“It’s going to be okay.” Rose’s voice quiet and level in a way that told him she was locking everything down better than he was. Glancing up, he saw that she’d pulled her blonde hair back. He didn’t know when. She was justready, the same way she always became ready, like flipping a switch on her emotions. He’d admired it for nearly two years through a screen, but in person, it was something else to witness entirely. “I’ll handle the club,” she told him sternly. “You take Kennedy.”
Squaring his shoulders, Keys sat upright. Her assignments for each of them were logical. They were working each other’s problem to remain the most focused. But as Keys dove into his search for Kennedy, he realized the error in his statement. It wasn’t Rose’s problems versus Keys’ problems. It wastheirproblems, because Rose’s problems were Keys’ and vice versa. No matter what happened, no matter the consequences of their actions, they would face them together.
* * *
Chaos was nota strong enough word to describe the night following the bar’s destruction. It became apparent almost immediately that something was going on with Ranger and Becks.Neither was answering their messages, even though both of their trackers said they were still at Ranger’s girlfriend’s apartment. At one point, Rose noted that Becks’ tracker moved from the apartment and out towards her car, where her phone was. She must have left it in her vehicle when she went to visit her brother. While Rose did not know these people like Keys did, she knew them like someone who was invested in a book series or a movie. She knew all about them, their lives, and their loved ones—not to mention their drama—but she’d never met any of them face-to-face.
Once it was obvious that neither Ranger’s nor Becks’ trackers were moving beyond Becks’ voyage out to her car, Rose alerted Keys so he could communicate her concern to Bulldog and Lucky. Bear was at the hospital with Ghost, who was fighting tooth and nail to get released so he could go find Becks.
Bulldog himself went to Cameron’s apartment to see what was going on with Ranger and Becks, and soon after, summoned Keys to the building. Rose didn’t like it. Outside was chaos incarnate, but Keys didn’t hesitate. While discovering if Kennedy was responsible for the explosion was extremely important, finding Becks and Ranger took priority.
Prior to leaving, Keys moved a cot into the lab so Oscar had something more comfortable to rest on. The close proximity of the club property and Keys’ building made watching both easier, so Keys pulled Thorne from the clubhouse to guard Rose and Oscar.
Working together felt as natural as breathing, but watching Keys leave, donning his cut and grabbing a backpack full of supplies, felt wrong. Rose had no idea how military spouses allowed their partner to head out the door. They must have been far stronger than she was.
Even his kiss held a tension that spoke of the unknown, but watching him squat before Oscar to say goodbye nearly broke her.
It was sometime later, in the ugly grey hours before dawn as Oscar slept on the cot and Thorne stood like a silent sentinel outside the open door of the computer lab, that Rose saw it. She’d been concentrating so hard being Keys’ eyes and ears as he and his club brothers tried to piece together the last steps of Ranger and Becks that she nearly missed it.
“Oh fuck.”
Thorne moved quickly to her side. “What is it?”
She didn’t look up at the former soldier, unable to take her eyes off the screen. “The message.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Though there was an open seat that Keys had vacated earlier, Thorne leaned one arm down on the desk as he stared at the monitors. Clearly, though, he didn’t see what she saw, because he asked, “What message? From Ranger and Becks?”
Rose shook her head stiffly. A quick glance over her shoulder showed that Oscar was still asleep. “I created a dead man’s message for Poison. It was meant as a failsafe. If I don’t input my passcode every day at a various time, an automated text goes to Poison.”
Thorne frowned next to her, but his stern presence offered her unyielding support. “What did the message say?”
She pointed to the screen, where her message showed plain as day in Fira Code. “Things have been so crazy, that I didn’t even notice my prompt.” How could she not have noticed? She always noticed.
“When did it go out?” he asked, barely moving a muscle.
The answer was like a punch to the stomach. Four hours ago. In aiding the VDMC, Rose had dropped the ball on her own club.
No, that wasn’t accurate either. She’d dropped the ball the moment Keys invited her to Mount Grove. She’d barely paid any attention to Poison or what the NCMC was up to because the anonymity of MV allowed Keys to take over for her without anyone being the wiser.
“It doesn’t matter,” Rose answered in a monotone voice. “Poison has it.” Feeling like an utter failure, on top of the nerves she was experiencing that the explosion might have been her doing, Rose reached for her phone. “I need to call Keys.”
Thorne nodded once. “I’ll be outside if you need anything.”
Rose tried to smile at him, to show her gratitude, but her lips just ended up doing an awkward twitch. She heard the door close on his way out, and her appreciation for Thorne rose at the privacy he offered her.
Her hand shook as she tried to slow her breath. What was she supposed to do? Tell Poison it was a false alarm? Would she believe her?
“Rose.” He must be alone, since he said her name out loud. “What did you find out?”
She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Closing her eyes, she managed a whimpering, “Keys.”
“Shit. What happened? Is it Oscar? Ranger? Becks? What happened, baby?”
“No, no, I…” Sitting up, Rose wiped at her eyes. What did it say about this man that he’d asked about Oscar before his own family? “I fucked up. I missed my prompt to put my code in. Poison got my dead man message.”
The silence between them stretched long enough that Rose checked their connection. Was he angry at her? Disappointed? How could she have been so careless? In the hell of the night, she still should have noticed her prompt.
“What do you want to do, Rose?”
