Red Handed by Jessa Wilder

We drove back to the hotel in tense, heavy silence punctuated only by Sophie’s erratic breathing. I rubbed small circles on her back in the back seat, in a feeble attempt at comfort. I wasn’t great at that sort of thing, and I was pretty sure she had never faced direct gunfire before.

I was eight the first time I was held at gunpoint. Granted, it was just Brian and my dad during one of our regular training sessions, but still. I’d pissed myself. Good for Sophie that she had done better than me at her first rodeo. I’d have to tell her later.

I swiveled in my seat for the thousandth time to make sure we weren’t being followed. I wished we’d taken Rush’s huge, armored Range Rover. Our windows were bullet resistant, but not bullet-proof. There was a big fucking difference. You could shoot a handgun at our car a few times and the windows might spider web, but that was about it. A serious semi-automatic weapon would blow right through resistant glass though, like it wasn’t even there. That wasn’t true with Rush’s car. You could fire an AK-47 at point blank range and that car wouldn’t so much as buckle.

Even from the back seat, I could see that Connor’s knuckles were white on the steering wheel. I struggled not to roll my eyes. He had been less than helpful. In fact, if I wasn’t armed, we would probably all be dead. I would have to rub that in Nico’s face later—he wanted to take my guns and look where that would have gotten us.

We pulled up to the hotel, and my door immediately opened from the outside before we’d even rolled to a full stop.

“Rae!” Rush’s eyes were wide with concern as he yanked me none too gently out of the car. “What the fuck happened?”

“Ow,” I yelped, not answering his question.

He immediately let go of my arm, noticing the angry welt. “What the fuck is that? Why didn’t you call us?”

“There wasn’t a lot of time,” I pointed out. “It all happened really fast.”

He grimaced, eyes scanning me for more injuries. “Come on, let’s go upstairs.”

I glanced back at Sophie, who was shaking as Connor helped her out of the car as well. “No, I—” I started, unwilling to leave my sister.

“Let’s get you all upstairs,” Rush amended.

“Me?” Connor looked confused.

Rush’s expression turned dark for a moment as he surveyed my friend. “Nico wants to talk to you. We all do actually, but he’s the one demanding.”

“You’re not taking his gun?” I muttered as we strode through the lobby toward the elevator.

“Nah. I think it’s only fair to give him a fighting chance.”

I gulped. That did not sound good.

* * *

Nico stood with his back to us as we entered his suite, facing the huge windows overlooking the city. Though his outfit was more relaxed than usual—jeans as opposed to a suit—I could tell from his posture he was tense.

“Rae!”

I jumped, realizing Nico wasn’t alone in the room, as Beck leapt up from the couch. I noted absently that he’d used my name. I couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or not.

“What is it with these guys?” Connor grumbled from behind me. “You did just meet them, right?”

“We can hear you, dickhead,” Rush snapped, as he grabbed my wrist and tugged me across the room toward where he and Beck were standing. Shivers rain through me, sending heat between my thighs. I pulled away sharply. Nope, none of that.

“What the fuck happened?” Nico asked coldly, still not looking at us.

“The situation was under control—” Connor started to say.

“Explain to me how this is ‘under control.’” Nico picked up a television remote off the coffee table and flicked on the enormous flatscreen TV covering the entire wall to the left. Grainy security camera footage filled the screen—a birds eye view of Maria’s Pizza, shot from what looked like the bank across the street. I watched in horror as the vase exploded in front of Sophie and I and we leapt up, diving behind pillars moments later.

The whole thing took less than five minutes to play out. Beck winced as I stepped from behind the pillar and shot three gunshots into the dark space between the buildings on the opposite side of the street where the gunfire had originated from. In the moment, it felt more random, but watching myself on video, I seemed like I knew where I was shooting.

“You either hit the shooter, or made them reevaluate if they wanted to continue,” Nico said, in a voice of forced calm. “They stopped immediately after.”

“Huh,” I said, sounding dumb. I couldn’t think of what else to say.

“What I can’t begin to fathom,” Nico spoke to Connor, his voice so low I had to strain to hear him. “Is where the fuck were you?”

