Twisted Complications by Nikita Parmenter

Chapter Twenty-One

Atlas

The sound of the doorbell echoes through the hall and we all pause to look at each other, doing a head count. We’re all here, so, who the fuck is at the door?

“That’s not the buzzer for the gate, dude.” Rage starts, “That’s the doorbell.”

“Who else has the code to your gate?” Trick asks me and I share a look with Rage.

“Fuck.” I growl, striding towards the door, there’s only one other fucker that has the code and if he’s here, it can’t be good news.

I had no intention of them knowing about this yet, they’re safer if they don’t know. Of course, that thought sort of seems redundant since they’re all deeply embedded in my world now anyway. If he’s here, then it’s serious because he agreed with me that it would be better to keep his identity quiet for as long as possible.

“Hello, Alaric. So lovely to see you.” I say sarcastically, pulling open the door.

“Hold the fuck on.” Ever starts as Alaric walks into the house.

He’s out of the monkey suit as he calls it, and dressed far more casually in dark jeans, and a black t-shirt showing off his ink covered arms. He walks in with a giant grin on his cocky as fuck features, he’s loving this reveal the fucking dick.

“How are you on first name basis with the detective?” She asks, crossing her arms over her chest and raising her eyebrow at me.

“Oooo shit, Atlas is in trouble.” Jensen sings and I grimace.

Alaric’s lips twitch as he tries to suppress his chuckles and I swear I could fucking punch him right now. Would it have been that hard to give me a bit of a warning? Maybe with enough time to tell them myself instead of springing it on them. He’s the closest thing I’ve got to a father, but holy hell sometimes he tests me.

“He’s my uncle and my contact.” I say, he’s close enough in age to me that our relationship is more like brothers than uncle and nephew though.

“Fucking hell. Why couldn’t you tell us this? Did you bring us here? Was that whole shocked thing when you first came back, a fucking lie?” Ever asks, her expression darkening with anger.

“No of course not. . .” I start.

“That’s actually my fault on both accounts. He asked me to keep you safe but when I looked into your case, I realised that the only way to keep you safe was to bring you here. I chose not tell him for my own entertainment.” The fucker grins, “And I asked him not tell you of the connection between us. For my own safety as well as yours. The less information you knew, the better. However, I’m more than convinced that you’re all in when it comes to taking down my brother, and you all have the skills to help do so.”

“Okay fine. That makes sense.” Ever says and I’ve never seen a woman go from pissed off and ready to stab me to calm and understanding so fucking quickly. Clearly, I’ve been hanging around the wrong sorts of women.

“Thank fuck.” I breathe out harshly.

Alaric’s eyes crinkle at the edges as they fill the amusement at my relief.

Her eyes narrow and I tense back up. Fortunately, she turns her attention to the guys who although started out mad as fuck like she did, were grinning at my expense by the end of the exchange. Now her attentions on them though their eyes widen, and Jensen starts to fidget.

“You guys don’t recognise him?” She asks, pointing to Alaric and not giving them a chance to answer as she turns back to me. “This is the uncle you lived with when you moved near the guys right?”

I nod.

“I thought so, how come you didn’t recognise him. He’s hardly forgettable.” She says and Alaric winks at her.

I growl, “Watch it.”

“Fuck’s sake, I didn’t mean anything by it, I’d have to be fucking blind not to notice him though.” She explains, rolling her eyes, her lips tilting up into a smirk at my reaction.

I feel like I’ve been chastised.

“We never met him. Only saw him from a distance.” Trick explains.

“Well, at least that makes sense. Now I can assume that if you’re here, you don’t have good news?” She says, turning her laser focused attention onto my uncle as she widens her stance and crosses her arms over her chest as if she’s preparing for a physical blow.

I rub my hand over my mouth to hide my grin as its now his turn to squirm, yeah not so fun when it’s you in trouble, is it you fucker.

“No. Your suspicions were right. We did have men watching her but all three of them have been taken out. It appears she put up a fucking good fight though.” He grins.

