My undercover life - Season 1 - Episode 43

Episode 5 years ago

My undercover life - Season 1 - Episode 43

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If you miss the character recap at the beginning of chapter 42, here is it again:

Annemarie – In band with Megan. Best friends with Asher, and Megan. Was the first person Lily befriended at school. Her dad is a forensic scientist.

Asher – Dyed, silver hair with green eyes. Gay. And is Annemarie and Megan’s friend. Crushing on Ian.

Al – Another FBI agent. On the same team as Demitri and Skylar. Only mentioned once before when he was suppose to watch out for Bradlee and Lily when they went to the park together. He also chased the ‘killer’ and saw that the blonde hair was a wig.
“I-I, um—”
“Excuse me, Sir. My daughter here,” Al stepped in, as I heard the smile in his tone. His hand gently sq££zed my shoulder, letting me know he was here for me. Even though I barely knew Al, his strong protective demeanor, instantly calmed me down. “As, you can see, she’s quite shock to be discovered so quickly. Avery is her real name, and Lily is just her stage name,” he quickly made up. “To be honest, we were hoping to start fresh in this town.”
He tilted his head, his hands wobbling on his cane. “A stage name?”


Al smiled. “My daughter is quite the star, you see. She’s the lead actress on this webtoon show she started and her stage name is Lily.”
“Oh! I didn’t know such a famous actress lived in my neighborhood. Annemarie will be stoked about this!” the old man announced happily. “Do you perhaps know a guy named Bradlee?” My ears perked up hearing Bradlee’s name, as my pulse skyrocketed in my chest. Scratching at the back of my hand, I tried not to make it too obvious I was nervous as hell.
“Um, yes. He’s my co-star,” I told him when I found my voice. “I didn’t know Annemarie was a fan of mine.”

“She is! My daughter has a ton of pictures of her favorites entertainers in her bedroom. I’m guessing they’re all from your little webtone.”
I couldn’t help but cover a grin when I realized he pronounced webtoon as webtone. “Probably. May I see this collection of hers?” I asked, as I heard the quiet gasp from Al. “If she’s such a fan of mine, I’ll love to sign the picture she has of me.”
His brown eyes widened. “Really? You’ll do that?”


“Of course!” I chirped happily. “Anything for a friend of mine. I’m surprised she didn’t say anything to me sooner.”

“Anne’s pretty shy like that.” He chuckled. Opening the door wide enough for us, he welcomed us. “Come in, her room’s this way.”


Al went in first, making sure everything was safe, before he grabbed my wrist, bringing my body close to his. Clutching the side of his coat, I walked forward, making sure I let the video camera I’d attached to my b----t’s pocket see everything. Every evidence I could get on this girl, the better.

Making our way up to the staircase they’d in their entrance way, Annemarie’s father stopped at the bottom of the staircase and looked at us.

“Her room is on the second floor. Just go right on up, and I’ll meet you there,” he said. “I’m going to take the elevator up since these old legs of mine don’t function like they used to be.”

“Okay, Sir.”
He smiled kindly at us. “Please call me, Jim.”
“Okay, Jim.” I smiled back at him.
He lowered his head at us, saying his goodbyes, as he made his way slowly to the elevator. When he was out of earshot, Al turned to me.

“Come on, Avery. Let’s hurry before he gets up there. I want to scope out the place before we go into her room.”

“Sure thing.” As we ran up the two flights of stairs, we saw pictures of Annemarie with her father and mother. While Annemarie’s father looked to be in his sixties, her mother didn’t look a day over forty. By the pictures alone, I could tell Jim wasn’t Annemarie’s biological father. There were no baby pictures of Annemarie, and there were hardly any pictures of her growing up. Seeing the last picture, I knew for a fact, Jim was her second father. Annemarie stood smiling next to her mother and father on the day of their wedding. She looked to be around ten years old with her round cheeks, and her black hair tied up in a ponytail.

“There’s no way she killed those people . . .” I mumbled under my breath, staring at her kind eyes. Knowing that the car used to take Ashleigh was parked in this house—was nerve wracking. I guess the old saying was right—never trust anyone.

Looking away from the pictures, I ran towards where Al was standing. I let him inspect the floor in peace, before we heard the elevator door opening.


Jim’s face brightened up, as he headed straight for us. It took him a while, but we eventually met him halfway when we saw him struggling.
“Her room is this way.” He pointed to the door furthest away from where we stood. “You can go in first, if you want. I’m sure she won’t mind.”


“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Of course.” He smiled, the wrinkles in his face more prominent. “I don’t want to hold you, youngsters back. Just leave the door open, and I’ll be there soon.”

“Nonsense,” Al said. “We’ll help you out.”
He looked taken aback by that offer. “Really? It’s not everyday someone in your generation helps an old guy like me out.”


“Please, you’re hardly old.” Al chuckled, grabbing the hand Jim wasn’t using. He placed his other hand on his mid-back, steadying him.
Jim waved his hand at Al, dismissing his compliment. “Oh please. I just retired from my job after fifty years in the business. Compared to you guys, I’m old.”

“You don’t say.” Al raised his brows, making small talk. “My dad just retired from the police force specializing in DNA profiling just earlier this year.”

“What a small world! I just retired from that industry as well.”
It was Al’s turn to be shock. “Did you specialize in profiling as well?”

“I didn’t specialize in that, but I did analysis scientific evidence whenever an investigation came up.”

