Girl Undercover 6 & 7: Emma's Secret & The Truth

by Julia Derek

  “Fine,” Ian said and brought the laptop back to his lap. “But let’s do it quickly. The longer we stay, the more we risk.”

  No need for you to remind me of that, I thought but didn’t say, just reached over and put a finger on the laptop’s touchpad. I began scrolling through the emails at a rapid pace. As they streamed by on the screen, I scanned each subject line for something that sounded interesting. Something that perhaps contained the name Ariel or Emma…

  Right as I thought I saw an email addressed to a Marissa Reineman with the subject line “Emma Patterson,” the front door opened.

  The laptop flew out of Ian’s lap and back onto the coffee table. A second later, the two of us shot to our feet. Pointing frenetically to the side of the couch that was farthest away from the opening between the living room and the hallway, Ian and I both dove behind it. With any luck, the senator wouldn’t look there when she came into the dark living room.

  Holding our breaths, we waited for the light to go on in the hallway and her to continue toward us. But neither of that happened, and instead it sounded like she went into the bathroom that was immediately to the right as one entered the apartment. The sound of a door closing reached our ears.

  We looked at each other and I could tell that Ian must be thinking what I was—should we stand up and sneak out of the apartment while the senator was in the bathroom? But what if she came out while we did so? Maybe it was better to stay hidden and just wait for her to go to bed. At the moment, no sounds could be heard from inside the bathroom, so we had no idea what was going on in there.

  “Let’s go,” Ian hissed, interrupting my pondering for the best alternative. Taking my hand, he got to his feet, pulling me with him as he tiptoed across the living room. Fortunately, it was carpeted, muffling the sound of our footsteps completely. Suddenly remembering my purse that I’d dropped on a chair in the living room, I stopped to pick it up. Ian glared at me, but then he seemed to realize what I was doing.

  Not daring to breathe, we continued into the hallway and made sure to step on the rug there, not the hardwood floor that might creak. As we passed by the still closed bathroom door, I noted that the front door wasn’t fully closed. A thin strip of light from the corridor outside seeped into the senator’s apartment.

  A toilet flushing inside the bathroom prompted us to hurry toward the front door and exit the apartment. As we pushed it close behind us, we heard the bathroom door open.

  Running, we took off toward the corner I had been hiding behind earlier and continued away from the senator’s apartment as fast as our legs would carry us. Ian stopped before a door that looked different from all the apartment doors and opened it. It led out to a stairwell. We dashed into the stairwell and down the first set of stairs. Neither of us stopped running until we were all the way down to the bottom floor.

  “Why don’t you leave the building first?” Ian wheezed, supporting himself against his knees while catching his breath. “Wait for me in the deli.”

  “Okay,” I said and pushed the door open. Struggling to breathe normally, I walked quickly past the desk behind which a doorman stood. I made myself smile at the doorman who held one of the glass doors for me so I could exit and hurried outside.

  Five minutes later, I spotted Ian coming into the deli where I was standing by a shelf filled with boxes of cereal, pretending to be looking for one that I wanted to buy.

  He walked up to me and took me in his arms. My heart was still pounding faster than normal so I let him, even snuck my own arms around his back to encourage him to give me more comfort. His warm, muscular body felt good so close to mine.

  “Bloody hell, you make a good burglar,” Ian whispered into my ear.

  “So do you,” I muttered back, once again thinking about how this just couldn’t be the first time Ian had broken into an apartment.

  He let go of me then and looked deeply into my eyes, sending pleasant shivers up my spine. “Let’s get the hell out of here, Bonnie...”

  I smiled up at him. “Good idea, Clyde.”

  Chapter 3

  We soon found a cab that would take us back uptown. I felt sweaty and disgusting as I was leaning against the back of the vinyl seat, my clothes sticking to my body. I couldn’t wait to take a shower at my house. Squeezing my purse in my lap, I was thanking my lucky stars that I’d remembered to pick it up in the midst of all the tumult in the senator’s apartment. If not, I would have been in deep shit.

