"Ace, before you go," Trouble suddenly makes his presence known, lifting a hand. At Hex's soft groan, he smiles.
Looking between the two, I slowly raise a brow.
"I need a six-letter word for a pastry that is deep-fried in ghee." He taps his crossword puzzle. "What the hell is ghee? She won't look it up for me."
"Uh..."
Hex stares at her screen before pulling on her red strands. She looks exhausted and agitated in one instant wave. "It's fucking butter."
Letting out a forced sigh, she's breathing heavier. I don't think I've seen her this worked up before.
"While it fits, I don't think butter is a pastry." He keeps tapping, trying to sound sincere, but that smirk is outright lethal.
Twisting in her chair, she turns her pointed glare on me instead of him. "You want to pay me back? Take him with you. Give me an hour of peace, please. Because of him, I've been behind for weeks."
Looking between the two of them, I debate if I want to get involved in whatever... this is between them. But after days of hunting, I owe her this.
"Samosa." Trouble's holding his phone now, staring at the screen to show he could've found his answer much quicker without bothering our drained hacker. "Would you look at that? Indian street food."
Hex ignores him, but her glare at me sharpens.
"Uh, Trouble? I think you're with me." Tilting my head, I meet his smile. "Want to go kidnap someone?"
He doesn't move at first, and I worry she's going to expect me to move him on my own. Dude is built like Smoke. He's not going anywhere he doesn't want to.
Thankfully, Trouble closes his book and flops it down against something that's flashing lights. She hisses at him, and he passes by with a chuckle rolling off his tongue.
"Try not to miss me too much, Red." He tries to touch her hair, but she slaps his hand away, much to his amusement.
Instead of entertaining him, she returns her attention to her displays. "Stand in front of a gun, would you?"
Grimacing, I follow after Trouble and shut the door behind me. "Well, that was..."
He shrugs, looking unbothered. "Don't let her fool you. She loves me. Now, want to fill me in? Hex wasn't very informative when I tried to ask."
I fill him in on everything by the time we reach the open section of the warehouse. Devil's already waiting. He's got a pair of keys in his fingers, wiggling them.
"About time. I thought Butcher was going to kill me if I beat him again." Stepping away from the wall, he looks Trouble up and down before nodding. "Duo's now a trio, huh?"
When Trouble's smirk melts away, his usual frown returns. "I'm just here for the drive."
Proving his point, he snatches the keys from Devil's fingers, earning him a curse.
"Children sit in the back." Back to being grumpy, he continues to move. I don't help by correcting him.
Devil’s easily insulted as we pass him, glaring at both of us before following behind. He's no child, but he is one of the youngest members.
"You might actually catch a bullet at this rate," I murmur, eyeing them both. Trouble shrugs.
We find ourselves in front of four identical vans, all with the same logo. A button push later, we're tucked inside one. Devil's still huffing about sitting in the back while I relax in the passenger seat, punching in our destination.
As much as I love to ride, the sound of our bikes will make him run. We've got to come when he doesn't expect it.
Thankfully, we've got no issue making it to our destination.
The motel looks like something out of a horror movie. Cracked pavement, flickering sign, half the letters burnt out. Fitting for a place for someone to hide out in, or possibly die if their luck runs out.
Trouble kills the engine, and we sit in silence for a beat. Curtains are drawn in every room, and if it weren’t for thenumbers on the doors, it would be impossible to tell which one he occupied.
