“I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll make a deal with you, Bobby. If I can get your mom on the phone, will you tell my friends everything about the group you’re involved in? Where they are, where they keep the loot…everything.”
“You… You can do that? But it’s nighttime! You can’t really do that? Can you?”
“Kid, if MV says she’s going to do something, she’s going to do it,” Poison said loud enough for Rose to hear clearly. “She’s never let me down yet.” Pride filled Rose at her sister’s praise.
“Yeah! I mean, yes. Please! They haven’t let me in years!”
“Give the phone back to the woman.”
There was a bit of rustling on the other end before Poison asked, “If you promised the kid something ridiculous, like a pony ride, I quit. You can do your own dirty work from now on.”
Rose chuckled, not that Poison could hear it since she was still using the chat-to-speech feature on the phone. Oscar let out a high-pitched laugh, making Rose flinch as it pierced her ears.
“Get him fed and keep him safe. I’ll be in touch within the hour.”
Disconnecting the phone call, she switched back over to the chat with Keys.
Gl!tch.OS: You up for planning a prison break?
* * *
Five Months Later
A video call? Rose, dressed in herSonic the Hedgehogpajamas that she’d been in for the past two-plus days, looked down at her son curled against her chest. Oscar was getting over a stomach bug, and while he was certainly doing better, the past several days had been awful. The rental house was a mess, both of them were exhausted, and Rose couldn’t remember the last time she’d showered because she didn’t want to leave Oscar alone.
Thank God for delivery services. Rose had run out of certain essentials days ago.
Oscar was cocooned into a large blanket, half-heartedly sucking on a popsicle. A barf bucket was strategically positioned at the edge of her desk—just in case. It had been almost twenty hours since he’d last puked, her poor baby, and his fever finallybroke that morning. For Rose, this was the first time in days that she was able to get on her computer.
Keys had been incredible, taking over working with theNon Craswithout question as to why. Rose didn’t know if he’d assumedshewas sick or maybe thought she was taking a spontaneous vacation. Either way, he’d worked seamlessly with Poison, as well as keeping up his responsibilities for his own club and security business.
The summer had flown by, and somehow they were approaching the holidays again. Where the year had gone, Rose had no idea. The discovery that Griffin Shaw had not killed Melanie had been a shock to everyone, though Rose doubted it brought any real comfort to Jenna and Steel to learn their daughter had been killed by a random act of fate, rather than by Steel’s enemy. TheVia Daemoniahad gone through a lot of changes in the past nine months, with Ghost voted in as their new president and the Duncan family deciding to leave Mount Grove.
Rose kept an eye on them in their travels, as she was sure Keys also did. While he didn’t say it out loud, Rose knew that Keys was hurt by Steel’s decision to leave. She understood the desire to escape, though—probably more than anyone else. The drive to leave the pain and memories behind.
To distract himself, Keys threw himself into his work. Rose helped where she could, but between her own work and Oscar, she wasn’t as available as she’d been the year before. Keys never pushed her, which she appreciated more than he knew. He now had all three Riley brothers working for him in Mount Grove, and his security tech was starting to turn a lot of curious heads.
Rose and Keys’ relationship never crossed the friend-zone line. They might bicker, argue, and even curse each other, but neither ever broached the subject of a date or something more between them, since that embarrassing bachelor auction nearly a year ago. Keys was without a doubt the best friend she’d everhad, and their daily talks were second only to her time with Oscar.
But that wall, the line in the sand that they’d drawn between them, did not stop the desire, the longing, and the want from creeping in. There were times when Keys left hints, small openings that she could cross if she chose to… Rose didn’t dare. How could she bring her mess, her world, to his doorstep?
Because he wouldn’t be satisfied with a cyber relationship—and frankly, neither would she. They both deserved better, which meant ignoring those hints or chalking them up to her reading too much into Keys’ messages.
It couldn’t happen. Her one and only purpose for the rest of her life was to be the best mom to Oscar that she could be. Even if it meant she remained alone and without a partner.
Rose had gone online with the intention of checking on Poison, but she should have known that Keys would see her activity. No one else would notice, but Keys and Rose’s work was so entwined now that he would pick up on things others would miss. Just as she would.
Gl!tch.OS: Why?
They’ve never video called before. Should she be suspicious that he wanted to now?
WiseWave620: I’ve been worried about you, Rose. It’s been a few days.
Rose stared at her name on the screen. Other than that one phone call they’d had following Melanie’s funeral, their communication was strictly script. They were basically pen pals with security protocols. Keys was the only person who called her ‘Rose’, which was odd since it was her legal name given to her at birth. As nice as it was that he didn’t shy away from writing her name, she missed hearing him say it.
But her eyes flicked to Oscar’s and her dull reflection in the screen. Beyond that she had Oscar finally settled, she was a mess, a complete and total mess.
Gl!tch.OS: Can you give me an hour or so? I need to shower.
