Undercover - Chapter 24 and Epilogue

UNDERCOVER

Chapter 24: Crossfire

We had thirteen hours to organize our escape.

I had made up my mind and I would not back down.

Artem was worried about being caught by his father or one of his men.

That was a legit concern but I had another worry. A much bigger one.

The police would not let me go that easily.

After what I had discovered about Amber, I had absolutely no doubt that they were still keeping a close eye on me.

If I were to leave like that, I would have been followed for sure.

On Monday morning, I returned to my apartment after having disappeared for four days straight.

I had given the cops no news and I had no idea how much information they had.

What did they know about the shooting and Sam’s death?

I would find out soon enough.

I had a clear plan in my head, and this time, I was determined that it would go exactly the way as I thought it would.

If I pulled it off, I could both get Andriy arrested and run away with Artem.

The most important part of my master plan was to keep the cops and Andriy’s people busy at the exact same time.  

Only at that proper moment, no one would be around to check on Artem and I.

We had decided to meet an hour's drive north of San Antonio, where we would rent a car with fake IDs and fake driver licenses.

Artem was responsible for getting them. He knew a guy and I trusted him.

My boyfriend also had cash, a lot of it, large bags filled with dollar bills actually.

It was enough for us to live off of for a couple of years.

Our original plan was not to cross the border.

We would drive through the states, north to Montana where no one knew about us, and we would remain as discreet as possible.

Then, only when we would feel ready, we would travel to Canada.

It was a very simple plan but I believed in it.

No need for bullshit or for a show, we would get rid of our phones, we would get in a car with fake IDs and a whole lot of money, and we would make sure to stay off the radar.

If we could travel a few states without being sought, we would be okay.

First thing first, I had to find out if the police were indeed following me.

I was pretty sure they had people stationed near Artem's penthouse. I had seen a suspicious car when I had left.  

Back at my apartment, I immediately made a sign that I was asking for their help.

Until the very last moment, they needed to think that I was on their side.

Besides, I actually had important intel to give them. Since Sam’s death and since I knew about the content of the coolers, I wanted to have Andriy prosecuted.

Less than twenty minutes later, Peter was there, visibly tired and even more visibly worried about me.

“God damn it, you gave us the scare of our lives.” He told me.

He hugged me, which surprised me. Peter was not the sentimental type.

“I'm okay.”

“Are you? What about your leg, son?”

“How do you know about that?”

“We have cameras in here; you’ve been walking funny. Besides, we saw you enter Artem's building with crutches, about three days ago. Until then, we thought you were dead.”

Just like I thought, they were still spying on me.

It was the right call to come back to the apartment and to have this talk.

I had to convince Peter that I was really on their side so that they would not be suspicious.

“One of Andriy's guys pulled the bullet out of my hip.” I explained.

“Good God, Kyle, then you were shot. It's true.”

“Yeah… I got attacked with my partner by another gang, the Red Tigers.”

“Many deaths in their ranks since then… I mean, a few guys have vanished, we assume they’re dead.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised, Andriy was furious.”

Peter groaned.

“Let me take a look at that leg.”

I took off my pants and we kept talking while he checked the injury.

“That looks pretty clean. The guy who fixed that for you knew what he was doing.”

“Yeah, it was the one with the tattoo on his neck, Jansen. Apparently, he was a medic in the army or something.”

Peter looked satisfied with how my hip was healing.

“We’ll need to check that with an actual doctor, but you’re a lucky man, Kyle.”

“Lucky… If you say so.”

“You’re a full member of the gang now?”

“I think I am. They trust me, they think I'm one of them.”

“Okay, we’ll be careful but we’ll have to exfiltrate you ASAP. This is getting way too dangerous. Luck always runs out at some point.”

“I have more information to give you and more to take. I think I just need a few more hours.”

“I don't want another Amelia Bryant’s story. Too much blood has been spilled already. Tunegard is making you take inconsiderate risks. We need to call it off.”

