Caged 2 (Caged Series)

by Destiny Hawkins

“Cameron!” I yelled. I followed him down the hall and to our bedroom where he took the suitcase and dumped the clothes back on the bed. “Cameron, we can’t do this right now, I have to go.” I didn’t know what this new feeling was. I was mad because he just dumped all my clothes out that I had just neatly folded, but also sad because he was so upset.

  “You’re not leaving Rose!” Cameron turned around and I could swear that the brown on his face was turning red.

  “I have to go! This is my job, you knew that I would have to leave every now and then!”

  “Every- every now and then!? You leave almost every damn day!” He was so close to my face I could feel his breath on my forehead, and I couldn’t help but start to feel defensive. It wasn’t a good feeling to have towards someone that I loved.

  I clenched my teeth and took a deep breath, then I made my way around him and began stuffing my clothes back into my small suitcase. Cameron turned around and snatched my suitcase again, then sent it flying across the room. It crashed against the wall with a thud and hit the ground. That only made me angrier, but I was doing my best to control myself.

  I was about to just go and grab the suitcase when Cameron grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. The tears in his eyes would have calmed me down if he wasn’t clutching my wrist so tightly.

  “Cameron, you need to let me go,” I said as calmly as I could.

  Cameron shook his head, “No, no, you’re not going anywhere. You’re not going to put yourself in danger, and I’m not about to be sitting around here waiting on that phone call telling me that you’re dead.” His grip got tighter.

  I tried to yank myself out of his strong hand, but Cameron was much stronger than he used to be. My heart rate picked up and I started breathing heavily. It’s been a long time since I felt like this, and he was the last person that I ever wanted to lash out on. “Please…let me go,” I asked. I looked up at him and noticed that his face was becoming blurry, so I looked away again. “Now.”

  “Tell me that you’ll stay and I will,” Cameron panted. I wondered if he was thinking the same thing that I was thinking. That this could end very badly.

  I looked up at him again, but this time it wasn’t Cameron who I was looking at. It was Arnold-

  “I said let go!” I used my other hand to grab him by the throat, then I moved one leg behind his and pushed at his throat as hard as I could. Cameron crashed against the dresser behind him and shattered the mirror that was connected to it. When I realized what I had just done, I stared at him in shock.

  Cameron looked as shocked as I was. He brought his arm up to look at his bloody elbow, then back at me with wide eyes. Never in a million years did he ever think that I would try to hurt him.

  “I’m sorry…” Was all Cameron could get out.

  I frowned, feeling like I was the one who was supposed to apologize, but he was the one who started it. I clenched my teeth and went to grab my suitcase, then I hurriedly stuffed my clothes inside.

  “Rose, baby,” when he touched my shoulder I shook him off and turned around to leave. Cameron followed behind me and grabbed my shoulder again before I opened the door, but this time I didn’t push him away. “Please, I know I can’t get you to stay. I see that now, but please, be safe.”

  I looked back at him over my shoulder and bit my bottom lip. I was afraid that I would bite it too hard and break the skin, so I just took a deep breath.

  “I will.” I said as I opened the door and walked through. I heard him say he loved me before the door closed shut, and I wished that I would have said it back, but I couldn’t. Why couldn’t I say it back?

  ***

  Abigale and Miss Shy were both waiting for me at the station. They both knew what had happened by the look on my face and didn’t bother asking any questions. Abigale was as much as my friend as she was to Cameron, and time and again he would vent to her about me and my job. I told her not to tell me any of the things that he’s told her so that I wouldn’t be left feeling worse, but sometimes I wondered what was being said.

  I sat my suitcase down on my desk and stared down at my wrist for a moment. By now it was purple and on its way to turning black. I couldn’t believe I had done that to him, but he had forced my hand. It was dangerous for anyone to put me in a position where I felt that I was in danger, because if I got too excited I might retaliate, and that always ended with someone being badly injured.

