Chapter Two:Part of the Queue

7:30. I looked over at the orange blinking numbers. Not today, I thought, please. With a few knocks on the door, a blonde walked in carrying a tray of breakfast. She had quite the body I noted as she was only wearing her under garments. I rubbed my eyes and searched my head for her name. I noticed the red burn peeking out from under her underwear strap and realized it was Claire, Jay's "friend." I kept my eyes locked on her burn as I felt my side. I had the scar too. She smiled and set the tray in front of me and sat next to me.

"Orange juice. Drink up," she nudged the glass closer to me.

I took one sip. It stung my throat, this wasn't orange juice.

"Okay, so maybe it's not orange juice. Come on. Jay said it would help with your headache. You've got a long day ahead of you."

As she mentioned headache I instantly felt the pain. It was a sharp, throbbing pain. Almost unbearable. What happened last night? Claire kissed my forehead and slowly made her way down to my lips. I knew that she was just trying to distract me from asking questions, but hey it was working fine. As she pulled away she grabbed for the orange drink and put to my lips.

When Claire finally made her way out of my room, my mind began to wander. Last night… I had doubts, so they drugged me. I would have probably done the same to anyone else in this situation. This was a very important night. Tonight, justice would be served.

Pulling myself out of bed, I stumbled to the mirror. I grazed my hand over the large scar on my left cheek. It ran down from the height of my eyelid to the bottom on my nose where it broke into two separate marks. The skin around it was rough and flaky. I entered the master bathroom and picked up the brown file by the sink.

Smith, Michael Gibson

Birth date: July 1st, 1980

Birthplace: Los Angeles, CA

Biological mother: Alice Smith

Biological father: Albert Manning

My half brother. The file also contained past job records, his high school diploma and other personal things. I looked closely at the picture enclosed. We were almost identical. Well we were now at least. As I felt my scar on my cheek, I studied his. Mine was an exact copy. I threw it down and ran down the stairs and met Jay sitting across from a fat man, Davey.

"Feeling better, sweetheart?" Davey laughed mockingly as we exchanged icy glares.

"Glad to see you up, Manning. Ready? Big night tonight" Jay motioned for me to join them but I kept my distance. I nodded for them to continue their conversation and so they did.

"Jay, man. You sure baby Craig is ready for tonight? We cannot afford another screw up. Last tim-"

Jay cut him off; he sensed the anger in me, "Davey, let it go. That was over two years ago. Would I trust Craig with this if I didn't think he was ready? He's the only man for the job. You know that! I suppose you ought to shut the hell up unless…I don't know I could call Molly. That's your mother's name, right?"

Ashamed, Davey tipped his hat to Jay then grinned at me. He got up and walked out of the room to give us privacy.

"Jay…Thanks," that was hardly enough. I owed him so much more, but he was grateful anyhow.

"Thanks isn't necessary. Not for my main man. What's on your mind?"

"Tonight, are we still going to go through with this?"

"There's no backing out now. You've just got jitters about this."

"Can't we go to the cops or something?"

"Oh sure that would look great. I can see headlines now… 'Under ground Drug Lords Scared!' Where's your head at?"

Reluctantly, I headed back upstairs. With anyone else, I would have kept the argument going. Things with Jay were different. He was dirty; he knew how to scare someone. It was strange; he had some force over me. I was like his pet. He knew how to talk and I was jealous of that.

I didn't want to admit it, but Jay was right. It was our job we had to do it. What was our job exactly? In the words of Jay, 'there are flaws and compromises in the American criminal justice system. It's our job to find them and work with them." No, we weren't terrorists! God, no! We were just fighting for the right of the people, that's all. We were just trying to help, I swear.

Author's Note: Things may seem a bit awkward now, but explanations are coming. :)