Stuck Between Them

Chapter 24 - MS. Frackles

LISA POV"You look way hotter in blonde," she said, not even looking at me."Excuse me!" I spoke.With her eyes on the road and a smug smile on her face, she picked up her mobile, opened up a picture, and held it up for me to see. It was a picture of me in blonde hair. I mentally cursed at Jack. He should have sent an official photo, not some random click from our mission together."Keep your comments to yourself; this is business, and I don't intend to extend nor shake a hand of friendship.", my tone was strict.She kept on driving.We reached the safe house. She parked the car at the backside.Once inside, she showed me my room or instead pointed towards it and said, "Go freshen up."When I came out after showering, she was in the room looking at the entrance of the bathroom with her hands crossed. It was weird."Dry your hair put these clothes on.", she again pointed.There were clothes and a pair of glasses on the bed."I need your photo taken in a different persona for the passport.", she said."Why can't I use my real one?" I inquired."This is a time-sensitive operation; crossing the border for the first time takes time, and we don't have that, this passport." she held it up. "Is already processed. I have a man on the inside who can swap pictures on a passport in the database." she turned the other way, looking at me through the mirror reflection on the other side; with that smug smile, she said, "nerd up, MS. freckles."That was it; I had enough of her nonsense.I quickly moved toward her, meanwhile she sensed me coming and turned around. I stopped right in front of her by giving her a little push with my body, our faces were inches apart, and our bodies were touching. I was angry, and it showed on my features; on the other hand, she was a different story. She was challenging me to do something about it with those damn hazel eyes."Stay in your fucking limits.", my blood was boiling.She smiled at that, and I just lost it.Out of nowhere, I ducked, got behind her, and tried to put her in a sleeper hold, but she was quick too; she dodged it and tried to back elbow me in the face, which landed on my shoulder. The wet hair flew and stuck on my face; not caring for them, I kicked her right on the knee joint from behind her, and she wobbled. I capitalized on this opening and clutched her in a sleeper hold. Her hands grabbed my arm to stop me, but it was too late. I had a complete grip around her neck. I applied pressure before I spoke."As soon as you grasp on the concept that I am not here to play who can bullshit more, it will be better for you, and don't you think that I am tied down because of this job just try one more snarly thing, and you will know how goddamn serious I am."I let her go and got into a position to defend if she attacked. She stumbled to the table and coughed; she flexed her neck with eyes close. She let out a laugh. I was so annoyed by her smiles and laughs. Firstly, she smiled and laughed at the worst possible time, and secondly, she has one of those smiles that throws you off guard; never in a million years would I admit it to anyone, but her smiles are mesmerizing.SARAH POV:As she let me go, I stumbled to the table and gasped for air. That bitch, how dare she pull this off on me!!! I will make her pay, and she will not even see it coming.The Voice: You did this to yourself. I warned you from the beginning.Sarah: you wait and watch.I need to keep my cool for now.I smiled and opened my eyes."Lisa, wear these clothes, no makeup. Come downstairs. I will take your photo we will eat dinner, then you can rest. We will get going at 10 in the evening, OK?""OK," she said rather aggressively, still pumped up.The rest of the evening was uneventful. I took and sent her picture to my guy. I offered her dinner, but she didn't eat.She came out of her room in the morning at fifteen minutes to 10. I was practicing pointing and reloading a gun. I saw her as I reloaded and pointed. She was right at my target, I kept my gun towards her, and she stayed there looking straight at me. I took her figures in; her hair pulled up tight like yesterday; she was wearing business attire. She wore a black shirt with black jeans and dark green jacks; she had a belt around her waist with utility pockets at the back to hold gun bullets, knives, etc., everything someone in our profession needs. She has a small travel bag which I doubt has every day average person items. I lowered my gun and put it back in the drawer; I grabbed my things."Leave all your weapons here. We are crossing the border; I have taken care of the supplier over the border." We sat in the car. I gave her the glasses from earlier and told her to put them on to cross the border.We had a rough start, but now we are going out on the field. Out there, having no trust in your partner means death, so I needed to make one thing clear."I can tell you don't like teaming up, you wanted to do this alone, but here we are." I looked point-blank to let her know how serious I was. "Regardless of what happened inside, I have your back out there, and I expect the same from you. Can I count on you?""We are here to do a job, and it requires both of us working together, so you can indeed trust me." Now that I knew at least we won't have a