  Miss Shy came behind me and rubbed my back. I guess she could see that there were tears coming along and as usual, she was trying to comfort me.

  “Is that his blood on your shoulder?” She asked softly.

  I nodded, “Don’t worry, he’s okay.”

  Miss Shy sighed and rubbed her fingers over my bruised wrist. “I’ll go talk to him later,” her voice was soft, but I could tell that she was angry. Someone had left a bruise on one of her kids, and she wouldn’t let a day go by without confronting him.

  Abigale looked up at me from her desk and I could tell that she was worried, but I didn’t know if it was for me, or that I may have killed Cameron.

  “He’s okay Abigale,” I reassured.

  “Alright!” Agent Luis yelled as he walked into the station and stood next to my desk. “You ready to go?”

  I raised an eyebrow when I looked at him and asked, “What about Abigale?”

  “Oh,” Abigale sat up, “I’m not going on the same flight. I’ll see you out there though.”

  “Is that safe?” I asked Agent Luis.

  “Yeah, that’s why we’re doing it. Abigale will be with a different group, getting information from the other side.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “I’ll tell you more about it when we get there, now let’s go before we miss our flight,” Agent Luis ordered. I frowned in his direction as he walked away. I was going to have to get used to someone actually bossing me around.

  Miss Shy and Abigale followed me out to the grey Honda Accord that was parked out front and waited for me to get into the passenger seat.

  “Remember what I taught you about control Rose. You’re going to really need it where you’re going,” Miss Shy said.

  I nodded, “I will.”

  “I’ll see you out there girl,” Abigale and I fist bumped.

  “We kind of have to get going now,” Agent Luis said.

  “Alright, see you guys,” Miss Shy looked like a mother sending her child off to college.

  “Bye…” I said before Agent Luis rolled my tinted window up and pulled off.

  It was going to take me a while to get used to him. Only a few days ago he had told me about the operation, and since then he had been telling me the plan, but most of it was going to go off of how I went about things, so there wasn’t much he could tell me. He mostly just gave me the backgrounds of the people I would be meeting and getting close to. The first person being Andrew Patkins. A king pin working under Bellerose who distributes all types of drugs-

  “Why is there blood on your shoulder?” Agent Luis asked.

  Great. My mind was going right back to Cameron and how I had slammed him into a mirror. I didn’t know how to answer, and I really didn’t want to, so I just shrugged.

  “Well, whatever Lieutenant Shy taught you about control, you’re going to really need it. I checked out your record from back when you were released from Kiboski, all the way through high school, and I saw that you had a way of reacting off of impulse. You’ll have to contr-“

  “I’m not in high school anymore, and they wouldn’t have let me on the force if I was anything like I was before,” I snapped, “so back off. I’m having a bad day.”

  Agent Luis smirked and nodded his head, “Understood.”

  I had fallen asleep halfway through the drive to the airport, and then I jolted awake when we arrived. When I looked down at my phone it was vibrating on my lap.

  “This is the fourth time that guy has called,” Agent Luis said. “You may want to just answer before we get on the plane, because when we
do you can’t take that back out. I have a new phone for you to use.” He pulled out a black flip phone and tossed it on my lap before getting out of the car.

  I picked up my vibrating phone and answered it. “Hello?”

  “Rose?” Cameron said softly.

  “Yeah?” The pain in my chest came back.

  “I’m so sorry about what happened. Is your wrist okay? Did I hurt you?”

  I looked down at my bruised wrist. It actually hurt like hell, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. “No, it’s okay. I’m fine. About to get on the flight to New York now,” I said.

  “Ok, well, I’m glad you’re okay. Remember what I said though. Be safe out there…”

  “I will be,” I said, relieved that he sounded okay.

  “Good. Well I love you,” He said.

  “I…I love you too. I have to go,” I said before pressing the end button on the phone. I got out of the car to grab my suitcase from Agent Luis.

