Chapter Two

Atlas

T he silence in the car is interrupted as Rage says, “What’s the job?”

I have never been more grateful to be pulled out of my thoughts than I am right now. I hate thinking about my fucked-up family unless it’s a case of when we are going to be taking them down. Anything else, and I shy away from it. Yes, I am more than aware of how unhealthy that is.

I simply don’t care.

“Can you remember that job we did a few weeks ago, where the informant told us about a meeting happening at a tiny bar?” Alaric asks.

“Yeah, of course,” I reply.

“The fucker knew that we were coming and escaped,” Rage replies.

I frown, “After he had caused a massive bar fight to distract us and slow us down so we couldn’t chase him.”

Alaric nods, “Yeah, that’s the one.”

“What about it?” I ask, and then add before he can reply, “Are we going after the same target? Did you finally manage to find him?”

“No, he is still in the wind. We have some of our best people looking for him, but he seems to have just vanished.” Alaric replies, his frown deepening.

“He’s not been spotted with Liam?” I ask.

Alaric shakes his head, “No. Which is really odd because he was with him pretty consistently.”

“Is he dead?” Rage asks bluntly. “That could be why no one has been able to find him.”

Alaric hums, “I suppose he could be. He was one of Liam’s favorites though, so I doubt he would have killed him.”

“That doesn’t mean that someone else didn’t,” I point out.

“Very true. Until we have a body, we will carry on looking for him. We can’t really risk just assuming that he is dead without any proof,” Alaric replies.

“No, of course not.” Rage replies.

“We got off track,” I start. “What’s the job?”

“The informant that gave me the tip in the first place said that he has got some more information for us, so we are going to meet him and see what he has to say,” Alaric replies.

“That seems simple enough,” I reply.

“It does seem that way, but he can be a bit tricky hence why I need you two as back up,” Alaric replies.

“Visible backup or hidden in the shadows?” Rage asks.

Alaric thinks about it for a moment, “We will approach together but if you see a good vantage point on the way, then one of you can view the meeting from that point, and I will take the other person with me as silent back up.”

“Okay,” I reply. “You said he’s tricky. Are you sure that he isn’t setting you up?”

Alaric thinks about it for a moment, “I don’t think so, but never say never and all that. As we always do in this situation, we approach with caution, and we make sure that we are as safe as we can be. I want you both armed.”

“We always are,” I grin, opening my jacket to show him just one of the weapons that I have on me.

He chuckles, “You are so my nephew.”

“Damn straight,” I reply.

There isn’t much more that we need to talk about when it comes to the case. Rage and I know what we are doing, we know where we’re supposed to go and what our roles are. We also know that if anything kicks off, we shoot first and ask questions later. Which, if we are both being honest with ourselves, is what we are good at anyway.

One thing that I do wish that would change about our jobs with Alaric is that they weren’t always so far away. It’s not likely to change though. Blackbreak is in the middle of nowhere and isn’t exactly a traditional school. It is somewhere that is completely safe from Liam, and therefore Blake. Neither of them will touch me while I’m at Blackbreak which is why I was enrolled there.

Threats were starting to be made far more regularly while we were living in Serendipity. We put off moving for as long as we could without it starting to threaten the guys, and Alaric tried really hard to deal with the threats so we didn’t have to leave. He knew how important the guys had become to me, and he didn’t want to make me leave. In the end, though, I had a close call with someone who actively tried to end my life. He didn’t get very far and ended up losing his instead, but it was a wake-up call. I realized that there was no way I could stay in town and not involve the guys, and Alaric absolutely refused to put me in danger at all.

Not danger like this anyway. I am in danger every time that we go on a job, but that is somewhat controlled, this was unpredictable and coming at us from all angles. Alaric got in touch with one of his best friends, Ryan, who runs Blackbreak, and I was enrolled. I had the option to attend from the start with Rage. I refused simply because it was somewhere that my father wanted me to go, and it meant a lot to him.

I must admit that it was nice when the threats stopped; it was also nice knowing that the guys weren’t going to be dragged into this shit. Something that I am still fighting; even Alaric has mentioned it a few times now. He has kept tabs on them, knowing that they do jobs through contacts that I gave them. He has been really impressed with what they are capable of, and the way they handle themselves and difficult situations. He keeps saying they would be a great addition to our team, but I outright refuse to have them involved.

I want them kept safe. Alaric pointed out that they aren’t safe now. I didn’t have a comeback for that at the time, so I just let the conversation drop and changed the subject.

“We’re here,” Alaric says.

I look out of the window at the huge factory in front of us, it is absolutely giant, and I am assuming it is closed down because it’s still during the workday and the place is completely deserted. I can tell that it’s a factory, but I have absolutely no idea what they do here or rather did. Alaric turns the car around so that we are facing the other way and then puts it in park.

We have driven up a driveway, through winding roads and past other factory buildings that are in the same complex to get here. I’m not going to lie; it feels a little bit like we are being led into a maze so that we can be trapped here. I hope I’m being overly cautious and paranoid and that I’m proven wrong and the meeting goes smoothly.

I don’t see any other vehicles around, which means the informant isn’t here yet, he has parked somewhere else, or we are being set up.

“We need to take this really slowly,” Alaric says as we get out of the car and pull our weapons out.

There is no way that we are going in that building without them drawn. The others are clearly feeling the same way that I am about our current situation, because they are scanning the area and holding their weapons just as tightly as I am.

We approach the door that leads into the warehouse as silently as we can. My eyes scan our surroundings, checking the rooftops and windows of the surrounding buildings for any sign of a sniper. As one myself, I know what signs to look out for, and I am only slightly relieved when I don’t find any of the usual signs. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t there, it just means that I haven’t been able to spot them, and if they are there, they are damn good at what they do.

"Door's ajar,” Rage says, his voice a whisper so he doesn’t attract any attention.

Alaric and I both nod and then, with Alaric leading us, we slip through the door, being extra careful not to open it any more than it already is.

When we get inside, I am somewhat relieved to see that there is plenty of machinery and equipment that we can use for cover. We silently move forward. Alaric is moving with purpose, and I am assuming that he knows where we are going. At least, I hope he knows where we are going. The inside of this factory is almost as maze-like as the roads were to get up to it.

Getting lost in this place would be incredibly easy, and it would take someone hours if not longer, to find you. That worries me a lot. The place seems as deserted as everywhere else. At least, that is what I think until we hear voices. Alaric motions us forward slowly so we can get eyes on who is talking.