Chapter 20
Casey: Two Weeks Later
These past two weeks have been intense. We’d been hiding out, and I’d been homebound, except for the few times we went over to the safehouse to check in on the four Americans.
It was always at night, under cover of darkness, that I was allowed to leave.
The guys would blanket me up, hiding me (and Lee) in the back of the beater car, before hurrying inside and descending into the basement suite.
I brought cards and a few board games along that I’d asked the guys to pick up for me from the dollar store and goodwill, and gave them to our guests to help pass the time.
Logan was absolutely miserable here, and I knew he was waiting for any opportunity to return to Florida.
He shuffled around in the basement, wearing layers upon layers of clothes.
Micha was starting to look better, but Riley and Shelby were dealing with everything the best. Shelby kept the place neat and clean and looked after Micha whenever Riley and Logan had to make a trip out.
But now, we were back, helping them pack up the place and their things. Micha had gotten in touch with his father and the all-clear had been given for them to return to Florida.
“If you need help, contact me on this number,” Micha said, programming one into Vail’s cell.
“Hopefully, we won’t have to.” Vail took the phone back and handed Micha two of the leftover hundred-dollar bills that Maverick had given us the night we were at La Maison Rouge. “For gas and food for your journey back.”
Micha pressed his lips together, glancing around the shabby space that he’d called his home for the last two weeks while he recovered. I thought he would say something, but instead, he just nodded, looking like he didn’t have words.
Since Riley was still in a cast, Shelby and I helped her up the steps and bundled her up into the back of the minivan. Meanwhile, Logan was throwing stuff into the back, muttering something about how glad he was he was gonna get out of here without his dick freezing off.
We said our final goodbyes, with Lee and I hidden beneath hoods and layers, doing our best to stay covert, and waved them off. The van pulled away, disappearing up the street, heading northwest out of Ashland towards Ottawa.
Now, we were home again, and Vail and I were going at it, yelling each other down.
“That bitch, Ms. McCuntFace, keeps calling and leaving me messages. Do you want her to show up here?” I stormed after him as he tried to evade me in our townhouse and finally cornered him by the fireplace in the living room.
“She keeps saying that if I miss another day of school, she’ll send me back to fucking Keith! Then what will I do?”
“If she does, she’ll be lucky if I let her walk away…”
“Don’t!” I seethed at him, frustrated. “You’re not immune to the system as much as you try to be.
As corrupt as that bitch is, my meeting with a new caseworker isn’t set till December.
So she’s still in charge of my case until then.
” I opened my phone and checked the last message from her.
“She’s been made aware of my two-week absence.
Since I have a file with Social Services, I can’t get away with missing so much.
I need to return to school to get her off my back so I don’t get forced back to Keith’s.
If I’m sent there, I’m more exposed to-”
“We’ll do fucking homeschooling then!” he shouted back at me, moving out of his corner and getting right up in my face.
His cheeks were red, a vein in his neck bulging, and I knew I'd pushed him too far. “You are not stepping back into that school and you’re sure as hell not going back to that piece of shit! We’re lucky that the Jackals don’t know where we live, but being in that school gives them an opening.
I won’t take that chance! Not with fucking Elias-”
“Vendetta hasn’t even seen the Jackals in a week,” I reminded him.
“They’ve been MIA. So if we go into Harley Institute tomorrow, who are we hiding from?
” The Jackals had been mysteriously silent, and from what we’d heard from Maverick, the Beasts had also been laying low, too.
Their informant confirmed that the Faceless haven’t been giving them any sort of instruction or orders at all, so they'd been quietly hiding out in their clubhouse in a border town outside of Ashland. Both direct threats weren’t around.
Vail raked his fingers through his hair repeatedly, making it stand on end, and sighed heavily.
I could sense Lee and Shaw in the background, watching and listening, yet waiting for his final say.
After an agonizing minute, he finally straightened and glared down at me.
“Fine. We go back tomorrow… but I swear to fucking God, you don’t go anywhere in that school without one of us or a member of Vendetta escorting you.
” He sidestepped me and headed upstairs, his phone out already texting the others to let them know the change in plans.