“I, um—” Connor broke off.

The silence in the room was deafening as I looked between Connor, Sophie, and the three guys. I had to wonder why they cared. Maybe Nico was worried if Sophie died, my dad would start another gang war. That actually made a lot of sense.

I put my hands up. “Alright, this isn’t about Connor. It’s not your job to yell at him, anyway.” I was definitely less than thrilled with Connor, and I would tell him that later for sure, but I didn’t need Nico to discipline my friends or my security for me. Did these guys not get what my role was back at Mount Summer? I could handle this all on my own.

“It sure as fuck is my job,” Nico growled. “Why do you think you’re here?”

“I have no idea!” My voice rose. “Why are we here? Why is Sophie being targeted?”

Nico raised an eyebrow at me. “Is this so unusual for you? Your daddy must have kept you under a rock your whole life, because being targeted just for being alive is just part of our life.”

That stung a little…not as much as my fucking arm…but I also felt like it wasn’t the whole truth. He was deflecting somehow. “This has to do with The Trilogy, right? Why are they shooting at us?”

Nico narrowed his eyes, glancing from me to Connor in the corner. “We don’t discuss our business in public, Raegan.”

I scoffed. “How is this in public?”

“Okay.” Beck stepped forward, putting a hand on the small of my back. “Let’s all just calm down.”

Nico glared from me to his friend, then turned away in obvious frustration. “Fine. From now on, you do not leave the hotel without one of us with you.”

I laughed harshly. “Fuck off, Nicolai. That isn’t happening.”

“I don’t really care what you think. Go ahead and try to leave. We’ll just have to catch you again.”

I growled in frustration. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

His eyes darkened as he rounded back on me. “I really don’t think you want to find out.”

My lip curled, and I opened my mouth, about to spit a venomous retort, but Sophie cut me off.

“What about me?” she asked.

“You too.” Nico lowered his voice when speaking to her; obviously she wasn’t in trouble. Lucky me.

“You can’t just hold us here,” I growled. “That’s insane.”

“Yes, I can,” Nico argued, his jet-black eyes flashing. “The alternative is you two being dead in the street. If you have a problem with it, call your father. He agreed to let me keep you both here until the heat calms down on her and you’ve helped us retrieve the laptop. I could drag that out indefinitely.”

“Dude,” Beck said, his voice a low warning. “What are you—”

“Shut the fuck up,” Nico barked.

“Maybe I will call my dad,” I said mulishly, even as my stomach sank. I already knew I was unlikely to find an ally in my father.

“Fine,” Nico challenged. “Send him my love, but I’m sure he already knows.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I balled my hands into fists.

This time it was Rush who answered. “Again, not in public, Firecracker.” His eyes darted meaningfully to Connor.

I laughed. “Please, you’re more paranoid than my dad.”

“Do you think I’ve forgotten for one second that you’re the enemy living in my house? You think this is easy for me?” Nico spat at me. “At least your sister isn’t making any trouble. Even your idiot bodyguard seems to know his place.”

“Fuck you,” Connor growled, clearly trying and failing to sound intimidating.

Nico ignored him, eyes still boring into me. “You’re the only one who doesn’t seem clear on your place here. It’s gonna get you killed…and I think Jimmy’s buried enough kids already, don’t you?”

I stepped back, winded. He may as well have just slapped me in the face. Using Marcus as an emotional lever was taking things one step too fucking far. The sudden mood shift in the room told me I wasn’t the only one thinking it. I glanced at Beck, but he didn’t meet my eyes. Right. Rush’s intense two-toned gaze was on me, but he didn’t dare contradict Nico either. Okay. I could see how it was going to be.

“Fine.” I turned on my heel and stomped toward the door.

“Get back here,” Nico called after me. “We’re not finished—”

“Yes, we are!”

“Stop.”

Something in his tone made me pause, one hand on the door. I slowly turned back to see them all staring at me. I scowled at Nico. “Am I allowed to go to my fucking room, or are you planning to tie me up?”

