Chapter 2 #2
WiseWave620: On that note, though, I’m going to go continue hiding just in case someone comes back. I still have 22 more minutes in this thing.
Gl!tch.OS: You can take it off! I release you of your Loserhood!
WiseWave620: No, ma’am. Deal’s a deal. I lost our chess match and I have to survive 24hrs wearing a rainbow unicorn onesie with a butt flap. I will uphold my end of the bargain.
Gl!tch.OS: See? Manly.
* * *
Gl!tch.OS: Cilantro, yay or nay?
* * *
One Month Later
Moving always sucked, but it kept her from getting too comfortable, too relaxed. Rose had three rules that she strictly lived by:
First, she was always ready to leave. She wore sneakers, had multiple escape plans, and was never further than an arm’s reach from Oscar.
Even as he got older and could sleep elsewhere, she still kept him in her bed.
Supplies were harder to keep at the ready when he’d been an infant, but now that he was a toddler, Rose felt more confident in what she had pre-packed in her go-bag if necessary.
Second, as much as she hated it, all her devices were throwaways. She did not keep any equipment between moves, not even a tablet or keyboard. Everything was repurchased after she found her new location.
And third, if she felt complacent enough to make friends or have a pleasant conversation with a stranger, it was time to move.
Oscar’s father was in prison. She knew this, and she kept tabs on him to ensure he remained there, but that didn’t mean there weren’t others she’d pissed off in her nearly twenty-three years.
Including a United States Congressman, an international drug-smuggling gang, and several major health insurance companies she’d scammed out of a shit-ton of money.
While one specific incident had led her to fake her death and go into the Witness Protection Program when she was barely eighteen years old, there were plenty that could have led her down that exact same path. Pissing off the 3Ts gang was just where the dart landed on the board.
Rose had considered numerous times taking Oscar abroad.
With her computer skills, it wouldn’t be hard to still keep tabs on her sister and help out the Non Cras as needed.
And the argument could be made that Oscar would be safer overseas, but the world was a dangerous place no matter where they were.
There was no such thing as a crime-free country, and if something did happen to Rose, she needed to know that Poison was close enough to get to Oscar.
Even if she didn’t know that her nephew existed.
The hotel room they were in was nice. Rose didn’t mind spending money on high-end places to live, because someone searching for her would assume her to be living in cheaper establishments.
Having some place that already had built-in security measures helped her too, as she could piggyback off their cameras and systems without having to build her own so she could sleep soundly at night.
Oscar was conked out after eating the room service dinner she’d had delivered earlier.
Rose ran her fingers through his reddish-blonde hair.
When he’d been born, it had appeared more ginger, but now it was a trick of the light whether he looked redheaded or blonde.
Personally, she was just grateful he didn’t have black hair like his father.
She knew that she couldn’t keep all of that fucker’s traits out of her son.
As much as she hated it, he had contributed to half of Oscar’s genes.
But that didn’t mean her son would grow up to be just like him.
Rose would die before she allowed that to happen.
They were on their way to a new location.
She’d rented a furnished house in the suburbs of a Wisconsin town.
Personally, she would have rather headed south—but anyone who knew anything about Rose knew how much she hated cold weather.
If they were looking for her, they might aim south this time of year.
At least, that was the argument she kept telling herself.
The burner she’d picked up that afternoon pinged with a new message. Rose grabbed it and immediately put the device on silent so it didn’t disturb her son.
WiseWave620: I have been betrayed! By my own club! I will never forgive them for this!
The amount of crying emojis that accompanied the message took away any fear Rose had first felt that this betrayal was serious. Shaking her head at Keys’ antics, she responded.
Gl!tch.OS: How dare they?! Need me to come kick some biker ass for you?
WiseWave620: Would you? I’d really appreciate it. I can give you my address. Just let me know when you’re on your way.
Rose snorted, rolling onto her back so she didn’t disturb Oscar with her typing.
Gl!tch.OS: Fine. You called my bluff. What’s going on?
WiseWave620: The ladies signed me up for a Bachelor Auction! Me?? Are they serious?
In all her past relationships, both platonic and romantic, Rose had never felt such an immediate connection with someone.
Which was also strange—because she’d never met Keys before.
