The Undercover Bad Boy

Chapter Thirty-Three: 3:02 am

"I believe so," I replied uncertainly as a waitress came to hand me a cup of steaming coffee.

We were currently seated in the corner of a coffee shop. As I watched my new friends, I couldn't help but dwell on Carl's words the previous day. This was definitely one strange trio.

Jimmy laced his fingers together. "Right," he began, "so phase one; track Zach's location – can I point out that that is another battle in itself."

The left side of Carl's mouth upturned. "I already got his location." He pulled out his phone, opened an app and then looked up at us with a satisfied expression. "He is currently downtown as we speak."

Jimmy revealed his perfect set of teeth as a boyish grin graced his features once again. "Hot damn," he said, looking sincerely impressed.

Carl's smirk dropped into a small, gratified smile. He then frowned. "Or his phone is downtown," he added quietly.

"Phase two; observe what he is up to. Phase three; Alex will drive sense into him and return him back to normal."

"That's in case he actually is doing something wrong," I corrected him.

"Let's be real here, he most likely is doing something wrong."

"Okay, but-"

Carl silenced us with a wave of his hand. "Children, stop bickering. I'm trying to enjoy my coffee."

The aim of today was to find out what was going on with Zach. More importantly, I needed to know if he was okay because, despite everything, I cared about him profoundly. The cuts and bruises I had seen on his skin were telling me otherwise.

I hadn't told anyone about the voicemail I received last night – I didn't want to share it with anyone, it felt too private. I also couldn't trust his intoxicated words and I wouldn't allow them to get to me.

Though they did.

I sipped my hot drink, ignoring the scalding sensation on my tongue. Something that Jimmy had said didn't sit right with me; 'return him back to normal'. This was normal for Zach. He was the definition of a mystery. A contradiction. Unstable. Unpredictable. Wild.

Being Zachary Edwards, the student who maintained exceptionally high grades, was not really, well, him. No matter what he tried, regardless of his preppy sweaters and his glasses, his true self would always slip through; a smirk, his aura. There was always a resemblance to the old Zach in everything he did or said.

The deeper I thought about it, the more I realised. Zachary was only an illusion. He wasn't real. He was a character that Zach used as an easy way to abandon his past and start again. He stood for everything Zach wished to be.

This then raised the question; was I only apart of Zachary's life and not Zach's?

"Al, are you alright?" Jimmy asked, snapping me back to reality. "You've been staring at that donut for a while now."

***

It was a few hours later after our coffee date. Dark grey clouds blanketed the navy sky above. I was exiled to the backseat of Jimmy's Cadillac with Carl replacing me in the passenger side. As per usual, Jimmy was driving, seated comfortably on the leather. Carl had transformed into a human GPS as he directed Jimmy to Zach's ever changing location. Our plan was in place.

We had been in the car for a good half an hour, waiting for Zach to remain in one place long enough for us to find out what he was up to. He had been hopping around bars and clubs in the bad side of town. By that point, I had lost hope that his intentions were anything positive.

The time had just turned 11:00 pm. Though none of us spoke it, all three of us were conscious that we had to wake up early for school tomorrow.

"Take a shortcut through here," Carl said, pointing at a dark, desolate alleyway that screamed 'you shouldn't enter here because it looks like a place you'd get shot'. "Cut the lights."

"You better know what you're doing, Leighton," Jimmy replied as he switched of the headlights.

"Don't call me that," Carl muttered under his breath.

We emerged out the other side of the alleyway, thankfully, bullet free.

"He's somewhere in there," Carl said as the car came to a halt.

In front of us was a large, dodgy looking nightclub, illuminating the gloomy winter night with intense neon lights and signs. Loud music was blasted through speakers inside the building. Crowds of people were entering and exiting the building – this made me incredibly anxious.

I had no idea how we were going to find Zach.

------

A/N: Hi guys, I am alive. I will try finish the book this summer but it all depends on how busy I am. 

Thanks for sticking with it. 

Song for chapter is I Walk The Line by Halsey