Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
RORY
Monday at school was mayhem. The drive-by and Tyler’s house burning down was all over the news, especially since there had been a few people hiding in bushes outside when the gunfire started. They’d been trying to get photos of us to sell, their bodies being found later in the night.
I hated to say it, but hopefully it would make other people want to avoid the house and leave us alone.
Josie almost hadn’t let us go to school, but she decided it was probably safer than being at home when she had to be at the office that day.
Tyler was a mess today, and he’d definitely taken pills of some kind from the way he was acting. I would have been a bit of a hypocrite if I’d scolded him considering I'd done lines for breakfast.
I’d slept like shit, so the powder had made me feel more alert. Not sleeping on Saturday night, and only getting power naps since wasn’t exactly great when I needed to be keeping an eye out for trouble.
Lukas was more than happy for the drive-by and the fire to be the talk of the school, it overrode the gossip about him and Jensen, and Caden was being his usual charming self, making sure his position at the top of the food chain remained intact.
A shooter had surrendered to the police today, some random junkie that we all knew couldn't have handled the damn recoil on the gun, let alone aimed it, but the cops seemed satisfied with his statement.
Hunter didn’t believe it either, apparently, since he was sitting on his black Kawasaki on the sidewalk in front of the Mustang in the school parking lot at the end of the day. Marco was with him, sprawled back across his red Ducati, appearing to be napping.
I was glad the Mustang had been at Slash’s or it probably would have been shot to shit, but I was definitely happy to have picked it up on the way to school this morning.
People talked loudly among each other as I approached, the gossip too damn good at seeing a rival crew waiting for me. Especially when people knew the Devils and Psychos didn’t like each other.
“Hey, Pretty Boy. You waiting for me?” I asked as I stopped in front of his bike, and I could see the grin in his eyes despite not seeing his mouth.
“Who else would I be waiting for?”
“Maybe you’ve gotten the taste for academy pussy?”
“Doubtful. These girls probably only want to fuck missionary with the lights off.”
“Maybe that’s what I like? You’re setting yourself up for disappointment, Rivera.”
“I’ve seen what you like,” he said dryly, pulling his helmet off and ruffling his hair. “Where’s your fan club?”
“They’re coming. Why are you here?” I asked as he offered me a cigarette, which I happily took.
“Skeet’s on the way back from the prison and asked me to meet him at the Shed. Thought I’d escort you guys home first since he’s an hour away still,” he shrugged, going still when I stepped closer and unzipped his jacket enough to push it back to check his wound.
“Is it healing?”
“It’s only been a day, babe. Give it time.”
“I’m not the greatest in gunfire. People keep getting shot because of me,” I joked, the humor falling flat.
He lit his cigarette before lighting mine, leaning back to watch me.
“You went into flight mode, which is normal. You were in the open, your handgun wasn’t going to be of any use against a machine gun, and your brain will always tell you to run from gunfire until you retrain it to think otherwise. It’s not like you did anything wrong.”
“You were so calm.”
“I’ve been shot at a lot,” he grunted, patting his bike tank. “It’s not fun on this thing, that’s for sure. Having the van for protection made things a lot easier. We got it towed today so your driveway is nice and clean again.”
I was getting hot, so I took off the blazer and tossed it into the car, rolling up the sleeves of my shirt a little.
“You don’t have to escort us, you know? I have Ty with me, and the others have Jensen’s car. Buddy system and all that,” I pointed out, and he rolled his eyes, blowing smoke at me.
“You think I’m trusting your safety with Ty?”
“You don’t have to trust anything. It’s not your problem.”
“I’d really like it if you made it my problem,” he smirked, looking me up and down. “I’m not usually into the uniform thing, but I’m kind of digging it on you.”
“Perv. Slash liked it too,” I smirked back, flicking ash at him as I smoked.
“The sexual tension is killing me,” Marco mumbled, telling me he wasn’t sleeping, he was just listening like a creep.
“I hope it does,” I said sweetly, and he lifted a hand to flip me off.
“You were supposed to wait,” Jensen grunted as he and the guys approached. They looked annoyed, probably at me for running off ahead, and for the fact Hunter and Marco were here.
“You should have hurried,” I answered, motioning to Hunter. “We have escorts to get home. They’re on their way to meet Skeet.”
“Skeet’s not back yet.”
“We know,” Marco scoffed, sitting up and stretching. “Which is why we have time to play rich boy babysitter.”
