I don't own, I borrow.
This chapter was written for a Round-Robin collaboration by PickleMcGee. If you would like to join this story please PM us for more details.
HUGE thanks to sleepyvalentina for helping correct my severe grammar and comma issues.
We do a bit of time jumping in this chapter, it's been a week since the end of Chapter 12 and our six-some have been busy little bees! I tried to get back to the Humor/Romance theme a bit and introduce a new POV. I hope you enjoy reading my little contribution as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Thanks for reading – enjoy!
=== [ PHC ] === Chapter 13: Operation Exposé === [ PHC ] ===
APOV
Sunday – 1:45am
The rough clearing of a throat brought me abruptly out of my inner musings and made my stomach drop to my feet. Peering at me through the bars of the dreary holding cell was Charlie, in all his Police Chief glory, porn stashe twitching with barely-concealed amusement. It still caught me off guard, how under his gaze I instantly fell back in time. Even as an independent twenty-something, facing the judgment of Chief Charlie Swan instantly made me feel like a kid caught with a hand in the cookie jar. Only this time, it wasn't a cookie jar it was the night stand drawer of the undercover FBI agent down the hall.
"So... Who wants to tell me why I had to leave the station in the middle of the night to bail my three favorite girls out of the slammer?" asked Charlie.
I squirmed on the cold metal bench unsure how to answer. While I tried to find words to explain our current predicament to the Chief, I looked down, watching my hands as they ran gently over Bella's hair while she slept soundly with her head in my lap.
=== [ PHC ] ===
Saturday – 5:45pm (8 hours earlier)
"Emmett, this'll never work!" Edward was livid at the latest plan for gathering clues into the identities of Jacob Black and his girlfriend Nessie. It had been nearly a week since he and Bella had overheard the two of them discussing Tanya in the stairwell and five full days since the six of us decided to implement Emmett's plan to gather information on the pair – A group effort he liked to call Operation Exposé.
The plan was simple in theory. We were mostly interested in just how they knew Tanya, but definitely curious to know just what they were up to that the police presence would be interrupting. When Edward and Bella told Charlie about what they overheard, he immediately set out to find whatever background info he could. After all the recent drama, he didn't want to take any chances. Much to his concern and our frustration there was next to nothing to be found. It was as if they had never existed until about five years ago, and even then the details were scarce – No employer info, no previous addresses, no credit history. Not even a single parking ticket. Charlie insisted that Edward and Bella share everything they knew with the rest of us as soon as possible. It was better to have everyone on the same page so we could keep our eyes out for any other unusual activity together.
Operation Exposé, as Emmett explained, was a two-part plan. Part One was to make nice with Jake and Nessie, get them talking and try to find out more about their background. We hoped approaching them separately and bringing alcohol into the equation would get them to slip and share some truths beyond their cover story.
Part Two was a bit trickier. It meant getting into their apartment and snooping for deeper details. Ideally documented info we could send to Charlie to research, or any other ties to Edward's batshit crazy ex-girlfriend. Pictures, letters – whatever we could find would do.
Edward was not a fan of Part Two.
He hated the idea of us doing something even remotely like what Tanya had done to him. The invasion of privacy was still all too fresh. Emmett, however, insisted that this was a necessary step to take if we wanted to be proactive. Plus, if their activities were being "held up" by the cops hanging around, they were obviously up to no good. He quickly brought Jasper, Rose and me on-board with his idea. Bella opted to put on her best Switzerland impersonation, leaving Edward's complaints to fall on (mostly) deaf ears – At least at first.
Admittedly, all three of our previous tries to get into the apartment had crashed and burned. Jasper had only just barely made it out the last time, having been forced to slip out the sliding glass door and shimmy down a drainpipe off the balcony.
"Maybe we should try something else Em, I mean, we've really gotten nowhere and they have to be suspicious by now." Bella chimed in. She was rubbing Edward's shoulders as he sat hunched over tugging at his hair in frustration.