I sank into the couch next to Lee and wrapped my arms around his waist, nestling into him while Shaw turned on his gaming system.
Upstairs, we could hear the rumble of Vail’s voice as he barked out his orders to the others.
If we stuck together when we were out in public, we’d be fine.
The girls that were taken were done on the sly, quietly, and out of sight.
Everywhere I went, people surrounded me.
I had no worries about going back. I wish we didn’t have to, but if we wanted to get the hell out of Harley, we had to graduate.
“Haldon will escort you from English to P.E., and then Shaw will walk with you to lunch with us. Then I’ll-”
“I know, Vail, I know,” I cut him off as he started the spiel again for the hundredth time.
We were standing outside of Harley Institute, my bulky black winter coat swamping my figure, and the hood pulled up to hide my face.
I’d even dyed my lilac hair back to my natural shade of brown last night at his request, as an extra precaution.
The purple stood out. This way, it was just another safety measure I agreed to upon returning to school.
I was wearing a pair of torn bootcut jeans and a simple fitted pale pink t-shirt and sneakers.
It was a sharp contrast to what I wore when I’d initially arrived at this place.
We walked through security with no issues, but the tension in the air was stifling.
As we walked down the halls, the four of us moving in tandem, we kept our eyes open for members of the Jackals, but there were none that I recognized.
However, the boys knew them all, and as more time passed and no sign of one appeared, I could sense Lee and Shaw relax slightly.
Vail remained on high alert, watching anyone moving our way, and nodding to any secret Vendetta member we passed.
All three of my guys followed me up to English on the second floor, but Hunter didn’t show up.
Haldon, however, strolled in and moved over to where my desk was, taking the seat beside me.
When the girl who normally sat there came in and saw him in her seat, she didn’t even put up a fight.
She just crossed the room and took his old spot.
“Go to your classes, it’ll be fine,” I told them when Mr. Kennard walked in, as jovial as always. He looked a little surprised to see Vail, Lee, and Shaw standing in his classroom but didn’t do anything other than gesture at the clock, indicating they needed to get going.
“You both okay?” Vail asked, directing his question to Haldon.
“We’ll be fine,” Haldon reaffirmed. “I won’t let anything happen.”
The boys all leaned in, each kissing me goodbye one after the other, and I heard the collective gasp by some of the students. They’d heard about our group relationship for sure, but seeing us openly advertise it, only confirmed the rumours.
“Slut,” one of the girls, who I recognized as part of Celeste’s groupies, muttered from the front of the room.
At once, Shaw flew into a rage, running to the front of the room while reaching beneath his hoodie.
“Shaw, no!” I shouted just as Lee tore after him.
Before Shaw could withdraw his knife, Lee grabbed him and hauled him back.
Shaw lurched, fighting to break free, his face twisted in pain at being touched.
Overhead, the bell rang to start the first class of the day, drowning out the screams from some of the girls, while most of the other students scrambled to get out of the way.
Mr. Kennard moved forward, hands held out, and raised his voice to be heard over Shaw’s frenzied cries, “Mr. Bishop… Mr. Bishop!” He clapped his hands hard, snapping Shaw out of his trance.
Mr. Kennard didn’t touch him, but stood several feet away, hands held out to show he was unarmed, not a threat, and spoke gently to him, “Everything is fine. It’s okay.
Please calm yourself and let your friends take you to the washroom to steady yourself.
Don’t make a mistake you cannot come back from. ”
Shaw stared at him, cringing back as the man talked to him. Shaw was comfortable with very few men in his life, Maverick being one of the few I’d seen, but despite Mr. Kennard’s pacifying tone, I could tell it bothered him to have had this man addressing him point-blank like that.
I jumped to my feet and moved forward, positioning myself before him and grasping his face in my hands.
“Shaw, Shaw!” I forced him to look at me.
At once, he stopped his lip quivering as he started to blink away the enraged fog he’d temporarily gotten caught up in.
“It’s fine, okay? It’s alright.” He squeezed his eyes shut before he sagged a little in Lee’s arms.
“You good, man?” Lee asked him softly, turning him away from the gaping eyes of the other students.
“Yeah, I just… I just got a little…”