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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

FALIN

As if it isn’t already messy enough in the apartment, now we can add a busted pipe and water leak to the mix. In my bedroom—because of course the universe would punish me that way. “What did I do to deserve this? And don’t bring up that time in Cabo… that was an accident.”

And now I’m having a conversation with myself.

Blake hurries in with another plastic bin. “This should be big enough to get everything off the floor and out of maintenance’s way.”

“My entire life is being relegated to a Hefty bin. Tell me again, who picked this living arrangement?”

She hesitates as she picks up one of my wet T-shirts from the floor. “I honestly don’t know. Leon, probably.”

“Speak of the devil,” I say, as Leon taps on the outside of my door frame.

“I spoke with the building manager and maintenance is getting a plumber here first thing tomorrow.”

“So what does that mean for tonight?” Blake asks, almost as if she pulled the question straight from my mind.

“Well, they’re shutting the water off for the floor in the meantime.” He looks around at the soggy mess. “And I guess you’ll want to sleep somewhere else.”

I hold in the massive groan that’s dying to escape my lips. “When do Kayla’s parents get here again?”

“Two days. They’re driving in from Texas.” He must see the look in my eyes. “I know it’s been tough having another person in the mix the past week, but I couldn’t just leave her with Ray.”

“I know. It’s not Kayla—I’m glad she’s been here and that we’ve been able to keep her safe until she gets home.” I bend to grab another soggy item of clothing… my sleep shorts.

“I think what Falin’s trying to say is that this situation is not ideal,” Blake says. “She’s been working nonstop since the new year and I’m sure she’s just tired.” She stands beside me and gives me a side hug.

“We’re all tired, but tonight will make it all worthwhile.” A rare Leon smile lifts the corner of his lips, brightening his eyes.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Blake asks. I’ve been wondering the same thing. It took us days to work out the encrypted files from Fairfax’s hard drive and days more to track the money moved to random offshore banking institutions. The only thing of any use so far is the address we got off Wayne. That scumbag was good for something, at least.

The guys have been surveilling the address—a run down house in the Bronx—for days and finally saw some movement yesterday. A couple of guys going in and out, but that wasn’t what’s got Leon smiling. Jasper recognized one of the auctioned girls from Fairfax’s gala with them. It was a quick sighting, but he swears it was number two, the runner. It took everything in him to not blow their cover and bust down the door then and there.

“Need any more help?” Jasper asks, peeking inside the room.

I flash him a polite smile. “No, we’ve got it.”

“We were just talking about the sleeping arrangements,” Leon says with a smirk. “Any input, Jas?”

“You can take my bed,” Jasper says without hesitation.

I toss a waterlogged paperback book into the bin and stand up straight. “Where will you sleep?”

He shrugs, and pulls his hand through his hair. My breath catches… I don’t know what it is, but that movement does it for me. “The floor.”

“Attaboy,” Leon says, patting him on the shoulder. “So chivalrous.”

“No. I won’t take your bed,” I argue, knowing it won’t matter.

Damon stops behind Jasper. “Whose bed?”

It’s like a line of hot tattooed men coming into my bedroom. If I wasn’t so aggravated, I’d laugh.

“Nothing,” I say. “Don’t we have to leave soon?” The guys exchange looks. “What is it?”

“We think it’s best if you two stay here with Kayla,” Damon says carefully. “We have no idea who or what we’ll find in there and we can’t risk either of you getting hurt.”

I open my mouth to argue, but Blake beats me to it. “But it’s okay for you three to risk your lives?”

“I—” Damon starts.

“Absolutely not.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “If you’re going, so are we.”

“But—” Jasper cuts in. I glare at him and he shuts his mouth tight.

“So, when are we leaving?” Blake asks.

* * *

We climb out of Ray’s borrowed van as night blankets the street in darkness. Only one dim street light flickers from a few houses down, almost like the residents of the neighborhood know nothing after dark needs to be seen.

Old cars line the sidewalk—rust-damaged and missing paint. A few bicycles lean against brick siding. But what I focus on is the rundown house we’re headed to. It looms ahead, three stories of crumbling yellow stucco and peeling red trim. I watch my step on the cracked sidewalk—one slip on ice and I’d be down for the count. From what I can see, the house could have been beautiful a long time ago. Possibly some original owner’s pride and joy. But now, the sunroom windows are nothing but broken glass, jagged like a jack o’ lantern’s teeth, and the porch made of sagging rotten wood.

I shiver through my heavy jacket, a loaner from Jasper. After the other night, I wasn’t getting caught outside in nothing but a dress. We’ve gone over the plan so many times, I could recite it in my sleep, but something feels off.

Strong hands grasp my shoulders and I freeze. I know it’s Jasper before I turn. “I need you to stay back here… just for now.”

I flip around and try to make myself tall, although that’s laughable considering I come up to his chest. “I want to help.” I know I sound like a petulant child, but there’s no avoiding it.

“Please, Falin.” He says my name with the kind of desperation you’d hear from a man begging for his life. It takes me aback.