“I'm fine. I survived! And I finally know when and where you can act.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s an opportunity, tonight. That's why I came back to the apartment and needed to talk to you. Andriy is planning to trick the Red Tigers. He has taken some hostages; he’ll kill them and take back the goods… Well, the freaking body parts! Did you know about that? The organ trafficking?”

He sighed.

“Yeah… We could not gather sufficient evidence though.”

“Well, it will be all there, at the docks, all the evidence you need. The Red Tigers are supposed to bring back the coolers in exchange of the hostages. Peter, if you do this right, you can catch them all tonight and avoid any more death.”

“Understood. Without hearing from you, we were planning to act sooner than later anyway.”

“Tomorrow, it'll be too late. Andriy will be in Mexico, Guadalajara.”

“Damn. That soon?”

“Yes. The plane is taking off in the morning.”

“Will he be leaving with his son?”

“Artem will follow him, yes. They want me to come with them, I pretended I was in on the plan.”

Peter stared at me.

He was trying to assess my sincerity.

He seemed sufficiently convinced. I had become a better actor.

“Okay. I need to let Tunegard know asap, we’ll set up a team immediately. What are your plans?”

“I’ll spend the evening with Artem, I’ll try to get him away from this bullshit happening at the docks. I’m not sure how he might react when he’ll learn his father got arrested.”

“You know we’ll have to arrest him as well, right? He’s been way too involved in his father’s business.”

“Of course, this is why I need to keep him very close! They all need to go behind bars. Each one of them.”

“Thank you, Kyle. This is…. This is great. You’ve done a fantastic job.”

“Now, we just have to catch those bastards!”

“And you just need to hang on for a few more hours. You'll be back to yourself soon, no more Ryan.”

He patted my shoulder.

I nodded yes.

“I can't wait.” I lied through my teeth.

And that was it for the first step of the master plan.

I gave the police the locations and all the details they needed to catch Andriy and his men, and Peter hurried off to pass on the information to his superiors.

That would get them off my back for a while.

I also had the perfect excuse to leave the apartment and join Artem later on.

I had told my boyfriend not to pass me any information on my phone.

I told him that our phones might be bugged by his father, when in reality, I was mostly concerned about the police accessing my messages.

We had designed our plan and discussed about our new identities for the better part of the night.

I personally had not slept at all; Artem had dozed off on my chest at some point.

I would be called Romeo Thompson.

Amber, if that was her real name, had once compared my relationship with Artem to Romeo and Juliet. I hoped the comparison would stop there.

I mean, Artem would be called Steven, so we would be fine. No need to have the same fate.

I also knew that I would have to shave my entire face to match the picture of the bald man on my new I.D.

I liked my hair a little longer lately, but I grabbed the trimmer and put it in my bag.

Artem would have to make a much bigger sacrifice since he would dye his beautiful blond hair dark.

I could not shave at home because the cameras were still there, filming me in every room.

I tried to appear as normal as possible, I had told Peter that I would leave at 5 p.m. so that I could spend the evening with Artem, which is exactly what I did.

Although I knew I was leaving forever.

I was worried for many reasons, one of which was that I had not talked to Artem since we made the plan to run away.

What if Artem had changed his mind?

What if he was not ready to give up his whole life, to betray his father?

Maybe he would realize that I was not worth such a drastic decision…

As I got into my car, I knew that a SWAT team was already circling the dock.

There were probably dozens of armed trained men for such a large-scale operation.

The Police Department had been on Andriy Kravchenko’s ass for years. It would be the catch of the decade. Chief Gordon was probably shitting his pants.

I drove for about an hour before I left the city.

Artem and I were supposed to meet at a random gas station up north. We had made it our rendezvous point.

I got there a little early, so I tried not to stress myself out when I did not see him.

He was supposed to go to the rental place himself and to arrive with a brand-new car at 6:30 p.m.

A black Ford F-Series, the most common vehicle in the United States.

We were not trying to do anything flashy or take any risks, we were just two regular guys driving across the country.

The gas station had restrooms where people could shower and change clothes. It was mostly used by truckers.

It cost five dollars to use.

I went in there, took a big breath, and I shaved my head.

I also threw my cell phone in a trash bag.

