Chapter 11 #2
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 was their problems, 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 not a 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?”
She loved that he was allowing her to make the choice, while at the same time desperately wished the decision wasn’t hers to make. “I can’t tell her I’m alive.” Her voice was quiet, but absolute. “At least not yet. I’m not ready.”
“Do you have anything on Kennedy?”
“Nothing that we didn’t know yesterday. Keys,” she hesitated slightly. “I don’t think this was him. What motive would he have to take Ranger and Becks?”
“I know.” His voice was tight. “I was thinking the same thing. It doesn’t fit.”
“We can’t concentrate on Poison right now. She can handle herself. They’re dealing with that corrupt mayor anyway, so me going missing won’t be a priority for her. Once we figure out what is going on here, I can figure out what to say to her.”
“You’re a part of her club, regardless that you don’t ride with them. She’s going to be looking for you, Rose.”
Rose was shaking her head before he finished speaking. “I’m not her priority,” she repeated, though she wasn’t sure which one of them she was trying to convince. “The club will do what’s right and help that town bring the mayor to justice.”
Keys was quiet a moment. “You could send one message. False alarm, just something so she doesn’t worry.”
“Not to worry?” Rose repeated almost mockingly.
Her laugh was anything but humorous. “This is Poison we’re talking about, Keys.
She doesn’t worry. Not exactly an emotion that she’s capable of, especially not when it comes to me.
” Rose rubbed her tired eyes. “And telling her to stop looking, that it was a mistake, will only spark her curiosity and her paranoia. You know Poison. If I send a message telling her to stop, she’ll search harder.
And if she discovers I’m alive, then she’ll come here.
Which will lead Kennedy right to Oscar.”
Rose knew Keys wanted to argue, but she also knew he wasn’t going to. Because she wasn’t wrong, and there was so much else burning down around them for him to fight a battle he couldn’t win.
Somewhere down in the marshes of Mississippi, Poison would soon be waking up to a message that said MV’s enemies had found her.
And Rose was going to let her.
* * *
Nine Days to Present
Thorne was in the kitchen making another pot of coffee.
Grimm and Goose were back in the building, too, but Keys wasn’t.
This was the second day where he chose to remain with his club rather than work in the computer lab with her.
She understood it, and as much as it reminded her of the past two years of them working together, she would have preferred him at her side.
Oscar still slept on the cot in the corner of the lab, his little butt up in the air under the dinosaur blanket.
Goose had offered to take him back to the apartment and stay with him while Rose worked, but she was more comfortable with her son beside her.
Thankfully, Goose did not take offense to that.
With all three brothers back in the building, the task to watch Rose no longer fell solely on Thorne’s shoulders, yet he seemed to be the one always there when she needed something.
He’d even forced her onto the cot next to her son for a few hours.
As much as she loved her Oscar cuddles, Rose felt guilty for getting some sleep when Keys wasn’t getting any.
It had been nearly three days since anyone had seen or heard from Ranger and Becks.
Ghost was understandably going insane. The club was torn between hunting for their missing family members, to take care of their injured, and mourning their dead.
Frankie, the club’s nanny, as well as one of the bar’s waitresses also had not made it out of the explosion.