even think about doing something like this? Have you thought about it at all? We don’t know where Selena is. What if she shows back up, out of the blue? They’ll kill you!”
“I have to do this,” was all I could say before he began again.
“Donovan is a viper, and you’re just waltzing into his nest! I won’t be able to save you. No one will.”
“I have to do this,” I repeated firmly. “I need to do this.”
Alec paced across the room and back, visibly agitated, but I knew the worst was over. “I don’t like it, Mia. This is dangerous, and stupid. By far the dumbest thing you’ve ever tried to do.”
“It’s not up to you, Alec. I’m asking you to support me, but if you can’t, it won’t stop me.”
“Will anything stop you?” Pausing before me, Alec looked deep into my eyes. “Can I even get you to think twice?”
“Alec, I…” Before I could even begin my argument, I was immediately cut off as Alec’s lips met my own. I gasped, which only gave him room to maneuver. The move was unexpected, and I prepared for the onslaught of electricity I thought surely would come.
There was none. This man, who knew me better than anyone, who I connected with on levels I never had with anyone else, sparked nothing inside me.
On the surface, Alec and I made sense. It’d be a lie if I said I’d never thought about exploring a relationship with him. I’d even come close to admitting feelings to him a few months ago. We should have been perfect for one another. We cared about each other, and the rare times I allowed myself to contemplate what this moment would be like, I imagined so much more.
In a desperate attempt to ignite some feeling, I reached up with both hands to grip his hair, pressing my body against his. Still, there was nothing. Pulling away to suck in a lungful of air, I stared at my partner, my closest friend for the last two years, and my heart broke.
He backed away slowly, looking immediately contrite. “I’m sorry, Mia. I shouldn’t have kissed you.”
“No, Alec, it’s fine,” I attempted to reassure him, but it came out flat.
Brushing his hand across his mouth, he gave me a half smile. “Not exactly what I expected.”
Letting out a shaky laugh, thankful for the little bit of levity he was offering, I replied, “Me either.”
First thing in the morning, I found the chief in his office to tell him my answer. He didn’t seem surprised, but the concern was prevalent in his expression. Giving me directions to an offsite training facility, he told me my training would continue there.
“Good luck, Mia,” he told me, clasping my hand between both of his.
There was an insane moment where I thought this would be the last I saw of him.
Stopping at my desk to pack a few things to take with me, knowing I would likely not be back to the precinct until this was over, I said goodbye to Alec before heading down to the address I’d been given on the docks.
There was a row of several empty warehouses, which is where I parked and looked around, wondering if this was the right place. For an FBI training facility, it didn’t seem like much.
Stepping out and slamming my car door, I walked towards one of the doors and tried the knob. The room was empty, and I hesitated before entering. When I stepped inside, I scanned the room, noting each exit and the placement of each item, few as they were. Large, empty oil drums were grouped together to my right and wooden crates were stacked near the center of the room. Above me was a walkway which followed the perimeter of the building, with a loft area on each end.
“Hello?” my voice echoed out into the room.
From the walkway opposite me, my eyes caught an object glinting in the dim lights. While my focus caught on that spot, I heard the first explosion of gunfire.
Instinct took over and I immediately dove for cover behind the oil drums, reaching for my holster simultaneously. Gun in hand, I peered around the corner as more shots fired off.
“Baltimore PD!” I shouted above the cacophony of bullets ricocheting off the walls. “Cease your fire!”
My announcement did nothing. Training my sights on the same spot where I saw the glimmer of metal, I let out a breath and squeezed the trigger.
The barrage of bullets ceased, and I wasted no time in slinking along the wall to the staircase closest to me, gun kept at the ready. Taking the stairs as quickly as I could while still being able to look around for my attacker, I reached the landing and stared in complete confusion.
The glimmer of metal was not just a gun, it was a machine which now had a curl of smoke sifting upwards from the hole of my bullet.
“Well done,” came a voice from behind me.
Spinning at the sound with my gun automatically in position to shoot, I took in the person standing with a bemused expression on her face.
She was long and lean, with a strength that was readily apparent even beneath the basic black pantsuit she wore. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a no-nonsense bun and her arms were crossed, assessing me.
Realizing this was my trainer, I lowered my weapon, though I didn’t re-holster. “Who are you?”
“Agent McKenzie,” she supplied, holding out a hand to shake.
Approaching her warily, I returned the gesture. “It was shooting blanks?”
“That it was. I wanted to see what I was working with. You have good instincts, a quick reaction time.”
“Thank you?” I said, though it came out as more of a question.
The corners of her mouth tipped up, which I took to be a smile. “I’m here to give you a crash course in espionage. Normally, training for a case like this should take years. We’ve got less than a month. I don’t agree with that, but I also realize this is an extreme circumstance.” She began walking then, back down the stairs. I followed, still reeling from her little experiment. “I’ve been fully debriefed on the job and will do everything in my power to get you ready. Are you willing to do what it takes?”
“I am,” I told her confidently.
Pausing, she glanced back at me and quirked an eyebrow. “We shall see.”
Chapter 12
Agent McKenzie was a madwoman.
She began by having me do sprints up and down the warehouse, dodging objects she threw at me. They were not all soft and squishy. After that, she pulled a punching bag from a storage area, and had me doing rounds of 30 seconds each, with a 10 second pause between. Next was target practice- as it turned out, the warehouse was sound proof, so if someone happened to be around they would be unable to hear the shots.
Instead of standing and shooting at the target, I went back to sprints. Starting at the end with the targets, I ran up and down the length of the warehouse before turning back to shoot. All the while Agent McKenzie watched, passing a pipe between each hand, yelling out encouragements like ‘faster!’ and ‘too slow, you’re dead!’
After two hours, I was dripping with sweat and loving every minute of it.
“Great,” she smiled, a bit evilly I
thought, “Now we can begin.”
“Begin?” I asked, dumbfounded. “What has all this been?”
“Warm-ups,” she told me, then lunged with the pipe aimed for my head.
Acting on instinct, I dropped my stance, allowing the pipe to swing over my head while I moved in, executing a strike to her gut. She grunted, but it didn’t slow her next attack. Arching her arm back towards me, I brought up my hands, using my right to slow down her attack and sliding down to grip her wrist while my left slammed against her arm, directly above her elbow. I was careful to use control; though she didn’t seem to be holding back, I didn’t want to dislocate any joints.
Keeping hold of her wrist, I used her momentum against her, bringing her to the ground in a face plant. With a flick of my wrist, the pipe went flying and I held her in an arm bar, but Agent McKenzie wasn’t done.
Pulling her left arm through until she was flipped onto her back, I lost my leverage, letting go instead of attempting to fight it. She was on her feet again, and I put my guard up, waiting for her move.
Agent McKenzie lunged again, her fists a flurry of motion. Deflecting them best I could, I waited for my opening and landed another punch, this time to her ribs. It didn’t slow her down.
We continued to exchange attacks for several minutes, and I felt my body giving out, running on pure adrenaline. The smallest hesitation on my part, and Agent McKenzie had me on the ground, her arms in a lock around my throat.
Though I kept fighting, struggling to get out of her iron grip, black dots began to dance at the edges of my vision.
Against my better judgement, I tapped out.
She released me immediately, springing to her feet easily while I rolled to my hands and knees, gasping for breath. I knew the position I was in was the worst for catching breath, but it was all I had energy for at the moment.
“You have decent technique, and commendable control. But, the fight lasted way too long,” Agent McKenzie spoke, her voice annoyingly calm as she circled my aching body. “How long should a fight last?”
Squeezing my eyes shut to steel myself for movement, I clumsily got to my feet. “A few minutes?”