Emotionally Compromised (Emotionally Compromised Series)

by Rosa, A.

  She cuts him off with a pointed smile. "I'm aware of the charges, Michael, but that isn't your real name, now is it?"

  I find my shoulders tensing at her words, because she obviously remembers their tryst last year. Not to mention, she is taking this a lot better than I had assumed. I thought that maybe she would go down kicking and screaming.

  Derek wolfishly smiles as he strolls up to her. "It's Agent Matthews, actually. Nice to see you again, Adessa. Sorry about the circumstances, but you know how it goes."

  I follow close behind, hoping I don't have to speak much. My three team members linger a few steps behind me, casing rooms for any other people.

  I tuck my gun back into my holster, fold the warrant up, place it in my pocket, and grab the handcuffs on my belt. I watch her, disgusted, as she shamelessly lets her eyes drag over Derek.

  "I'm fully aware what is happening, Agent Matthews."

  I hand off my cuffs to Derek, not wanting to get close to her.

  As he steps over to her, he wiggles his finger in a way to suggest she turn around. "I think you know the drill, Miss Moradi."

  She lets a small cackle escape her lips. "I am well versed in how handcuffs work, Agent Matthews, but that doesn't mean I've ever been arrested." Gag me. Please.

  Derek cannot hide his smirk as he handcuffs her behind her back, and though I want to punch him, I refrain, rolling my eyes, and instead take in the contemporary, artsy decor of Marcus's Fenway bachelor pad.

  As if Adessa caught my rolling eyes, she snaps, "Do you have an attitude problem, Alex?"

  Hearing my name on her lips, I whirl around to lock eyes with her as Derek forces her to take seat. "Excuse me, but I don't think you are in any position to be talking about attitude problems."

  Her voice drips with contempt. "I remember you, you know. You were a sad, lovesick puppy back in Dubai. I remember your doe-eyes. They looked sad then, and they look sad now. Who has upset you this time, darling? Did Agent Matthews give you mixed signals again? Or is it your beau, Jeremy Hunt? Honestly, I am so sick of seeing men you involve yourself with doting on you. Even Marcus is obsessed over the idea of you. Doesn't seem professional, Alex."

  My blood starts to boil. I don't like the fact she knows my name, I don't think she deserves to mention Jeremy's name in my presence, and she doesn't have any idea what professionalism means. She knows nothing.

  "I would really bite your tongue, Adessa. You don't know anything about me."

  This time she huffs, rolling her eyes. "You and Marcus could be two peas in a pod if you allowed it. He was always saying the same thing. I know more than you think, Alex. Was it really fair of you to wander into the arms of Jeremy Hunt when you had Marcus waiting on the sidelines?"

  I grit my teeth, feeling my temper rise. I have been known to have violent tantrums, and they never end well.

  "Easy, Turner. She's a criminal. Don't let her get to you."

  I look at Derek, trying to take his advice, but when she sees me looking at him, her mouth slithers into a knowing smile.

  "Yeah, Alex. What would I know about the men you involve yourself with? Jeremy Hunt is a delightful dancer by the way, such strong hands."

  At the mention of Jeremy's name, I feel my body tense, and I clench my fists this time as I stare at her.

  Derek raises his hand to me as if to halt anything that might be coming. "Turner. She is messing with you."

  This time I shake off his words and take a deliberate step toward the horrid woman. "Adessa, you are well-versed in men, many of them I am sure."

  She grins, staring at me from her chair. "You don't intimidate me, Alex. As far as I am concerned, you are nothing but a blip on my radar. An inconvenience, if you will."

  "Funny, considering you're the one in handcuffs. You might want to be intimidated."

  A burst of anger escapes her. "You'll keep me in custody for forty-eight hours max! Do you even know who my father is?"

  "Daddy's little girl, always going to rely on daddy's money and connections. Grow the fuck up, Adessa."

  This petty elementary school bullshit has gotten me nowhere, and I decide to turn around and walk away while I still have some of my cool.

  "How is everything with Jeremy? Have you spoken with him today by chance?"

