Chapter Nine

Just a Pack of Cards

Edward's POV

Forty-seven days later...

"..okay...I can do this...I've got to do this...this is for Jasper...this is for me and Jasper...so we can be together...this is for...everything he means to me...after this..." I spoke aloud to myself in my parked silver Volvo S60R, staring through the windshield of my SUV at the federal prison a little ways off where they were holding my beloved angel, the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

I heaved another great sigh, my hands gripping the steering wheel strenuously hard as I repeated such words over and over inside my head, knowing that all my previous planning to do what I was thinking was truly in a state of being 'now or never.'

Everything was set up perfectly, all of my in and outs having been worked tirelessly through by me over the weeks, and now it was time to execute it all.

Also, if I was being totally honest with myself, in one of the far corners of my mind, the words of such a revelation having only been a tiny whisper at the time...I had known that I would have ended up in this same, exact position from the moment my team of FBI agents and I had captured Jasper back in Nizhny Novgorod.

"God...I would give anything to go back there right now...back to that time when it was just me and him and nothing else mattered...I wasn't an FBI agent, and he trusted me completely..." I mentally lamented, frowning a bit before I steeled my jaw and lifted my gaze back up to look upon the grey, stone-walled prison just ahead.

"...I'm coming for you, sweetheart," I murmured to myself, my resolve having been re-energized ten-fold upon recalling my time alone with Jasper in Russia, how utterly captivating and enriching it had been for me, as I finally opened my car door and hauled myself out into the chilly, autumn air, pulling the long folds of my beige rain coat around me tighter.

X

Several minutes later, inside the grand prison foyer...

As I deliberately took my time in scrawling my name inside the appropriate text box in the visitor log, I seductively blinked my eyes up to the obviously staring receptionist while I moved my hand down to the second line on the sheet.

"My partner, Sam Uley, is on his way...he should be here any minute..." I spoke smoothly to her, turning my head around briefly to cast my eyes towards the glass doors of the entrance, before turning my softened, most charming gaze back upon her, "...so I'm just going to jot his name down with mine."

"...n-no problem," the smitten woman uttered upon hearing my low, gravel-laden tone with her, my voice and eyes kept falsely personal with her so she would not mind such a thing taking place, as I smirked at her agreeing words before setting the pen down and proceeding further into the prison.

"...okay...that went well...just keep it cool, take it slow..." I mentally sang to myself, needing the constant stream of my own words of consolation to make sure I maintained all aspects of my professional facade to these people whom I passed and spoke with, as I approached the cell block guardsmen standing at attention.

"FBI, here on business," I stated curtly, recognizing one of the guards from when I had visited here before, as I made quick work of fishing out my leather badge and opening it up for them to see.

"Right this way," one of the guards said in a bored tone, neither of them even spending too much time looking over my credentials, as I tucked away my badge back inside the inner-breast pocket of my rain coat.

The outer gate was unlocked and I was able to pass through down the first of the many blocks making up the majority of this first, main building, the one where they were holding Jasper.

The barred windows were located high above my head along the walls, offering obscured rays of sunlight to angle across the barren, plain walls, as I passed cell after cell, barely bothering to cast my eyes into any of them as I kept my gaze directly ahead.

My breathing picked up in an instant, my whole body feeling jittery and excited, ecstatic beyond words that I was on my way to securing the rest of my life, but frightened beyond imagination at what I was about to do, as I deftly pulled out my cell phone from one of the large pockets of the beige coat.

Briefly, as my thumb hovered over the number one key on my phone to initiate my process, my mind rigorously recalled the steps I had taken that had lead up to this point.

Three weeks ago, I had begun designing plans of corrupting a private line of telephone service that would instantaneously dial every, single number as well as jam all surveillance feeds taking place inside this prison facility for a window of about seven minutes.

A week and a half ago, I had hacked into their server and programmed such a function to happen with a press of a button from the pre-paid cell phone I now clutched in my hand.

It would make for a perfect distraction, a moment of swirling chaos to happen at just the right time so that no one would be able to keep track of who came in and who went out, which I desperately needed as I closed in on the one cell I had had my eyes on since stepping through the gate.

I hit the button on my cell phone and then broke out into a run towards Jasper's cell.

Almost immediately, there was an uproar of commotion, as countless telephones rang all at once, demanding attention even though there was only static to be heard on each line, but I paid the expected occurrence little mind as I hurriedly grabbed onto a few of the iron bars of the cell, not needing to catch my breath but needing to stop my racing body.

"Edward?" Jasper gasped in startled shock, flinging himself off of his cot and rushing over to me, his eyes wide and his senses on full alert as he watched as I quickly jammed a copper molding of a skeleton key into the lock on his door.