  Suddenly realizing that something might have fallen out as we’d dashed out, I opened the purse to check. I relaxed when I saw that everything was in there, even my phone, which I discovered was blinking. Someone had either texted or emailed me. I swiped my password pattern and saw that I had a new email from Janine of all people. Clicking it open, I noted that it was sent only a few minutes ago; around the time we left her place.

  “Guess who just emailed me,” I said to Ian.

  He stared at me. “Don’t tell me it’s the senator…”

  “How did you know? That’s exactly who it is.”

  He shrugged. “Just a wild guess. What does she want?”

  I read the brief email in which she wondered if I had time to train her tomorrow so we could go through exercises she could do on her own. I told Ian what it contained.

  “Huh,” he said. “Well, I guess she didn’t notice that someone broke into her place then, or she wouldn’t be thinking about training right now.”

  “You’re probably right about that.”

  I typed back a few time slots I could train her, and she responded almost immediately, having chosen one of them. I put the phone back in my purse and leaned back against the seat, glancing at Ian. “So you’re gonna go to Le Bernardin tomorrow and spy on them then?”

  “Certainly. And you’re going to come with me.”

  I gave him a look like he must be nuts. “What? Are you out of your mind? What am I gonna do there? Besides, Janine would wonder how come I’m having dinner at the same restaurant where she’s meeting up with her colleagues. It’ll seem really weird. She’s not gonna buy it’s just a coincidence.”

  “I disagree she’d think it’d be so strange. Not if you introduce that you’re having dinner at a really fancy restaurant during your session tomorrow before she can say anything about her evening plans. You are going to train her, correct?”

  “Yeah, that’s the plan now.”

  “Then just casually mention that you’ll be having a hot date later that night.”

  I gave him a wry smile. “Uh-huh. And who’s gonna be my hot date? You?”

  He returned my smile. “Yes. And I’ll make it as hot as you want me to when we’re done at Le Bernardin…” His eyes twinkled naughtily, then, “But we won’t be having ‘dinner’”—he made quotation marks with his fingers—“in the dining room but in the lounge area. As mentioned, I know Le Bernardin and the lounge area is great for casual dinners. When you see her in the dining room and go up to say hello, explain that you and your date are in the lounge. She won’t know you’re not actually having a dinner date there.”

  “Okay. But why would I go up and talk to her at all? We’re not that friendly.”

  “Well, in that case you’ll have to turn up your charm buttons during your session tomorrow and become better friends. It’s really crucial that you go up and talk to her and distract the entire table while I take care of the rest.”

  “Take care of the rest?”

  “Yes, while you’re distracting the senator and her colleagues, I’ll be walking by and get the recording device onto their table. This way we’ll be able to hear what they’re saying live, just the way we did with your pal Ron and the perv. I want to hear what they’re discussing. I’m sure you do too.”

  “Only to prove to you that all they’ll be discussing is something related to politics.” After having seen that Janine was meeting up with other politicians, I was now even more convinced that this was what they’d be doing—talk politics.

  He snic
kered. “Hardly. As soon as I’ve gotten the device on the table and we’re out of the dining room, I’ll hand you an earplug so you can listen in on their talks.”

  “Fine by me. But how are you gonna get that thing onto their table without anyone noticing?”

  Ian’s smile grew wider. “As beautiful and gracious as you are, I’m sure you won’t have a problem commanding that entire table’s attention. You’re just going to have to look and be extra smashing tomorrow.”

  I shook my head at him. “You’re giving me too much credit. Why don’t you just bribe the waiter like we did at the Standard?”

  Ian tskd. “Le Bernardin’s a four-star restaurant and the waiters there are a lot more uptight than at the Standard. Trying to bribe them isn’t a good strategy. These guys make some serious tips and value their jobs. Besides, after the nightmare with the first one, I don’t want to go that route anyway. It’s better we do it on our own.”

