13. Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Winnie
It had only been three days since Sage met with her mom. Every night after that, I’d talked back and forth with Naomi on a burner phone, until we’d hit a dead end. Needing to find the VRC location, I made a possibly deadly decision.
“Are you sure that’s what she said?” Sage asked as she dug in the fridge for a snack.
As I sat at the computer in my living room, I could feel Lyric’s gaze on me, but I kept my eyes fixed on the screen, weaving a web of lies. “Yep.”
“It just doesn’t make sense.” She shut the fridge and came back into the living room. “If she has information, then why didn’t she give it to you?”
Concern for her mother filled me just as much as I assumed it worried her. I hoped we weren’t getting played by Naomi. Even though it was a possibility, I had limited options.
“Like I said before, she wants to meet up with us. And don’t get excited about seeing your mom. Naomi said she’s coming alone.”
“Then I am too.”
Knowing Sage would figure out something was up if I didn’t play along with the lies I fed her, I made sure I seemed irritated. “You’re not going alone, and if I have to bring Marcus in on this conversation, I will.”
“Whatever, snitch.” She sighed before plopping down on the old tan couch and pulling the top off a yogurt container.
“This is serious, Sage. You’re public enemy number one right now. You can’t be doing shit alone when you have a team of people willing to support you. It’s unsafe. Not to mention, stupid as fuck.”
“Winston is right. We should go with you,” Lyric chimed in, and I was grateful—Sage was more likely to listen to her than me.
Thanks to Jimmy telling Nellie that he would be manning the computers while I went on a mission to meet Naomi, Sage hadn’t been the only one I’d lied to. My girlfriend had also found out, and they both had questions.
If I come back from this secret mission, they’re gonna be pissed.
“When do we leave?” Sage asked with a mouthful of yogurt.
“Once I get back from town, we’ll call Naomi and set a time to meet up.”
I stood and slid on my leather jacket, then leaned down and kissed Lyric goodbye. When I pulled away and saw her excited smile, shame burrowed its way into my chest.
“You and Erik have fun.”
Lyric thought I was taking her brother to the store to get some personal items I’d forgotten to pick up on our last trip. She said it would be a great bonding experience.
“You two have fun on your girls’ day.” Worried my dishonesty would show, I headed for the door.
Once outside, I went three cabins down to find Marcus, Jimmy, Erik, and Peach huddling on the side of it, waiting for me.
“Did you get out easily?”
“Yeah, Marcus. They believed everything I said. My girlfriend probably won’t trust me after this.”
Peach squeezed my shoulder. “It’s best neither of them knows about this. Lyric will just worry all night, and you know Sage will insist on going.”
Knowing what we were about to do was incredibly dangerous, I let out a long breath. “Just make sure you keep them out of my cabin for as long as you can, Peach. Lyric is familiar with what I do. If she catches Jimmy hacking, she’ll know something is up.”
Peach nodded.
Marcus gave me a bro shake before pulling me in for a half hug. “You two be careful.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep the blood bag safe.” I gave Erik a fanged smile, and he let out a sigh of annoyance before heading to the driver’s side of one of the Venom vans.
He looked nervous, attempting to buckle his seatbelt as I hopped in the passenger seat.
“If you die, do you want me to turn you?” I asked. His eyes were wide when his head whipped toward me. “Don’t look so shocked, bro. I’m dating your sister, and I actually care about her.”
Erik let out a frustrated sigh. “I mean, it sucks we even have to have this conversation. I don’t particularly want to be turned into a vampire today, but if I die, your ass better bring me back.”
“That would make me your daddy,” I said with a wink.
Erik made a grossed out face before starting the vehicle. “Shut up, Winnie.”
“It’s Winston.”
An hour later, we were pulling up to a black Venom van exactly like the one we were in.
“This bitch better not be betraying us or I’ll kill her.”
Erik nodded. “Same.”
Noami seemed nervous when we got out and strolled up to the vehicle she leaned against. “Hey, Erik.”
His face stayed blank as he went straight into business. “Do you have our things?”
“They’re in the back of the van.”
“If this is some trick, you won’t survive.” My hand went under the back of my shirt where I pulled out one of my custom Springfield 1911s before raising it to her chest. Erik mirrored me, pulling out his Glock 19. I nodded my head toward the van’s passenger door. “Open it.”
Naomi did as I ordered. Erik kept his sights on her as I peeked inside, finding the front of the van empty. “Clear.”
Erik nodded his head toward the back of the van. “Go first.”
Naomi took a deep breath, stress consuming her face, before leading us to the rear end. We kept target on her as she opened the back van doors. The inside had a bench down each side and contained nothing but a box and a gray blanket.
“I told you I was alone,” Naomi muttered. “Can I give you the stuff now?”
She didn’t wait for me to answer, instead opening the box. I peeked inside and two creepy-ass wooden masks peered up at me.
