Undercover Inferno

CHAPTER ONE

“Two shots of tequila please”, this will be the third time this week I've visited the ecstasy bar. Now a regular, I must confess, and obviously the bartender thinks so too, as he offers a more homely than professional smile to a face. He is fast getting accustomed to “On the rocks to cool it down? We don’t want you ending up like last week now, do we?” Yup, definitely getting familiar. “No pouting, Natasha”. I didn’t say a word and just let him do what he wanted while I scanned the spacious room filled with loud music and sweaty bodies of people who had lost almost all sense of reasoning. Most of the female bodies were wriggling gracefully like feline creatures on a hunt, while others were so out of tone that I got dizzy just watching them. There was nothing fun about clubbing, but the alcohol kept me coming back, especially Roddy’s tequila in whatever form you wanted. It was always magic. Besides that, all that was left was just a bunch of lust-seeking people in all corners with panties or shorts down their ankles.

“You always watch but never attend. Can I ask why? Or is that personal information?”. “No reason, just don’t feel like it. Or, that’s all”. “Well, tell that to table 18. Dude’s been checking you out for weeks now, he’s all but drooling”. Yh, I have felt his eyes on me ever since the first day I stepped into the bar. He’s hot, I’d give him that and if I was even in need of a quick lie, he'd fit in, but I don’t need it now. I have been having this tingling feeling in my spine recently. Something is wrong but I can’t place my finger on it. I know someone has been tailing me, but that’s quite normal given my predicament, but something else just doesn’t sit well with me.

Three hours later, I’m heading back to my suite, not really sober but not exactly staggering, just floating between the two. It’s two am in the morning but it’s as rowdy as morning traffic, that’s what Vegas does, but regardless , I couldn’t have requested a better place to serve my probation. The reception area is awfully quiet, besides the lady on duty who keeps glaring at me each time I pass there like I’m the bane of her existence. So, she either thinks I’m being kept by someone else’s husband or I’m into something illegal to be able to afford my suite. “Excuse me, Room 1185”, her poorly done nose in the air, she struts over on her annoyingly noisy heels and hands me a brown manila envelope, “This came in for you few minutes ago, but obviously you were not in”. She exhales heavily like something reeks in the air, which actually it does. Her poor quality perfume, which never fails to choke me every single time, and just for the fun of it, I fan the air with the envelope and cough violently, “Please tell the janitor to. It’s way too strong”. For the final touch, I raised my nose into the air. It doesn’t help that my facial features can be described as perfect or near perfect. I took the elevator with a tiny sense of accomplishment while catching a final glimpse of her red face and botox filled lips as wide as a saucer. I can’t help a tiny peal of giggles that escape my lips.

“Your laugh, it’s beautiful, I love it”. My stand goes defensive out of reflex, but I slowly relax when I turn to see an oh-so hot guy next to me. He must have stepped in while I was being all petty with the receptionist, so I must be more drunk and realized walking not have noticed someone of that build walk past me while in the lobby. “Thank you”, I mutter out of habit and to be polite and keep to myself as the stranger does same . But I don’t resist the occasional temptation to sneak peeks at his side profile. I admit that I’ve seen lots of handsome guys, but this guy is on a whole other level of handsome. He was not just handsome, the aura around him wasn’t vain, but I didn’t really care to discuss it further because the elevator soon stopped at my floor. As I stepped out at 6, I heard him mutter an almost inaudible see you soon, which I shrugged off without thinking twice like I always do. I opened my door and stepped into my dark room. I could almost feel my bed with how tired I was, but barely two steps into the room, I paused, call me crazy, but the air in my room was different, heavier , malicious but with no killing intent. The first rule of Commander Xavier is to always sniff, feel, observe and camouflage, so it was quite easy to blend in with the dark walls of my room and avoid the little rays of Vegas neon light from my window so as not to cast a shadow. Someone was in my room, a male to be precise, with probably a buff figure and had probably seen and touched blood to be able to command such an aura and malicious air, but there was something else. I slowly take step after step towards the living room, which I find empty. A tingling feeling at the base of my neck has me squatting and rolling away just as a long spiky rope or rather whip reaches towards my previous position. I turned around to face a slim figure dressed in black with a mask over her face, yes, hers. I could see the outline of her little bosom and her curvy hips . Honestly, I’m surprised, “A female?”. I couldn’t help voicing it out, but my words met silence as she took an offensive pose and attacked first. I quickly sobered up and went defensive, not because I couldn’t attack, but I was too drunk to make a solid hit and could only wait to find out her pattern of moves . I didn’t have to wait for long and soon I had found a loophole, and from there it was easy to pin her down and strangle me. I carried those babies everywhere, I could feel the rush of pleasure and adrenaline of having her blood on my hands . “Tash, stand down” , a voice asking how drunk I was. “Xavier?”, I asked, looking up but still not letting go of the masked lady was already wheezing, “Tash….”. I could hear the unspoken warning and worry in his voice. I slowly let go, but not without a strong kick to her temple, knocking her out.

