Chapter Twelve

Trick

W e pull up to the house that we rented for this job, and although the neighbours are really far away, I am still grateful that it is the early hours of the morning and that they won’t be able to see us clearly in the half light of the dawn.

We are covered in blood, and if you looked closely at us, you would easily be able to tell that it’s not our blood. None of us have any injuries. It would definitely raise some questions and probably freak people out, too. With this in mind, we all rush inside just in case there are any crazy neighbors that have binoculars or some shit. If it hadn’t happened before, I would assume that we were being overly cautious, but we almost got caught once because of a nosey neighbor with more equipment to watch people than we have.

“It’s a damn good job that we decided to hire a house for this job,” Jensen says as soon as we are inside.

He heads over to the fridge and pulls out a beer, opening it and taking a swig.

“Yeah, there is no way that we could have gone back home looking like this,” Luc grimaces.

Cash points at him, “We are heading straight to school. We are supposed to be at a football game, remember.”

“Shit, I don’t think I could forget. Coach is pissed that we bailed at the last minute,” Luc replies.

I shrug, “I know. He will get over it though. This job was an important one, and none of us wanted to turn it down.”

“We have just got to make sure that we head into school at the same time as the rest of the guys from the football team,” Riot reminds us.

“Which means we all need to shower and change quickly. We haven’t got long, and we’re going to have to drive straight back to the school.” Rafe signs.

“Do we actually have to go back to school?” Jensen asks, starting to sit down before remembering that he is covered in blood and thinking better of it. “Can’t we just go home and sleep?”

I tilt my head, “I suppose we could. The parents won’t mind if we miss the rest of the day off school, especially if we say that we are tired from the game. Don’t forget they think we’re there too.”

“Let’s do that then,” Luc agrees.

“I still want to leave quickly, so go and get showered,” I reply.

“Yes, boss,” Jensen teases, and I flip him off.

Fortunately, we kind of figured that this job would in some way be a bloody one, and we knew that we would be on a time crunch to get back in time, so Cash booked us a house with enough rooms for everyone and made sure that each room had a bathroom attached. This means that everyone is showered and in the truck in no time at all.

As I am waiting for everyone to get in and sort their shit out, I rummage through my bag to find my phone. This job was a particularly sensitive one, so we all turned our phones off and left them in our bags, and they have been there for a couple of days because we got caught up on location and couldn’t leave, and the job took longer than we expected. The parents rarely text when we are away at football games, and because it’s a school sanctioned event they don’t panic when we don’t reply immediately. Fortunately, the away games tend to last for a few days as we arrive early and leave the day after.

“Shit,” I curse as soon as it has switched on again.

“What?” Cash asks immediately.

“I have ten missed calls from Mom and a bunch of messages, but none of them tell me why she wants me to call. Have you guys got anything?” I explain.

Cash tenses, “Probably. Hang on.” It only takes him a moment to turn his phone on, and then he sighs, “Yeah, I’ve got the same.”

“Me too,” Jensen replies, with a frown, “my dad never messages, and definitely doesn’t call this much.”

“Mom’s been ringing me too,” Rafe signs. “Although, none of her messages say anything about why. They just say call me.”

“Your mom has rung me,” Luc says to me, with his eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Kat has messaged me as well,” Luc adds.

Neither of them seem to be surprised that their own parental figures, whether that’s Luc’s parents or Riot’s aunt, have messaged them. In Luc’s case, that’s a good thing; I think we would all be incredibly worried if they had. In Riot’s case, though, his aunt is absent more than she is around.

“She did?” I reply. “Alright, let's get on the road and then I will call mom back. If they have tried to get hold of all of us then they probably want to talk to all of us, so it will be easier through the car so everyone can hear anyway.”

Everyone mutters their agreements, all looking confused as I start the car and pull out of the driveway. Once we are on our way, heading down a long stretch of road, with fields or trees on either side, I press dial and the sound of ringing comes through the speakers.

“Trick!” Mom exclaims as soon as she picks up.

Her voice sounds excited and nervous all at the same time and I have absolutely no idea what is going on. I don’t even have a vague inkling.

“Hey, Mom, sorry I didn’t answer; you know what it gets like at games,” I reply. Hoping that she is not going to be too pissed and isn’t about to ground me.

“I honestly don’t care,” she replies excitedly, shocking the shit out of me. “Are the guys with you?”

“Erm yeah, of course they are,” I reply, sounding as confused as I feel.

“Am I on speaker? Can they all hear me?”

“Yes, mom. You are freaking me out now,” I reply.

Luc interrupts, “You are freaking us all out.”

“Sorry, sorry,” she replies. “It’s just, I’m freaking out a bit myself, we all are.”

“It’s amazing news!” Kat yells.

“Mom?” Cash questions.

“Hey, Baby,” Kat replies excitedly.

I feel like we are just going to carry on going around in circles, especially now that we know that Kat is there too. Considering she wanted us to call her back so urgently she is taking a long time to tell us why she wanted us to call in the first place.

“Mom, what is amazing news? Why did you call us?” I ask firmly.

“Ever’s back! She’s at school now,” Mom replies.

The car swerves.

I manage to correct it before we hit a tree, and I am very grateful that we are on a reasonably empty road.

“What?” Jensen asks, his voice hushed.

“Ever is home, she’s back,” Mom repeats.

Kat takes over, “She would have stayed with us, but it was decided that it was better for her to live with Jenny and Rob.”

What.

My brain is just like white noise at this point. I need to ask questions, but I also need to make sure that we don’t crash, and I’m in shock. Deciding it's safer, I pull over.

“Mom,” Cash starts, his voice strained, “can you guys please explain from the beginning.”

“Ever’s home?” Luc asks, his voice gentle as if he is worried that if he speaks any louder, it will break whatever magic is weaving through this moment.

Maybe we fell asleep?

Shit, maybe the job went sideways, and we died?

I am pulled out of my morbid thoughts when Mom starts to explain, and we all just listen in shock.

“Sorry, yes, of course I can explain. I know it’s out of the blue,” she starts. “We got a call from child services; we were listed in her mom and dad’s wills as guardians should anything happen to them. Her dad was into some illegal things, and her place was raided; he was shot and killed in the raid. She is going to testify against his associates.”

What the fuck.

“Fuck,” Jensen curses, echoing my thoughts.

Neither of the moms chastises him for cursing.

Mom continues explaining, “We were all listed as guardians, but it was decided that she would stay here, since she used to stay a lot when she was younger, she still has her room here, and it’s very familiar. She has been through a lot.”

“Where is she now?” I ask, shock and hope riding me hard.

“She’s at school,” Mom repeats, and I realize that she told us earlier.

“What?” Riot asks.

“She’s enrolled at school, and it’s her first day today. I told her that you guys would be back before lunch and would try to find her. I hope that is okay?” Mom asks.

I almost burst out laughing. We are going to get back there way before lunch now, and we will be tearing the fucking school apart to find her.

Trying to keep my excitement and pure happiness from bubbling over, I reply, “Yeah, of course, Mom. We will find her.”

“Good, I have got to get more food in, especially chocolate,” she replies, an edge to her voice that I don’t understand.

I don’t have time to ask her about it though because she hangs up.