Chapter 8 Chloe
EIGHT
CHLOE
I slept on and off all morning. Every time my eyes opened, I was no closer to figuring out how the hell to sneak out of this place.
Everyone seemed to be everywhere, with the women constantly knocking on my door and asking me if I needed anything all the way down to the guys running up and down the hallways as if the damned place were on fire.
I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I paced around in the bathroom.
I clasped my hands behind my back as I kept an eye on my cell phone, watching the minutes tick upward quicker than I would have liked.
And once lunchtime hit, I knew I had to act.
Either that or suffer the consequences that came with not showing up to the meeting.
“Come on, you can do this,” I murmured to myself.
A raucous set of footsteps rushed by my bedroom and part of me wanted to look out into the hallway.
But I didn’t want to destroy the pattern I had already established.
Everyone knew that I had been in my room all morning, and if no one saw me then they’d probably keep assuming I was in there.
The thought made me grin. I rushed over to my suitcase and dug around for the most unassuming set of clothes I had brought with me.
I pulled out a pair of skinny jeans and a baggy purple shirt that practically fell off one of my shoulders.
I searched around for my heather gray hoodie and pulled it over my head, then gathered my things.
I still had no idea what the fuck I was going to do about transportation.
But I knew we weren’t too far off from the highway.
And if I could get to the highway, then I could call a taxi company to come pick me up.
“All right,” I whispered as I cracked my bedroom door open, “let’s make this quick.”
I recalled the side exit that West had ushered me to the first time we snuck out, and I set my sights on that side hallway. I looked both ways before easing my bedroom door closed behind me, but I quickly heard a set of footsteps.
So, I darted into a closet and held my breath.
“Shit, shit, shit, shit,” West hissed.
I furrowed my brow at his hushed voice while his footsteps quickly passed me by.
Was everything okay? Had something else happened?
I shook my head as I slid out of the closet.
I couldn't focus on him at that moment. All of my focus had to be on getting to this god damn meeting, otherwise I’d be arrested and thrown into prison for shit I was still trying to pay off with my services.
Just tell someone about it. I’m sure they’ll understand.
I almost barked with laughter at the hope that filled the voice in my head.
I knew that was a non-starter. A place where I didn’t need to tread.
I was cooped up with a fucking biker gang capable of taking people out without a second thought, and my own conscious was trying to convince me that it was okay to tell them that I was a federal informant?
For all I knew, they’d turn on me with that information.
They’d kick me to the curb or worse, and Lexi would get caught up in all of it in the process. That wasn’t fair to her or Natty.
Especially since Lexi didn’t even know I was an informant for the FBI.
“Fucking hell,” I whispered.
I finally turned the corner and saw the side exit door.
Relief cascaded through my muscles as I made a break for it.
The door grew closer and the smile grew against my cheeks.
I reached for the doorknob, ready to slam myself out and book it through the trees in order to reach the highway that much quicker.
Except as soon as I pushed out into the world, West’s voice wafted from somewhere.
“I’m telling you, Diego, I hacked their email system. I told you that all I needed was one email address. What did you think I was doing with it?”
I threw myself into a bush as footsteps started in my general direction.
“I didn’t expect you to just…hack your way in there,” Diego grumbled, “they can easily back trace you, West. That was reckless, and you need to cover up your tracks well.”
West snickered. “Do you even know who you’re talking to? I don’t do anything without covering my tracks. Besides, even if they did try to trace us…”
The two of them made their way inside and took their conversation with them. But I crouched there, rooted in shock. West had hacked the cartel’s email account? That…! Actually, wasn’t too bad. It would’ve been one of the first things I would have attempted to do as well.
I wanted to know what he had found, but I couldn't waste the utter silence that greeted me.
The wind kicked up, rustling the trees and the tall grass around us, which silenced my footsteps as I pried myself from the prickly bush.
I picked at the spikes that embedded themselves into my jeans and my hoodie, then walked around to the front of the warehouse, sticking to the shadows the trees cast as I made my way toward the shadowed area where all of their bikes were.
Until, that is, my name was called.
“Chloe? Is that you?”
Lexi’s voice sounded against the shell of my ear, and I had two options: one, I could make a break for it and hoped that she didn’t follow; or two, I could turn around and acknowledge her all the while hoping to convince her to leave me alone.
The former left me with the risk that she’d go tell someone I had just run away, but the latter risked her finding out what I was doing in the first place.
“Chloe? What's wrong?” Lexi asked as she approached me from behind.
I turned around and put on my best smile. “Girl, you really know how to scare a woman.”
She studied my face. “You good? What are you doing out here?”
I motioned to her. “I could ask you the same thing.”
She tilted her head. “Just wanting to get some fresh air.”
