Chapter 3

After work, I picked up Vincent from my girlfriend's apartment. We went by Walmart to pick put some ice-cream and the ingredients to make homemade pizza. Would I call this a date? No, not at all.

Vincent went straight to his room. Knowing him, he was probably trying to avoid the cat. I was left alone to carry the groceries in. Lola padded into the kitchen, mewling softly. I ignored her and started to put up the groceries. Lola started to mewl louder. I held my peace, hoping I wouldn't kick the cat across the kitchen floor.

"Vince, come feed the dang cat!" I exclaimed.

"You do it!" He yelled back.

"I will ground you for life, young man."

"I already feel grounded. Do what you want."

"Then, I'll tell Jenni to adopt a cat."

Silence. I waited victoriously.

"Why would you do that?" He asked, walking into the kitchen. "Jenni would never get one. She hates cats."

"No. Cats hate her. Plus, she'd do anything I want."

Vincent rolled his eyes and got a can of cat food. Lola rubbed up against his legs. She acted so fake when she was hungry or wanted to play. Once Vince poured her water, she hissed at him. I laughed as he jumped back and spilled some water on the floor. I swear Lola glared at him.

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"I'm going to be a little late. Traffic is so slow tonight."

"No problem. How close are you?"

"Uh...the GPS says about another ten minutes. Maybe less."

"Okay. Stay safe, Crystal."

I laid out all the ingredients for the pizza and preheated the oven. Vincent walked by the kitchen, holding a book in his hand. I wondered what he was reading this time.

The doorbell rang, distracting me from my task. I pulled my hair up in a manbun and left the kitchen. When I opened the door, I was a little disappointed. What was my boss doing here at this time of night?

"Hello, Asher," He said and grinned. "How is your night going so far?"

"Before or after you showed up, because now I think I might be sick," I retorted. Vincent peered around me.

"Quit it with the lame jokes. Do you have time to come to work now? It's super important."

"No...Why?"

"Oh. Well, there's been a security breach at HQ. I wanted to send you to check it out, but I guess I'll have to send Jenni...again."

"...Hm." I thought for a moment. "Well...couldn't I just do a double check after her? I'll be done in at least an hour and a half."

"Thanks," He chirped dryly. "That would make my night."

I rolled my eyes. Cameron casually swung his walking stick and walked away. I wanted until he got in his car and drove away to close the door.

Vincent sighed and went back to the couch. I looked at my watch and realized I still had time to change before Crystal arrived. I double checked the kitchen and ran down the hall to my room.

It was tougher than I thought to find a decent pair of clothes. With me being out and about all the time, I didn't really have a date worthy filled closet. It took me at least five minutes to decide on my outfit. It looked pretty good, if I may add. Blue checkered flannel over a black muscle shirt and black ripped jeans with a silver chain hanging from them.

By the time I was clicking on my watch, Crystal had arrived. I heard Vincent speaking to her before I made it out of the room. When I finally walked into the kitchen, I couldn't help but notice that Crystal looked a lot like Lexi. I know I was trying to get over her, but I couldn't help it. She was like a drug I couldn't really stay away from.

"I see we're making pizzas," She noted.

"Yes. I thought it would be fun," I said.

"...It's a nice thought."

To avoid any extra awkwardness, we started making the pizzas. In less than ten minutes, we had flour everywhere. Cheese was all on the counter and threatening to spill onto the floor. The sauce was splatter on our aprons. A little had gotten in Crystal's hair.

"...So, Asher," Crystal started. "How long have you lived here?"

"Since part of my childhood. I moved around for a good while before coming back here with Vincent," I said. It was sad to remember the exact reason why I settled here with Vinnie and not in his home country.

"That sounds nice. I've been here my whole life. Only been to New York and Southern Texas as a teenager," She said.

"Ah, that sounds like fun. My aunt used to take care of me when I was younger. I haven't seen her since I moved from New York. It's been so long that sometimes I forget what she looks like."

"So sad. I'm sure you're not missing a thing being down here. I'm sure she has time on her hands to visit you."

"Trust me, she doesn't."

Vincent laughed and took the bag of cheese away from me. I eyed him, hoping he wouldn't say anything stupid. Crystal found the sliced sausages and passed them to me. I slowly took them from her.

"So, where are your parents?" I ventured.

"My mother died a long time ago. I live with my dad. Er, lived with him," She said, not a hint of sadness showing.

"Cool. Both of my parents are dead. Well, my dad is, but I don't know what happened to my mother. She's been missing for years," I muttered more to myself than to her. "Please don't say sorry. I've heard it from enough people to know that you don't know what you're sorry for."

"...People would think you have a miserable life, Asher."

"I don't. I really don't."

I chuckled and took the cheese back from Vincent. He smirked and looked at Crystal. I knew what was coming. Hopefully he wouldn't make it too embarrassing.

"Ms. Crystal?" He spoke up.

"Yeah?" Crystal wiped her hands on her apron.

"To be completely honest...I'm positive there's another reason why my father invited you over here."

"...And what might that reason be?"

"He has his eye on someone else. You just happen to look like her."

My eyes widened. He didn't have to make it sound like I was going to date every girl that looked like Lexi.

"And who might this woman be?" Crystal smiled a bit.

"Lexi Thompson," Vincent said proudly.

"You're kidding, right?"

"I really wish I were."

I laughed and decided to put the pizzas in the oven. Just to avoid this conversation. I didn't want to explain anything to Crystal. I'd only make myself sound stupid and desperate.

"You like Lexi Thompson?"

"...Yes."

"And you think I look like her?!"

"...Maybe."

I was not expecting her next response.

"Thank you," She said. "That's the first time someone has told me I'm beautiful without actually saying it weirdly."

