Playing the Devil's Game

Chloe walked into the elevator with her mind everywhere except work itself. She wondered how she didn’t notice Mike was cheating or maybe she was at fault for loving her job more than her marriage. She should have known that men like him have needs and since she was in the bureau’s spotlight, it would definitely affect her marriage. Mike was patient enough with her, maybe she was truly the problem and she should have done better. She took a vow on their wedding, she should have tried more to uphold it. Since she found out he had been going on dates and having a sleepover at their neighbour’s place, her whole world turned upside down. She wondered for how long it had been going on right under her nose and she had no idea it was happening. For someone who is extremely good at finding criminals and making them pay for their crimes, she didn’t notice an emotional crime going on right under her nose. The betrayal stung her hard and she felt more useless even after she caught them. Nothing hurt her more than knowing her husband didn’t care. She walked him on in f*****g their neighbour from behind and he didn’t even look remorseful. What’s worse? On her way to work this morning, she bumped into the same neighbour making her way to Chloe’s apartment. Like yesterday didn’t happen or like she doesn’t care enough to hide it anymore. The deed was already done, there was no reason to hide anymore. That moment felt like something the other woman had been waiting for and rather than do something that showed she cared, she just walked off. She grabbed her bag and she headed straight for work. No need for any childish dramas or anything that would get an emotion out of Chloe, she would rather channel the energy into taking another criminal off the streets. She was going to be keeping a lot of people safe that way and the oath she took at Quantico would be accurate. People’s safety is above everything else and at the end of each work day she feels relieved knowing a lot of people made it home safely, and a lot of murderers didn’t go unpunished because of her job. She took her oath seriously and the only one she didn’t take seriously was her marriage and now it’s back to haunt her. The elevator pinged, indicating it had arrived at its destination, and the door slid open. Holding on to the strap of her bag, Chloe walked into the secret building on the underground floor of an abandoned laundromat. This building hosted the task force that kept most of America’s major criminals off the streets and behind bars where they belong. At least one thing that made Chloe happy; her job. It was going to provide her with the distraction she needed to deal with her failing marriage. “Good morning Chloe, I was kind of expecting you to come in this morning. I was going to leave you a note and when Christie told me what happened, I knew I would wait for you to come in.” Her boss announced as soon as she walked in and Chloe turned to look at Christie, who raised her hands in mock surrender. She should have known telling Christie was almost the same thing as announcing it on the workgroup chat. She had probably told everyone in this building. No wonder they were sending those pitiful stares her way. She didn’t want their pitiful stares, yet she wanted to get rid of the self-loathing that was starting to gather at the pit of her heart. “You didn’t sound fine last night and I told her to make sure you’d be safe. Here’s a coffee I got you. Consider it an apology gift.” Christie said before handing a cup of espresso to Chloe, who took it with a smile. Keep her safe or keep the chain of gossip alive. Not like telling the whole task force would change anything, they would still find out either way. “What case do we have available now? I need something to take my mind off the fact that my whole life is falling apart.” Chloe asked. There was no need to pretend to be fine, she needed that distraction badly. Maybe she would stop checking her phone every minute to see if Mike would actually apologise for cheating on her and he would say he’s sorry. Maybe she was the one at fault and she should have given their marriage more chances. She shouldn’t have skipped major dinner dates and ghosted him for lunch. Maybe her bad habit of forgetting the dates of his birthdays and their anniversaries shouldn’t exist. Chloe wasn’t exactly the perfect wife but he always reminded her that he loved her like that. Chloe was always grateful to him. Not until yesterday, had she hated him more. “I actually have something from the CIA that would definitely take your mind off the jerk that you married and the amazing part is that it’s a long-term kind of project.” Medea filled her in and Chloe nodded before she grabbed the file that she was stretching to her. She opened the file and one name stood out; Alessandro Russo. The name didn’t exactly sound strange and she was sure she had heard it a couple of times before. She looked at Medea for more explanation and Christie interrupted whatever the boss was about to say with her excited clapping. Clearly, the name meant something and Chloe didn’t exactly know what was going on. It was definitely social media gossip because Christie is the one with all the teas and sometimes, it helps with their cases. “Alessandro Russo is actually an Italian drug lord with a hot body that I’d die to sleep with. I mean everyone says it on social media all the time.” Christine chipped in and she earned a glare from Medea. She made a zip sign with her hands over her mouth and Medea turned back to continue with Chloe. “We received a tip that he was involved in another mafia takeover and he’s planning to rebuild his mafia network. This time, the bureau wants to nip him in the bud and ruin his empire for life. You have to go undercover and work your way to the top of the ladder. The bureau thinks it will take you three months or less but this man is, like New York’s most powerful man, illegally. I think it would take more” Medea explained, and Chloe nodded. “An undercover job doesn’t sound that bad and, if anything, I don’t think I would be able to state a fine estimate. We have no existing inside man on his team and I would be starting from scratch and paving the way. The fact I’m a female means I would have to work twice as hard, a man like him is definitely not trusting a strange woman enough to put her on his main team minutes after meeting her.” Chloe replied and everyone nodded. “I hope you figure things out and the bureau would like it if you started as soon as possible. We would be in touch and you know how these things work. Everything will be provided for you including how to get inside the team. You just need to do things like you always do them, perfectly. I trust you on this.” Medea said before patting her shoulder, leaving her to her thoughts. Chloe opened the file again and she nodded. She had no idea if she wouldn’t mess this one up with her current state of mind. The man was surely one hell of a criminal and everything here screamed about how he shouldn’t be messed with. His kill rate, according to the bureau’s investigation, showed that he was a beast with a side hobby for killing people. Chloe wondered if this job would help her take her mind off things. Maybe she would get so obsessed with finding a killer that she would forget that Mike was f*****g their neighbour and he’s unapologetic about it. Maybe it was the perfect distraction and there’s only one way to find out. It was time to uncover what kind of Alessandro Russo was and make him pay for the crimes he committed against the people. Something told Chloe that this was going to be one of the most life-changing experiences for her and she still couldn’t shake it off. She opened the file again and the clear picture attached to the details file made Chloe hooked. Something about this dangerous man with tattoos made her feel a kind of way, something indescribable. She only hoped it was the hunger for justice she was feeling.