I sighed. “Is it bad that I just wanted to take a walk through the woods? Just to feel not so…?”
Her face filled with sympathy. “So surrounded?”
I snickered. “Yeah, that.”
She placed her hands on my shoulders. “I know that last night was hard. I mean, I’ve been struggling with it and it’s not like it’s anything new to me.”
“Girl, you were a fucking rockstar. I was so proud of you last night.”
Her smile beamed across her face. “Well, I’m simply proud of you for not shrieking and freaking the fuck out. That’s what most people do.”
“Yeah, isn’t that insane?”
She squeezed my shoulders. “But you’re my best friend, Chloe, and I know you’re not out here for fresh air. So, what are you doing, and what can I do to help?”
I shook my head softly. “It’s better if you don’t—”
Her hands slid down to mine and she took them softly within hers. “Chloe, just spit it out. Let me help. Whatever it is, you’re not alone in it.”
“You have no idea what you’re asking of me.”
“Try me, beautiful.”
So, I drew in a deep breath. “Back in high school, before we were friends, I got into some trouble.”
“Uh huh?”
“And in order to sidestep the consequences people wanted to rain down on my head for what I did, there were other entities in play that decided I could be of use to them.”
She furrowed her brow. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Just spit it out. “Lexi, I’m a technological informant for the FBI, and I’ve got a meeting with my handler that I can’t put off. Otherwise, he’s got every right to throw me in jail.”
Her hands released mine. “You’re a what?”
I shook my head as I backed away from her. “Please, Lexi. Please, don’t tell anyone. I have to make this two o’clock meeting. It’s just to help them out with a case we were working on well before all of this happened. I’m begging you not to tell anyone.”
She blinked. “You’re…an informant for the FBI?”
I pressed my finger to my lips. “Please, just let me go do this.”
I turned my back to her once more and made my way for the tree line. I had to get out of here before anyone else stepped out that front door. But before I could even get deeper into the shadows, Lexi’s strong grasp wrapped around my forearm.
“One question,” she said, rooting me to my spot.
I sighed. “No, I’m not informing on the crew if that’s what you’re about to ask. I’m not that stupid.”
She clicked her tongue. “Then, take these.”
She slid something cold and metallic into the palm of my hand, and when I turned around, a set of keys sat against my skin.
“They go to the van parked over there,” Lexi said as she pointed with her finger.
“Wait, how do you have—”
She turned me toward the van. “Just stop asking questions and go if it’s that important. I’ll help cover for you.”
I craned my neck over my shoulder. “I love you, girl.”
She nodded. “Love you, too. Now go.”
I bolted for the van and climbed behind the wheel of the car.
Another gust of wind kicked up and I prayed it was enough to conceal the cranking of the van’s engine.
I eased down the gravel pathway until I hit the dirt one.
The second I found myself staring at the highway, I flipped on my right-hand blinker.
And I didn’t stop driving until I pulled up to the diner Agent Baker couldn’t get enough of in his life.
“I was wondering when you’d get here,” he said as I sat down in front of him.
I checked my cell phone. “It’s ten minutes ‘til. I’m not late.”
He shrugged. “If you’re not early—”
“Actually, I am early. Ten minutes early. So, what do you need?”
He leveled his eyes with me. “I think you’ve got a bit more respect in your bones that you can afford me than your tone represents.”
I wanted to strangle the man with my bare hands every time I had to sit down with him. “My apologies, Agent Baker.”
He grinned. “Wonderful. Now, I need you to use the laptop I’ve brought you to—”
I held out my hand. “Just give it to me and let me do my job.”
His face fell. “What we need from you is traffic camera footage we can’t quite get our hands on right now. Of course, it’s not admissible in court, but if we can find...”
As he rambled on, telling me how to do my damn job, his eyes wandered around the parts of my body he could see.
I hated this man with all of my might. Not only did he constantly remind me of the shitty person I had once been, but he always had a way of explaining my job to me as if I hadn’t hacked the Pentagon’s system and gotten my hands on sensitive documents that I then sent to a burner server simply because I could.
It sent them into a blind panic for weeks.
It took them fucking weeks to track my ass down into my hidey-hole basement.
Idiots.
“So,” Agent Baker said as he handed me the laptop, “you think you can do that without releasing anything out into the world? Or do I have to keep you on a tighter leash?”
I’d rather be in jail. “I think you know I’m good, Agent Baker.”
And as I took the laptop from him, I prayed to God on high that this was an easy mission. That I could get him the information he sought so I could get out of there and get back to the warehouse.
Because if this man figured out what I had gotten myself into, Hell would unleash itself into our lives.
In the form of an FBI agent who couldn’t keep his fucking eyes to his goddamn self.