“It’s no use!” I yell. “Look at the evidence; they’ve already moved her on. She could be anywhere by now. Be with anyone. There’s no way we’ll find her! Not with our bank of favours completely emptied!”
“I’m not going to give up,” Tex declares with quiet, stubborn determination.
“We’ll get her back,” East promises. “Together.”
* * *
“Are you good?” East’s voice cuts me out of my haunted memories. I shudder, remembering the horror of the day we almost found her. It would pale in comparison to the day we actually found her. I almost wish we hadn’t, but I can never tell the others that.
“We’re good,” I reply on autopilot. “We have our targets, their bios, movements and whereabouts. We can pick them up at any time. Surveillance is twenty-four seven. The weapons are ready.” We won’t be going in with guns this time. It’s payback. It needs to be slow and heartfelt.
“Excellent. Now, about Callie—” East begins, but Tex cuts him off.
“Nope. I know what you’re going to suggest and I’m not doing it. I won’t sit on the sidelines while you two have all the fun. You can’t make me.”
I smile at his tone. He doesn’t mean to sound stroppy; he’s passionate. But his words reveal how painfully young he is.
Sure, the three of us have shared bloodshed before, but this is different. No-one is paying us to do this. Like I said, we’re not using guns. This isn’t a quick in and out, wham bam thank you ma’am job. This is personal. I’m not sure Tex has the stomach for it when it’s so personal. Usually, it wouldn’t be a problem.
Besides, do I want to be responsible for tainting a twenty-year-old’s soul? Even one belonging to a genius? I may only be a year older, and East a year older again, but it feels like a lifetime.
“Tex—” I begin, looking over at his youthful, innocent face. Though he’s far from it, he has the face of an angel. High cheekbones, full lips, floppy messy dark hair. Under the clothes, his tattoos tell a different story, but right now with his black rimmed working glasses on, he looks like a perfect straight A nerd. He can’t even grow a 5 o’clock shadow, and he’s been trying for years.
“Don’t ‘Tex’ me! I’m going.” He’s so unbelievably stubborn when it comes to something he believes in. His arms are folded across his chest and he’s actually pouting.
“Okay.” I give in, holding my hands up. Because, really, what else can I do?
“I’m going to take the bike for a spin. I’ll probably head down to the workshop and put the finishing touches on our gear. Shall we aim to go tomorrow night?” I ask.
“Can’t. Callie has that online recital thing. We promised we’d go, well, watch,” Tex points out. I don’t bother questioning him; he’s never wrong. Guy’s got a freakishly good memory, though he swears it’s not eidetic. East and I beg to differ; the boy’s a genius after all.
“Ah crap. Day after?” East asks.
“It’s the first of the month. Her mum will call.”
“Fuck.” I hiss. That’s bad.
As awful as it sounds to say it, Callie would be so much better off if she cut her mum from her life entirely. The woman is pure poison, and likely the root of how all this trouble started in the first place. It’s no wonder Callie went looking for love in the arms of the wrong person, with the number her mother did on her. She’s the one person I long to eliminate, but East thinks it will hurt Callie too much, so I wait. I’ll bide my time on that one.
Speaking to her mum – even just once a month – messes her up for days afterwards. We won’t be able to leave her side for a while. She’ll need us too much, and if Tex is insisting on coming with us, we’ll need her calmer and more grounded if we’re going to slip away for a couple of days.
“Fuck. Okay. Let’s give it a week then, but let’s use that time wisely to up the surveillance and go over the plans. I want a backup plan to the backup’s backup, and I want at least three different exit strategies for if this goes pear-shaped. Got me?” I demand. Despite not being the oldest, I do tend to take the lead.
“Absolutely,” my brothers agree.
We disband, East locking all the plans away in the safe, Tex wiping down everything we’ve touched to remove our fingerprints, and me getting into my bike gear.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” I tell them. “Go home to our girl.”
Joe: So what’s your ASL?
Callie: 20, female, The Bay
Joe: 21, male, Bay outskirts
Callie: OMG I can’t believe you’re so close to me! What are the chances? Do you know Redpepper Park?
Joe: Yeah! I go there all the time. How weird would it be if we’d met before?! Or at least been in the same place at the same time!