Fire & Ice | Soulmate AU 1 |

chapter eleven

I enter the Rivera house a little after eight the next night with my trusty backpack in tow. Alexander is still notably absent which releases a bit of the tension that's managed to build up in my shoulders. Chris looks back to greet me as I'm shutting the front door, stirring what looks like a pot of macaroni and cheese on the kitchen stove.

"There's the boss's favorite runner," Chris nearly shouts.

"That's me," I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes as I heft the backpack onto the counter before him. "Things have been a little rough since school ended, I'll tell ya, but turns out the most loyal customers also have equally addicted friends, so I'm all set." I'm lying with ease at this point, the words flowing right out of my mouth with very little hesitation. I've never really struggled with lying before, but my ability to has adapted since I started on this operation as a means of survival. Getting caught would mean a lot of people getting hurt, including myself.

"You're pretty smooth, kid, so I'm not really surprised," Chris replies with an exaggerated shrug of his shoulders. Jeez. The kid's in a strangely happy mood today.

I unzip the big pocket of my bag and pull out multiple envelopes of cash. He continues stirring the pasta with an awfully rusted spoon.

"You know, it's kinda sick how you guys can produce so much, right?" I say casually, shifting easily into mission mode. "It's so hard to get that main component, right?"

"It really is," Chris agrees, completely none the wiser as he sways side to side to a nonexistent beat. "We get it from this Staten Island chick, Dr. Holbach. She's a real doctor or some shit, but I guess that job isn't good enough for her." Words are flying out of his mouth faster than I've ever heard him speak, but I'm flying too high from the adrenaline of accomplishing my main mission objective. Chris may have just ended my entire undercover operation without even realizing it.

I ingrain the name permanently into my brain: Dr. Holbach. Can it really be this easy? There can't be many doctors with the last name "Holbach" in Staten Island.

I'm practically jittering with excitement when Chris turns and meets my eyes. His pupils are blown so wide they've nearly swallowed his irises. An elated smile is stretched across his face. I finally notice his jerky movements and the way he stirs the pot of noodles with vigor. He's high. It looks more like coke than Valiant so I likely don't have to worry about him attacking me or anything.

Sober Chris probably wouldn't have offered the doctor's name without a second thought. He's the closest to Alexander's second-in-command that there is so I find it very hard to believe that he'd tell me such sensitive information so easily, no matter how smoothly I posed the question.

"Sounds like some privileged white bitch," I say easily even though my heart is soaring with the high probability of this entire mission being over very soon. "Suburban life must not be doing it for her."

Chris hums in reply as he dumps the pasta into a strainer in the sink. Steam rises high in the air as I place the envelopes on the counter before him.

"Chris, man, can I get kitted with another supply so I can be on my way? I gotta customer up my ass who's been itchin for a fix since yesterday morning."

"Yeah, yeah, sure," he agrees, gesturing wildly to the hallway that leads to the supply room. "Grab your normal amount, no increase this week. Don't try to stiff us cause we'll hunt you and break your everything, got it, Ford?"

I nod before disappearing down the hallway to the most illegal room in the house. I cram bag after bag of the tiny baggies into my backpack, counting as I go so that nobody comes after me to break my spine.