Chapter Four

Atlas

“Y es, sir?” Alaric questions when Mr R stays silent and doesn’t continue his sentence.

“Sorry, I had someone come in,” Mr R explains. “We have had another informant come forward with some information that they claim would be of interest to us. We can set up a meeting for this afternoon. The location is a couple of hours' drive from where you are now.”

Alaric glances back at us to see if we are interested, and we both nod. I don’t mind being kept away from school for longer.

“Yes, I can do that. Send the location through, and I will head there straight away.” Alaric confirms.

“Excellent,” Mr R replies, and then hangs up without saying goodbye.

“Let’s hope that this one doesn’t end up going the same way as the meeting that we just left,” I say drily.

“Agreed. Having Blake at two of the informant meetings would be bad luck all around.” Alaric replies.

“Let’s just hope it’s not a day of it,” I reply with a frown, “they say bad luck comes in threes.”

“Speaking of bad luck,” Rage starts, and I groan. He smirks at my reaction but instantly becomes serious again as he explains his statement, “Three cars back, an older, dark blue SUV. They have been following us for the last few miles and have taken every turn that we have.”

“Good eye,” Alaric praises as he immediately spots them in the rearview mirror. “Alright, let’s see if they are really following us or if it’s a coincidence.”

We stay silent as Alaric takes the next exit and we drive into a large town. This is the perfect environment to check if someone is following us. We will drive around in a big circle and then if they follow every turn that we make we will know that they are following us. They have already followed us into the town, but so have a couple of other cars so it really could be a coincidence.

“Can you find me a loop to drive on the navigation?” Alaric asks.

“I already have it up,” I say. “Take the next left.”

“Thanks.”

I direct Alaric around in a big circle for the next twenty minutes or so. And Rage keeps an eye on the car.

“They are still following us,” Rage says. “Although they haven’t noticed that we have driven around in a big circle, so they aren’t that bright.”

I chuckle.

“So, what is our next move now that we have established that they are following us?” I ask.

Alaric is teaching us when we go on these jobs. I think the idea is that once the Liam and Blake thing has been dealt with, and Liam’s empire has been successfully dismantled, and, of course, we turn eighteen, we will join him at the organization.

To be honest, it all seems incredibly far off, and I don’t imagine that we will manage to end Liam’s business and all of its associates before I turn eighteen. This is a long game situation, and I’m not sure that the organization would allow someone to join whose father and brother run such a powerful crime organization, not unless they helped take it down in the first place.

The organization has no idea that Rage and I are involved, although they know that Alaric has people that help him that have insider knowledge of Liam’s business. I think that Mr R has an inclination, but doesn’t acknowledge it because we are only seventeen. We shouldn’t be capable of the things that we are, but neither Rage nor I have had a traditional upbringing, and whereas normal kids were given games consoles, I was given a gun and so was Rage.

It made us grow up a lot quicker than we should have, but it also meant that I am now in a position where I can take down my father and brother and stop the terror that they spread everywhere. If we can successfully end their business and all of their associates, we will be making a massive dent in the drug, weapons, and human export business, and that is a really good thing.

So, while it might be a long time until we can officially join the organization. I appreciate that Alaric is taking the time to teach us as much as he can. Not only does it keep us safe when we go on these jobs with him, but it also prepares us just in case we do join him.

“We try to lose him,” Alaric replies. “As you know, it is usually easier when you have another car with you. One car can drive one way, and another goes the other, and by the time that they have figured out who to follow, it’s too late.”

“Or, if the person following you is unaware that you have another car with you, then the second car can do things to hold them up, like waiting until the last minute to go through lights, that sort of thing,” I add, we have done that a few times back in Serendipity when Tomlinson have been ass’s or even when I have done jobs with guys. This lesson from Alaric is really more of a refresher than an actual lesson because I have been following or being followed by people for as long as I can drive, and I’ve been driving since I was twelve.

“Oh, that’s a good idea,” Alaric says.

It takes me a second, and then it clicks, “We can try to lose them at the next set of lights.”

“Exactly,” Alaric grins.

“There are a couple of cars between us and them now, so it should work even better than if they were directly behind us,” Rage adds.

“Atlas, can you find out where the next set of lights are on the map?” Alaric asks me.

I nod and start to study the map, trying to find the closest set but also the ones that will give us the best chance of escape.

“Okay, there is one set coming up, but the turn offs are really obvious, and otherwise, it’s a straight road, so I don’t think we should do it at that one,” I explain as I study the map. “The next set has a bend after it, so it’s not just a straight road; if we go up there and then take the second turn, we can get back onto the main road and carry on the journey to the location where the next informant is.”

“Got it,” Alaric replies, a proud glint in his eye and in the uptick of his lips as he says, “you are really good at this.”

“Thank you,” I reply.

I’m not used to compliments, and I don’t handle them very well at all when I get them. I just don’t know what to do. So, I settle for awkwardly saying thank you. What else do you say? You too? That doesn’t work, and if you compliment them back, then I feel like they think you are only doing it because they complimented you, and it’s not a genuine compliment.

I tend to overthink it if I let myself, so I just stick to a simple thank you.

Fortunately, Alaric knows me very well, and he knows that compliments make me nervous and on edge, so he changes the subject instead.

Glancing at the rearview mirror at Rage he asks, “How many cars are behind us?”

“There are three between us and them,” Rage replies, “I haven’t been able to make out who is driving, or any one in the car so I can’t identify any of them, but they are definitely following us. I do not have any doubt about that.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that is a safe thing to assume now,” Alaric replies.

“Go through these lights,” I tell Alaric.

“Got it,” he replies.

We carry on driving for a while longer once we’re through the lights. The next set is quite a drive away, which seems like a design fault to me in a city like this, but it actually works in our favor so I’m not complaining.

“These ones?” Alaric asks me.

“Yeah,” I reply.

We are about to piss off a lot of people. The light goes green, and Alaric stays where he is; he doesn’t move forward, even when people start honking angrily because he’s holding up traffic. At the very last second, he drives through the green light. It turns red just as we go through it, and the cars behind stop at the lights, not willing to risk an accident.

“The car has gotten held up,” Rage confirms with a grin as we round the corner.

“Thank fuck for that,” I reply. “That was getting tedious.”

We take the second turn and then head back out onto the main road. Hopefully, we have lost them, but we all keep an eye out in case they manage to find us again.