Chapter 15 #3
Micah and Kade couldn’t hide their sniggers at the reminders, and even I had to bite my bottom lip.
The kids began to get in on Jaxson’s pranks, and in some cases, he took the blame for them.
I had known for a while that it was Kade, Micah, Ella, and Alex who placed electronic crickets in Jace’s office.
He searched for the things for hours before he realized it was a prank.
They told Jaxson they did it because he rarely ever pranked Jace and Remy. They didn’t think it was “fair” and decided to tip the scales. I was afraid of what they were going to think of for Remy, but then again, I was sure it would be entertaining for me.
I perched on the window ledge to peer down at the street and out over the city.
There was something energizing about seeing how alive it still was.
As I picked at my food, I admired the lighted paper lanterns strewn in a zigzag pattern down the entire street, affixed to the buildings.
Then I began to people-watch, one of my favorite pastimes in crowded places.
After several moments, my attention was drawn to a suspicious-looking male. His tall, gangly frame was conspicuous among the people surrounding him. The way his eyes darted back and forth instantly put me on alert. I wondered if he was one of the people we were looking for.
I felt one of my men take a seat behind me, and I looked over my shoulder to smile at Troy. He placed a sweet kiss on my cheek before beginning to dig into his food. He swallowed his first bite before peering over my shoulder.
“What’s got your attention?”
I pointed to the guy on the street. “He looks shady as shit.” I used my chopsticks to pick up some lo mein noodles.
Gavin’s voice startled me once more. “Umm, Blake.”
I turned and raised a brow at him, hastily attempting to swallow the food in my mouth.
Gavin bit his lip, quelling a smile. “Dawn, Marcel, and Rachel are begging you to allow them to eat their food.”
I nearly snorted out my food in an attempt to stifle my laughter. I shrugged. “Oops. My bad. I guess I can free them from my compulsion.”
“Take no prisoners,” Jaxson goaded.
“Make them suffer a little longer,” Noah agreed.
I contemplated it for a moment, then turned around and made eye contact with Dawn, Marcel, and Rachel.
Rachel made puppy-dog faces and held her hands as if in prayer.
Marcel had his hands poised on his hips, looking over at me in annoyance.
Dawn was pretending to run her thumb over her neck in a threatening manner.
I grinned and intentionally only released Marcel and Rachel.
“Their food is probably cold by now,” Troy commented with amusement.
“Done,” I informed Gavin.
He smirked. “Thanks.”
Mercedes, Bentley, and Gavin disappeared. I looked at the apartment across the street and watched them reappear. Dawn was swinging her arms around before turning to glower at me when she realized that the other two were eating.
“You don’t look so repentant for teasing a pregnant woman,” I silently teased her.
Even from a distance, I could see her huff and stomp her feet. I released her from her punishment and blew her a kiss. My attention was immediately drawn back to the street when the teens began to make noises of consternation.
“Bro, that guy just stole that old woman’s shopping bag!” Micah exclaimed.
Sure enough, I witnessed the man I had been eyeing earlier taking off down the street.
In his haste to run away, he knocked a toddler down.
The unsuspecting child went skidding across the concrete sidewalk, and his poor mother attempted to comfort him while juggling the baby in a carrier attached to her chest.
“Not today, mother trucker,” I muttered to myself before silently compelling him. “Stop!”
The tall, gangly man stuttered to a halt.
Unfortunately for him, and hilariously for us, he had been attempting to dodge around a man pulling a roller cart of groceries behind him.
My command caused his foot to catch on the cart.
He was unable to recover and fell with a sickening thud onto the pavement.
I wasn’t the only one to laugh when he rolled over, scrambled to his knees, and looked around wildly.
Our laughter only increased by the time the five-foot-nothing, less-than-one-hundred-pound Asian woman caught up to him.
She began to wallop him with her purse. Shortly thereafter, the young woman with the small children was by her side and began to help in the endeavor of pounding on the younger man.
“Guys?” Shiloh tentatively prodded.
“Hmm?” Jace responded distractedly.
“I think someone’s trying to send us a message.” Shiloh pointed toward one of the stores.
I attempted to understand what she meant. It took me a moment to realize that the electronic sign affixed above the convenience store a few shops down and across from us was no longer scrolling their weekly sales. Instead, it was now flashing: They know you’re here. Get out!
I heard a few expletives around me and wondered about the validity of the warning when Herman “popped” over. “Thirty strong, headed our way.”
In the chaos that ensued, I didn’t have time to wonder who had sent us the message.