I glance over at Blake, who’s most likely getting the same talk from Damon, judging by her body language. If something were to happen to my best friend because of my stubbornness, I’d never forgive myself. I nod, my shoulders sagging in defeat. “Fine, but I swear you better get us on the comms if anything goes wrong.”

He’s relieved. It’s difficult to tell in the dark, but I see how his chest loosens like he’s finally taking his first full breath of the night. “I promise, I will. We’ll need you to keep an eye out here. Let us know if anything at all looks off.”

I wrap my arms around my chest and take a few steps back toward the van. Blake must have given in as well. Her eyes meet mine and she jogs over to join me. “Watch out for black ice,” I warn.

“I know, I know.” Man, I must be extra on edge tonight if even Blake is sassing me.

Jasper turns back, pulling on his mask with a smirk—his ridiculously sparkly mask. Even in this fucked up situation, I can’t help but smile.

Blake and I climb into the warm van, squeezing close so we can watch from the side window. “I can’t believe he’s wearing that mask,” Blake says.

I laugh. “You know, if it were anyone other than Jasper, I’d agree with you.”

She shoulder bumps me. “So, you and Jas have been getting pretty close.”

I knew this conversation would come. I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t happened sooner. “Not any closer than all of us in the house.”

“Hmm, if you say so.” She does that twirling her necklace thing that she always does when she’s thinking. I tap my ear, and she understands what I’m asking. We turn off our comms.

“I mean… I don’t know. There’s an energy with us. He makes me laugh even when we’re driving each other crazy. And yeah, he’s hot. Of course he is. But I know there’s more to him.” I cut my rambling off when I realize Blake’s totally smirking at me.

“I knew it! You like him. I’ve never seen you get flustered over a guy. Actually, I’ve barely ever seen you get flustered, period.”

“I’m not flustered!” I say as I raise my voice to prove my point. Wow . “Fine, you got me. I might be just a tad bit flustered, but to be fair that man is the definition of irritating.”

Blake laughs again. “You’re not wrong, but he’s a giant teddy bear. He’d be good for you, Fal.”

I blow out a long groaning sigh. “It’s complicated. Some things have… transpired,” I choose my words carefully, “and I’m not sure either of us wants anything serious.” Focusing my gaze out the window, I add, “And really, with all of this going on, it’s not good timing anyway.”

“You’re probably right. If Damon wasn’t so… Damon, I doubt things would have moved so quickly for us.”

A plastic shopping bag blows across the street, catching my eye. I follow its path until it vanishes over the hill. Time stretches. Each minute since the guys walked toward that house could have been an hour. My hands ache from the cold, and I curse myself over and over for not grabbing the van keys from Leon.

“Should we check in?” I ask, my finger messing with my comm.

Blake’s already tapping her phone screen. “It’s only been ten minutes. They’re fine. Right, guys? What’s happening in there?”

The silence feels wrong in my chest. “Weird. Jasper never shuts up on these things.”

Blake takes hers out and jabs the buttons. “Maybe they’re not working.”

My skin prickles, that ominous feeling washing through me for the second time tonight. A shadow flickers on the hill—or does it? I narrow my eyes to take a closer look, but before I can focus, gunshots shatter the night.

“Shit!” My body moves before my brain catches up, legs carrying me out of the van and toward danger. Blake’s footsteps pound behind me, her medical bag thumping against her side. “What the fuck is happening? Jasper, answer me!”

I knew we shouldn’t have let them go alone. Why didn’t I trust my instincts?

I tear through the yard, my boots crunching in the packed snow, my heart pounding. Through the darkness, a shadowed figure appears from behind the house—Jasper, mask rolled up on his head, face grim. There’s something in his arms?—

“Falin,” he calls out. “Here, come take her.”

I move on autopilot. A child is placed in my arms, her cries are distant, like we’re underwater. Blake moves beside me with outstretched arms, so I pass the child over and catch up to Jasper.

As I round the corner, Leon emerges, blood smeared on his face, dripping onto the pure white snow where it spreads like watercolor paint. Two young women wearing nothing but thin T-shirts stumble after him, frantically clutching each other. “This way,” I hear myself yell.

Leon tosses me the keys to the van, and understanding clicks into place. I nod, and sprint back, pulling it as close to the house as I can. My hand’s on the door handle when Leon ushers the girls inside. “No, stay. I’ll need you to drive.”

My fingers tremble against the steering wheel. “Where’s Damon?” Blake’s voice cracks, barely audible over the wails of the child.

Where is he? Where’s Jasper? Whose blood? Was Leon shot? Questions spin but won’t form words.

I open my lips to speak, but the words get lost in my throat. Jasper emerges from the shadows again, carrying another child. This one looks smaller than the first. My heart cracks in two. As he steps in front of the headlights, I see the dark stains coating his clothes, wet like spilled ink.

Damon appears last, a woman by his side. She moves differently than the others, standing straight and confident, wearing loose jeans that hang from her hips and an oversize flannel. As she gets closer I see the pain in her expression. There’s something familiar?—

“Oh my God!” Blake’s voice cracks as she drops a roll of gauze. “Mischa?”