by KD Jones
“Also, they would probably have very little contact with one another so that the authority wouldn’t suspect anything,” Blade added.
“So what would happen, if the supposedly dead wife were to suddenly be spotted in public?” Elsa asked.
Kalen looked at her with a gleam in his eyes. “The partner in crime would freak the hell out. But it’s tricky. He could just call her to verify where she was.”
Elsa looked over at Isaac. “Well?”
“If he is brought into the authority for questioning, I could block any of his transmissions going out of the building.”
“I’m not sure I understand what the plan is,” Felix said.
She turned to face him. “I’m going to pose as Bridgette.”
“If you do, you could be caught by the authority and the cover would be blown,” he commented.
He was so smart. “That’s true. Anyone have any ideas on how to prevent that?”
“We could record you out and about, send it to a news crew,” Isaac suggested.
“Where would be the best place for her to be seen? The park?” Jade asked.
Felix shook his head. “She wouldn't risk exposure just to go to a park, but she would to go shopping.”
Elsa smiled. “Then I’ll go shopping.”
*****
Felix watched as Elsa put on his wife’s clothes. Slowly, she transformed before his eyes, and with the coat and the glasses, no one would know it wasn’t Bridgette, especially Roger. He couldn’t believe his own cousin and wife had tried to set him up like this. What had he done to them to make them hate him so much?
“What’s wrong?” Elsa asked, taking the glasses off and coming over to sit in front of him.
“I was just wondering, why me? What did I do to deserve this?”
She reached for his hand and squeezed it comfortingly. “You didn’t do anything and you most definitely don’t deserve this. Greed can make people do crazy things.”
He looked down at his feet feeling exposed and vulnerable. “Why would she hate me so much that she would ruin my life like this?”
“You were divorcing her. They had to do something drastic and quick.”
Felix felt her fingertips under his chin, lifting his head up. She was so beautiful, it took his breath away.
“Felix, you are an amazing person. Your cousin and Bridgette are the assholes. They lied to you, used you, and betrayed you. They will pay for that.”
“Elsa, about us…”
She placed a finger over his lips to stop him from saying more. “We’ll discuss us once we catch these guys and clear your name.”
“I don’t want to lose you.”
She leaned forward and kissed him. All thoughts fled his mind at the feel of her lips. He liked to think he was an intelligent person, but when she touched him and kissed him, all he could think about was her.
A knock on the door had them pulling away. Isaac stood at the entrance. “We’re ready to start recording.”
“I’m coming.” Elsa gave Felix a stern look. “Blade and Jade are staying here with you. I’ll be back soon. We’ll make the recording, place Isaac’s transmitter in the authority building, and then come back here to prepare for your cousin.”
“Do you really think he would be stupid enough to come here while there’s an investigation going on?”
“Do you think anyone would believe that Bridgette would be stupid enough to expose herself to go shopping?”
Felix laughed and some of his tension released. “Yes, anyone who knows Bridgette knows that she lives to shop.”
Elsa stood up and headed for the door. He wanted to tell her that he was falling in love with her, but he hesitated. Was it too soon to confess his feelings? “Elsa…”
She stopped and looked back. “Tell me when this is all over.” Then she left.
Chapter 20
“Did you tell Felix that Ben and his team were watching the house?” Kalen asked.
“I will when we get back. He doesn’t like Ben.”
Isaac snorted but didn’t say anything. She ignored him and stared out the window. She was second guessing the plan.
“What if Bridgette and Roger have been in contact recently?”
“I don’t think they have been. It’s too risky and with the body still missing, Roger won’t want to take the chance of exposing himself. This will work,” Kalen reassured her.
Looking out the window, she wondered what would happen. Even if the plan worked and they caught Roger and Bridgette, would Felix still want to pursue things with her? She wished she had told Felix how she felt. It was sudden and a surprise, but longer she spent with him, the more in love she fell. She had been waiting her whole life for this feeling and she didn’t want to lose it. She didn’t want to lose him.
She frowned. “Why are we going to the authority first?”
“Detective Ryan reported to Vic that Roger would be arriving earlier than we thought to the authority. We need to get the transmitter to Ryan so he can plant it for us. Then we’ll do the video feed.”
It took about ten minutes to meet up with Detective Ryan. He had his arm in a cast and walked with a limp.
“Should you be moving around?” she asked him.
“Thanks to your doctor friend, I’m alive. I want to find the moles in the authority. They put people at risk and betrayed the oath they swore to serve.”
Isaac handed him the transmitter and told him where to place it. They waited just long enough for the transmitter to be planted and activated. “We’re good,” Isaac told them.
Kalen drove off. A few minutes later, he pulled into a parking spot near a high-end shopping area. “Felix said that this was Bridgett’s favorite strip of stores to shop in. Isaac is going to follow you and take pictures. Go into a few of the shops, buy something with cash, then come back. The cashiers may recognize you as Bridgette, but as long as you don’t have to talk, you should be good.”
