Performance

POV: Adrian

This morning, I planned to make my way to Cancun. I needed to prepare myself for the business deal that was about to go down. The new resort owner had finally taken the time to get with me on the specifics of the deal.

This was a huge step for me in my career to take down the criminal empire that had abducted my mother. I needed everything to go as planned, so I could earn the trust of Mr. Cooper and get my hands on the black book.

The meeting was set for Wednesday morning, so I had plenty of time to travel, get settled, and get to my office to gather all of the necessary paperwork. I had planned to travel with Monica for two reasons.

One, she was the best assistant and would surely put in a good word for me with Mr. Cooper.

Two, if she was carrying my baby, I wanted to ensure she was taking care of herself.

Keeping an eye on my enemy was just a bonus.

I made sure that Hendrix stayed behind to head the investigation into Cameron. There was something about him that was off and this week I was going to find out what.

As if the airport town car wasn’t suspicious enough, Hendrix had followed the car to an abandoned warehouse in the import district. There were no registered owners of the buildings there, but I knew from my time with Cooper that each warehouse was used for different criminal activity.

Needing eyes in that warehouse, I tasked Martin with trying to scope and bug the place once the activity had died down.

We were unable to find out who was waiting in the town car because it pulled into the warehouse, then an hour later five black sedans rolled out. We are still trying to track each of the sedans.

They were blacked-out and unmarked, which would indicate they were up to no good.

Lastly, Hannah was tasked with keeping an eye on Cameron’s mom. She had finally made contact with her through a patient connection. One of Hannah’s skills included reading people’s needs and then using them to get what she wanted.

She had uncovered her real name, Valerie Ritter, or one that she went by when she wasn’t doing business with criminals. We ran a trace on her name and uncovered several shocking truths. While she had lived a life of 20+ years under that name, it was not her birth name, nor her criminal alias.

This led us to believe many scenarios. She was in witness protection, she was a protected witness in a criminal case, she was adopted, she was the partner of a criminal mastermind, she was hiding from someone, or she herself was a criminal.

Hendrix was in charge of checking each scenario while I was away this week.

The task force was on to something big, I could feel it. And part of me knew each of these side investigations were connected. This was bigger than my father had initially thought.

Pulled from my own thoughts, Monica was waiting for me at the bar.

“I ordered you a bourbon neat.”, she sat at the bar drinking what I had hoped was a mocktail.

“Thank you, I hope that is nonalcoholic.”, you could never be sure with her.

“Oh, you do care.”, she retorted.

“If that is my child, then I do.”, I snarked.

“Doubting me still? Is that why you ignored me all weekend?”, she was manipulative.

“I had nothing to say to you, but I did get all 23 of your messages.”, I had to silence her message thread.

“You could have at least acknowledged me, Adrian.”, she seemed sincere.

“Noted.”, I didn’t dare drink what she ordered.

“Did you even noticed that I told you we are having a girl?”, she tried to keep the conversation alive.

“I did.”, still in shock that I may have a daughter in a few short months.

“Can I get a bottle of water?”, I asked the barkeep.

“You never turn down a bourbon”, as if she didn’t remember drugging my last one.

“I need to be focused on the deal.”, and make sure you don’t drug me again I thought.

She said no more, she did understand the value of being focused when it came to work.

Once we boarded and were seated, I got to work combing through the contract for Wednesday. I booked Monica the seat next to mine, only because I wanted to keep my eyes on her. She was a conniving woman and often used her underhanded tactics to get what she wanted.

Before we took off there was a police officer who boarded with a detection dog. I wouldn’t think anything off it, except it stopped at our row. Knowing I wasn’t suspected of illegal activity, I found it odd that the dog did not take a liking to Monica.

The officer looked down at us both and politely asked us to stand up from our seats. Noticing the dog never broke eye contact with Monica, I wondered what she was up too. The dog walked our seats and sniffed us one at a time, never barking to indicate he had found something.

