Chapter 27 – Something Very Not Right
Kelsey? What could Kelsey possibly be doing here? Their last interaction hadn’t gone very well and Alex thought she was upset with him for infiltrating her date.
“Alex?” Kelsey’s voice sounded different, too. That was that. But then again, they hadn’t spoken to one another in a while but then again, Alex spends a lot of his time listening to the voices of people. But it still sounded like Kelsey, sort of.
Deciding that he needed to get another cup of coffee, he answered. “Yeah.” He told her. “Just wait. I’ll come down.”
“I know the way up.” Kelsey answered.
“I know.” Alex said. “Just wait.”
Without waiting for an answer, he hung up. When he looked back up, his team was looking at him with curious eyes. “Kelsey’s downstairs.” He said, answering their unspoken question.
“I thought she was hanging with Chris, today.” Dylan spoke up first. “She’s always with Chris these days. At least, that’s what Rona tells me.”
Alex didn’t like the Chris guy. He wanted to say it was because there was something about the guy that tingled his cop instincts, but that wasn’t true. It was because Chris was spending way too much time around Kelsey and Alex knew he didn’t like it.
Shay was a little more direct in her approach. “Why is she here?” She didn’t sound resentful, though. Just curious.
“I don’t know.” Alex responded, honestly. The same question was in his mind, too. “She didn’t tell me she was going to be coming here.”
“Well, why don’t you go get her, then?” Shay suggested. “Talk to her. Ask her why she’s here. Maybe she has something important to tell you. Besides,” She added with an almost snide tone. “This might be the longest you’ve avoided meeting her, otherwise, when she calls, you always go running.”
“That’s because she always gets herself into trouble. She has a bad habit of trusting people.” Alex answered. He couldn’t believe it. They were talking about Kelsey at work. Over the past week, she had become an almost taboo topic. Now, she was being mentioned so blatantly.
“Maybe she’s in trouble?” Erik suggested. “Maybe that’s why she’s here.”
“You’re right.” Alex agreed. “I should go see what she has to say. Besides, if she’s here, she’s safe for now. I’ll go see what she’s got to say.”
“Bring her up.” Shay said. “I need to talk to her, too.”
Hearing Shay’s words, Alex hesitated. He knew that Kelsey and Shay weren’t each other’s favorite people. But then again, he knew he could count on both off them to behave like mature adults, so he gave his associate a firm nod. “Okay.”
As Alex left the room, he suddenly felt apprehensive. Kelsey was here. After his behavior on Saturday, what could she possibly want to tell him? What if she wanted to tell him to stay away from her from now on?
He knew that she had loved coming to Dana’s wedding. It wasn’t an official date but it had definitely meant something to her. He also knew that Nina’s words had bothered her. They had bothered him, for sure, because Nina was right. He was evasive. But still, somehow, Kelsey had become important to him, and not just for the case.
She had made her way into his life. The shy, sensible girl had changed him, somehow. He felt the change, but he couldn’t identify it. He felt the same, yet different at the same time. He’d never felt the way he did when he’d seen her with Chris. He knew what it was: jealousy. He had been trying to deal with it, since. Coming to work diverted his mind from her, but every time he saw Kara’s face, Kelsey flashed into his mind.
When the elevator doors opened, he instantly saw her. She wasn’t facing him, but he would recognize that blonde mop on her head, anywhere. She was standing in the same spot where Alex had seen her and Kara together for the first time.
“Kelsey?” He spoke.
She jumped at the sound of his voice, but didn’t turn around. Then, she took a deep breath, as if she was gathering the courage to do something, and Alex was afraid of what it might be. Then, she finally turned around.
As soon as her eyes met his, Alex couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Something was missing. Something wasn’t right. “Hello Alex.” She spoke with the politeness that he would expect from Kelsey. That was when he realized what was wrong. The warmth that defined Kelsey wasn’t there.
She must really be upset with him.
Alex decided to skip the formalities. “Why are you here?” He asked, giving her a pointed look.