  I whirl around on my heels, only because her tone is deadly. Excuse me? "Do me a favor, and stop saying his name."

  Ignoring my words, she purses her lips as if holding back a laugh, knowing she is getting to me with the topic. "I never did figure out how he managed to survive the first attempt, but you must have been around. That makes the most sense."

  "What did you say?"

  "Jeremy was supposed to die, but I think you know that."

  I lean into her, and Derek is quick to put a hand on my shoulder, pulling me away. I give in to it to humor him, but I feel my skin tingling with rage. I do not take the topic of Jeremy's safety lightly.

  "What do you know about it? Is this all because of you? You and your dad in it to ruin anyone that gets in your way?"

  "Turner, cool it," Derek blurts beside me.

  I whip my head to look at him. "Shut up, Derek!" Then I turn my attention back to Adessa.

  "Oh, you're feistier than I assumed."

  "Generally, I think you make a lot of poor assumptions."

  She continues as if she hasn't heard me. "Jeremy must like them feisty. So does Marcus, I think. Maybe once Jeremy is gone, you could give Marcus a go. He's kind of a love-sick puppy like you, you know."

  Her words are not lost on me. I grab her shoulders, forcing her to freeze, but it does nothing to her snake-like smile. "What are you talking about, what about Jeremy?"

  "He's going to die, of course, and it will be your fault."

  I freeze, staring at her. "Why? Tell me."

  She laughs. "Before I tell you, I'd like to tell you that I hate you. I despise you. Why is it that every man I have ever encountered in your circle can do nothing but talk about you? When will I be good enough? When I get out of here, I will make it a point to track you down. There is nothing special about you."

  I can't help but roll my eyes. What is she talking about? "I'm not scared of you, Adessa."

  "You should be." She throws her head back to let out another smug laugh. With one final attempt to get to me, she says, "Too bad today Jeremy will die. I'm sure he's amazing in bed. Wish I could have had a taste." She has the audacity to wink.

  Before I realize it's happening, I slug Adessa across her dainty jaw. The pain in my fist is more satisfying than shooting off my gun the day before. A cathartic release only I would appreciate. The glee-inducing sound of her ghoulish shriek is the only thing that has made this assignment worth it.

  "Turner, what the hell do you think you are doing?" Derek shouts, and he grabs my shoulders, flinging me back. I swing right back toward her.

  "You tell me where Jeremy is!"

  With her hands handcuffed behind her back, her face is puckered, still trying to absorb the pain from the punch. She manages a devilish smile. "He's with Marcus Gibbs as we speak, of course, but I doubt you will get there in time."

  My stomach plummets as I begin to understand. This indescribable amount of fear washes over me as I yank my body out of Derek's grasp and turn to look at him wide-eyed. "Derek, meet me at Sunscape as soon as possible."

  Before he can get a full sentence out, I turn and sprint out the door.

  "Turner, wait!"

  The only thing I manage as I run is, "There's no time!"

  ****

  I throw myself into my car and make it out of the parking garage in record time. With my government plates, I am guaranteed not to be pulled over, and with that, I floor it.

  I slip my phone into the Bluetooth stand embedded into the dash, and a digital click confirms its connection. I dial Jeremy's phone, letting it ring and ring. It switches over to voicemail.

  I hope that he is still just mad at me, and not otherwise detained. His anger I can fix; the other cir
cumstance I can't.

  I speed through downtown Boston, knowing that the Sunscape building is just five more blocks. I swerve out of lanes, weaving around cars. My eyes water, but I won't let my tears fall. I won’t. I am fueled by anger, and the fact that when Adessa spoke, it was clear to me: I am fueled by love. Love for that stubborn man, who told me he loved me because he didn't want to waste time, because life can bring unpredictable things. He told me he loved me because he was worried that he might miss the opportunity.

  Like me. I missed the opportunity.

  I am undeserving.

  I have screwed everything up. If I don't get my ass to his building at this moment, I may never be able to tell Jeremy that I love him. I love him with everything I have.

  I dial Jeremy's phone again, getting more anxious.

  I shout to myself in the car, "Please answer your God damn phone, Jeremy! I love you. I need you. I am so, so sorry."

