"Where's my shoes?"
"They're here Cara!" Nava tells me as she throws a pair of high heels at me. I catch them and put them immediately.
Currently, it's absolute chaos here at the safe house. Everyone is running around and, I think, completely losing their minds. We're supposed to be infiltrating a fashion show right now, but, it's not going well.
With so little time and such a precise operation, I think we are all starting to feel the pressure a little bit. And not to mention this is going to be the first time in twelve years that I'm going to be shown to the public. This means that I have to look good. No pressure at all.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Can I have your attention, please? We're going to be heading out in ten minutes. So, please get your heads back on straight and get to your assigned position. Backup team, do you know where you guys are supposed to be?" They all give Mia a short nod. "Talia, Carolina and I are going to do most of the work. You are there to assist us should we need it. Or if things get ugly. Hopefully, it doesn't get to that. Nava, Chloe and Zachary, you will stay here. Once this is over, we'll likely need every one of you to help with the press. This is a very big situation, and will only escalate. Lastly, agent Morrison, you're coordinating with agents Carson and Steel, correct?"
"Yes, ma'am." Agent Morrison replies to Mia. "So far everything is on track."
"Keep me informed."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Cara," Mia says, turning to me. "Are you ready to get going?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," I tell her and go wait with Talia.
Just as we are about to leave, Zach stops Mia.
"I want to be able to talk to my parents before you guys take them and lock them away forever. I need an explanation from them." He asks her.
"Of course. We'll come to get you when they're in custody." Mia tells him and ushers the rest of us out the door.
I guess I never really thought about how hard this was for Zach. I've only really thought about myself, which sounds horrible, but it's true. I'm going to help him get his life back in order. After all of this is over, I mean.
In the car on the way to the show, all three of us are kind of tense. Mia's driving, Talia's going over building blueprints and finding back up plans for any potential escape. And me? I'm rehearsing the lines I'm going to say. No one told me to write anything, but It's something I do to calm myself down. I do it so that when the time comes, something is planned and makes sense. Even if it's something as measly as a few sentences.
When we get to the show, the pressure really sets in. We walk to the back door, where Mia, obviously, takes charge. She pulls out some sort of ID, and we're escorted into the building. But we're not taken to the runway.
Rather, we are taken to a small room and told to wait.
An objectively beautiful woman rushes in not thirty seconds later.
"Mia!" She yells and hugs my friend.
"Hi, Nic!" Mia says, returning the hug. Then she turns to us and introduces the girl. "Guys, this is Nicole Veri, she's a model, obviously. Nic, this is Carolina York, and our acting bodyguard, Talia."
Obviously, she's a model. The girl is tall, as she should be, she has wavy blonde hair and absolutely perfect makeup. Everything about her clothes screams designer. She's gorgeous.
"Hi! It's a huge pleasure to meet you!" She says. She's probably the most enthusiastic person I've ever met, and that's saying something seeing as I've met Nava.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too," I say with a smile. Talia just nods, also smiling. But I know that both of those smiles are fake. Today is too tense and stressful for real smiles.
"Follow me. I'm taking you to your seats." Nicole tells us. She takes Mia by the hand as we exit the room, heading towards the elevator if I remember correctly.
"So Nic, how do you and Mia know each other?" I ask, trying to make conversation. It was getting a little bit awkward in the silence.
"That's really a funny story. Now, at least. Not back when it happened. When I first made it big in this career, people were unhappy and tried to kill me. Mia was sent to protect me and obviously, I'm safe now, so she did her job. We've stayed in contact. When she asked for help getting you guys in, of course, I said 'Yes". I owe her my life." Nic said with a smile directed at Mia.
"Aww, you're so sweet Nicky!" Mia exclaimed.
"Well, it's true. Now come on, I need to get you guys situated and head back backstage. I do need to walk the carpet after all." Nicole said with a wink.
I was pleasantly surprised that our seats were in the front row, near the very end of the runway. After getting over that fact, I was surprised that the surprise was pleasant. With my luck, everything tends to end up badly. If it isn't bad from the very start.
As soon as we sit down, the three of us begin immediately looking around for the Stevensons. But they seem to be nowhere to be found.
"This might be a problem for us," Mia says with a sigh.
"You think?" Talia says with a roll of her eyes.
"Well, that show is just about to start. There is an intermission in the middle of the show, mostly so that the models can change, but it will be useful for us to do some sleuthing."
"Are you even sure they will come? Like they know that the government is looking for them." I say.
"They will be her. The Stevensons are a special type of person. They hold their status above all else. Usually, that's problematic, but not today for us. They will be here if only to keep up appearances." Mia says with utmost confidence. And this is why I trust her. Because she trusts herself.