“That’s my girl.” Ever’s grin is dark and proud.

“We’re unsure where they’ve taken her or even how they took her in the first place. They’ve got several teams out looking for her now. I told them I was following my own lead and came here to help you guys.” He looks over all of us seriously. “I know that you got a phone call from her this morning and it’s safe to say that Liam has her. As far as being able to deal with this, you guys are our best bet. You have the most information on Liam, the situation, the victim, and you also have what he wants. Plus, you can be more ruthless in how you deal with the situation. Your team is the best for this job, they just don’t realise it yet. Mainly because they have no idea that you exist.”

“Well, okay then.” Ever says, walking past us all and to the weapons room.

I guess that’s the end of that, we all follow her. Ever likes her weapons and I’m slightly worried about the damage she could do to the room if left unattended and she starts playing.

“Did you bring any equipment with you?” Cash asks Alaric out of the blue as we enter the room.

“I brought some. Why, what are you after?” He answers with open curiosity.

“A tracking device we can attach to the car. We’re less likely to get caught following them if we can do it remotely, we can also be more prepared for what we’re heading into and scout out the area.”

“I like the way you think. I’ve got the perfect thing, it’s a small device that shouldn’t be noticeable if you place it under the car. I take it you guys have a plan then, care to fill me in?”

Trick hangs back and fills Alaric in on what we’ve decided to do. I have to admit that it takes some of the pressure off of us, him coming along. It means if something goes wrong for whatever reason, he can immediately call it in.

“Aren’t they starting to get suspicious? You keep saying you’re following a lead more and more and then you end up finding things like the warehouse.” Rage asks Alaric and I turn to him.

It’s been something that’s been playing on my mind recently. He faces severe consequences if he gets caught giving us tips on Liam and his men’s whereabouts, not to mention giving us jobs, that not only involve Liam’s business dealings, but also other sketchy people that they can’t take out or find enough information on to arrest them. I think that might be one of the reasons he gets us to write a report up every time we do a job, he’s teaching us the right way to do things even though we haven’t formed the traditional way.

“I got called into the big bosses office the other day actually.” He says, he doesn’t seem too worried, but he’s got a pretty good poker face. “He knows that I’m coming by my information in untraditional ways. He’s also noticed that it’s mainly things to do with Liam. However, it gets results, needless violence is not used. He double checked with me that when people were taken out, it was completely necessary, and I assured him that it was. As far as he’s concerned, we’re getting results and slowly dismantling one of the largest and most feared criminal organisations in America.”

I study him, that sounds great. A bit too rose coloured for my liking, he scratches his right ear, his tell.

“And?” I ask.

“What?”

“I know there’s something else you’re not telling us.” I demand, crossing my arms over my chest.

He sighs. “Fine. He warned me that there’s going to come a time when he’s going to want to meet you all and get a proper debriefing.”

“Shit.” I curse.

“It could be a good thing. He didn’t say he wanted to bring you in, just that he will want to be made fully aware at some point in the future and for now, to just carry on how we are.” Alaric says.

“It could mean, doing it officially rather than always worrying that we’re going to be dragged in.” Rage says.

“So, we keep writing the reports and making sure that we tread the line between getting rid of the scum that we need to and not overstepping any boundaries that could be considered as using excessive violence.” Trick says, summing it up fairly simply.

“Exactly. There’s nothing we can do about it now anyway; we just need to be as prepared as possible for when it does happen. I don’t think it’s going to be an issue for a long time.” Alaric agrees.

I turn to the others, my eyes landing on Ever who’s watching the exchange with interest.

“After hearing that, are you guys sure you want in? The only one of you who’s actually done a job with me so far is Jensen. There’s still time for you to get out if you want to.”

“No fucking chance.” Ever answers immediately.

“What she said. We’re in and we aren’t letting you do this by yourself.” Rafe adds.