  MARCUS GIBBS

  "For fuck's sake, Marcus, when are you going to realize that that shit is driving you over the edge?"

  I stand up from my desk after doing a fresh line of coke, and turn around to where Jeremy is tied to a chair against the back wall of my lab. We've finally reached the end, and it feels good.

  "I was wondering when you were going to grace me with your consciousness."

  Jeremy still manages his trademark board meeting, hard-lined grimace as he forces his heavy head upward to look at me.

  "What the hell is this all about, Marcus? I don't understand why I am here."

  His tone irritates me. It's so like him to have no idea about the pain he has caused people. Fucker. "Is it really that hard to figure out, Jeremy?"

  I watch him pull on the restraints that I MacGyvered out of electrical wires. I thought they would dig nicely into his skin if he resisted. To think, I didn't believe I could do this.

  Slumping in momentary defeat, he shrugs. "You're losing it, Marcus."

  "You'd like to think that, but you've driven me to this point. Don't you see?"

  He shakes his head, sighing at my words, pulling once more on the restraints. "Please don't tell me this about a fucking girl. When did we ever let that get in the way?"

  Furious at his words, I grab the nearest item—a large beaker filled with some unknown blue substance—and fling it across the room, letting it shatter and spill over the wall next to him. "I never did anything, Jeremy. You did. If anything, you're the one who let her get in the way. And when I say her, it really could be filled with a variable, like girl x. You're wondering how it got like this? How I got so mad? Well, maybe being duped by your best friend more times than you can count can make a person a little resentful."

  Jeremy seems to be finally fully coming to. He manages to sit up straight as if my words have piqued his interest. "Is that how you feel? That I've been duping you all these years? What about being part of my family?"

  "You mean the family that you also don't appreciate." I pointedly grab the object in my pocket.

  It's heavy for a small pistol, but of course, it's small enough to have been harbored in Adessa's purse for who knows how long.

  Jeremy sputters, "M-Marcus, what the hell are you doing with a gun? You don't know the first thing about those things. You're gonna kill somebody."

  I let out a laugh, and as it echoes off the sterile walls, I begin to think it sounds nothing like me. "That's kind of the point, asshole."

  He tenses as he watches me take a few steps closer to him, and all I can think is, This is it. This will be my glory, on top of everything else.

  "Marcus, this isn't you. I'm sorry for everything I've done. I never real—"

  "Realized that you hurt people? You're a selfish prick, Jeremy!"

  "I am fully aware of that."

  His tone bothers me, and I wave the gun in the air. "Shut up, Jeremy. Your charm will get you nowhere. Lucky for me, I am all too used to seeing you flash those pearly whites and get what you want. It's over for you. You need to suffer. You never suffer!"

  I can see the beads of sweat forming on his brow. I watch a drop of sweat drip down the side of his face. I'm winning!

  "Is this really all because of me? I don't buy that. You have always blamed everyone else for your problems."

  Jeremy's words ripple with a fierce heat through my veins. I walk over to him and punch him square in the nose. I lean in close to watch the blood drip over his upper lip, and let out a chuckle. "How's it feel, Jeremy?"

  "What, you asshole?"

  "Pain. How does the pain feel?"

  He lifts his head to make eye contact with me, and he spits blood off to the side before flashing his bloody grin. "When are you going to grow the fuck up, Marcus? How is any of this going to solve anything? Killing me? Engineering this disease? Killing all those innocent people? When it is all said and done, you will still be the same cowardly piece of shit, unable to take responsibility for your actions."

  I punch him again in the same spot, and I hear a delightful crack. I could get used to this sort of satisfaction. Then something hits me. "How do you know about the disease?"

  With the mixture of my high and the dumbfounded realization that Jeremy knows, I stumble backward, putting ten feet between my ex-best friend and me.

  "I know everything, Marcus. I know you tried to have me killed. I know whom you're selling your disease to. I know what you are planning on doing."

  My fiery nerves turn ice cold in an instant, and my emotions take a nosedive as my body shifts to an uneasy panic. "W-what did you say?"

