Denial

 

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Chapter 1

A life of crime is never quiet, never easy. Adrenaline and danger are a constant. You know you can die in every mission you go to but that's what makes it good, what makes you feel alive. I wouldn't change it for a thing.

The darkness of the night is not our shelter; our activities are only limited by Miss Heather Thompson, our leader, who is the proud owner of five commercial buildings and a transportation company she often uses to justify our profits. The buildings are mostly empty, only one is occupied, and we like to call it "the cave".

The cave is located ten miles out of the city lines, and to the naked eye it looks like any other building, but a secret elevator that only goes below the basement takes us to our weapons and training rooms.

We live in this building according to our hierarchy; our leader takes the highest floor for her, while the rest of us share one according to our ranks. The more successful missions you have been a part of, the higher your rank is. There are 12 floors in total, and in my only year being a member of The Union, I already take the 11th floor, along with Jeremy and Sonia.

They call me Heather's pet, by how fond we've grown of each other in the past year. As much as they could be right, it's not something that has been given freely to me. I've worked hard for it, trained day and night to be better than anyone else in here.

On the coldest night of winter, I am notified that my presence is required at the shooting field. As always, I do as I'm told. I take the elevator from the 11th floor to the basement, in there, I walk into the electrical room, which is nothing but the hideout of the second elevator, which takes to what we call “The dungeon”. A magnetic card and our fingerprints are required to get in, and for it to work. No outsiders are ever allowed in.

While I step into the grey room, I see a tall, dark haired woman inside. Heather. I have always admired her, but then again, I have always admired power. In her 38 years of age she has become the most powerful woman in the country, feared by governors, and respected by the greatest criminals around the globe.

"You must be wondering why I called you here" I nod once. "I know what day is today, and I have got two little things for you." Today is my 19th birthday. I joined The Union exactly one year ago because she begged me to, and since that day I found my true family, my vocation, a purpose.

She moves closer to me, slowly, intriguing me. From under her black jacket she takes out a black and silver gun, which she hands over to me. I switch my eyes from her to the gun and back to her. "This was my first gun as a member of The Union; it took me to where I am right now. I don't have many reasons to keep it, considering how many guns are down here, but it took me far, and it will do the same to you." She tells me with a smile.

One closer look and I notice the leaf patterns in the handle and the letter H carved in gold.

"Thanks, but why are you doing this?"

"Try it" she says, directing me to one of the targets. I aim and pull the trigger before the bullet hits the red centre of the target. I turn my head towards her to see Heather wearing a proud smile on her face. "That's why. You are remarkably good."

Thompson usually doesn't give away compliments like that for free. She is seen by everyone as a cold, frivolous woman, yet I know she has reasons behind it. With the weight of the world on her shoulders, she cannot afford to go around smiling and throwing compliments at everyone's feet.

"The other thing is, even though you shouldn't tell your friends, I have upgraded you." I quickly become confused since I have the highest rank for a member, and all the benefits there are to get. "You are now allowed into floor 12. That, however, is only in cases I ask you to. I hope you understand that you can't freely show up, or take anyone else in there. This has never been done before, no regular member has ever seen floor 12. I hope you won't make me regret." It is true. We have many theories about what is up there that only the leader can see. The craziest one involves a loose tiger pet. I believe that it's only a matter of hierarchy, a norm, something to let us know that no matter how useful we are to Heather, she is the one to hold the true power.

"I understand entirely, and I promise I'll continue to stick to the rules."

"That would be all for now, I heard your friends have something down at two for you." And with that, I am dismissed. I nod politely before exiting the room and taking the elevators to level 2.

Nobody is currently living in there, so we use it as a common area. Our lowest ranking members take floor 5, they are Casey and Michael. Their main duties are the same ones a secretary would have. Surprisingly, they are not the newest arrivals – that would be me – but there can only be a maximum of four members on the lowest levels, three on the upper ones, and of course, just one leader. Anyone who is better than you would instantly degrade you to one or several lower levels, depending on the ranks.

That fact has motivated me since I became a part of this; it’s why I trained so hard. I couldn't stand life at the lowest levels, running errands, sending emails, buying groceries and anything else we needed. My main goal was to be helpful, to be important, and to go out in missions. Now I do, Heather has sent me to negotiations in different countries, and I'm the one who gets rid of all these things that come our way.