Kelsey almost squirmed under his close gaze. “We needed to talk.” She said, her eyes meeting Alex’s. “I don’t like the way things ended between us, and I wanted to sort it out.”
“I’m busy right now.” The words fell out of Alex’s mouth and he had no idea what he was saying or why he was saying it. Why was he not treating her the way he normally did?
“I can wait.” Kelsey said, hope seeping into her voice. “I just want to talk to you, Alex.” So, they were on a first name basis, again?
“Come with me.” He finally told her. She went through security, having everything on her examined, while Alex watched her, trying to figure out what was wrong. They went through the lobby towards the elevator in silence, but Alex could sense Kelsey’s eyes on him. He couldn’t bring himself to turn around and face her.
“I’m sorry.” Kelsey said as they waited by the elevator. “I have commitment issues. I mean, I think I wasn’t ready for how fast things were happening between us.”
“I wasn’t ready for it, either.” Alex responded, his suspicions growing by the second. “In fact, I don’t think I still am.”
“I’m willing to wait, now.” Kelsey said, her eyes focused on Alex. “I really am sorry for what happened before, but I’ve realized that….” She hesitated, and Alex wondered what she wanted to say. “Alex, I love you.”
Just then, the elevator beeped and the doors opened. The passengers inside emerged and walked between Kelsey and Alex. Alex kept his eyes focused on her, but she wouldn’t meet his. She stared at the ground. Shit…She loved him? When had that happened? She was with Chris three days ago. What had possibly happened that she suddenly loved him?
Finally, the elevator emptied out and Kelsey stepped inside, followed by Alex. As soon as the doors closed, Alex realized he had to say something. “You can't keep coming here like this.” He finally said. “I could get in trouble. “
Suddenly, Kelsey’s eyes flashed. “I came here to tell you something important and you don’t have anything to say about that? Alex, I just told you I loved you. If you don’t love me back, you can at least say it to my face.”
Alex was speechless. Since when had Kelsey become so straight-forward? Well, she was always straight-forward, but not like this. Right now, Alex felt like Kelsey was confronting him. But then again, she also told him she loved him. Was she feeling okay? “I’m sorry.” Alex said. “But, I can't tell you that I love you, too.” He paused. “I’m sorry.” He apologized again.
“This is my fault.” She said. “Sorry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here unannounced like this. I just suddenly had to tell you, you know? You’re probably busy, too. I should go.” She made a move towards the elevator, probably to hit the button for the ground floor, but Alex grabbed her hand.
“No, wait.” He said. Then, as an excuse for his action, he added, “We really do need to talk.”
Alex couldn’t explain the wave of nervousness that briefly flashed through Kelsey’s face, but if he wasn’t an expert at reading and noticing expressions, he would have convinced himself that he’d imagined it. Immediately, Kelsey gave him a firm nod. “Yes.” She said. “Yes, we do.”
“I’m sorry about Nina.” He said, as the elevator continued up its path. “I know I never properly apologized about what happened, but I’m sorry you had to deal with her.”
Kelsey met Alex’s eyes with hesitation. “It wasn’t your fault. She wasn’t that bad.”
“You’re kidding right?” Alex asked. “You don’t need to be so nice about her, Kelsey. I mean, I dated her. I know what she was like and she was scary. When I was with her, I felt like even my gun wouldn’t protect me.”
Kelsey smiled. “Why are you bringing that up right now?” She asked, kind of nervously. “I mean, are you trying to ignore the fact that I’m in love with you? If you don’t love me back, you should tell me, Alex. I mean, I’m only here because I wanted to get it off my chest and I wanted you to know how I felt. I didn’t expect you to love be back only because I’m in love with you.”
Alex didn’t know what to say. Maybe Kelsey was right. He was trying to disengage the topic. She’d come here to suddenly and now she was telling him she was in love with him. He didn’t know what to say about it. This wasn’t something he was ready to face right now, and he should just tell that to Kelsey. “You’re right.” He told her. “I’m trying to change the topic.”
“Why?”
