My Undercover Life | ✓

Chapter 45

As if he knew what I was thinking, he started to open his mouth, when Mimi's voice cut him off.

"We're here," she said, pointing to a door that was directly behind the staircase. "She's in there sleeping."

"Thank you, Mimi." I smiled and she beamed back at me. Her toothy grin only made round cheeks fuller, her eyes wide with laughter.

As we made our way to her nanny's room, she stayed glued to her spot in the middle of the living room, letting us in first. When we headed inside, we saw a large lump lying under the covers. Seeing the empty bottle of pills on the side of the bed, I saw a flash in corner of my eye. Al was gone in an instant, reappearing next to the bed.

He ripped the sheets away from her body, uncovering a woman in her mid-thirties. She was laying face down, while her limbs were tangled up in a weird angle underneath her. If it wasn't for the fact that her chest was moving up and down every few seconds, I would've thought she was dead.

Snatching the pills off the table, Al twisted the cap. He gave the bottle a good look and forcefully twisted the cap back on.

His face was beat red; the veins in his neck more visible. "The bastard gave her eszopiclone."

I stared at him. "Um . . . isn't that just a sleeping pill?"

"Not when she took over four milligrams worth of eszopiclone. She's completely impaired right now."

My heart pounded in my chest. "Shit. You don't think—"

"—I don't just think Avery, I know,"—He pointed to the pager underneath his shirt—"He wasn't kidding when he said he planned this."

I bit my lips, as I stared at the ground. Asher's voice rang in my head. Don't think you're fucking lucky either. Everything was planned.

Everything was planned . . . wait—does that mean? Fuck! The kid!

Ignoring the puzzling look Al was giving me, I turned around only to find Mimi missing. Rushing out of the room, I breathed out a sigh of relief when I saw her standing in the same spot we'd left her. Her head was hung low, as she played with the rug underneath her feet. She was drawing random patterns with her foot, but when she saw me, she stopped what she was doing.

"Did you talk to her?" she asked, completely unaware of the fact that her Nanny was drugged.

Ignoring her question, I walked up to her. Kneeling down in front of her, I took her hands in mine. She looked at me weirdly.

"Sweetie, are you sick?" I asked.

She tilted her head at me—her blonde locks covered her eye. "No."

"Then shouldn't you be at school right now?"

"Asher said to stay home . . ."

I turned my face away from her. I fucking knew it! He even planned that!? How the fuck did he know all of this? Breathing calmly, I forced the smile back on my face. "Did he ever mention why you had to stay home today?"

She shook her head. "He just say he needed me to be here."

"Gotcha," I said, mostly to myself. "Do you know if you're Nanny was sick this morning?"

"Yeah," she answered immediately. "Asher took care of her!"

I almost wanted to roll my eyes at that. Take care of her my ass. "Thanks, Sweetie for the information." I patted her head, getting up. "Tell Asher, I'll be seeing him soon."

"Okay!" she exclaimed.

"And make sure to wake your Nanny up later, kid," Al said, popping up. His back leaned against the doorframe.

"Okay," she repeated, but this time, more quieter.

I faced Al. "Come on, we need to go back home before Mom gets worried."

I saw the fraction of a grin, as he moved away from the wall. "Sure thing daughter of mine."

He went out the door first—making sure nothing was going to jump out at us—as I tagged along.

I said goodbye to Mimi as the door closed shut. Giving the area one last look, we headed back to where Demitri's van was parked. Demitri's van stood parked on the side of the road—hidden behind a big bush.

Getting into the van quickly, we didn't even have time to buckle our seat belts before the vehicle took off.

"Now that we're certain the killer is Asher, we need to formulate a plan to capture him."

I turned to Demitri. "What about Annemarie?"

"If we get Asher, we'll get Annemarie too."

"But our main priority right now is Asher," Skylar chimed in. "Did he ever send you the address?"

I looked at Al sitting right next to me. "Anything?"

Al fished out the pager from his waist belt. Tossing it to me, it landed on my lap. Seeing no new messages on the screen, I slammed my hand against my knee.

"How the fuck am I supposed to meet you if you don't send me the stupid address?" I asked, looking at the damn object.

"Calm down Lily," Demitri advised. "We can't get—"

"—No," I argued back. "I can't calm down. Don't you get it? My family and friends are in danger because of me! If I don't do exactly what he says, he'll go after my siblings and my parents! And Isabella—she might be pregnant! If she is, I can't let her unborn child get hurt! And what about Megan? What if Annemarie is planning something, and is going to hurt her too? I can't let her get hurt! She's been my best friend since we were nine years old! If she gets hurt, I don't know what I'll—"

"—Lily!" I closed my mouth hearing Al call my name for the first time. "No one is going to hurt your loved ones. I'm sure Demitri and Skylar already sent out guards to protect your friends, right?" Al glanced at my cousins.

They both nodded, as grins appeared on their faces. "As soon as we saw that message, we sent guards to protect your parents and Dennis. We called our forces in Pennsylvania and upstate New York to guard your siblings and their family. We're also making sure Megan, Hunter and Ian are being followed."

I looked at Skylar. "But what about Hunter's sibling? They might go after her too."

"We have Monroe High covered too," Skylar told me. "Like we said, we're covered. Plus, from our camera feed, it doesn't look like Annemarie or Asher went to school this morning."

"They didn't?" I leaned towards Skylar, trying to glance at the video screen. "Then where the hell are they?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out, but—"

"—shit, hold your thought," I shouted, feeling the vibrations in my hands. "I think I'm getting a message."

Both Skylar and Al paused what they were doing and looked at me. When I didn't say anything for a few seconds, Demitri was the one who spoke first. "Well, what does it say?"

I bit my tongue, trying not to say anything. Taking a deep breath, I slowly lifted my fingers away from the screen to see Asher's message.

I'm at 1270 S. River Union Street. You have until six PM tomorrow to find me otherwise your precious Bradlee gets shot in the head. I'll be looking forward to your visit, dear sweet Lily of mine. Bye for now ;)