“Will you be online later?” Tyler asked, jumping straight into a conversation about whatever game they were playing together, and I could tell it irked Caden to see them getting along.
He was going to be on team Skeeter throughout this whole thing without a doubt.
“You guys go ahead. We’ll follow and keep an eye out. We won’t stay, we’ll keep riding once you’re in the driveway,” Hunter stated, giving me a slow grin. “Unless you want me to stay?”
“I really don’t. Go find Max for me,” I deadpanned, and he winked.
“Working on it.”
Tyler followed me to the Mustang, and once on the road, I looked in the rearview to see Jensen behind us, the bikes behind them.
“I hate to say it, but I kind of like them,” Tyler announced, making me scoff.
“You and Marco beat each other up not that long ago.”
“It got all the anger out. Besides, Hunter’s kind of proving himself to be a good guy.”
“Yeah, he is,” I sighed, flicking my eyes back to them in the rearview again.
Both the bikes weaved back and forth on the road lazily, the guys enjoying their ride despite the threat of a potential shootout.
The drive was quick and without a problem, the guys revving their bikes in a goodbye as they tore off, well above the speed limit, and we parked the cars in the garage before shutting the massive door.
The house was already fixed from the damage the drive-by had caused, extra security patrolled outside, and Josie was just walking into the kitchen when we were.
“No trouble?” she asked hopefully, relief filling her when we shook our heads.
“Hunter and Marco escorted us home,” I replied, her face lighting up.
“Oh, that was nice of them. Where’s Skeeter?”
“On the way back from Fairview. He had to go and top up commissaries at the prison for some of his guys.”
“He does that?” she asked with surprise.
“Of course. Most of the guys in the crew don’t have blood family. The crew is their family,” Caden said before I could.
We all had a coffee and talked about our day, and when the guys headed down to the theater to watch a movie, I got changed in my bedroom before returning to the kitchen to do some homework.
My phone rang, and I smiled when I saw Skeeter’s name.
“Hey. You back?” I asked, hearing him sigh.
“Almost. Got held up by traffic, and there’s an accident a little closer to home. I’m going to meet Hunter and Marco at the truck stop to get it out of the way. The southbound lanes are open, so they can get to me easily. Just wanted to check in.”
“That’s a good idea. At least the traffic should thin out a little by the time you’re done,” I stated, pulling my phone away from my ear when a text came through. It was Diesel, and I frowned at the gibberish message. “Is D with you?”
There was a pause before he answered, the click of his lighter reaching my ear.
“Nah. He’s drunk.”
“That explains the text I can’t understand then,” I scoffed, squinting at it as if it would help me understand it.
“Just ignore him. He’s fine. I’ll try and stay at yours tonight, but I can’t promise anything. I’ll explain more when I see you.”
That perked me up. If something had happened and he wanted to tell me, that was a good thing. The news might not have been great, but opening up to me about crew stuff was a big step.
“Okay. I love you, be safe,” I smiled, and I could hear the smile in his voice as he replied.
“Love you too, baby girl.”
He hung up, and I returned my attention to the text from Diesel.
I tried calling him but it rang out, and after the third time, I started to worry.
Rory: Hey, answer the phone. I’m worried about you.
I waited for ten minutes before getting to my feet and grabbing the Corvette keys, deciding to take it for a spin. I left a note for the guys and headed out to the garage, double checking I had my gun on me before driving towards the gate.
Security waved me through and I made sure to go straight to the Shed without detours, not wanting to get myself into trouble. Was going out alone a good idea? No, but I would be safe at the Shed with Diesel and Brick there, and it was such a short drive.
I kept the music off to hear better, my eyes flicking between my mirrors and the front of the car on repeat, but there wasn’t a problem the entire drive.
“Skeet’s not here,” Matteo growled when I pushed open the door and walked towards the bar, and I rolled my eyes.
“I know, I was just talking to him. I’m looking for Diesel.”
“He’s at home. You can’t—” Samuel started, but Matteo cut me off.
“He’s at home drunk. It’s the anniversary of Sasha’s death,” he said quickly, his sad face not really believable. “He takes it pretty hard.”
“That explains the drunk rambled message then,” I winced, pulling out my phone. “Where does he live? He’s not answering my calls after he texted me, and I’m worried.”
“You’ll go check on him? He doesn’t like us being nosey, but he talks to you, doesn't he?” Matteo asked seriously.
“Of course. I told Skeet he shouldn’t be alone on days like this anyway.”