by Jani Kay
Instinctively, I fold my arms around me, a chill settling on the bare skin of my arms as a draft flows through my clothing. I’m still dressed in only a thin cotton nightgown with no shoes to protect my feet. I’m not sure what my plan is, but I’m not one to sit idly in a room without being given any answers.
When I get to the end of the hall, there’s a small alcove where the hall curves and leads to another door, which is once again open. When I push through, I find myself in a large, aluminium warehouse, with massive roller doors and vehicles parked in rows that cover one half of it. In the other half, are a few areas that have been sectioned off for various purposes–one is filled with desks and computers. Another seems to be some sort of viewing or planning area, and there are also other rooms with windows that appear to be an industrial kitchen and a dining room. I turn on the spot, taking in the enormousness of the building, seeing more doors, more rooms–some with security locks and some that appear to be freely opened, and I feel as though I’ve been brought to a covert operations base, not unlike Site Seventeen but far larger in scale.
"Hey," a male voice says suddenly. "Are you ok?" Turning toward the direction of the voice, I find myself almost bursting into tears as I come face to face with the man I thought I had something with. The man I thought was with me because he cared about me. But now, I find out that for three years, I never even knew his name.
"Of course I’m lost. I don’t even know where I am," I respond, the cool of the warehouse causing me to shiver uncontrollably. "I don’t even know who you are."
Closing his eyes, as if in pain, he nods. "I’m sorry," he whispers.
"Was any of it real?" I ask, as a tear sneaks out of my eye and makes it way down my cheek. I swipe at it, angrily as I glare up at him.
He frowns. "You’re cold," he states, reaching over his head in that way guys do, and pulling off his sweater for me to wear.
"I’m fine," I insist stubbornly while I continue to shake with my arms folded around me for warmth.
"Don’t be like that. Put it on." He reaches out and places it over my head anyway, and immediately, I’m flooded by the warmth of his body. I’m dwarfed by its size, as it almost hits me at my knees, the sleeves hanging well past my hands. "Here," he whispers, reaching down to roll up the sleeves, and when he’s done, he meets my eyes. "For what it’s worth, it was real for me. It started out as a job, but it became something more."
"Just leave me alone. Please," I whisper, feeling hurt as I close my eyes and he reaches out, pressing a kiss to my forehead before striding away from me. He covers the distance between me and the hallway I just came from, and in a few steps disappears through the door. As it clunks shut, the sound echoes through the large space, leaving me feeling incredibly tiny as I wonder if this is perhaps an old aircraft hangar.
Glancing over at the kitchen, I decide to head over there in search of the woman who was with me when I woke up, and as soon as I open the door she looks up from where she’s placing a sandwich on a plate and smiles at me as if we’re friends.
"I would have brought it to you," she states as she slides the plate toward me, along with a bottle of water.
At first, I don’t want to touch the food, even though my stomach has started to growl at the sight of it. I have a slight fear that it may be laced with something to keep me compliant, and sensing my trepidation, she picks up a half and takes a bite.
"It’s perfectly safe." She chews and then opens her mouth when she’s swallowed to prove she ate it.
Then slowly, I move forward and pick up a half of the ham and salad sandwich she’s made for me and bite into it hungrily.
"See? I knew you’d be hungry." She turns around and sets about putting things away as I eat and drink, then she turns to me with a smile. "Better?" she asks when I’m finished.
I nod. "Yes. Thank you."
"I saw you talking to Jared," she notes. "It was him you know. He’s the one who opened that file for you. He’s like this, uber hacker, he can do anything with a computer. He opened that file, hoping it would help you get your job back. But it only made things worse. Now he’s in even more shit with Drake and Aiden than he was before."
"Before?"
"Yes. He was supposed to watch you, not date you."
I drop my eyes. "I see."
"Well, I’m sure it will work itself out. People tend to find each other through the mess."
At that moment, a loud clicking sound signals the movement of one of the large roller doors, and we turn our heads to look toward the daylight as it pours in through the opening and a black Land Cruiser drives in.
"Looks like they’re back," the woman, whose name I still don’t know, comments as the 4WD pulls to a stop not far inside the door. The click sounds again, and the mechanism reverses, closing the door and blocking out the day once more.
Something in my chest tightens, and I feel my heart begin to beat a little faster as I watch and wait, knowing that Drake is about to appear before my eyes. I hate that this is happening, and I know that the ‘something’ is my body reacting to him in that biological way it always has, regardless of what my mind says.
I should be furious at him. I should have hatred, burning in my heart over the mess he’s made of my life, but as he gets out of the car and extends to his full height, all I can do is stare and remember his mouth on mine, and his hand between my thighs…
Drake Jefferson cuts a very fine figure as he strides toward us, his lean build evident through the fitted army green t-shirt he wears tucked into a pair of jeans that fit so well my mouth goes dry just watching him.