“Because what you said was true. I don’t love you and I don’t think you can love me in so little time.” Alex told her. “You’re a smart girl. You’ll figure it out.”
Just then, the elevators opened and Alex stepped out, expecting Kelsey to follow him out. It took her a second, but she did eventually step out. She looked slightly flustered and taken aback, as if she didn’t expect Alex to react the way he had.
But Kelsey knew what it was like from the start. Alex thought he’d made it clear to her that he couldn’t be involved with her right now, especially with Rocha on the loose and she’d agreed with him. In fact, she’d agreed that they needed space. It was the closest thing to a break-up when you weren’t actually even in a relationship. They’d barely interacted, since. Surely she hadn’t assumed that Alex had come to training just to see her, even if it was true.
Alex would expect Kelsey to want to figure out where they stood before dropping the bomb on him the way she did. It was so unlike her. Was she okay?
She did look flustered so maybe it was…impulsive? Had something happened that Alex didn’t know about?
The officer that he’d put in charge of watching Kelsey was doing his job. He followed her wherever she went and gave Alex a schedule at the end of the day. Kelsey cleared her throat from behind him and he turned around to look at her.
“Okay,” She finally said. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t want to tell you that yet. I wanted to know how things were. I wanted to clarify things. That just slipped out. Can we start over? Can we pretend I didn’t say that?”
Alex gave her a strange look. She was behaving normally, but there was something off in her attitude, and Alex couldn’t place it. Before he got a chance to analyze her any more than he already had, Shay approached them with a formal smile on her face, and not a friendly one. Alex guessed that Shay might not be the most buddy-buddy with Kelsey, but he was glad that the two women didn’t have too much animosity between them.
“Hello Kelsey,” Shay said, as friendly as she could. “It’s nice to see that you’ve stopped by.”
“It’s nice to see you, too.” Kelsey responded with a smile on her face. Alex thought she looked oddly nervous for a conversation with Shay. Then again, maybe Kelsey wasn’t completely comfortable around Shay, yet.
“How are things?”
“Um, okay? I mean, I haven’t been to work in almost a week. I kind of miss it. It’s hard to imagine that I would actually miss grading all those papers, but I do!” She said with a shrug.
“Uh, okay, then. I’ll see you around.” Shay furrowed her eyebrows slightly in confusion and Alex could tell that even his partner was slightly taken aback by Kelsey’s overly bright attitude. He recalled when he’d first spoken to Kelsey about Witness Protection and she was furious. At least, she seemed to be doing a little better now. Maybe she finally understood where Alex was coming from.
Once Shay was gone, Alex turned to Kelsey. “Are you still mad at me?” He asked. At her confused expression, he elaborated. “About earlier?”
“I wasn’t happy about it.” She said. “But we have to get over it, don’t we?”
“I’m sorry I pressured you, but you have to understand that I wanted to protect you. That sister of yours doesn’t care about you. You know that. She tried to shoot you.” Kelsey flinched, and Alex realized that he might have been a little too crude.
“She did want to shoot me.” She said with a hint of remorse. “You know, sometimes, I wish we were a little closer. Then, maybe none of this would have happened.”
“You don’t need to feel bad, Kelsey. You’ve got nothing to regret. Your sister made foolish decisions and because of her choices, she’s going to end up behind bars when we get her and we will get her, so don’t blame yourself for anything.” Alex assured her. “It’s not your fault your sister grew up to be a bitch.”
“Hey!” Kelsey exclaimed in protest. Then, she quickly recomposed herself. “Don’t call my sister that. It’s an offensive term.”
“You hate her, remember?” Alex asked, eying Kelsey suspiciously. He thought it was weird for her to defend her sister after everything Kara had put her through.
“She’s still my sister.” She said with a sigh.
Yes, she was still her sister and that worried Alex. He’d briefly thought that Kelsey had come to terms with the fact that her sister was a backstabbing, selfish, rogue bitch, but apparently something had happened which made her not hate her sister as much as Alex thought she did. Weird.