When I walk into floor two, every member of The Union is waiting for me. They shout "Happy Birthday!" as soon as they lay their eyes on me, and Sonia runs to hug me. If anyone took us out of context, they would think we are a regular group of friends or maybe even a sorority. Instead, we are partners in crime, literally. But when we are not in a mission, that is what we are, friends, the family I never had.

"I heard Heather called you, what did she want?" I find myself smiling at the thought of that.

"Just said a few things for my birthday, gave me a gun, nothing special."

"She forgot my birthday last year." The blonde girl says, clearly offended. I believe she was Heather’s pet before my arrival. That would explain the certain level of jealousy I sense whenever Thompson calls for me.

"She didn't forget, you were in Germany, remember?" I hear Jeremy say behind me.

"Right, but there are phones." This time, I can see it in her eyes. I am tempted to ask, but Sonia always avoids the topic or changes it as soon as I ask personal things regarding her and Heather in the past.

"Busy lady." He says.

"Lord of crime." I whisper dramatically.

"Speaking of, I heard Gómez is back." Jeremy says with a smirk. As soon as he does, I sense their eyes staring at me. Nobody knows how much I loathe that man more than my best friends.

Alberto Gómez is the leader of a drug cartel in México called “los buitres”, the vultures, and that’s exactly what he is. Some people say that he and Heather are together or at least date every now and then, but I refuse to believe it. A high class woman like her won’t lower herself to that level; she can do a lot better. I understand that we are somehow associated with them – as we are to most criminal organisations and drug cartels around the world – but him, I simply can’t stand.

“Have you seen him?” I ask, trying not to seem too upset at the thought of it.

“No, but Ryan said he saw Heather leaving in a black Hummer like his this morning.” It is a reliable source, since Ryan often monitors the security room, having access to every security camera from the dungeon to the cave’s 11 floors. There are no cameras in 12 as long as we are aware of, and if there is, none of us has ever seen any footage from it.

“You could shoot him away with that gun Heather gave you,” Sonia says with a smile. “Do you have it with you?”

“I do.” I say as I take it out. Sonia’s eyes open wide when she sees it, I instantly regret.

“She gave you her gun?” There is something in her face that tells me she doesn’t feel right. I know her well, and from now on, I’ll keep anything Heather related a secret until I figure out why is it that it has such an effect on her.

“Apparently.” I say like it’s not a big deal, because in reality it isn’t more than a nice gesture for me.

Jeremy puts his arm around Sonia, which seems to make her come back to reality. They have liked each other since they joined The Union, around five years ago, but our politics don’t allow us to date any other members. Still, everyone is aware that they have mutual feelings, and we don’t comment about it.

“Maybe she put a chip on it so she can track you down, you know, in case you run away with Gómez.” The tall guy tries to lighten the mood. We share a laugh I sense was faked by all of us, but since that moment, the day isn’t the same.

I wonder how she knew it was Heather’s gun, because outside the dungeon we don’t see her shoot even once, and inside of it, she uses any gun that is around, never hers. We do the dirty work for her and she takes care of us, that’s the way it’s always been. Right now, I am more than sure that before my arrival she shared the same kind of relationship with our leader that we have. Who knows how many years it took her to get that close to her, to rank all the way up to 11, and in just one year I took her glory away. But if she feels that way, why hasn’t she told me? We spend more time together than she and Jeremy do.

When we are back in 11, we all go into our rooms separately, a thing that didn’t even happen the day I was new in the level. Usually, we all go into one of the rooms and hang out until late. It all changed with that: me, Heather and a gun. I am tempted to think that she could’ve done it on purpose, but I didn’t have to say it. It was me and my big mouth what got me into this.

I place my new, shiny gun, in the nightstand beside my bed, next to my old, plain black one. After considering for a moment what I should do next, I discard the option of talking about this with Heather and choose instead to go to Jeremy’s room. However, as I’m walking past the common area, I see something odd in the security videos. Gómez is still around, this time at two.