problem on the field, I continued."There is an ongoing underground war in Juárez between the Sinaloa and Juárez Cartel. It is not safe there. Maybe that is the reason our suspect chose to stay in Juárez. This Conflict may be in our benefit because it means less attention towards small disturbances which we may have to make to capture him, but if we catch the attention of the police or the gangs, it could go south fast.""It won't get to that.", she snarled. The Voice: Damn, look at that confidence.It was still seven minutes to three in the morning. I started the car and put my hands on the wheel; we just sat there for a whole seven minutes.Omniscient POV:Lisa was confused. One second, Sarah was getting on her nerves, and the next, she was cheerful, passing sassy comments, and now she was serious about work and asking Lisa's trust.Passing the border didn't pose a problem. Lisa and Sarah got the supplies then went straight for the coordinates. The ledger pinged again at the exact location to the same vantage point, confirming they were going toward the correct location. It started raining heavily. They parked the car almost a block away and went forward on foot. It was a small old three-story building.Sarah: we need to search the building on one floor to look for clues.Lisa: you stay here in case someone bolts.Sarah stayed at the entrance, and Lisa went in. she turned right towards the rooms she sensed someone coming down the stairs. As she turned to check who it was the man ran for it when he saw an American woman."SARAH..." Lisa shouted to alert her but instead she tipped the man; he knew someone was at the exit; he went for the window and jumped out meanwhile Sarah also got there. Both Lisa and Sarah ran after him.Sarah took out her gun.Lisa: we need him alive he has the ledger.He turned into an ally, but it was a dead-end. He turned around and collided straight into both women knocking them to the ground. He tried to run again, but Lisa caught his feet. He fell face first, and Sarah repeatedly hit him on the head with her gun until he was knocked out cold.Both of them stood up and caught their breath. Lisa checked his pockets. She smiled as she felt the ledger. She also kept his wallet because maybe his identity may be helpful. Both of them were covered with mud and soaking wet. Sarah: Oh look, he led us back to our ride.Lisa: what a coincidence.Lisa took out her gun and pointed it at his head, but another bullet invaded his head before she could shoot. It was Sarah.Sarah knew she had successfully annoyed Lisa once more time. Sarah took her gun away and started walking towards the car. Lisa pointed the weapon at Sarah. She could shoot her but didn't; instead, she put another bullet in the dead man's head.They both got in the car. Lisa attached the ledger to her phone, retrieved the file, and sent it right away. She instantaneously received the confirmation text from Jack.Lisa: "let's head out."Sarah: "Aren't you tired or hungry or both you refused dinner last night. How could you think about leaving? It's a two-hour drive to States and two more to my warehouse."Lisa: "Just drive."Sarah:" no, my man's shift will be over by then. We will leave so that we cross the border at midnight. That's when his shift starts. I am going to take us to a motel so we can freshen up. The job is done loosen up. I am not that bad of a company."Lisa groaned at this.Sarah: "you are my business here Lisa; I was assigned to get you here and then take you back in one alive and kicking, not dehydrated and muddy."Lisa didn't reply. She felt oddly uncomfortable hearing her name out loud from Sarah.They stopped at a Motel, but it was packed, so they went to the next one. The rain was still pouring down.They entered the motel.Sarah: Hello, we want to book two rooms for a day.Receptionist: Sorry, we don't have any room available due to the local Color festival. The Motels around are full.Sarah: (laid her head on the reception desk), please tell me where we can find a room.Receptionist: to the other side of the city.Sarah: dude, look at us, we are wet, muddy, hungry, tired, and that one (referring to Lisa who was standing to the side cross-armed and annoyed) is angry too; I can't bear to be with her in the car again please can't you do something, absolutely anything.Receptionist: Ummmm..., there is one room, but the owner of this motel has it reserved for himself for emergencies; he is out of the city for now, so I can give you that room for extra charges, of course. Lisa: I am not sharing a room with you.Sarah: book it. Here are the keys (she threw keys at Lisa). You can go to the other one. Come back here by night, and we will leave.Lisa caught the keys but knew she couldn't leave. Lisa closed her eyes in despair and clenched the keys in her hands. Sarah knew from Lisa's reaction that she wasn't going anywhere.Sarah saw a vending machine. She was so hungry she hugged the machine. Sarah: Fuckkkkkk... you don't know how happy I am to see you.Lisa was standing behind her rolling her eyes not believing how can a grown person be so immature. Sarah purchased four energy bar and handed two to Lisa. As much as Lisa hated Sarah right now she was hungry and grateful that she got something to eat. The energy bars were gone till they reached their room.