Decoy (Camren)

Chapter Twelve

November 9th

Elise swallows nervously as Natasha approaches her with the saddest look on her face, like she just found out the worst news she's ever heard. I can see Elise wiping her hands against her pants, something she does when she's anxious.

"Listen," she starts.

"No," Natasha interrupts as she stops a few feet away from her. I continue to watch with a held breath as I see tears welling in Elise's eyes as she begins to sway back and forth. She's scared. "How long?" she asks as she stands with her arms across her chest.

"Wh-What do you—"

"How long have you been a cop, Elise?!" she yells, and the hazel eyed girl cowers away slightly. 

I look around at the girls to see them staring at her like predator about to kill their prey. I gasp, trying to seem innocent, and she turns her head to look at me.

"A-About five years now," she stutters out of fear. The strong girl I once seemed to know is no longer present. She looks like a child being reprimanded.

"Unbelievable," Ally says as she turns away from the scene in disgust.

"So, you were in charge of taking down Check?" Normani asks.

She only nods as the tears fall freely now, and I feel a pain in my chest knowing that she's taking the fall for me. This should be me, too. Natasha inches closer, and I see Elise's hand cover her mouth to prevent herself from crying out loud.

"What exactly were you trying to accomplish?" Natasha questions as she stops mere inches from her face. "Take us down?" She gestures to all of the girls in the room. "Was part of your mission to get close to me?" Elise nods her head slowly and then puts her head down. "Look at me!" she yells, and Elise immediately raises her head again, and I find myself wiping my eyes at her obvious distraught.

"I didn't want to tell you like this," she says through her tears.

"I can't believe this," Natasha says as she rubs her forehead out of frustration. Elise tries to reach for her but she backs away before she can. "Please...don't touch me."

"Natasha, please, hear me out."

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say, Elise! I trusted you! Hell, we all did."

Elise starts to cry again and covers her face with her hands. I feel my own heart breaking by the second and soon enough, Lauren wraps her arm around me in comfort, and I feel my stomach twist with guilt.

"Look at me, damn it!" Natasha shouts once more and Elise lifts her head again to look at her. "I want you to look me in the eyes and see what you've done to me." Her voice cracks at the end, and I can tell she's on the verge of crying as well.

"Don't you think I would have turned you in by now?" Elise says back as she wipes her eyes. "Your entire operation could have been shut down months ago, yet here you are."

"Don't try and turn this around on us," Ally says as she approaches from the room once more. "Do you have any idea how much money you've cost us?"

"It's not about the money," Dinah chimes in. "We have enough to retire on and last us our entire lives. The point is, Elise, what do you expect us to do now that we know?"

"Was it about the money for you?" Natasha asks as she turns back to her. Elise's face drops as it looks like she takes a knife to the back.

"God, no, Nat. My job was to infiltrate Check, to find out who was selling the drugs in the club. When you five became prime suspects, it became my job then to get close to you, to get to know you." Natasha shakes her head in disbelief and starts to walk away when Elise grabs her by the arm in desperation. "I wasn't expecting to fall for you, okay? I wasn't expecting any of this, really."