  “Uh-huh. So you’re telling me you’re just gonna walk up and drop the device on the table then?”

  He shrugged. “Something like that. After I’ve slept on it, I’ll have a more exact plan.”

  I yawned big; it had been a long day and I was tired. I glanced out the cab window to see how far we were from my street. Not much more now, thank God. “You do that.”

  “So you’ll come with me then?”

  I sighed, “Ian, I don’t know. I think I have a late client tomorrow night.” As sleepiness had come over me, I wasn’t so sure I was all that curious to find out what these politicians were discussing after all.

  “Reschedule. I’ll of course reimburse you for any missed wages. And I’ll buy you a fantastic dress and shoes and give you money for a blowout and a mani/pedi.”

  I gave him a surprised look. “You will? Well, I’ll go as long you come with me shopping for the dress and shoes.” I had yet to meet a guy who could handle going shopping with a woman, and I didn’t think Ian would be the first one.

  “Not a problem. I’ll go with you to have your hair and nails done, too.” He threw a glance at his hands. “I could use a trim and a manicure myself.”

  I wanted to slap myself. Of course a metrosexual like Ian would want to come with me. If I hadn’t had sex with the man, I’d start to wonder if he wasn’t in fact gay.

  “Fine,” I said, letting out a defeated breath. “I’ll go with you.”

  The cab made a right and stopped in front of my building. Ian pulled out his wallet to pay for the fare. I remembered then that he had only given the driver one address, not including his own as the second stop. He obviously thought he was coming with me up for another romp in the sack. That was so not going to happen, even though electricity rushed up the insides of my legs and my stomach clenched pleasantly at the very thought of it. If we hooked up every night, he’d definitely think there was more between us than there really was. There would never be more than sex between us. My heart would always be Nick’s and only Nick’s. So I put a hand on his and smiled. “If you want me to look my absolute best tomorrow, I’ll be needing every hour of my beauty sleep.”

  “Are you sure?” He glanced at his wrist watch. “It’s only ten fifteen.”

  “Positive.” I found my wallet and got ready to pay my part of the fare. He made me put the wallet back into my purse.

  “I’ll pay.” He turned his face to the cab driver and told the man he was continuing. Then he returned his attention to me, and for a moment I was sure he was about to give me a passionate kiss he looked at me so intently. But all he did was give me a quick peck on the cheek.

  “See you tomorrow then, Gabi. Sweet dreams.”

  I left the cab and watched it drive off. Turning toward my building, I knew the first thing I’d do when I got inside my place was take an ice-cold shower to kill the immense desire Ian had ignited inside me. I needed for this thing between us to grow smaller, not bigger. One day it’d be gone completely. I’d make it go away, if I had to.

  ***

  “I love your nails,” I said to Janine during our session the following day. As per Ian’s recommendation, I definitely needed to become friendlier with the senator for it not to appear overly weird when I “bumped” into her at Le Bernardin tonight. Unfortunately, the senator wasn’t in a very good mood, so doing small talk was no easy task. Still, I kept trying. “That color is so pretty.”

  “Thanks,” Janine said curtly and looked around. “Can we work on my arms now? They’re so flabby.”

  “Sure, let’s do some triceps extensions over there,” I said and pointed to a cable crossover station where other people worked out. We walked over there and I set the weight stack to 25 pounds.

  The senator grabbed the v-shaped metal handle and started pressing it downward. Before she was halfway down, she let go of it, glaring at me.

  “I told you I don’t want big, bulky muscles,” she snapped. “That’s much too heavy.”

  It took all I had not to snap back that she wouldn’t get big muscles using that amount of weight. Instead, I just apologized and lowered the weight stack to 15.

  The senator grabbed the handle and pressed it downward again. To my relief, she muttered “much better” and almost smiled.

  I waited until we got to the leg press—which I made sure to set at a low weight—before I made another attempt to bring us closer together.