  “Make sure you keep that phone away. Only use the phone I gave you from now on,” Agent Luis said. He gave a slight smile, and I’m just guessing it was because I looked a little upset. I was feeling a lot of mixed emotions at the moment.

  I was leaving Cameron…and going back to Lorena.

  Chapter 9

  The flight was short on account that we were just flying next door to New York City. I had only been here once before in the winter when I was just a kid, and I wouldn’t say that it was a fun filled visit. Instead, I had to fight outside in only a pair of shorts and a sports bra, and focus on not losing a fight. Now I’m here to face everything I had escaped from years ago, and I had to go on acting as if none of it fazed me.

  I stayed quiet and did everything Agent Luis said, which consisted of me just being quiet and following him. When we got outside the airport we hopped into a taxi and headed for the safe house.

  I was surprised at how everything looked about the same as the last time I was here. There were huge buildings at every turn, people everywhere, and cars jamming up traffic. I actually smiled at how lively the city was, and took note to come back here for a real visit instead of business.

  “Have you ever been here?” Agent Luis asked.

  When I turned to him, he had on the same smirk as earlier. It was weird for me on account that when I first met him he was all business, but now he seems relaxed and laid back like a normal person. Not like an FBI Agent looking for some big shot that came from France and brought his illegal business with him. Every now and then I could see the seriousness in his face and hear it in his tone, but since we left the station he’s been nothing but cool.

  “I’ve been here before,” I said as turned to look back out the window. “Just not during the summer.”

  “Really? I’ve never been here during the winter. Is it really cold?”

  My mind went back to slamming the little girl in the snow, “…Very.”

  I could feel Agent Luis staring at me, but I didn’t care. He knew my background and what I’ve been through, so I was betting that he just felt bad for a moment.

  We drove through the nice parts of the city until it turned into the bad parts of the city. The buildings now looked old, with trash in every direction around them. There were groups of men standing around the liquor stores, or in the front of their apartment buildings. I sighed and turned to Agent Luis, who wouldn’t blend in at all. I might have had a chance of blending with my sand colored skin, but he was just pale, and from what I was seeing, the majority of the men around here were black.

  “I hope you plan on staying indoors the whole time we’re here,” I said.

  Agent Luis gave a full smile, but didn’t say anything. I just shook my head and looked back out the window.

  The car finally came to a stop in front of an old brick building. There were only a few men standing outside on the steps with their pants below their asses and wearing long white T-shirts. They all looked like they dealt drugs to me.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” I said, turning to Agent Luis. “No fucking way this is it.”

  “It is,” He laughed as he handed money over to the taxi driver.

  I had never been in such a bad area before. At least I never had to sleep in one. Since I lived with my parents I had only lived in the suburbs, so the fact that I had to live around here was kind of scary.

  Agent Luis got out of the car and grabbed both of our suitcases. I stepped out and waited for the taxi driver to pull off so that Agent Luis could toss me the keys.

  When I turned around I saw that the five men outside were just staring at us. It’s not like we looked like we were from a nice area. We actually dressed pretty regular. Me in my sweats and a tight black T-shirt, and Agent Luis in his white T with light blue jeans and white Nike shoes. Still, they looked at us as if there was something to steal, or at least that’s how they looked to me.

  Agent Luis started walking. “Come on, don’t be scared,” he teased.

  It wasn’t that I was afraid. I just didn’t want to go. There were plenty of times that I had to go into areas like this, but that was with my gun and badge. Right now, all I had was a stupid Taser.

  “You have the keys Rose,” Agent Luis said, looking back with a smile on his face. It was starting to creep me out.

  I sighed and started walking behind him, but then he moved out of the way so that I could go up the stairs and unlock the door.

  “Hey baby,” One of the men said, looking down at me.

  I didn’t respond and just continued walking. When I got up the stairs, he tried again.

  “Damn bitch, you can’t hear?”