It was scary looking at my own reflection in the mirror. Once again, I was losing my identity for another.

I had just ensured that there would be no way back.

At this point, I could not wait to see Artem, he was the only one able to appease my nerves.

I foolishly hoped that he would still find me hot with the bald look. I was not sure it suited me well.

Ridiculous thinking…

I waited outside and, finally, after a good twenty minutes, he parked.

The relief was immense.

He had not changed his mind. We would go together!

I thought that I had made it.

I would get it all: Andriy and his goons would be arrested for the atrocities they had committed, but I would be able to escape with Artem, far away from this bullshit.

I was naive. Still. After everything.

I got into the car; I hopped on the passenger seat.

Can you believe that I was excited? How stupid of me…

Artem had not dyed his hair.

He was still handsome.

I understood immediately that something was wrong.

The way he looked at me was also different than usual.

He was cold.

"Artem... Are you okay?”

I leaned forward to kiss him.

He let me reach his lips, but he did not return the kiss.

He did not move at all, barely looked at me.

“Babe, are you… Are you having second thoughts?”

He was completely silent.

That threw me off.

I wanted to shake him, to have him react. I had a robot next to me.

“Artem, what is it? Tell me. What happened?”

I thought that maybe his dad had already gotten arrested.

Something was up. We were not running away.

I grabbed his shoulders.

“Fuck, Art! Talk to me!”

He pushed me away.

I seriously wanted to yell but I collected myself. If he needed time, I had to give it to him.

He swallowed his saliva.

“I can’t.” He muttered.

“You can’t do what?”

“It’s too hard.”

“You can’t leave? Babe, there’s nothing good that can come from staying here. You have the car, I’ve shaved my head, we have the I.D.s, it’s now or never.”

He looked at me, his stunning blue eyes filled with tears.

“Why did you do it?” He asked.

I understood.

He did not have to say another word.

My heart dropped in my chest.

…

He knew.

“What… What are you talking about?” I stammered.

My whole body started trembling.

“What was your plan? You were about to arrest me in the next city? Maybe you wanted to kill me by yourself?”

“Art, no. Don’t say that. I… I truly wanted to run away with you. I still do!”

“Stop lying, Kyle.”

Hearing him say my name, my actual birth name, made me dizzy.

“Artem, I can explain.”

He pulled a gun from his back pocket. A revolver.

The tension was thick in the air.

Everything I had thought possible was shattered in that instant.

He held me at gun point, his hands heavily shaking.

“I never doubted you, not once.” He spoke.

“I… I swear that it’s not what you think.”

“You’re not a cop?”

“I… I am, I mean, I was but…”

“You remember that night when the drag queen came by the Rainbow Club and she showed the picture you took with her?”

I was confused.

“I do, but…”

“From this point on, Ferguson started investigating. He searched for the Allan guy, the Man of Steel in Dallas. He was sure something was off with you. He was even more adamant after you asked him to reinstate Juicy.”

“You cannot trust that guy.”

Artem chuckled nervously.

“Please, don’t you dare talk to me about trust.”

“Art… Just listen to my side of the story.”

He continued.

“Ferguson didn’t find anything substantial. He thought he had a lead but then, it all went to shit when the Red Tigers attacked you. He left me everything he had found; he didn’t have time to go through every single document or picture. He was actually more worried about what he had not found. No trace of Ryan Smith being a stripper in Dallas except for the Instagram page… He thought it was suspicious but like a damn fool, I defended you.”

“All this shit doesn’t matter! I was a cop, yes, I don’t deny this but I… I love you, Art. It’s the only thing that means something at this point!”

He ignored me.

“After you left that morning, I did everything I had to do. I met with the guy for the fake I.D.s, I rented this damn car, and for fuck’s sake, I was ready to leave my father, my people, and my entire life behind.”

“It’s not too late. I can tell you what really happened…”

“SHUT UP!”

He yelled strongly it made me jump and birds nearby the car flew away.

“Art… I beg you.”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

The gun was very close to my face.

I probably deserved that.

Seeing how much Artem was disappointed and disgusted with me was much worse than the revolver threatening me.