I swore, that boy would go bald if he didn't knock it off. Which would be such a shame, he really did have great hair. I thought for a moment of sneaking some Rogaine into his shampoo.
"Belly Belly Belly, don't be so quick to give up, Squirt!" Emmett argued playfully as he ruffled up her hair before flopping down onto the sofa beside Rose. "We've only just gotten started, and I know those two are up to something."
"It's not giving up when the idea is all wrong to begin with, Emmett. We've given your insanity a shot, let's quit now before something really goes wrong. This isn't a game, man!" Edward looked intently at Bella as he spoke before turning back to the rest of the group. "It's bad enough Tanya is out there somewhere with a vendetta. We don't need any more trouble, and we have no idea what we're dealing with here. Let's just stick with getting to know them better for now and keep an eye on things."
The look on Edward's face was a mixture of worry and guilt; I knew this was tearing him up. From what had Bella said he felt terrible for getting us all mixed up with the crazy that is Tanya. He didn't want anyone to get hurt just because of a girl he'd made the mistake of dating. He was especially worried about Bella. Based on Tanya's track record, she was clearly not above causing physical harm to anyone or anything which stood in her way. While the rest of us found comfort in taking action, our plans only seemed to add to his growing anxiety over Bella's safety. Tanya had been MIA since her release, and no one was quite sure whether or not that was a good thing.
After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, Emmett let out a heavy sigh. "All right man, we'll take it down a notch for now. But the second they step out of line, I'm finding a way into that apartment, even if I have to use my mad ninja skills and scale the building!"
At the mention of ninja skills, Rose let out a most ungraceful snort, sending me and Bella into hysterical giggles.
"Nin… Nin… NINJA SKILLS?" I fell to the floor clutching my middle.
"Are those anything like Jasper's ninja skills, Em? That drainpipe shimmy was pretty rough… are you sure that's a good idea?" Bella teased, barely ducking the throw pillow my Jazzy tossed her way.
"Aww c'mon! Don't start! You try getting down the side of a building in a hurry and let me know how smooth your exit is!"
Bella just snickered quietly and gave a non-committal shrug before walking around the sofa to grab Edward by the hand.
"Well kids, it's been real, but I'm in need of a break from all the espionage." She turned to look at Edward, "can we get outta here for a while?"
Edward nodded. His gaze softening and the tension melting from his stance as he rose to his feet and slipped an arm around her waist to lead her out the door.
They really were too cute. It had been so long since Bella had been with anyone, let alone had a relationship. I had a really good feeling about these two. I had a good feeling about all of us really. Us girls had been together for so long and it always seemed like enough but now, I realized just how much was missing before. Somehow, I knew we would be together for the long haul, our little group of six made me feel so whole.
After Edward and Bella headed out, the four of us lounged around the boys' apartment going over the past week and the bits of information we had managed to piece together about the mysterious Jacob and Nessie, and most importantly how they could possibly be connected to Tanya.
=== [ PHC ] ===
Monday – 3:30pm (6 days ago)
Bella and Edward were, once again, holed up in her room, so we gave them some privacy. We decided to head downstairs for some much needed pool time. A mid-summer heat wave was in full effect, giving us the perfect opportunity to work on our tans.
Once we'd gotten a couple hours of UV rays and had a quick swim, we packed up and headed back upstairs. When I spotted Jake in the gym, I pointed him out to Rose and took off like a rocket. I couldn't get up the stairs and into the boys' apartment fast enough. I didn't want our first opportunity to pass us by! Out of breath, missing a flip-flop and with my towel barley wrapped around my waist, I burst through the door. Jazz and Emmett leapt from their seats on the sofa mid-battle on the Xbox in surprise.
"Ali what's wrong? Are you okay? Where are you hurt? Did you see Tanya? Is there a fire?" Jasper ran to my side immediately, patting me down and looking for injuries or clues to my bizarre behavior.
My Jazzy was so cute when he was frazzled, his normally cool calm and collected demeanor crumbling so quickly at my frantic entrance. A few moments later, in strolled Rose shaking her head in amusement.