  Agent Luis stood right behind me as if he was protecting me and said, “Keep calm.”

  “I’m not mad,” I said with a shaky voice as I unlocked the door. “I’m just not used to being called out of my name.” I opened up the door and headed into the apartment, then I waited for Agent Luis to walk passed me so that he could show me to our apartment... The Safe house.

  We walked up the first set of steps and into a long trash filled hallway with a flickering light.

  “If hot shot doesn’t kill us, the rats will,” I said as we continued down the hall.

  We finally stopped at the last door and agent Luis nodded for me to open it up, so I slipped the key in and turned the doorknob full of anticipation.

  What I saw when I opened the door actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I expected the inside to look like the outside, but no.

  In front of us was an empty living room with hard brown carpeting, a small kitchen to my right, a hallway that led to a bathroom, and one bedroom to my left. When I walked in further I saw a sleeping bag in the middle of the floor with a small TV next to it.

  “Who was sleeping here?” I asked looking back.

  Agent Luis set the suitcases down, and then he walked into the kitchen for a cup of water. “I was here before I came out there to get you. I had to set up before we got started,” he said before he took a sip of his water. He watched me for a moment, then he set it on the counter and walked into the living room.

  “So, I have the bedroom?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” Agent Luis answered. He went through his suitcase and pulled out a laptop.

  “What about Abigale?”

  “She’ll be with another agent. You’ll see her around, but you can’t act like you know her. As a matter of fact, she’s supposed to be your enemy.”

  I sighed, “Yeah. What about that? I’d like to know more about what I’m going to be doing. You said that you would tell me once we got here.”

  Agent Luis closed his laptop and looked up at me, then laid down on the sleeping bag. “I did, didn’t I?” he asked.

  “Agent Luis-“

  “Call me Bobby,” He sighed, “and get some rest. I’ll explain everything to you in the morning.

  “But-“

  “Rest,” Agent Luis, or Bobby, gave me a serious look that reminded me so much of Arnold it actually scared me.

&
nbsp; I clenched my teeth and did as I was told. I felt as if I was a child for a moment, but then blew it off because I was actually tired. I figured tomorrow was going to be a long day, so I did as I was told and went back to the bedroom.

  I was happy to find a mattress with clean sheets and a comforter on the floor. For some reason I was expecting a small twin bed with piss stains, but instead it was one queen sized mattress all for me. Now all I have to do is avoid roaches crawling into my ears.

  I took my shirt off and got onto the mattress, then I laid back and stared up at the ceiling. The last time I slept in New York it was in a big hotel with a pool, a recreational room, and a lot of rich people. I had to stay in the hotel room the entire time until Arnold said it was okay for me to go out to the pool. I thought he was going to let me swim around and play, but instead he made me swim laps for two hours and called it a light workout…

  ***

  I swam through the water slowly. Every now and then Arnold would tell me to pick up the pace, but for the most part he let me swim at my own pace. By now my lungs felt as if they were going to collapse and my shoulders were killing me.

  Swimming wasn’t for me. I was made into a fighter and was being forced to do a very long swim workout with very few breaks. The only reason I didn’t stop was because he threatened to put me back in the cage when we got back home, and that was the very last place I ever wanted to be.

  “Keep swimming Rose,” I could hear Arnold say. He had taught me how to swim properly so that I wouldn’t hurt myself from the workout, and I was doing my best to do it the way that he showed me, but even that took time to develop into perfection. Not two hours.

  I could see his feet walking along with me as I swam down to the end of the pool. He had been doing this the entire time that I’ve been swimming laps.

  “Don’t stop, just turn around and keep moving,” Arnold said calmly.

  I did as I was told once I reached the wall. I was on the deep end and wanted to get back to the shallow end, because I didn’t like deep water...

  A sudden pain lit up in my right leg. It hurt so badly that I stopped swimming and tried to grab it. This was a cramp, something I was used to, but only on solid ground.