“Start talking”. I level an evil glare at him while I proceed to tie up my latest conquest with the whip, not really caring about her unconscious whimpers and groans, I sense Xavier shudder but remain silent, “Xavier…?” He’s not the only one allowed to issue threats . “ I just wanted to make sure you’re not slacking off while on probation” . He gives his signature shrug and smirk. “By sending an assassin after me?, do you even realize that a minute of recklessness would have probably ended my life”, “ But it didn’t and you seem to have gotten even more lithe” . “What is wrong with you?”, I could almost see the steams billowing from the top of my head. “Hey, that’s no way to talk to your commander, soldier”. “You seem to have forgotten, I’m on probation, so I’m speaking to you as my brother ,Xavier, that was f*****g reckless”. “Ok, fine, I’m sorry, I won’t play such trick on you again”. The mischievous glint in his eyes told me otherwise , “Any pranks at all Xavier, no more pranks”. I knew I had made my point across when I saw the tiny drop in his always rigid and straight shoulders . “So why are you here?”, “I need your help, Tash”. I would have called him bluff except that spending sixteen years with Xavier taught me all about that serious business on ground look of his , so definitely he doesn’t need my help with his wife and kids or our parents. Leaving only the military. “Xavier, no, you know what happened the last time I went on a mission”. I could feel my heartbeat rising just at the thought of it. I call me a coward but that tragedy turned out to be the only black spot on my almost perfect file. “This is different, I’m in a tight spot and the council isn’t helping, all they want is a solution”, “The council never helps, they are always only after the solution, it’s nothing new”. “There has been more cases of homicide”, “Homicide is not really something that requires my help”. “I doubt, this ones are different, more gruesome, no traces or clue ,and we are not even allowed full uninterrupted access to the murder sites but this isn’t just a jealous boyfriend girlfriend case, it ticks all my wrong boxes so I think there’s more to this murders than we think we know”, “But, it’s nothing the FBI can’t handle right, you seem to forget what our team’s main mission is, so unless it is really pressing, I’ll love to quietly enjoy and meditate while on my probation “. I replied and walked over to the fridge to get some water hoping to calm the raging carnival going on in my head. “I thought so too till Danny and Louisa were found dead two nights ago…..”.That was all I heard and I felt the air get thinner, my visions blurry , my breathing erratic and the walls closing in on me, I tried grasping unto anything even Xavier’s voice calling out for me but everything slipped away and faded into the nothingness. I awoke to the sound of heavy boots pacing around my living room, and my face all wet, but I began to cry all over again . They were all we had, they adopted us when everybody ignored us. I clinched my fist so much, I could almost pierce my skin. “Why am I just hearing this now? , “The FBI has taken over the case and it’s already considered a confidential case. Their bodies have been confiscated as part of the investigation alongside five other bodies, that’s why I’m here, even if this is not our duty. It’s different for both of us, a personal vendetta. I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to sit here and let them doddle over this case and end up freezing it or closing it as a gang fight, so, are you in or out ?”

Eight hours later, we were headed down the stairs to Xavier’s underground, with the girl whose name I learnt was Morgan, a trainee student with a knack for finding clues .Xavier’s studies were the typical dark investigation in movies with pictures and news pinned to a board. So littered on the floor, somehow he found a sense of arrangement in the midst of all the disorder and that was cool with him so long as it didn’t get in the way of investigation. But this time around, he was unpinning everything on the board, and meeting my gaze, he shrugged, “I’ve got nothing in this case. The FBI refused to give ‘an illegal military group’, as they termed us, any of what they have so far”, “Then let’s go full blown illegal on them ,tonight ,last I checked….”, “ Whoa, whoa, hold on swifty, you’re getting a warm bath, nice dinner and a good sleep before we make any other move, the ride was already risky enough”. I swallowed back my protest at the stern look he leveled at me, he took me by the shoulders and led me towards the stairs, “I’ll discuss some finishing. We can’t let anyone know you’re back, we’ll work out your accommodation later”. He was right, I was stressed out, so I just went up the stairs to freshen up. On my way up, I took time to look through our old pictures, with our foster parents, our graduation pictures, and all our happy memories. After a nice warm bath, we ordered pizza for brunch and I went to bed .

I woke up to tiny giggling and inaudible discussions by my pillow side and the sweet smell of baby powder. A smile unconsciously spread out over my face, the naughty creatures began giggling profusely while trying to scurry away. Xavier’s twin boys were such characters, I could easily catch them, but what’s the fun in that? I let them run off while I changed into something presentable. Apparently, I had slept through lunch but just in time for dinner. I wasn’t really too pleased to meet my brother’s wife, but I was too hungry to skip dinner, besides ordering out would make it even more obvious, so with raised chin, I went downstairs to have my dinner.