"She's fine; we're fine. We saw Jake down in the gym on our way back from the pool and she ran up here to-"
I cut her off before she could finish. Eager to get the boys downstairs and onto our first mission, "youhavetogobumpintohim!" I barely managed to get out between breaths. "It's…" Gasp. "a perfect…" Wheeze. "opportunity to…" Hiccup. "to catch him."
Jazz pulled me gently into his lap rubbing my back in soothing circles while Emmett and Rose chuckled away. Why they thought this was funny was beyond me; we had work to do! It was Emmett's master plan after all, he should be taking this more seriously I thought with a huff.
"Ali girl, you sure you don't want to go down to the gym instead? Seems like you could use some endurance training…" Emmett ribbed as Jazz gave him a pointed look, eyebrow raised in challenge.
He's always had my back, my sweet sweet man. I decided I would definitely have to thank him for that later.
"Em… bro she's right. No time like the present, let's ride." He gave a quick fist pump before sliding my off his lap and onto the couch so he could stand.
The boys made their way out and locked up the apartment after seeing Rose and I safely across the hall. As we walked through the door I noticed a conspicuous trail of clothing leading from the kitchen towards the hallway and Bella's bedroom… apparently the pair made it out of her room for a little bit after all. Rose noticed too and we gave each other matching grins. Bella was soooo gonna get it later, teasing her for sexytime details was one of our favorite pastimes.
"Oookay, so since the boys are busy with Jake, and Bella is apparently busy helping Eddie-boy perfect his sex hair why don't we go do some reconnaissance of our own huh?" suggested Rose.
"I like the way you think my darling BFF. How about we change and go pay Miss Nessie a little visit? Meet you back here in fifteen?" Rose gave a quick wink and we headed off to our rooms to switch into some dry clothes.
Twenty minutes later, we were busy trying to coax a reluctant Nessie out for some girl time when the boys came trotting up the stairs with Jake. From the sounds of it, they were trying to talk Jake into hanging out back at their place. Throwing out offers of Xbox, beers and pizza – Their usual male bonding experience.
"See Ness, the boys are going to be busy being boys tonight anyway. Please come with us, we're down a friend and would love to get to know you better. Pleeeaaase?" I begged in my sweetest way, batting my lashes for dramatic effect.
"Seriously Nessie, do you see what I'll have to suffer through alone if you don't join us? Imagine that…" Rose pointed at me "but moping. You're my only hope to salvage my evening!"
"Hey!" I smacked her shoulder none too lightly while Nessie, Jake and the rest laughed at my expense.
"Umm, well if you're gonna hang with the boys honey then I guess I'm going out..." Nessie and Jake shared a look and some silent communication before he nodded and told the boys he'd be over in thirty after a quick shower and changing out of his sweaty work-out gear.
I gave a quick squeal of triumph and stuck my tongue out at Rose, causing another round of laughter before we headed out for the night. Rose and I decided to start slowly with mani/pedi's at a little salon just a few blocks down from our apartment complex. Then we'd do dinner and drinks at, El Burro de Loco, our favorite Mexican restaurant. We spent the night chatting and telling stories of growing up. Well mostly it was Rose and me telling stories and trying to gently pry anything we could out of Nessie. Lucky for us, we were used to getting details out of a particularly tight-lipped brunette and after all these years, our finely honed skills were paying off.
By the time we started our fourth round of margaritas, she was carrying on about her adventures growing up as the youngest of five and the only girl to boot! She and Rose hit it off big time once she mentioned her love for fast cars, and they went on for a million years about their favorite makes and models and the various modifications they'd do if they had their dream cars. I tuned most of that conversation out. As far as I was concerned as long as the car was running and rust free I was a happy camper in the automobile department.