It was odd and only added to my growing mental notes of suspicious activity. I knew local authorizes pegged the executive personnel at Daybreak for criminals, but I had never been followed before. The officer nodded before heading to his seat with the dog.

That wasn't the end of the odd behaviors.

I noticed that she had two phones. To the average person, it appeared as if she only pulled one out of her purse. She was constantly on her phone the entire flight, though I couldn’t make out what she was doing because of the privacy screen.

She had two identical phones, or so it appeared. It was actually two identical phones and cases; the only difference is that one of the cases had a chip in the top left corner. A small sliver of plastic missing from one case, but not the other.

To test this, I forwarded her an email. She pulled out the phone with the chip in the case and opened my email before looking at me.

“I will print this and overnight it to Mr. Cooper once we land.”, she took the bait.

“Thank you.”, trying not to spook her.

This test told me that one phone was for legitimate work and personal business. The other phone was one that I needed to get my hands on. What if the little black book I am hoping to acquire was actually a device?

Landing a few hours later, I noticed the officer tailing us as we made our way to baggage claim. I needed to get information from him but keep him from blowing my cover, so I baited him.

“Why don’t you head to the car while I grab our bags. I don’t want you carrying anything heavy while you are carrying my daughter.”, I let her think I was playing into the cards she dealt.

“Well, I’ll be damned. You do care.”, she gasped as she placed her hand to her chest.

“Don’t make me regret it.”, she needed to feel like she was still in control and had a purpose to change my mind.

“Once she is born, you’ll love me and want to be a family.”, there it was.

“Let’s make it through this pregnancy first. Please let the driver escort you to the car. I will grab our things.”, she smiled as she walked to the loading zone.

The officer unsure of what to do, stayed on me. Just like I had expected. Once I noticed Monica was out of the door and headed for the car, I picked up my pace and headed for the men’s room in the VIP lounge.

I had access and I knew that his badge gave him access. He followed me, not realizing he had been made.

Making my way to the bathroom, I needed to find a place to talk with him without cameras. If I could track CCTV and video surveillance, so could Cooper. Clearing the bathroom one stall at a time, I made sure it was empty before standing in the last stall.

The door creaked open, and I heard the dog’s nails as they tapped the ground with each step. He was sniffing me out and I was ready. The footsteps stopped at the door to my stall.

I hadn't latched the door, I heard the officer draw his weapon. Mine already drawn.

I noticed the dog’s snout poke in the door before opening it, the officer charging in.

Face to face with a gun did not startle me, but he was surprised to see me waiting for him with my gun in his face. He was not as conditioned as I was, as he was panting and broke out into a sweat.

“Officer.”, I broke the silence.

“Drop your weapon!”, he shouted.

“I will holster it, then I am going to pull my badge out of my left pocket.”, he briefly looked down at my pocket.

Not taking his gun off of me, I holstered my gun and grabbed my badge.

“I am undercover with the FBI, and I think we both have the same target.”, I spoke calmly.

“Daybreak?”, he replied.

“Yes, now please lower your weapon.”, he did as I requested and it helped that I spoke with authority.

We chatted briefly and I was able to speak to his chief, but because of the time that had lapsed I needed him to arrest me and pull me in for questioning. It would be the only way to explain my absence to Monica.

He placed me in cuffs and walked me out of the restroom. People began to stare at the small officer who had cuffed a man twice his size. This wasn’t the first time an executive at Daybreak had been arrested.

People had been trying to take down Cooper, longer than I had been working for him. This was another chance to prove to him that I was worthy enough to carry on his empire.

Before he took me to the back, I yelled at everyone in the room.

“Someone please tell my pregnant wife I have been unlawfully arrested. She’s outside waiting for me in the black town car!”, before I could say more two officers joined him and they shoved me into the wall to create a good show.

"Shut up!", they shouted at me.

"Please someone tell her!", I shouted before they shoved me through a door.

This had to have been the best performance I had ever put on.

-To be continued-