Catching my eye, he grins that grin of his that I know so well. It tells me that he knows what he does to me and in response, I fix a scowl upon my face and turn away from him, refusing to turn around again, even when I feel his presence behind me.
Instead, I focus my attention on Aiden as he moves into my line of sight and stands next to the woman, his broad shoulders and height making her appear tiny in comparison. Actually, among the three men in this building, both she and I seem elf-like.
"Agent Samuels," Aiden says in recognition of my presence. "It’s been a long time."
"Five years," I reply. "And as far as I’m aware, there’s still a warrant out for your arrest."
"I doubt that," he smiles, folding his arms in front of him as he leans against the benchtop.
I narrow my eyes, wondering why the warrant wouldn’t still be in force and I’m just about to ask when Drake speaks up behind me.
"What the hell is she wearing?" he demands.
"My jumper. She was cold," Jared replies immediately from the doorway, and I close my eyes, not wanting to face the two men who made me care but led me astray. "If you were so concerned about what she was wearing, maybe you should have grabbed some of her clothes before we left, or perhaps given her something of yours to wear instead of leaving her in that tiny nightgown when you brought her back here."
"I like her just fine in that nightgown," Drake responds, still behind me, and I have to fight the feeling that his voice sets off within my body. "What I don’t like her in, is your fucking sweatshirt."
"Then maybe you should have done something to get back to her sooner instead of leaving her in my care for three years," Jared shoots back.
"You were supposed to watch her Jared! Be her friend! Not her fucking lover."
I turn to watch as Jared steps up to Drake, both of them almost eye to eye as they stare each other down.
"Mate, before this week, I didn’t even know you. So, I don’t owe you a fucking thing. My boss is standing right over there," Jared growls, pointing over at Aiden. "He told me to take care of her, and that’s what I did. For three years. And I fell for her. You weren’t here for her, and I was. You don’t get a fucking say."
"Oh, for fuck’s sake," the woman interjects, reaching out and grabbing my hand. "She isn’t property for you to fight over. I’ll give her some clothes of mine if you’ll both stop squabbling like a pair of babie
s." And with a shake of her head, she pulls me along behind her and takes me down the hallway to a room that is much nicer than the one I was in. This one is decorated and looks more like a room in someone’s home instead of just a dorm room. "Here," she says, handing me a pair of leggings and a fitted tank top with an in-built bra. She digs through another drawer and hands me a t-shirt that says ‘Choose Life’ on the front of it that drops off my shoulder and hangs just below my arse when I pull it over my head. "He can’t bitch about you in another man’s clothing now."
I rake my fingers through my unruly dark hair and gratefully accept the hair elastic she hands me before twisting my hair up into a ponytail. "Well he doesn’t really get a say anymore. Gavin, I mean, Jared, is right, he hasn’t been much of a husband for the past four years."
"But Jared, has he been there for you?"
"He has. But… it wasn’t real. It was a job."
"It sounded real out there to me. Looks like you’ve got a bit of a tug of war on your hands."
"I’m not going to be the rope in that game."
She shrugs. "They’re boys. They’ll fight until it’s sorted."
"Doesn’t mean I have to be a part of it." I shake my head, checking my appearance in her mirror as I run my fingers through my hair. "So, what’s supposed to happen now? What was the point of all this?"
"That’s probably something Drake wants to talk to you about himself. But, Caitlin you should know that now you’re here, things are going to change for you. Drake isn’t just going to let you walk out of here. Neither is Aiden for that matter."
"I don’t understand," I say with a frown before turning with a start when a voice sounds behind me.
"You’ll understand soon enough," Aiden says, tilting his head to indicate that he wants us to follow him, and we do. He leads us back out to the common area where Drake and Jared are looking slightly pissed off at each other.
"Thanks for that," I tell Jared as I hold out the sweatshirt he leant me.
"It was no problem," he states, reaching out to take it from my hands, but grabbing at air when Drake grabs the jumper from my hands and throws over his shoulder on the floor.
"What the fuck, Drake? That was beyond childish!" I yell, glaring at him as he folds his arms across his chest and glares at Jared.
"Well he should know that you don’t loan your fucking sweatshirt to another man’s woman. That shit is just fucking wrong."
"This is why you came back, isn’t it? Because of Jared. You were jealous and you came to stake your claim on your woman? Well, guess what, Drake. I’m not your woman. Not anymore."
"I think we’d better leave you two alone," the woman says, taking a hold of the arms of both Aiden, and Jared, who resists for a moment, before walking with them out of there, closing the door of the common area behind them and leaving Drake and me alone.
I hear Jared complain that he needs to sort things out with me, but after something Aiden says that I can’t make out, he falls quiet and goes with them.