I hoped the boys were having similar success, so I shot off a text to Jasper for an update. His reply was immediate. Apparently Jake and Emmett had quite a few beers under their belts and were in the middle of an epic tennis match in Wii Sports. This was excellent news! The boys only switched over to the Wii when they were too toasty to play their crazy war games on the Xbox. From the slightly-misspelled texts Jazz was sending, it sounded like they had gotten Jake to slip up a bit. Something about he and Nessie playing the role of boyfriend/girlfriend for work and how it had gone from pretend to real in a hurry. I couldn't wait to get the details on that! What job would possibly require them to play house? I was feeling pretty warm and fuzzy myself, after all the tequila, and decided to think more about that little tidbit in a more sober moment.
Not long after that Rose got a call from Bella, having apparently decided to come up for air, asking us what we were up to. She and Edward agreed to come down and pick us up from the restaurant and get us safely home. The walk wasn't long, but it was late and the margarita haze was in full effect. Safety first!
=== [ PHC ] ===
Tuesday – 12:15pm (5 days ago)
The next morning I woke up snuggled up behind Rose in her bed, still in my dress and shoes from the night before. A quick glance at the clock told me it was just after noon. I turned back to Rose and nudged her gently. Or maybe not. She rolled right off the bed with a thud. Whoops!
"Ow! What the hell?" Rose sat up and peeked at me with one eye over the side of the bed. "Damnit Al…"
"Sorry sorry sorry! I apologized, "but we have to get up! It's time for a shower and to rouse the troops – we needed to recap pronto!"
Rose just rolled her eyes and grumbled at me as she crawled to her feet and stumbled off towards the bathroom.
I walked out into the living room and found my purse tossed on the kitchen counter. Plucking out my cell, I quickly dialed Jazz while I started a fresh pot of coffee.
"Hello?" his sleepy voice answered.
"Hi baby, sorry to wake you but we need to get everyone together and compare notes!"
"Okay, okay Ali… easy there, tiger. I'll go see about waking the boys and get them over to your place as soon as I can. If they're feeling anything like I am, you're gonna have to provide coffee though. Lots and lots of coffee." He yawned then and I could hear his sheets rustling as he climbed out of bed.
"Already on it and I've got Rose awake and in the shower. I'll go check on Bella right now, unless she's over there with Edward?"
"I dunno… So far all I see is Em face down on the couch right now." He chuckled quietly and said he'd get Emmett up and on his way as soon as he could before we ended our call.
I found Bella in her room lounging on her bed reading and let her know the boys would be over in a bit to discuss our findings from Operation Exposé.
Soon the gang was gathered together in our living room, coffees-in-hand, sharing all the important details from the day before. The boys had discovered that Jake had been transferred to town by his job from somewhere on the east coast and was required to be "real good with research". The pair met "on the job" and were only pretending to be a couple at first before they ended up falling for one another for real. She was the love of his life and he hated having to hide it whenever they dealt with their home office. He never did open up about what exactly they did for work that required them to play the part of lovers, but we had some ideas.
From Nessie, we gathered that she was just as crazy about Jake as he was for her, it was kind of sweet and made it hard for me to believe these two were up to no good. They seemed so normal, but then again it was their job to play pretend. Maybe their normalcy was part of the act too?
Rose filled us in on her conversation with Nessie and I got caught up on the parts I had missed while texting with Jazz. Apparently, she wasn't just a gearhead but also quite handy at engineering and repairing all sorts of mechanical odds and ends.
None of us were quite sure where that left us, but we agreed to keep "bumping into" the pair and digging for more dirt. Little did we know just what we were getting ourselves into…
A/N:
So there we are, I hope you enjoyed it and I did this story justice. I've been blown away by the talent and creativity of the lovely participants in the collab, I can't wait to see where we end up in the end! Thanks for allowing me to come along for the ride.
El Burro de Loco is not a real place (sad face) at least not that I know of. It is my fictional nod to an old haunt of mine here in San Diego which is sadly no longer around. Their margaritas (well, the bartenders and their heavy hands) were things of legend and I'm positive they would have made even the most hardcore FBI agent a bit looser lipped after their 4th round ;)