  "I know everything, Marcus."

  I shakily bring up the gun, pointing it at Jeremy, and realize that I've never pulled the trigger of one. It feels so final, so deadly. Fear creeps into my psyche, wondering who else knows if Jeremy knows. I watch the shaking barrel pointed in Jeremy's direction with blurry vision. "It's not over for me. It's over for you, Jeremy!"

  As if entirely accepting defeat, he shrugs, looking solemn. "If it makes you feel any better, maybe I have this coming. Right now, I don't care about dying. I am just sorry for whatever made you do whatever it is you think you're doing. You're a good man, Marcus; you're just lost. Get a grip, buddy, and get this all over with. Right now, I would gladly take that bullet between the eyes if it knocked some sense into you, and between you and me, since these are my last moments, girls fucking suck."

  I become baffled at the situation, drowning with anger at the same time. Jeremy's chivalrous tone irks me to no end, because I realize in that instant who I am. No, I don't want to be.

  I run my hand through my greasy hair, shaking the gun at his words, frantic, noting that my breathing is heavy and rushed. "I'm not the villain here, Jeremy!"

  "Then who are you? What do you want?"

  A whimper escapes my lips as I rub at my temples, and I gasp for a burst of air. In my stupor, I hadn't realize that my vision was blurry because my eyes won't stop watering. I become flooded by all emotions of the spectrum, frustration being the driving force. I clench my jaw, take a deliberate step back, brace myself, and point the pistol in his face. His eyes widen once more as if he understands that I am serious.

  My body becomes racked by barely contained sobs, but I will not let myself go. "I wanted to be loved, ya know? I wanted people to care. I wanted people to see me. No one ever saw me, and the ones that did would rather see you."

  I hear a gasp from Jeremy. "I didn't know."

  My arm falls as a singular sob escapes my lips. "Of course you didn't. You never took the time to look around, but that isn't going to fix this, Jeremy. If I'm caught anyway, I should do this world one last God damn favor." I raise the gun to Jeremy's face. "I'm sorry, but I've had enough of this pain, and you need to know what it feels like. I feel like I am dying every day. Lucky for you, you'll only feel it once."

  I spring back at the sound of the door of my lab door swinging open. I make eye contact with the sculpted face of Alex, and she has a gun. My face moves through the emotions of the situation. What
the ...?

  In that split second, I grasp, in its entirety, what was happening and what has been happening all along.

  That is when the only shot is fired.

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  I Knew It

  ALEX TURNER

  The strangest thing happens when I hear that gunshot fire. It is like time freezes, allowing me a singular moment of reflection.

  I don't know what compelled me to do it. Maybe it was the stark look in Marcus's eyes that had me, for the first time in my career, delay a shot and reevaluate my aim. Who would have thought?

  Running in on Marcus mid-sob, with pain riddled all over his gaunt features, while at the same time letting his eyes take in the sight of me—still in appreciation—I couldn't kill him. But I wasn't going to let him get away with any of this either.

  Jeremy is still the most important thing to me, and Marcus is a sad, lost soul, bouncing through life searching for a purpose. The pain on Marcus's face looks like how my insides feel. A depressing mess of awful. I was sympathetic for the first time in my life.

  There have been moments in my career where I had to hope my instincts were right, and this was one of them. I didn't want to kill Marcus, but he had his gun pointed at the one person I love, and with that, my gut told me one thing: Marcus is a coward who would never kill anyone. Kill himself? Yes. Others? No.

  Killing someone takes a certain type of person. Marcus is not a killer.

  I have killed, and will continue doing it as long as it is my job. We all have our reasons, and mine are personal. That moral fiber that makes you feel compassion for your fellow man is somewhere deep inside me, but finding it would be like searching for a needle in a haystack of raw human. Maybe this assignment has changed me. Maybe now I understand what life has to offer, and its value.

  Don't get me wrong, I'd kill for the one I love. Hell, I'd kill for what's right. I do what you don't want to do, but what is necessary. Yeah, I know it's awful, and callous of me to say, but you're safe, aren't you? Cushioned in your suburban life, living free. You're welcome.