“Okay. Well, that’s that sorted then.” Alaric claps. “I’m still looking into those missing kids for you by the way. The information is buried really fucking deep, but I’m working on it.”

“Thanks.” Ever smiles.

“We need to get a move on if we’re going to get there a couple of hours early.” Trick says, getting us back on track.

“Alright, grab the weapons you want, I’d suggest at least one gun.” I say, knowing that we’re going to need them at some point.

“Jensen, go and get your knives. We’re going to need to be as stealthy as possible for as long as possible, which means knives not guns.” Trick adds in.

“I only bought the ten you told me I was allowed.” He replies, his eyes widening with fake innocence.

Ever smirks, not buying it at all as she glances back at him pausing in strapping a gun to her thigh. The image is hot as fucking hell and I cross my arms over my chest to prevent myself from reaching for her. We don’t have the time to get distracted right now and if I start something, I know for a fact it won’t just stay me. I don’t mind, but we definitely don’t have time for that. Although the stress relief it would provide for all of us would be pretty fucking awesome.

“I know for a damn fact you brought more than that.” Trick smirks as the guys start to chuckle.

“Fine, I may have.” He admits, throwing his arms up in the air dramatically as he stomps out of the room, presumably to go and get them.

Everyone starts to gear up and I can’t help the worry that starts to creep up my spine. The people in this room are my family and I can’t stand the thought of one of them getting hurt or worse, losing one of them entirely.

My fingers twitch moving to twist the ring that’s no longer there. Alaric’s eyes catch my movement and widen when he realises my ring isn’t there, he still wears his own. He knows the importance of it, his eyes move to Ever a clear question in his gaze. I nod once hoping that he won’t make a big deal out of it right now.

Determination fills his gaze and seriousness takes over his features. I know that he will now treat Ever like she’s family. As is our way, when it’s done correctly and not perverted like my fucking father. Ever has just become even more protected than she was before, and she doesn’t even know it. My uncle understands the danger that comes along with giving her my ring too. Rage is right, after this I need to tell her what it all means, I can’t leave her vulnerable if Liam ever gets his hands on her.

While everyone is busy gearing up, Alaric makes his way over to me.

“Does she know the significance of it?” He asks me, quietly.

“No, she knows it holds significance but not the extent of it. I’m going to tell her after we’ve got Rylie back from Liam.”

“Good, she needs to understand the risks as well as the rewards.” He warns, his eyes conveying the seriousness of the situation.

He waits until I nod my understanding before smiling and walking off to gear up himself.

It doesn’t take long until we’re all ready to go.

Ever

Jensen comes back in the room just as everyone else is finished strapping various weapons to themselves. Is it wrong that I find them so fucking hot, looking all dangerous and ready to take some names? Jensen drops a large duffle bag on the floor, and I raise an eyebrow. I knew he brought more than ten but there looks to be a lot more than that in there.

“Dude, seriously?” Riot asks, sounding shocked.

“What? I didn’t get caught with them and they’re not all mine.” He defends.

“What the hell does that mean, man?” Rage asks, this time sounding somewhat amused.

“I’ve been er, commandeering them off of the kids at school.”

“You’ve been stealing knives off the idiots at school?” Atlas questions, his eyes betraying his amusement.

“How else am I going to keep my skills sharp? You never know when you might need me to pickpocket someone.” He points out, seemingly completely unrepentant, if the proud glint is anything to go by.

“So how many did you bring with you?” Trick asks.

“Twenty.”

“And how many have you stolen?” Alaric asks.

“Twenty-five.”

“Holy fuck, that many?” Rafe adds in.

“Yep. They didn’t even notice me lift them; it was hardly challenging if I’m honest.” He replies sounding disappointed.

“We’ll come back to that later, everyone grab some knives. I assume that you’ve got the ones you want on you?” Trick orders.

“Yep.” He grins, popping the ‘p’ and seeming incredibly pleased with himself.

“Where?” Alaric asks, studying him closely.

“Don’t bother, you’ll never find them all and he’ll never tell.” Atlas chuckles.