I take my gun and hide it beneath my sweatshirt before going down 9 floors and entering floor 2. Only a few lights of the common area are on, still, I don’t see him until I am also in his field of view.

“Isn’t late for you to be alone around here, kid?” He says with that condescending tone he always has when he talks to any of us. I had never been more tempted to shoot somebody’s brains out before.

“I do whatever I please here.” I smile at him when I really want him dead.

“Alberto.” I hear the heavenly voice call out. “This is the girl I’ve been talking to you about; Caroline Parker.” It’s only then that I notice Heather sitting on the bar, by the kitchen, with a glass of red wine in her hand. I instantly smile, and thank myself for not killing the vulture in front of her. She talks about me.

“This is Parker? I thought it was the blonde, this one seems too young.”  The man with the repulsive moustache says. I am more aware than ever of the gun in my power, and I almost hear it whispering shoot him.

“Don’t underestimate her.” I believe I see Heather smile when she says these words, but the lack of lighting is making this a bit tedious.

I sit right next to Heather in the bar. The idea of the Mexican being alone with her is so disgusting that I stay around. I hear them talk about business, then the vulture starts bragging about his yachts in Miami, his cars, mansions, and how many people are at his feet. This is one of the reasons why I loathe him. As he continues to talk, I watch Thompson get bored so often it gets funny.

When Gómez finally leaves, Heather and I stay in two. She offers me a glass of wine, which I accept purely out of courtesy. This type of drink is not my thing; however, it helps me get my mind out my recent thoughts of murder.

“Why aren’t you with your friends?” She asks. It was so usual to see us together constantly that even she notices something is wrong. However, I don’t know if I should tell her what happened, because it could make her put some distance between us, and I don’t want that.

“Sonia was weird to me for no reason, or at least she didn’t tell me why.” I’m not lying or giving too much away.

“Are you and Sonia dating?” What? I nearly spit the wine in my mouth. I contain my laughter, but a smile forms in my lips.

“No! She’s-” I cut myself off before I mention Jeremy. “Straight.”

“Right.” She pauses to take a sip off her glass. “Then I don’t see any reasons for her to act that way.”

“I don’t either. It’s weird, this entire day has been.” And I should be up there talking to Sonia to see if we can solve this out, instead of down here with Heather.

“Is there something I can do to make it better?”

“You’ve already done enough.” I tell her. “Thanks.” I get off the stool, walk into the elevator and wait for Heather to walk in. She slides her card and presses 11. In the blink of an eye, the doors open again, and I say goodbye to the woman next to me before I walk into the common room and the elevator’s door close behind me.

I hear noise in the kitchen, so I walk over there in hopes to see my best friend, but I find a shirtless and shoeless Jeremy eating a croissant instead. “Where’s Sonia?” I ask the caveman.

“In her room, sleeping, I think.”  He takes a huge bite off the croissant, making it almost gone in less than a second. Crumbs fall all the way to the polished floor, and I am thankful for not having to clean his mess.

“Why has she been weird with me?” He glances at her door, then grabs me by my arm and drags me inside my room.

“Heather is her sensitive spot, I don’t know why, and she refuses to give me any explanations. She was already like that when I met her. When Thompson picks a favourite it’s like she’s hurt.” He whispers.

“Didn’t you join at the same time? And why does she get upset now? I mean, it’s been a year of this. ” Even more, I met Heather when I was three months away from turning eighteen.

“No, she got in a year before me. And I don’t know either, but I’ve given up on it. It’s too much and we have better things to do anyway. Are you going to Manchester?”

“When? I haven’t heard any of that.” And I am usually the second to know anything that occurs around here. The first one would be our leader.

“I’m going with Ryan tomorrow, it’s just an errand.” Errand: among members of The Union: To transport large amounts of money from one country to another. “I should leave before it’s too late, I can never sleep in planes.” Are his last words before exiting my room.

When I am left alone, I realise I will have to face Sonia without Jeremy, which in regular situations would be a delight, but right now the idea seems disturbing and uncomfortable. How would she act if she found out I’ve got access to 12? It terrifies me. Before today, she was my best friend, I could tell her anything. Now it has changed, and I know it will be like this until I find out the reason behind this.

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