DEEP COVER: CASE 001
BY LILLIANA ANDERSON
013
"I am not your woman! Not anymore!" I hiss at Drake the moment I think the others are out of earshot.
He steps toward me and immediately, I suck in my breath, his closeness affecting me in ways I don’t want to admit. Keeping his eyes on mine, he reaches down and lifts my left hand, holding it in front of my face.
"Really?" he counters, showing me the gold and diamond ring I still wear on my wedding finger. I’ve never been able to take it off. "This ring says otherwise."
I snatch my hand away. "Well it obviously meant more to me than it did to you. I see you’re not wearing yours anymore."
His hands move to grip me by the upper arms and he pulls me against him roughly, looking down at me and forcing me to arch my neck backward to look up at him. "I never broke my vows," he growls.
"Don’t," I whisper, closing my eyes as a wave of emotion hits me. I won’t have him use my relationship with Jared against me. "You were dead and I waited for almost four years. Was I supposed to be alone forever?"
"You were supposed to believe in me. I promised you I’d be back."
"That’s not fair," I cry, pushing against his chest with my hands but not escaping his grasp. "You were gone. I kept your memory alive for years. I kept your goddamn fish alive as well. I even kept your fucking clothes until twelve months ago. And where were you? I was mourning your loss–and where were you!?!"
Before I know what’s happening, his mouth is on mine and our arms are wrapped around each other, my fingers sliding into his hair and gripping its length as his tongue enters my mouth, reclaiming me as his. When we pull apart, I’m shaking.
"I was trying to fix things to find my way back to you," he murmurs, his voice rough and raw as he speaks.
I slap him across the face, shocking him with my anger. "Don’t do that to me again," I hiss, feeling too messed up to deal with the man of my past and the man of my present in the same building. "Just tell me what the fuck is going on. That woman told me I’m not allowed to leave. What the hell am I supposed to do Drake? Sit around in a hanger all day and night like a prisoner?"
He steps back, giving me that much needed space to breathe, before he answers.
"No. You’re going back to work but it will be with us."
"Us?"
"Yes. Aiden takes on private military contracts. He’s been helping me covertly over the last few years. He can do things that the law can’t. We’ve just come back from talking to Commander Greer, and he’s agreed to work with us on the Le Doux case. I’ve made it clear that I’ll only be working with you."
"So, they’re just going to forget their vendetta against you and work with you now?"
"The information I have, is worth a hell of a lot more to them than I am. Besides, I’m already dead."
"Then I guess that sorts out the issue of whether we’re still married or not."
He steps toward me. "Trix, you’ll always be mine. And to prove it, I’m going to let you go. You’ll find your way back to me."
"What?" I frown, not understanding what he means until a sharp pain enters my thigh and suddenly, my body grows heavy and my world turns black for what feels like a split second, but obviously isn’t, because when I open my eyes, I’m back at Site Seventeen.
"Ah, you’re up," says Greer. "Best get some coffee into you. We’ve got a big day ahead of us." He hands me a mug from which I take a sip, suddenly wondering if I’m Dorothy and this has all been one incredible, technicoloured dream.
"What’s going on?" I ask.
"Well, in light of your procurement of the payroll list, I’ve decided I was too hasty in firing you. After all, it was Birdwood who switched out the vile Drake gave you, a search of her house after she was taken out, saw that we found the real one. So I guess I was wrong. But we’re going to fix that. You’re going to take on the role of Emery’s partner now, and the two of you will work with Drake to get this case under control once and for all. We’re finally going to shut Le Doux down."
"Wait? I’m an agent again?"
"Of course. Now get off your arse and get to work. We’ve got a long road ahead of us."
END
I hope you enjoyed your sneak peek inside the Deep Cover series. It will continue in 2015 as a monthly release and will follow on from the final book in my Fire & Lies Series, releasing in February.
In the meantime, you can go back to where this world of corruption began with the introduction of Aiden, and Jared in Partners, Fire & Lies Prequel – OUT NOW.
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ABOUT LILLIANA ANDERSON
Bestselling Author of the A Beautiful Series, Alter and the Confidante Trilog
y, Lilliana has always loved to read and write, considering it the best form of escapism that the world has to offer.
Australian born and bred, she writes New Adult Romance revolving around her authentically Aussie characters as well as a biographical trilogy based on an ex-Sydney sex worker, named Angelien.
Lilliana feels that the world should see Australia for more than just it's outback and tries to show characters in more of a city setting. When she isn't writing, she wears the hat of 'wife and mother' to her husband and four children.
Before Lilliana turned to writing, she worked in a variety of industries and studied humanities and communications before transferring to commerce/law at university.
Originally from Sydney's Western suburbs, she currently lives a fairly quiet life in suburban Melbourne.
Visit my website at
www.lillianaanderson.com
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