"Jasper, I need you to get back inside...there isn't much time..." I huffed as it took quite a lot of my arm strength to overpower the mechanisms inside the lock so that the catch, as well as the copper in my hands, broke, and the door swung open.

I burst inside of Jasper's dim cell, my heart wanting to gather my blonde-haired angel in my arms at once but I forced myself to refrain from the sheer volume of adrenaline as well as my screaming sense of impending danger currently plaguing me, as I tore off my heavy rain coat and began untying the tie from around my neck.

"...what are you doing?" Jasper asked me, worry and frantic confusion spiking his voice, as he knitted his eyebrows together at the way I tossed my black tie down onto the floor so I may begin shedding off the double layer of clothes I was wearing.

Jasper's eyes widened as he saw me wearing another white dress shirt underneath the one I had just taken off and was now throwing at him.

"I need you to change into these, baby...right now," I spoke quickly but softly to him, my words setting my Russian into motion as he began unbuttoning and shrugging off his orange jumpsuit from his body, seeming to know right away exactly what I was implying.

Neither one of us spoke in the small time it took for me to take off said articles of clothing from my own frame, as I handed him a pair of black slacks, tie, as well as my black suit jacket, knowing that I should keep wearing the raincoat that the people at the front of the building had already seen on me.

Lastly, just as Jasper was finishing sliding his other arm into the sleeve of my jacket, I reached inside my beige raincoat and pulled at the hidden pocket which I had sewn together the night prior, parting the material from itself as I yanked out the lone item I had stored inside.

"Here...put this on..." I mumbled even though it was me who was wrestling the wig of short-styled, black hair onto Jasper's curly head, tucking his lengthy tresses up into the wig before using my fingers to smooth down the fake hair now topping his head and making him look like a completely different person.

"You're good...? Are you good...?" I asked Jasper as he straightened the cuffs of his jacket sleeves, casting my emboldened eyes directly into his as he nodded urgently at my questions.

I noticed most of the commotion outside had stopped, the phones having stopped ringing even though I could hear many people speaking on the devices now, exclaiming their confusion and complaints to some poor soul on the other line, as the prison workers demanded answers for the abrupt chaos.

"Let's go...follow my lead and don't say anything," I instructed Jasper who nodded wordlessly at me once more, letting me know with the strength I could see in his jaw, the determination set in his beautiful eyes, that he truly was ready...ready to leave out of here...ready to be with me like I wanted to be with him.

Side by side, partially feigned and partially real confidence in our long strides down the cell block and towards the bustling main area, where we were able to see several people continuing to go this way and that and they attempted to diagnose what had caused such an odd intrusion to their systems.

"...Uley, we need to start setting up multiple perimeters. We need to seek out any and all locations where this fucker could have sent out a signal to make this happen..." I rambled on to Jasper's stone-faced expression, making it seem like he and I had been in deep conversation about the incident that had taken place, as he and walked briskly across the marble flooring of the foyer.

"Hm," Jasper nodded curtly to me, keeping his eyes hardened and a bit narrowed as he played along perfectly whilst we navigated away from the reception area and towards the double glass doors.

My stomach fluttered wildly as I saw Jasper and my reflections in the glass ahead of us as we drew closer to the outside world, my ears hearing avidly to how more guards jogged directly by us, completely passing the one person who was responsible for it all.

I smirked as I ducked my head down, reaching my hand out and pulling open the glass door, allowing Jasper to walk out in front of me as I took a fraction of a second just to marvel at him.

As if walking in slow motion in my vision, Jasper walked out into the crisp, dewy air, clad in his sharp black suit and wig to disguise his true identity from everyone else in this country, as he stood still on the sidewalk for a moment, merely taking in his newly found freedom that had to feel as electric as it was rejuvenating to his soul, his thoughts and clear loud to me in this intense moment.

I smiled as the door closed behind me, my eyes still trained on Jasper as I stepped to his side, casting him a stealthy side-look until I caught his heavy-hearted attention as well, my angel having to take deep breaths.

Silently but no longer in fear, the both us walked away from the prison and across the parking lot towards my car, me feeling lighter than I had in years, happier than I had in my whole life... feeling everything I knew being Jasper would make me feel.

Excited to be alive, ready to shout to the heavens the joy I was feeling from being in love and finally having all of it within my grasp, I opened the passenger side door to my Volvo for Jasper, not missing the small smile adorning his precious lips as he obligingly stepped passed me and climbed inside.

I closed the door, favoring the blissful quiet that was outside at this early morning hour, the overcast skies providing me an exquisite calm in which, as I let my eyes roam over this dreary area of the city one last time, I knew I would never forget this day.

Just the same, I was ready to start tomorrow with Jasper now by my side.

Author's Note: Woo hoo! Next chapter is going to be a good one! XD Cheers to all and keep the awesome reviews coming please! Thanks a bunch!