Alaric raises an impressed eyebrow.

Finally, they’ve all got their knives and we’re ready to go. Rafe stops us just before we go out of the front door.

“We missed breakfast and we’re probably going to miss dinner. I suggest that we pick up something on the way into town, we’ve got a while to wait in the car anyway and we’re going to need all the energy that we can get.” Rafe says firmly, always looking after us.

I would’ve completely forgotten to eat, if I had been left to my own devices, my mind too focused on rescuing Rylie.

“I second that, I get stabby when I don’t eat, and I don’t think that’s entirely the goal here.” I grin, getting a couple of chuckles out of the guys. At least someone finds me amusing.

“That works. What cars are we taking, there isn’t one big enough for our whole team and Rage’s car although gorgeous, is not exactly inconspicuous. Same goes for the bikes.” Riot asks.

“Actually, I brought one of the vans with me. There’s enough room for all of us, plus equipment and Rylie.” Alaric shrugs. “I had a feeling you guys would already have a plan. Atlas has told me a lot about you over the years.”

I can’t believe that the Detective is Atlas’s uncle and his link to the feds. It works out really well. Everyone’s on the same page and at least I know I can easily contact him if I need information on what’s going on with the case. He mentioned Phoenix but not the case, so I figure there’s no update yet.

We load up into the big black van and I have to admit that it’s actually quite comfortable in the back. There’s a line of seats down each side with lap belts that offer little protection really. The one thing I’m not keen on when it comes to sitting in the back is that there are no windows. Great for protection and anonymity, but I’m not that keen on not seeing where I’m going. The guys wanted me to sit in front until I pointed out that if Liam’s guys are on the lookout for me, I’m better off in the back. If they catch sight of me then this whole rescue mission is done for.

I’m not risking it.

For the same reason, Alaric and Atlas are in the back as well. All of Liam’s men know who they are. We want to stay inconspicuous to them for as long as possible. Pretty much the whole mission hinges on us staying hidden until the last minute and them underestimating us.

“Here’s the plan then.” Trick says from up front, of course he’s driving. Luc sat up there with him. “Food, then we park up where we can see the coffee shop but not directly outside, that would be too obvious. Atlas or Alaric should be able to identify Liam’s men. As soon as we’ve identified them, and hopefully their car, I want Luc to place the tracker on the underneath of it. Jensen, you will be look out since you’re the best at creating distractions.” His eyes meet Jensen’s in the mirror as they share a grin.

“What if their car’s not in sight?” Cash asks.

“It’s unlikely that they won’t park it close by, after all they’re planning to get Ever into the car as quick as possible without giving her the chance to change her mind or allowing her to alert anyone that she needs help.” Alaric points out.

“But if it’s not in sight, you Luc and Jensen are going to have to tail them back to their car and then let us know where it is.” Trick says frowning, his need to have a plan for every eventuality is pretty fucking handy but it has to drive him mad sometimes.

“Hopefully, it won’t come to that.” Alaric tries to reassure him.

“After that, we’ll go from there.” Trick finishes. “It will all depend on what their next move is after they realise Ever’s not coming and how quickly Liam gets in contact.”

We’ve just pulled up to the drive thru, a different one from last night and I realise something.

“Trick and Luc, you’re not going to want the drive thru guy to see your visible weapons, take them off and we’ll store them back here. Likewise, Jensen, you need to remove yours before you tail Liam’s men. Without them, you just look normal and you’ll be able to blend in easily with the civilians.” I reply.

“Fuck, I didn’t even think.” Cash chuckles as the guys remove their visible weapons, they aren’t left un-armed still carrying a multitude of concealed ones.

Trick and Luc quickly pass back their weapons and we carry on through the drive thru. I order two meals again; I agree with what Rafe said earlier we need as much energy as we can get.

Finally, we pull up just down the street from the coffee shop, it looks like a cute little place that under normal circumstances, I’d be happy to try out.