She didn’t know his real name, didn’t know what he looked like or his age.
She pictured him like a mixture of Spencer Reid and Penelope Garcia.
But what she loved, and appreciated, the most was that he didn’t even attempt to seduce her.
Rose wasn’t sure why, and sure that stung the ego some, but at the end of the day, Rose wasn’t in a position for a romantic relationship.
She was a single mom on the run, and the world thought her dead.
What could she even offer a man beyond bringing untold chaos into his life?
So despite the growing affection she felt for Keys, the truth of the matter was that she just needed a friend.
Someone she could connect with, joke with, lean on, and occasionally, hack multibillion-dollar industries with to get stock tips.
Gl!tch.OS: Why? That seems random.
Rose tried to ignore the way her skull itched at the thought of Keys being auctioned off to the highest bidder.
A bachelor auction implied a date and romance and…
Rose didn’t want to think what else. And yes, she was very aware of the fact that she had no right to be jealous.
Keys was her friend, and that was all, but that didn’t mean she approved of him being auctioned like a stud.
And clearly neither did he.
WiseWave620: It’s for the fall festival. The ol’ ladies are pimping us out.
Knowing what she did of the VDMC, Rose was very confused. The women—or the men for that matter—who were in committed relationships seemed the type to put on a bachelor auction.
Gl!tch.OS: I’m going to need a bit more detail than that. What’s going on?
As she waited for Keys’ response, she looked up the annual fall festival on Mount Grove’s website.
WiseWave620: Okay, long story short: it’s a fundraiser the ladies are putting on. Those of us who are single have to go on dates, but the ones who are partnered up are offering labor or a specific task.
That made slightly more sense.
Gl!tch.OS: When is this event?
WiseWave620: October, the weekend before Halloween
It was the middle of September now. As much as the idea left a sour taste in her mouth, Rose typed out her suggestion.
Gl!tch.OS: Okay, so that gives you 5-6 weeks to find a girl/boyfriend.
WiseWave620: GIRLFRIEND!
Gl!tch.OS: I didn’t want to assume.
WiseWave620: Hardy-har-har.
Gl!tch.OS: I’m serious, though. If you get a girlfriend, then you can offer labor too.
WiseWave620: It’s sweet that you think I could get a girlfriend in 5-6 weeks.
Rose’s eyes narrowed on her phone.
Gl!tch.OS: Don’t make me reach through your computer and bitch slap you. And if that’s not threat enough and you start putting yourself down, I will call every single one of your brothers and have THEM bitch slap you for me. Don’t think I won’t.
WiseWave620: Uncle! Uncle! Down, girl. I just meant that there’s no one around here that I like or would want to ask out.
Gl!tch.OS: Oh.
WiseWave620: But in all honesty, even if there was, I probably wouldn’t. I wouldn’t want to use them like that, just to get out of something like this.
Gl!tch.OS: Dawww… He can be trained.
WiseWave620: Stop! Now you’re making me blush.
Gl!tch.OS: Okay, but what if she knows it’s just for cover? It’s not using her if she’s aware of the situation.
WiseWave620: Because that would involve actually going out and having a conversation with a girl!
Gl!tch.OS: I’M a girl, numbnuts.
Rose sent the message before realizing what she’d said.
Oh shit! Did Keys know or guess that already?
They’d been talking for so long that sometimes Rose forgot that the first time they’d had a conversation, she’d used a modulator.
Maybe that was why he’d never tried to seduce her.
Did he think she was just another one of the guys?
Then again, there was a chance Poison had used the pronouns “she/her” when referencing MV.
Despite having never told Poison her gender either, Poison had rightly guessed that she was a woman.
WiseWave620: Are you freaking out right now?
Gl!tch.OS: Little bit
WiseWave620: Don’t worry. I already knew.
Rose wasn’t sure why she felt relieved by that.
Gl!tch.OS: Poison?
WiseWave620: I unscrambled your modulator the first time we talked.
Of course he did.
Gl!tch.OS: Of course you did. Why am I not surprised?
WiseWave620: In my defense, you would have done the same if some rando person called you up asking you for help with a serial amputator they’d discovered on the dark web.
Fair.
Gl!tch.OS: Touché. Now back to you saying you don’t converse with girls.