“Those are the ceremonial items I was telling you about on the phone, Winston. Erik knows our customs.”
When Naomi called me and said she couldn’t get into a system without throwing an alert out, I spent an hour going over different ways to get around it. During the conversation, I realized she may be great with computers and some software, but she didn’t know shit about actual hacking. Being the idiot I am, I said it would be best if I could do it myself.
Another hour later, I had pulled Erik in on the plan, then the others so they could make sure Sage and Lyric didn’t find out. Now I was about to enter enemy territory with nothing more than some creepy fucking mask, a girl who didn’t fight much, and Erik. At least he could throw a good punch.
I cocked my gaze toward Naomi. “Our friends will kill you if you—”
“Yeah, I know. If I betray you, I’m dead. You’ve said it over and over. If we don’t get on the road now, we’re going to miss the ceremony, and this whole thing will be pointless.”
She stared at me, waiting for me to confirm. A huge part of me was concerned about this stupid idea we had come up with, but backing out wasn’t an option.
I put my gun back in my waistband holster and pulled a cloak from the box, throwing it on. Erik did the same. When I reached for a mask, Naomi stopped me.
“You can’t wear that one. The guy it belongs to is closer to Erik’s size. Wear this one.”
“You said everyone has their own masks and most people can tell who they are by their designs. So, whose masks are these?” I asked.
“The one you have belongs to my cousin Alex. The other—”
“You brought someone else in on this?”
Naomi clenched her brows. “No. You told me I couldn’t, so I didn’t. Like I was saying, one is my cousin’s. He wanted a night off, and I said I would cover for him by making it look like he logged into work. He doesn’t know anything.”
Erik suspiciously looked down at the mask he held. “And how did you get Duncan’s?”
Naomi tightened her lips, a shameful expression on her face. “I gave him the flu. Well, not literally. But he’s incapacitated at the moment and probably won’t be leaving his house or the bathroom anytime soon. Once the time comes, I’ll mark him present for attendance and then tell him I covered his ass so he won’t get another infraction. He’ll be grateful since he’s on thin ice already.”
“You gave someone the shits? A girl after my own heart.” I slapped the side of the van with a laugh. “Start her up. I gotta grab my shit.”
“I stashed a plastic tote about a hundred feet into the woods.” Naomi pointed to the side of the road. “Just make sure when you make it back to your van, that you leave these masks in there.”
I nodded and she headed to the driver’s side and Erik took the passenger seat. I went back to the van we arrived in and grabbed a small black bag before hopping in the back of Naomi’s vehicle.
Once on the highway, we drove for a while. Naomi eventually took an exit and a few turns onto some back roads before pulling over.
“Cameras start a mile ahead. Get in your positions.”
Erik squeezed in between the two front seats and headed toward me. We both stared at each other for mere seconds before Naomi cut in.
“Hurry up. You know there’s a tracker on this vehicle.”
I squatted down, then situated myself until my back rested against the van floor, leaving enough room for Erik to lie down next to me. Grabbing the blanket, I spread it out over our legs. Before pulling it over our heads, I turned my face toward Erik. “I know you want to know how big my cock is, but refrain from getting me excited until after the mission.”
“Geezus, Winnie. Do you ever stop talking?”
“Quiet. Both of you,” Naomi said sternly before she pulled away and I finished covering us up.
We took unpaved country-ass back roads, and every little bump shook the van, causing my gun to dig into my back. Naomi had said she would give us a sign when we were about to enter the gates. When she let out a couple of coughs, I knew we were at Venom’s base headquarters. My heart thundered against my ribcage, reminding me how dumb of an idea I had planned.
The brakes squealed slightly as she pulled to a stop.
“Hey, Naomi! How have you been?”
“I’m good, Rick. And you?”
“I’ve been great. Maybe you can come by after work and we can hang out for a bit.” The man’s voice got louder, and I assumed he had leaned into the window.
“We can do more than hang out,” Naomi said, and my brows rose. “How does six sound?”
“Perfect. See ya then.”
The sound of a kiss filled my ears before the van pulled a few feet forward. After a couple of beeps, I heard the gates opening. The van moved again, taking a couple of turns before it stopped. Naomi cleared her throat, causing Erik and I both to sit up. When my eyes landed on her, she had a tablet in her hand, typing away. She cleared her throat again, indicating that she had disabled the cameras in the parking area before she hopped out of the van. Erik took a deep breath and slid the van door open.
When I got out, I noticed we were on the bottom level of a parking garage, and as we made our way through it, I appreciated the lack of people. Once on the elevator, we took it up to the first floor, stepped off, and headed right.
Naomi cleared her throat again seconds before pushing something on her tablet. Lights positioned on the walls roughly ten feet apart flickered and screeching alarms blasted through my sensitive ears.