Just as she finishes saying that the lights turn off and the stage lights go on.
The first model starts walking when I see them. I go to tap Mia on the shoulder, but I see that she's already noticed.
They sit down right in front of us.
The next few minutes are the most intense of my life. I'm just glaring at the Stevensons who are sitting cross the aisle. And they're glaring back.
Mia is livid. And I can tell she's holding back from jumping over the runway and arresting them on the spot. I really applaud her self-control. I mean, it was likely them and their group who hired the person who stabbed Mia.
As soon as they announce the intermission, the world goes to hell.
Marianne stands up. And then she starts sprinting in one direction. Zachary II goes in the opposite direction. I see Talia and Mia look at one another out of the corner of their eyes. Then they're both off.
I see Talia reach Mr. Stevenson and jump on his back. I hear him yelling that he'll sue her if she ruins his suit or breaks his back. In that order. I guess I understand Mia when she said that they were a particular type of person.
Talia just rolls her eyes and trips him. He falls forward. If it weren't for Talia, he would have face planted. She stops him from hitting the row of chairs in front of him. She then pulls out some handcuffs, I make a mental note to ask her where she got them, and then she slaps them onto his wrists.
At that moment, someone taps me on the back. I lose a breath at that moment. Luckily, it turns out to only be a stagehand.
"Miss York, what is going on? Some people are panicking and asking why your partners are seemingly attacking the Stevensons." Oh, that was all. Suddenly I realized that I wasn't exactly old what to say in this situation. We had a plan, but I feel like things rarely actually go according to the plan in this group of friends. And, when we planned, it was never that extensive.
I took a deep breath and turned to him.
"Please don't worry about it. Everything is going exactly as it should be." said this with confidence. Like I've seen Mia do dozens of times beforehand. And It seems to have worked perfectly because the man just nodded and proceeded to pass on what I have told him to the other attendees of the show.
I decided that it would be best for me to let Mia announce to the world what really was going on with Zachry and Marrianne Stevenson.
At the same time, at the other end of the room, Mia was in an intense fight with the matriarch of the Stevenson family. I was honestly surprised that at her age, she could pull off half of what she was doing. Especially after her husband had been caught rather quickly.
Mia, being the martial arts goddess she is, was dodging Marianne as well as throwing punches of her own. What was really surprising me, however, was Marianne's ability to dodge and punch all the same. She was keeping up with her.
All while this was going on, people were coming up to me and asking what was going on. Most of the conversations began "Oh hello Carolina! I'm so glad you're okay. I'm so sorry about your parents. What in the world is going on?"
None of these people ever missed a beat. All the questions and sentiments in 5 seconds.
"This is a media project. More will be explained as soon as possible." This was the best excuse I could come up with. And it seems o have worked, seeing as a lot of the people who asked me just nodded and walked away. Well, that was easy.
At that time, Mia was finishing up with Marianne Stevenson. She had her handcuffed, and was calling someone. Most likely the backup waiting outside.
I found out my prediction was right when the agents come in and take Zach's parents from Mia and Talia. Mia then comes up to me.
"Hey, Cara. How are you holding up? We can stay here to finish watching the show, or we can go."
"Let's go. I need to be there for Zach." I tell Mia.
"Sure. By the way, what did all those people want?" Mia asks.
"They wanted to know why we were beating up the Stevensons. I told them it was a publicity stunt."
"Good excuse Cara. Let's go." Mia tells me as she pats me on the back. Talia is waiting for us as we head out. No one interrupts us as we walk out of the building, and for that, I am truly grateful.
We head straight to the Witness Protection building. In the car, on the way there, I am told that Zach was already taken there along with Clo and Nava. Oh boy.
Arriving there, the Stevensons are promptly taken into an interrogation room. Before anyone else is able to get a word in, Zach asks to have a word with his parents. No one denies him.
I'm not able to hear the conversation, but it seems to end a little bit too quickly. When he comes out, I start going up to him.
"I don't want to talk about it." He tells me and starts walking away.
Okay then.
*********************************
First Published January 5th 2020
Hey guys!
I can't believe this is the first chapter of the new year! This also means that I've been writing this book for 6 months now! SIX MONTHS!
Anyway, this is the Christmas/New Year/ Holidays Gift chapter I promised 2 weeks ago. I'm soooo sorry it is so late!
This chapter, as well as the next two, are all being published today. So, I really do hope you'll forgive me.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please consider giving it a vote and a comment if you think it deserves it.
Happy Holidays and Happy Reading!
Dani💙