I did shut up though. I had to let him state his piece.

“I don’t know why, I went through Ferguson’s so-called evidence. I had never really looked at them before, but I felt compelled to. I was about to give it all up for you, I just needed to be sure… I swear, I simply wanted to reassure. Well, I saw something even Ferguson had not noticed in his junks.”

“Baby…”

Artem pulled something else from his pocket.

A printed picture.

It was me, five years younger, at a party for the police academy.

“I traced it back on that dude’s Insta page. The profile linked to that picture had disappeared but they had not removed the tag. Kyle Boone.”

“This is the past.”

He stared at me with deep contempt.

It tore my heart apart.

“What was the purpose of your mission exactly? Just to get some information by seducing me or was there a bigger plan?”

“I was supposed to investigate your father, that's true, but I didn't expect to fall in love with you. I swear. I... I lost control the first time I saw you. Everything is different now.”

“Bullshit. What did you tell them? The police?”

“I... I had to pretend to them that I was following the mission. Otherwise, they would have exfiltrated me, I would have lost you!”

“ANSWER ME! What did you say to the cops?”

“Artem, your father, look what he’s doing! He must be stopped.”

“Did you betray him?”

He cried.

I did not. The shock and numbness were all I could feel.

“I... I had no choice.”

He puffed.

“That's why you didn't want me to go to Mexico, right? You wanted to catch me before I leave the country...”

“No! I’ve never wanted to go after you, Artem. Never!”

I grabbed the gun and pushed it away.

“Don't do that, I'll shoot!”

“Then shoot! I don't fucking care. I only want to be with you. Whatever it takes, remember? This whole plan, it's the only option I had for us to be together! I'm running from the cops as much as you are, and as much as we're both running from your father. Please, Art! Look at me! Look at the sincerity in my eyes, you know that what happened between us cannot be faked. You have to know that!”

“How could you do this to us? How could you do this to my family?”

“Your father is a monster! And you're not, I'm trying to save you from him!”

“So, you're the hero, right?”

“Babe, you cannot live like this anymore, this is our way out. This is our only chance.”

“My father has done many terrible things, but there's one thing he's never done, and that's betray me.”

“He's about to be arrested as we speak."

“Fuck. Of course he is! You told them about the hostage situation, about what's happening tonight?”

“I had to.”

“I have to warn him. Just leave me.”

“It’s too late now. If you go back, you’ll be arrested as well. Even if you don’t want to be with me anymore, you should run, Artem, start a new life somewhere else. Or I could plead for you to be pardoned. We could fix this.”

“Get out of the car.” He barked.

For the first time, he sounded like his terrifying father.

“Artem, please.”

“I cannot fucking kill you, okay. I’m not strong enough. I don’t have it in me but… I… Please, just get the fuck out the car.”

He wiped his tears.

“I won’t! I won’t leave you, Artem. You’ll have to shoot me!”

“GET OUT! GET OUT! GET THE FUCK OUT! I DON’T WANNA HEAR YOU! I DON’T WANNA SEE YOU! I HATE YOU!”

I tried to hold him to calm him down.

“We need to talk. Hear me out! I’m begging you.”

He would not hear me.

He directed the gun towards his own temple.

“Get out or I pull the trigger.”

“Fuck, no… Please… Please don’t do that, Artem.”

He had his index ready.

I was mortified.

“GET OUT!” He repeated.

“Okay… Okay, you win. Please… Don’t do anything stupid.”

“I fucking have to warn my father. Ryan… Fuck, whatever your name is, you really should leave, he’ll come after you and that won’t be pretty. I’m giving a chance to live right now. Just fucking go.”

I was speechless.

There was nothing I could say, I had lost Artem forever.

The only man I had ever loved.

I got out of the car because I did not want him to hurt himself.

“I love you, Artem. That’s the only truth I can tell you.”

“I loved Ryan, but Kyle, I despise him. I’ve always hated rats.”

He started the engine of the car and he left me behind. Broken.

I had played with fire and I had burnt myself.  

*

This is not how the story ends.