“So, like a forensic scientist?”
“Correct, my boy,” he answered with a grin. “My daughter actually wants to follow in my footsteps and become a forensic scientist too. She’s been asking me so many questions lately, I could hardly keep up.” His eyes twinkled with delight—completely unaware of the fact that his daughter was not the person she said she was. Stopping in front of her door, Jim twisted the doorknob, allowing Al and I to go in first. “I’m just so glad, she’s finally getting over the shock of her mother’s sudden death.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Al said, his eyes downcast, as I glanced around her room. It looked nothing like I thought it would be. Besides the random trash thrown across her room, it looked completely normal. Nothing was out of place—and I didn’t see any of the pictures her dad mentioned on her wall. They were pretty much bare save for the letters that spelt out her name above her bed.

“If you’re looking for the pictures, they’re in her desk drawer. I put them there this morning when I was gathering laundry in her room.” He pointed to the bottom drawer, that was aligned opposite of her bed. “There’s pens on her desk you can use to sign your name with.”

Thanking him, I left Al and Jim by the door to converse quietly amongst themselves. Stepping over some of her old homework on the floor, I made my way to the drawer her dad was talking about. Pulling it out, I saw my picture. From the picture alone, I knew she wasn’t a fan. It was picture taken of me recently—with my brown hair, and glasses. It wasn’t a picture of me as ‘Lily’.

Slowly taking it out, I tried not to make it obvious I was going through the many different photos she had. Spotting Bradlee and Ashleigh’s photos, I knew for a fact Annemarie was behind the kidnapping.

Looking in the corner of my eye, I saw Jim still in deep conversation with Al, giving me the freedom to freely look through the pictures. Seeing a tiny white piece of paper sticking out slightly in one of her textbooks, I quickly pulled it out. The blood drained from my body as I saw the blonde-haired girl. It was Alyce Bryant—the recent victim from a few weeks ago.

Knowing, I didn’t have much time, I tucked the picture back in place, and quickly pretended to sign my name on the picture. Shutting the drawer, I looked up, trying to act normal in front of her dad. There was no way he could be this obvious to his daughter’s crimes, right? I mean, he was a forensic scientist for crying out loud. . . not to the mention the amber alerts.

They were issued for Bradlee and Ashleigh earlier this week, twenty-four hours after they disappeared. He couldn’t have missed those, right? I mean, unless Annemarie answered the call, he should’ve heard about those. If I remembered correctly, the call was issued mid-evening—the perfect time to intercept the call. Was Annemarie really playing her dad in this? Was she really this good at covering up her tracks? If she was, why did she lead us straight to her house? Did she make a mistake or something . . .?

“Avery, you okay?” Al asked me, snapping me out of my train of thought.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I lied. “I was just thinking about something.”

“You’re always spacing out.” Al laughed. “Daughters, right?” Al asked, turning to Jim.

He agreed, nodding his head. “Thanks for signing my daughter’s picture of you. I can’t wait to tell her when she comes back from school today. She’s going to be so happy.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t tell her,” Al advised quietly. “Letting her find out by herself is much more of a surprise. She’ll be much more excited that way.”

“You think?”
“Just ask, Avery.” Al directed his eyes at me. “When I brought her that puppy, I kept shut about it until I heard her screaming in her room.”

“And?” Jim asked now looking at me.
“And, I was totally surprised. I hugged the life out of my dad when I saw it.”

“See.” Al grabbed my hand. “Just let your daughter be surprised first.”

“Thanks for the advice, young man.” The man lowered his head in thanks, his bald spot on full display. “I’ll do just that. And also, welcome to the neighborhood. I hope to see you again, someday.”

“We’ll be glad to show up once in awhile,” Al said cheerfully. “I have a feeling we’ll be visiting you guys very soon.”

“Great!” He grinned. “Make sure to bring that wonderful wife of yours the next time you come. I’ll love to taste her famous oatmeal cookies you were telling me about. My daughter’s been trying to bake oatmeal cookies for this friend of hers. She said it was his favorite.” My eyes narrowed down in thought. Was he talking about Asher? Could he be behind this too?

“I can probably write that recipe down if you want.” Al shrugged. “She practically drilled the recipe in my brain that I actually memorized it.”

His eyes widened. “That’s so kind of you. Are you sure—”
“—I’m sure.” Al turned to face me. “Avery, can you get a pad of paper and a pen from Annemarie’s desk?”

I bit my bottom lip, wondering exactly what he was up to . . . why did he want me to look at her desk once more? I already video taped all the evidence I needed. I even made sure to get the letters that spelt out her name so people knew exactly whose room we were in.

Deciding to trust Al’s instinct and direction, I did exactly what he instructed. Seeing a sticky note placed neatly on her desk, I was about to grab it when I saw a small device sitting on her desk in the corner of my eye. Could this perhaps be why Al wanted me to go back and look?

Taking a glance at it, I saw the lately message that appeared on the screen. Blocking, what I was doing with my body, I pretended to be busy—as I tried to look for something to write on—while I really got closer to device. Leaning over it, I eyed it quickly, reading the maximum words her preview mode would allow.

This b---h keeps whining about his missing sister. I think we should . . .

Seeing the contact’s name, work flash across the top screen, I knew that this was in fact the mastermind behind everything. The real f-----g killer.

***

Hopefully everything is less confusing now xD Just letting you know, if you still don’t get it – don’t worry. Everything will make sense in the end. Trust me, I’m not dumb. I know what I’m doing with this story.
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