  “How old are you children?” I asked. Clients almost always loved to talk about their children, I’d come to learn while working as a trainer, and the senator had briefly mentioned she had two children during our first session together.

  The senator seemed to be no different because she instantly lit up, smiling. “Richard is twenty and James is eighteen.”

  “Ah, two boys. They must be handsome having such a beautiful mother.” Flattery usually worked, which proved true in this case as well because Janine’s smile grew wider, displaying practically every tooth in her mouth.

  “Yes, they are both very handsome young men.” She placed a hand on her chest in that gesture I’d come to identify with her and let out a breath. “Girls go gaga over those two boys!”

  “I’ll bet,” I replied, smiling wide, pleased that I’d managed to connect with her at last. “What are they studying? They’re in college, right?”

  “Richard studies economy and history and James is in film school at NYU. He’s the artist in the family. He’s so talented. One day he’ll become a great director. He’s already done two well received short films.”

  “Wow, that’s great. I can’t wait to see his movies.”

  “Not me either. The world needs more great movies. Are you a movie buff?”

  “Yes, I love movies. How about you?”

  “Yes, of course. I attend all the film festivals.” She did another set of 25 leg presses. As she was in the middle of them, I thought about how to move the conversation onto my imaginary date tonight without breaking the delicate moment between us. Was it even necessary? I decided that it wasn’t; I would just let her lead the conversation.

  “My youngest is talented, but he’s also quite a handful,” she continued after she finished the last leg press. “He’s staying at my place right now and driving me bananas. Never locks the door.” She sighed and rolled her eyes, but you could tell she wasn’t really miffed with the boy.

  Ah, that explains the open door, I thought. She really didn’t strike me as someone who would ever forget to lock a door, no matter how rushed she was. It must have been the son that came home last night then, not the senator herself.

  “How long have you been a trainer here at the club?” she asked.

  I screwed up my mouth and pretended to think. “A little over three months.”

  “Oh, that’s not long. Where did you work before that?”

  “At Crunch Fitness in West Hollywood.” No sooner had the words left my mouth until I realized my faux pas. Well, it’s no big deal, I thought. Janine didn’t know I was supposed to be from New Mexico, not California.

  “Oh, I kn
ow that gym,” she said. “It’s great. People in California are so much nicer than people back east, don’t you think?”

  “Yes, definitely.” I needed to switch the conversation over to something else. Now was the perfect time to tell her about my date, so I did.

  “Really?” Janine gave me that wide, toothy smile again. “Someone special?”

  I shrugged and lowered my gaze demurely. “We’ll see.”

  “So it’s a first date then?”

  “Yes.”

  “How did you meet him? Or is it a blind date?”

  “Yes, it’s a blind date. My friend set me up with him.”

  “Well, let’s hope it goes well. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.”

  “Thanks,” I said, thinking how amazingly quickly the senator had gone from grumpy to pleasant. I was about to tell her that she should do another set of leg presses when my eyes suddenly caught Emma. The pregnant girl was walking in our direction. The way the leg press was positioned on the floor blocked the senator from Emma’s view.

  I tried to look away so I could pretend not to have seen Emma. That day in the restroom in which Emma had dashed into one of the stalls was still fresh in my mind. While I was dying to figure out what kind of a person hid behind the senator’s polished exterior, I thought it wiser to keep Emma and Janine apart for now.

  But it was too late because Emma was waving at me now and smiling as she approached.

  “Hi, Jamie, how’s it going?” she said as she was right in front of me.

  “Hi, Emma,” I replied, doing my best not to look like I was in as chatty a mood as Emma seemed to be.

  “Are you done soon?” Emma asked and then her eyes fell on the senator, who was staring coolly at the chunky girl.

  Like that first time, Emma went pale and the smile on her face disappeared in an instant. “Sorry, I… I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  Before either I or the senator could say anything Emma was on her way again.

  “Are you two good friends?” Janine asked, a peculiar expression on her face.