I shrugged and took the ice-cream from the freezer. Crystal suggested making the ice-cream ourselves. I thought it was a great idea. It would allow me to concentrate on something else other than my romance. She went through my cabinets and fridge to see if I have all the ingredients. I was surprised that I did. It wasn't often that I went to the store. Just when I needed to.

Crystal said she'd made it before with her dad and that it was pretty easy. It involved that lot of shaking, but I was good with it. We spent most of our time competing to see who could make the best ice-cream. I swore that if mine turned out like thrash, I was going to eat the ice-cream I'd bought.

We checked the pizzas and sighed at the heavenly smell. I was no cook, but I knew when pizza was done. I was starving and it looked as if everything had gone according to plan. We took them out to cool and went into the living room. Vincent was stuck on telling embarrassing stories and laughing about it. I had to stop myself from getting mad, or I was going to tell Crystal about a certain boy at a hotel overseas.

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"I have to go now. It was so nice meeting you, Vincent," Crystal said.

"Are you off tomorrow?" I asked, handing her her jacket. It looked familiar to me.

"Yes. I have to babysit and I've got to work my other job in the morning,"

"Eh. That's tough. Have fun with that."

"Ha. That's tough for me?! You have fun getting bugged by your favorite officers."

I mentally threw up and smiled. I did not like Melissa and Cynthia. How could two grown women be so annoying?

"Have a nice night," I said and sent her off.

"You too." She kissed my cheek. "Bye, Vincent."

"Bye, Ms. Crystal. I hope I didn't scare you off. I want to see you more." Vincent smiled.

"Be careful what you wish for."

"No worries. I thought about it long and hard."

I watched as she backed out my driveway and shot off down the street. Just as I was about to close the door, someone else pulled up to my house. I instantly knew it was Jenni. I called for Vincent and told him to clean while I was gone. He waited for her at the front door, while I went to go change.

My suit was hanging on the back of my door. I put it on as fast as I could. Then, ran back to the living room. Jenni was sitting on the couch, staring off into space.

"Jenni, we can go now," I said. She only blinked in response. "Jenni, I'm here now. We can leave!"

"Oh...Let's go," She said softly.

I nodded at Vincent and locked the front door.

"Babe, you okay?" I asked.

"...Mhm. Just fine," She snapped.

Something was off with her, but I couldn't tell. I could never tell what exactly was wrong with her. She drove us to HQ in silence. It was quiet anyway, because we didn't go through the city. It took us at least five minutes more than it usually did to get there, Jenni refused to talk to me. Was she mad? I didn't know.

Jenni skidded into the parking lot and hopped out the car. I shook my head and got her keys. There was definitely something wrong with her. There was no point in asking, because all she would do is snap at me. I knew she was never going to tell me. Probably at the most relevant time.

I followed her into the building and gaped at the amount of bodies on the floor. How had Cameron not sent a clean up crew already? Jenni should have told him if she came before me. I held my nose and stepped over the bodies. I was not feeling well at the moment.

A hand shot out and grabbed my ankle. I nearly kicked the guy in the face.

"Sh-she took the dr-drive," He sputtered.

"What? Who?" I asked.

"...Your...f-friend."

"My friend? I have thousands. Which one?"

"Your friend."

"Maybe girlfriend? Was it Jenni?"

The guy's hand loosened and fell back to the floor. I stood there in silence, contemplating on what to do next. Was he talking about Jenni? He did seem a little relieved. It couldn't have been any of my other girl friends. None of them knew that I was an agent. Lexi doesn't know I'm an agent. Could he have been talking about her? No. She has been busy on set almost everyday.

I shoved a hand through my hair and sighed. This was beyond frustrating. I stepped over the bodies and checked for any survivors. I happened to look up once and gagged at the sight in front of me. A man was hanging from a cord wrapped around his neck. His face a bluish-purple. I examined his body and found a note attached in his front pocket.

teach your men how to fight

It looked like a female wrote that. I was suspicious of Jenni now. Why is she acting like she is guilty of something? If she was the only female I knew of, I would definitely take her in right away, but she isn't. I'm not saying there aren't many women who would do something as stupid as this. If any of the women I knew about what I was, then I could see a lot of them trying to ruin my career.

The door to the control room flew open. My head snapped in that direction and I blinked in confusion. No one was on the other side.

A man stepped out and turned my way. The first thing I noticed was the knife sticking out of his chest. His face was pale and there was blood seeping from his nose and mouth. The area around the knife was stained with dark blood.

"Sh...She deserves to g-go to Hell," He sputtered and fell to the floor with a loud thud.

I stood there in confusion. Who were they talking about? Jenni peered from around a corner and looked at me. I stared back and motioned for her to come to me. She timidly stepped over the bodies and avoided looking at the hanging man. Once she got over to me, she hugged me tight.

"Wi-Wilder's dead," She sobbed. I ground my teeth and pushed her back. "He had a knife in his throat, Asher."

I grabbed her wrist and took her into the control room. We immediately went over to the cameras. I desperately wanted to know who had done this. My thoughts raced as I rewound the tapes at least six times. I couldn't catch the face of our culprit. It was a woman, I could see that. Yet, she seemed to be very careful about not looking at the camera. But not too careful.

My hand froze as Jenni jabbed the pause button. My eyes widened at her expression. She seemed so fearless. So stuck on the task at hand. I couldn't believe that I had ever liked someone like her. She was a fake. A liar. She only chose to reveal what she wanted people to know. I should have known that something like this was going to happen. How could she do something so stupid?!

I slammed my fist on the keyboard and cursed like a sailor. Jenni tried to calm me down, but it didn't work. It was all my fault. I should have made a move before. She had to pay.