Spinning around, I took in Jasper’s appearance. He looked pissed, but there was also fear in his eyes. Fear and determination. Something those assholes said freaked him out. “What happened?”
Jasper didn’t answer. His breathing was heavy and he almost seemed to tremble, his eyes distant as he stared in the direction the Hellfire Riders went.
“Jasper?”
“They were trying to get us to go with them,” Flash answered from his hiding spot behind Jasper and Xander. “Or… more specifically Jasper. They knew a lot about him. Kept trying to convince him to go with them.”
A stone landed hard in my gut, making me want to hurl. They were targeting Jasper? Why? What the hell did they want with him?
“Z. Get the kids home.”
Rooster’s tone was sharp and when I glanced over my shoulder, he looked like he was vibrating out of his skin.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
His eyes flicked to mine and he jerked his chin toward the direction the Hellfire Riders went. “I’m gonna follow them, see if I can figure out where they’ve been hiding. Prez has been talking to Hernandez. If we can give them their location–”
“Fuck that,” I argued, shaking my head. “You aren’t going anywhere near them alone.”
“We’ve been on the defensive since they showed up,” he shot back. “They’re threatening the kids now. We can’t just let it slide.”
I shook my head again, but I didn’t have another argument. He was right. We were on the back foot since Battle and his guys showed up in town, and unless we wanted to be on hiatus forever, we needed a damn plan.
Running my fingers roughly through my hair, I glanced at the kids. Flash looked shaken, and Xander’s face was pale. And Jasper… fuck, he looked wrecked. Like whatever those assholes said to him shook him to his core. He needed to get out of here. I could see it in the way his eyes darted around. He was looking for an exit strategy. I couldn’t ask him to wait while we called in the crew, and I couldn’t bring him with me to follow Rooster.
“Fuck!” I shouted, just trying to release the pent up energy. I couldn’t think of another plan.
Squeezing my shoulder, Rooster leveled me with a look. “Get them home. I promise, I won’t go near them. I’ll just hang back and see where they head. Once we have an idea of where they’re hiding, I can get that information back to Wraith and he can go all Matrix on their asses.”
Nodding stiffly, I relented. “Fine. Go. But I want to hear how it went. And if you think they’re onto you, head back. It’s not worth the risk and I don’t want you facing them alone.”
“Deal,” he agreed quickly. Maybe too quickly. I should’ve questioned him more. Maybe then shit wouldn’t have turned out like it did.
Ushering the kids outside, they crammed into my car, heads on a swivel like the three of them were all worried the Hellfire Riders were just waiting to run them down. I honestly worried about the same thing. I didn’t trust those guys. If they were fucked up enough to approach kids, there was no telling how far they’d go to get what they wanted.
It took a minute for me to drop off Flash and Xander, and I was feeling antsy by the time we pulled into the driveway. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one because Jasper launched himself out of the car and raced for the front door before I even put the car into park. I jumped out after him, catching his arm before he could rip open the door. He tried to yank free, and I could see the panic in his eyes, but I couldn’t let him run in there like that. If the girls were okay, and they probably were because Simone responded with a thumbs up when I texted her I was dropping off the boys then coming home, he would freak them out for nothing.
“You need to calm down first,” I whispered in his ear. “Think of Isla. You’ll scare her busting in. They’re alright, take a deep breath.”
“You don’t know that!” he shouted. “They asked where she was! They know you’re taking care of her! Why the hell did you take us in if you knew it wasn’t safe!”
My heart shattered at his accusation and I released him automatically. Before I could think of a reply, the door opened and Simone looked out at us with a frown, Isla on her hip wearing a little robe over her clothes and half her hair done like they’d been in the middle of styling it.
“What’s going on?” she asked, concern laced in her tone.
Letting out a choked sob, Jasper snatched his sister away from her, almost shoving past her to get inside. He ran up the stairs and I heard the lock click on his door a second later. Simone looked at me, wide eyed.
“What happened?”
A shaky breath escaped me and I shook my head. “It’s a long story. I’ll explain inside. How was Isla?”
Simone moved out of the way when I came in, closing the door behind me. Her expression said she knew something was very wrong, but she wasn’t going to push. It was like she could read me, and knew I needed a minute to settle first.
“Things were fine. She ate her lunch, had a bath, and we watched some learning cartoons while I trimmed her nails and did her hair routine. I was just styling it when you got back. I thought you’d be gone a lot longer than this.”
I did too. And it felt like it’d been longer than the hour and change we’d been there. First because we were having fun, and then because of the appearance of the Hellfire Riders. I was so stressed, it felt like hours had passed and it just happened at the same time.
Soft hands cupped my cheeks and when I gave Simone my full attention, she tipped her head. “What happened? Are you two okay?”