“Got it.” She got out of the van and walked down the sidewalk. She adjusted her sunglasses. Pausing to look into a storefront window, she ignored Isaac snapping photos behind her. She tried to tilt her face at the right angle to obscure most of her facial features.
She moved on, then entered one of the shops. Bridgette fingered severa items on a shelf before picking up something small that would believably allow her to pay cash. The cashier did a double take.
“Bridgette? I mean, Mrs. Roberts?”
Bridgette shook her head and tried to disguise her voice, hoping it would come off as sick instead of fake. “Sorry.” She paid as quickly as possible, then left the store. She could hear the cashier call to someone else in the store. More than likely they were watching her through the window. Isaac was already in the vehicle so she hopped into the passenger side.
“Go.”
“Isaac…” Kalen glanced back at the other man.
“I’m already on it. Sending the edited version of the pictures and video feed to a local news crew. It will probably be on the air before we get back to the mansion.”
By the time they entered through the secure gate and parked the van in the six-car garage, the news was reporting that the once thought dead wife of billionaire doctor Felix Roberts had been spotted alive and well.
They walked into the main living room and found Felix, Blade, and Jade watching the report. When Felix spotted her, he stood up and walked over to her. He didn’t hesitate, just took her in his arms and kissed her. She kissed him back with equal fervor. It was too late to turn back now.
“I’m so glad you’re safe,” he whispered in her ear.
“I told you I would be fine.” She pulled back and looked up into his handsome face. “What do you think? Will it fool your cousin?”
“Probably. When I saw the first image come on the TV, I thought it was her. You had her walk down and flipped your hair over the shoulder just like she did.”
“I watched some of the video from your engagement party. Isaac downloaded it for me.”
>
“How long do you think we’ll have to wait before we know if it worked?” Felix asked as he held her hand and walked to the couch to sit.
“Roger should be at the authority right now. Detective Ryan, who wanted us to thank you for saving his life, is going to make sure that the news report is playing on the TV in the station. It’s going to cause chaos in the department. Once your cousin sees the images, he’ll have to call Bridgette.”
“She’ll tell him it isn’t her, though,” Felix said, frowning.
“It won’t matter. He’ll call her, and once we confirm her voice, Isaac will cut the call and trace her location.”
Felix looked at him in surprise. “You can do that?”
“Yes. Detective Ryan will make sure he remains in the authority station long enough for that to happen. I have a tracing program ready to go once he makes the call. Roger will be frustrated when the call is disconnected and come here to confront Bridgette.”
“You think he’ll come here?”
“Yes. Since she was spotted in this area, he’ll assume she couldn’t stay away from the mansion. He’ll come here furious and we’ll catch him.”
“But...aren’t you forgetting that he has mercenaries for hire?”
“We have backup,” Kalen told him.
Felix gave her a look. She nodded at the unspoken question. Yes, Ben had come back to help. Felix let go of her hand. Sudden tension filled the room and she didn’t understand why.
She stood up. “I need to get out of these clothes.” She started up the stairs at a jog, but then stopped to take the heels off.
*****
Felix watched her go. Why hadn’t she told him her ex was back?
“You’re an idiot,” Isaac told him.
He hadn’t realized the others had left the room. The only one left was Isaac.
“What?”
“You keep getting jealous over Ben. They haven’t been together in years. She never looked at him the way she looks at you.”
“What do you mean, the way she looks at me?”
“Like the sun rises and sets around you. I’ve never seen her act like this about anyone before. Elsa is totally in love with you.”
He thrilled to hear that, and then immediately felt guilty for acting so jealous. He needed to apologize and get them back on track because there was no way he would lose her now to his own stupid behavior.
Felix stood up and started to jog up the stairs. He took them two at a time, glad that he had kept himself in shape over the years. Her bedroom door was closed so he knocked.
Elsa jerked open the door wearing only her bra and underwear. His cock was on instant alert.
“What do you want?”
“Is that how you normally answer doors? I could be anyone.”
She pointed to the monitor on the dresser. It showed him standing at the door. “I saw it was you.”
“May I come in?”
“It’s your mansion.” She turned her back on him and walked towards the bathroom.
He was frozen as he watched the sway of her firm ass in those g-string panties. His lips suddenly felt dry and he licked them as he finally closed the door behind him.
“I wanted to apologize.”
“What for?” She stood in front of the bathroom mirror.
“For being an ass.”
“Which time? You’ve been an ass quite a few times since I’ve known you.”
“Well, I’m sorry for all the times. But look, I’m going to upfront, I care about you. These feelings are new and I may not be handling the situation the best.”
She turned around and leaned back against the sink. “You’re forgiven, but you need to keep the jealousy in check. I thought we’d dealt with the Ben situation already, but here you are overreacting again. Believe me, when I am with someone, I am totally committed to that one person. I don’t stray, and I don’t share.”
He nodded, then smiled like a cat with cream. Stepping closer to her, he caged her lightly against the counter. “I am the same way. I am very loyal when I am with someone and I don’t like playing games. So...are we together?”
“I know it’s complicated and your name still has to be cleared, but...yes, we’re together.”