Believe me, it got much worse.

Freaking out for Artem and not knowing what do with myself, I decided to go back as well.

My initial idea was to go to the police and talk on Artem’s behalf, explain that he did not deserve prison, and do everything that I could to avoid his arrest.

The P.D. owed me that!

This was certainly silly but I could not think straight.

I had thrown my phone in some trash; I did not have time to get it back.

I returned to my car and I drove to the docks. Fast.

My second idea was that I needed to prevent Artem from doing anything that would make his case worse.

He wanted to warn his father and that would put him in danger.

Honestly, I was just delusional, thinking that I could salvage anything.

It seemed that every move I was making was the wrong one.

When I arrived at the docks, it was already a warzone.

First, I heard shots getting fired and then, I saw two corpses on the ground. An older policeman and a young member of the Red Tigers.

There was a fight happening. The SWAT team and the cops on one side, and the bad guys on the other.

Although, I was not too sure who the bad guys were anymore.

My gangster movie’s fantasy was happening before my eyes. I had never seen such a scene in real life.

People were getting hit on both sides and I was just standing there.

Sometimes, reality is not what fiction makes it to be.

It was not thrilling; it was just a complete nightmare.

I saw him, looking out of place in this chaos, his pale hair standing out in the middle of this temporary battlefield.

Artem looked lost and rather unfazed in his beige suit.

Why was he staying there, right in the middle of it?!

I saw his father in the distance. Andriy Kravchenko was fighting too. He had a bullet vest and he held a huge riffle.

He called out his son, tried to get closer without getting shot himself.

Everything felt surreal.

Artem was like an angel. For a second, he looked immortal, like the bullets could not reach him.

I did not think, I ran towards him.

A bullet nearly hit my ear. I felt it fly by, hissing a few inches from my lobe.

Once again, I escaped death.

Well, my own anyway.

I was about to feel death very strongly.

Artem looked at me running toward him.

I did not sense his despise anymore. He seemed at peace.

He was holding his revolver but never even attempted to use it.

He just stood there, calmly.

“Artem, go down!”

He smiled at me.

What was meant to happen, happened.

The man I loved was caught in the crossfire.

A bullet hit his chest and he collapsed.

We never knew who had killed him, the police or the gangsters.

Well, I knew who had killed him. It was me.

I was responsible.

I reached him as he bled out against the asphalt.  

“Art… Please, stay with me. Baby…”

“Ry…”

Blood came out of his mouth as he pronounced his last words.

“Art, I love you. Don’t give up! Please!”

He smiled again.

“Goodbye, Ryan…”

Andriy jumped on his son, roaring a gut-wrenching sound I had never heard before.

It was like a wounded animal. A scream of desperation coming straight out of his lungs.

He was handcuffed a second later.

I fell on my back. I saw Andriy getting arrested, the blood of his son on his hands.

Mine were covered as well.

A part of me died there.

Nobody else ever called me Ryan.

*

Epilogue: Sixteen Missions

They had taken me to the hospital with the other shooting victims.

I had the old wound on my right hip, and apparently, I had acted hysterically after Artem's death.

I could not stop crying and screaming. I also tried to hurt people. I jumped on a cop.

They had to sedate me.

Better to be numb than to feel what I felt.

Self-hatred, shame, sadness and above all anger.

I was to be questioned in my room. Tunegard would come. I was ready.

I did not care about being sent to prison.

I did not care about the humiliation of being known as the agent who turned against the police either.

I would be hated by the entire profession.

Good! I hated the cops anyway.

In a way, I was happy to be in such a precarious position.

I deserved to suffer.

I was 25 years old and my life was over. This was what I deserved.

The door to the room opened, but it was not Tunegard, it was Peter and his striking red hair.

He had his face from the bad days.

“How are you feeling, Kyle?”

What a strange question.

“How do you think I feel?”

He sighed and sat down on a chair beside the bed.

“Kyle, you should be proud of yourself. Andriy Kravchenko has been arrested. So have Brosky, Ferguson and Jansen. A few are still on the run, but we'll get them. And it's largely thanks to you.”