Maybe it was the fact that he took her to Dana’s wedding. Alex knew that his sisters, even Gabby, were close to one another. Maybe, seeing their closeness, Kelsey felt a little nostalgic about what she couldn’t have anymore.
“You made your choice.” He finally said. “It’s not the easiest choice, the one that you made, but you made it and you know it’s the right one because your sister is wrong.”
Kelsey’s voice was empty when she responded. “I know.”
But she couldn’t bring herself to completely believe it and that irked Alex more than it should have. Alex wasn’t a big movie fan. He occasionally picked up a book, though, and he felt like the whole plot was twisting. Something changed and he couldn’t put his finger on it.
Something about Kelsey changed and he realized that the feelings that he’d convinced himself that he didn’t have for her really weren’t there. She didn’t make him feel the way she used to anymore, and Alex had no idea why. She seemed more…distant. Detached.
Maybe she felt the same way he did. Maybe she wasn’t interested in him anymore. No, she just told him that she loved him. What if she didn’t? What if she was in love with Chris, now? Alex didn’t know the man very well other than the fact that he’d been in the army. Or navy. Maybe in the marines. Alex wasn’t sure.
But ever since he’d gone to meet Kelsey and found her with him, she wasn’t as interested in him anymore. Alex knew why. Chris was better looking. He was even white. Alex did have a fair share of women interested in him, including Shay who was without a doubt beautiful. But Alex didn’t want Shay. He didn’t even want Kelsey anymore. He wanted the Kelsey she used to be, but wasn’t anymore. Mi dios. He was losing it. That didn’t even make sense anymore. He didn’t understand, but he wanted to, because there was something very wrong here. Something big had changed and he wouldn’t be a goddamn FBI agent if he didn’t want to know what it was. He had to know, now. It was firmly rooted in him—the need to know.
He didn’t know what he was doing. He didn’t know what was going on. But yes, there was one thing he needed to know. Something in Kelsey’s attitude had changed and Kelsey was going to tell him what it was.
“What are you thinking about?” Kelsey’s voice broke into his thoughts. That was another thing. She sounded far sweeter than she normally did. It was like she was trying way too hard to impress him. He’d seen other women do it, especially Nina Sanchez, but he couldn’t understand why Kelsey was doing it.
“Just a case.” He responded, absent-mindedly.
“Is it about Caleb?” She asked with a fresh wave of intrigue and interest. “Have you got him?”
“Why don’t you wait in the break room?” He responded, instead. “I need to go talk to Shay right now. We’ll discuss what we have to discuss later.”
She looked disappointed, and like she wanted to fight it. But she took a deep breath and then let it out. “Okay.”
“Good.” Alex waited for her to make a move. Finally, she blinked and turned around, in the opposite direction of the break room. “Kelsey?”
She froze, before slowly turning around. “Yeah?”
“Break room’s that way.” He pointed in the correct direction. Her eyes widened as she followed the direction he was pointing in and an embarrassed smile appeared on her face.
“Oh, yeah.” She brushed past Alex and headed in the direction of the break room. Alex watched her retreating figure with confusion.
Something was very wrong here.
Here's another update for you guys! I know this chapter was a little cold, but in the next one, you'll be reunited with Kelsey---oops! Did I just give that away? My bad.
But you're smart readers, so you already figured out that Kelsey did get kidnapped. But by whom? I guess that part's kind of obvious, too.
The next chapter is called "In Captivity"
Do you guys think Alex will be able to figure out that Kelsey's not Kara? He's suspicious, but he's not sure. Besides, if Kelsey can pretend to be Kara and (somewhat) succeed, Kara is the more devious twin. Can she pull it off? To everyone else? Yes. To Alex? Hm....
The forshadowing for this incident has been happening since the very beginning. It's finally here. Once we hit the climax, the story will come to an end. There's at least ten more chapters, but they're all planned out, as well as the ending.
I've got a plan for the sequel, too. I'll post it once I finish this story.
Keep voting, commenting and most importantly, keep reading!!