His eyes flashed for a moment with something other than anger, but it was gone so fast I wondered if I’d imagined it. He just nodded. “Go.”

I yanked the door open, and Sophie and Connor hurried after me, letting the door fall closed behind us. Immediately, shouts erupted from behind the closed door. It was impossible to make out one angry voice from another, but I didn’t linger to try.

“Rae! Wait up.”

I turned to see Connor rushing after me down the hall, his sandy brown hair bouncing against his forehead. Pausing, I fixed him with a withering look. “What?”

“Look…” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

I glanced around the empty hallway for somewhere we could go. There were only two doors on this level. Nico’s room and—

“Use my room,” Sophie said, coming up behind Connor.

Right. I gestured for her to lead the way, and we stepped into her room. It looked about the same as mine. Maybe a little bigger, with a similar living room and kitchen, and a door leading to the bedroom. I crossed my arms over my chest as Connor shut the door behind us.

“What the fuck was that?” I asked coldly.

“What?” he tried to sound blasé.

“Don’t give me that. You know what. Are you serious? You’re supposed to be our security. That means you don’t run when we’re being shot at and you definitely don’t fucking freeze.”

“I panicked, okay? I’m sorry. I’ve never been shot at before. I just…it won’t happen again. I swear.”

I gaped at him. How the hell had he never been shot at? His family were several generations old members of Mount Summer. We’d been friends for years, and he had two brothers in the organization who I knew for a fact moved weapons for my dad. I couldn’t believe he didn’t know his way around a gun.

“I’m calling my dad. You need to go home,” I said shortly.

“I can’t do that, Rae,” he said, firmly. “I’m here to watch you.”

I was momentarily distracted as something crashed in the room next door. Sophie and I made eye contact over Connor’s head. The Gentlemen didn’t seem to be faring any better than me. “Yeah, and you did a fucking great job at that,” I snapped. “If my dad wants to have his own security here fine, but he can send Patrick back, or Kyle.”

Connor winced. “No, I’m supposed to do it. Your dad told me to keep an eye on you.”

“Why the fuck is everyone supposed to be ‘keeping an eye on’ us,’” I yelled. “We don’t even know these guys. The Gentlemen have been our enemies forever.”

“I’m glad to hear you haven’t forgotten,” Connor said darkly.

I didn’t have time for all this pissing contest bullshit. “Don’t change the subject, Connor. This isn’t about me,” I snapped. “If you can’t take this heat, then there’s no point in you being here.”

“Hey.” Sophie stood up and stepped between us. “Look, today sucked, okay? But we’re not going to leave the hotel again for a while, right? So, it doesn’t matter.”

“We’re going to have to leave the hotel at some point,” I countered. “I’m not letting Lord Esposito rule over me. Plus, they need me to do a job for them, or so they claimed.”

Sophie looked contemplative. “I don’t know, Rae. Look, even if you need to leave the hotel with them, you’ll probably be fine, right? Anyway, you heard Nico. Maybe he doesn’t need you to do anything just yet?”

“Yeah, what the fuck was that about? I thought it was so urgent. I don’t understand what is happening.”

I was going to have a goddamn aneurysm. Nothing made sense. Everyone was acting totally out of character and going back on what they said they were going to do, and now we were getting shot at. We hadn’t even been here a week and already it felt like a year.

“Let’s just not rock the boat right now,” Sophie said.

I snorted, rounding on Connor again. “And what are you going to do?”

“The same thing I have been doing.” He shrugged. “They stuck me in a room down on level fifteen. Not that you’ve bothered to come visit.”

I felt mildly guilty about that for a second, but then shoved it down. He was trying to turn this back on me to deflect from the fact that he nearly let us get killed. That was some bullshit and I wasn’t going to be forgetting anytime soon. I threw my hands in the air. “Fine. I’m calling Dad, though. This is fucking insane.”

Sophie shook her head. “You can try. I’ve been trying multiple times a day since we got here. He’s not answering.”

My eyes widened. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope.” She popped the P.

That was…weird. My dad always talked to Sophie. Always. If he wasn’t answering her calls, then something was definitely going on, and I was going to figure out what.