I really did not need that reminder.

“As if I care.”

“Man, we just arrested some of the biggest criminals in the country. It's all over the news.”

“Great. Do they have TV in prison?”

“Why do you say that?”

“I’ll see it for myself then, when I’m locked up.”

Peter rolled his eyes.

“You're not going to prison; you’ll be decorated.”

“Decorated?”

“Yes, for service rendered to the nation.”

I straightened up.

“Peter, I... You know what I did, right?”

“You went undercover, you seduced the son of a drug lord, you busted an organ trafficking, and you allowed us to arrest very dangerous people.”

“You forgot something… I turned! I turned against the police.”

Peter looked away.

“Don't say that.”

“But I did! I wanted to run away with Artem. I... I fell in love with him, I was ready to betray you. You never trusted me and you were right.”

“I trusted you, Kyle.”

“I know about Amber. I know how you used her to spy on me. Let’s cut the crap.”

He shrugged.

“So what? Your undercover mission was being surveilled. It's just protocol.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t give a shit anymore. I’m not even mad at you.”

“Then, get it together! You’ll have to be collected for Tunegard.”

“Peter, why are you acting like nothing happened? You were the most suspicious about my relationship with Artem, and I'm telling you, you were right! You should feel vindicated; you should throw me to the wolves!”

“Would you shut up, Kyle?”

“Why don’t hate me?”

“How would that help? I don’t hate you because I've been where you are. I know what it is to really become someone else, how those missions can take everything from you and mess you up.”

“I don't think it fucked me up, I think it showed me who I really am.”

“Well, good for you. You can live your life as a free homosexual from now on!”

“You're not going to turn me in? I’ve just confessed.”

“As far as I'm concerned, you followed protocol to the letter. Andriy Kravchenko will spend the night behind bars. Many of his men have been arrested. You gave us all the intel we needed to make this operation a success.”

“A success…”

“Some of these guys might understand your involvement and might want to come after you. The police will be here to protect you and keep you safe, that is what we owe you.”

“Does Tunegard know?”

“About what?”

“Artem and I.”

“No, and I don’t think that he should. Don’t be stupid, don’t ruin your life. Not for someone who’s dead and won’t be coming back.”

“My life is already ruined.”

“It’s not. You’re young, you’ll recover from that. You’ll be better.”

“Peter, I… I don’t think I’ll be able to get through that.”

He put his hand on my chest.

He was almost tender.

“Soon, you’ll have a new identity, you’ll have money, and you’ll have time. The Kravchenkos were living a very dangerous life, risking it all every day. What happened to Artem could have happened any other day. Don’t torture yourself.”

“You cannot understand. Even if you were on undercover missions before, you cannot understand what happened between Artem an I.”

“Maybe, but as far as I’m concerned and as far as the whole police department is concerned, you’re a hero. Keep that in mind.”

How could I be a hero after this?

I was a snitch. A whore. A loser. A rat.

And Artem had always hated rats…

Peter stood up.

I think I would have preferred if he had thrown me in jail.

“I… I’m not sure than I can lie to Tunegard or to anyone ever again.”

“You’ll do what you want, Kyle. You’re a free man. My advice is that you shouldn’t talk about Artem for him to Tunegard. This is hard enough as it is, you’re punishing yourself enough. I’m telling you this, as a friend.”

He seemed sincere.

“Thank you, Peter. You’ve been a good supervisor.”

He chuckled.

“You’ve been a great cop, Boone.”

“You’re still at a 100% success rate then…”

“Yeah.” He smiled. “Sixteen missions, sixteen successes.”

“Good job.”

He nodded and he left the bedroom.

I looked through the window. It was raining.

I thought about Artem, probably smoking a cigar in Heaven.

He would not have gone to Hell. As I saw it, he was the only good guy in this story.

[THE END]

*

Dear Avid Readers, I will share the E-book of UNDERCOVER in two weeks!

I hope you have enjoyed the story.

Honestly, the dramatic end was meant to be in this case. In no scenario, I could see this story ending well.

As usual, let me know your thoughts!