Felix cupped her cheeks with his large, gentle hands and leaned in to kiss her. “Good, because I wasn’t going to walk away without fighting for you.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and he put his all into the kiss, coaxing her to move against him. He wanted her again and she was practically naked. One of his hands cupped her exposed butt cheek while his other hand reached up to undo her bra.
“You guys need to get down to the second floor, we’ve got movement!” Isaac called from the doorway of the bedroom.
They pulled apart. Felix walked out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind him to shield Elsa’s near nudity. “Don’t you know how to knock?”
Isaac shrugged. “No time. We’ve got movement.” He left.
Elsa came out of the bathroom a few minutes later with her clothes and shoes on. She walked over to the dresser and pulled out two guns, tucking them in her leg holsters. “Felix, you should stay here.”
“No way, I want to know what’s happening.”
Elsa glared at him but caved. “Fine, but you do what I say, when I say.”
He nodded and followed her downstairs to the second level. His heart was beating so fast and the knowledge it could just be a matter of minutes or a matter of hours until this whole thing was be over.
Chapter 21
Elsa walked into Isaac’s bedroom. It was now lined with monitors, and his drones were laid out on his bed. Did he actually sleep with those things?
“What’s going on?”
“Roger made the call from the authority station about thirty minutes ago. I traced the call to a communal satellite in the East sector.”
“Is it Bridgette?” Felix asked.
Kalen nodded. “We believe so. I called Victor, who going there with Jagger to find Bridgette and bring her in.”
“Isaac said there was movement,” Esla prompted.
“Yes, Detective Ryan called to say Roger had left the station.”
“How long ago?” Elsa asked.
“He wasn’t sure. There was chaos when the news report came out. In the middle of the confusion, Roger slipped out,” Kalen answered.
“Is the area secure?”
“Ben’s team has the mansion surrounded under the cover of the trees. We thought we would allow him to come to the door, then take him into custody. Once Vic has Bridgette, it will be all over.”
Elsa looked at Felix. “Looks like everything is covered. Why don’t you go back up to the third level.”
“No, I want to be here when Roger shows up. I have a few things I’d like to say to him.”
“Felix…”
“Roger slept with my wife, set me up for murder and ruined my life. I will not be shut out of this.”
He had a point. It was his life that had been ruined. A part of her wished he had used different wording. Surely now that Felix had her in his life, it wasn’t completely ruined. This wasn’t the time to point that out.
“Felix, could you help Isaac set up the cameras so that we can interrogate Roger when he gets here?”
“Yes.” He looked at Isaac. “Where do you want it set up?”
“Probably the second living room, the smaller one.”
He gave Elsa a look before following Isaac to the elevator with more camera equipment.
Elsa paced the room. “I want every corner of this place monitored.”
“Easy, Elsa, we’ll get this guy.”
“I hate that Felix is here. He’s had too many attempts on his life. He was almost killed at the safe house. The moles with the authority have to be neutralized.”
“Agreed. Do you have your head on straight?”
She glared at Kalen’s question. “Of course I do.”
“I’m just asking. You’ve developed feeling
s, and it’s dangerous to let your thinking get clouded.”
“Actually, having feelings for Felix has helped me focus my efforts to the best way to protect him.”
“Glad to hear it. You’ve never been in love. Frankly, neither have I. I don’t envy you, but you will be no help to Felix if you let your emotions get out of control.”
“I know that. Where are Jade and Blade?”
“They’re covering the side entrance and the kitchen entrance.”
“My instinct is to go downstairs with Felix, but you’re right, I need to push my feelings aside and think rationally. I’ll take the roof.”
“I could do that,” Kalen offered.
“I’m a better shot than you, especially from a distance.”
“I’ll be downstairs by the front entrance. Here’s the long-distance rifle.” He tossed the weapon her way and she caught it easily.
Elsa took the stairs at the end of the hallway that led up to the roof. Her thoughts kept running over what needed to be done. Take Roger alive, make him confess, hold him until Bridgette was brought in. Felix would then have his name cleared and they could decide how they want to proceed with this relationship. Her priority, though, was to keep Felix safe no matter what.
*****
Felix looked out the window but couldn’t see anyone. “I don’t see the military team out there.”
“If you did, they wouldn’t be any good at their jobs.”
The lights flickered. “What was that?”
“Damn it! I have heavy electronic equipment overloading the circuits of your power grid. The breaker needs to be reset.”
“I can do it, I know where it is in the basement,” Felix offered.
“I’ll call Jade or Blade…”
“Let me help, I know what I’m doing. It’s a simple reset, and then I’ll be right back.”
“Okay, fine. Just do it quickly.”
Felix got up and jogged down the hallway toward the kitchen. Right before he got to the kitchen, he turned right and opened the door to the basement. As soon as he stepped onto the top step, the automatic lights came on, but they flickered. He moved down the steps and walked over to the control panel. He shut it down, waited a few seconds, then turned it back on. The lights went out briefly, but then came back on with full power. He was closing the cabinet door when something caught his attention.
