Chapter Six

Atlas

M y eyebrows raise, “They did?”

“Fuck, they are good. Did they know what would happen to the guy they handed over?” Rip asks, looking impressed.

Alaric’s chuckle is dark, “Yeah, I don’t think they cared. Jimmy said that he found the guy black and blue and unable to walk again, thanks to the knife wounds in his knees. He said it was a mercy to kill him.”

I smirk, “That sounds like Jensen. He must have said or done something really disturbing for Jensen to do something like that.”

Ace whistles, a massive grin on his face, “I like the sound of Jensen. I predict we are going to be excellent friends. When we meet of course, and make no mistake, we are going to meet.”

I choose to ignore that. I want them to meet the guys. I do when it is safe.

“Wait, Jimmy, Jimmy?” Rome asks, “As in the one who is in charge of three states and friends with D, that Jimmy?”

Alaric nods, “Yep. He told D, and D told me, and I put two and two together since I was watching them anyway.”

“Atlas,” Jynx says, “you need to get them in on this. They belong in this life as much as you and me.”

I sigh, “I can’t, I just can’t risk them. Shit has picked up recently with Liam and Blake, and I just don’t want to be responsible for them losing their lives.”

Jynx’s expression softens, “Alright. I hear you, but think about it, okay? They are your chosen family, and I know you miss them. It’s not like they are normal guys.”

“I know,” I sigh.

Jynx nods before her expression changes completely, and she winks at me, “Oh, I forgot, Maria was asking about you.”

Alaric immediately sits up straight in his seat, and Rage and I share an amused look.

“Who me?” he asks.

“Who else?” Jynx retorts. “She wanted to know when you, Ryan, and D were going to see her again.”

Alaric chuckles, “We don’t really go and see her. She calls for help with a job, and we go.”

“Yeah, you all manage to do that, huh? Despite how busy you all are, she calls, and you just go,” Jynx smirks, teasing Alaric.

It is well known between all of us that Alaric, D and Ryan all have a soft spot for Maria. Because of Maria’s traumatic past though, she keeps them all firmly in the friendzone, and has done so for years. The guys now try to ignore what they feel, but every now and then Jynx gets a kick out of winding them all up.

Putting the heat onto Alaric has successfully taken it off me though, so I’m grateful.

Alaric clears his throat, “I don’t know what you are getting at.”

“Sure, you don’t,” Rome chuckles, “just like D doesn’t either.”

Clearly desperate to change the subject, Alaric asks, “Did the conspiracy tell Harley that they like her yet?”

Jynx chuckles, “Subtle.” She clearly decides that he has had enough teasing though because she answers, “Yeah, actually. They nearly lost her; it was a whole thing.”

As usual, that is all the information she is willing to share, and I smirk. One thing is for sure, if you tell Jynx a secret, you can be damn sure that she won’t share it with anyone.

“Good, I’m glad,” Alaric replies. Even he knows not to push Jynx for more information, “We should probably get going, we are nearly at our destination.”

“Wow,” I say, “have we really been on the phone for that long?”

“Damn,” Ace replies.

“We should probably get going too, actually, we have a job that we need to look through a bit more thoroughly so we can decide how we are going to handle it,” Rome replies.

“I will come and see you as soon as I can. I miss you guys,” Jynx says. “It might be a while though. We are pretty busy.”

“We miss you two,” Rage replies for both of us.

“You won’t be able to get into Blackbreak without authorization,” Alaric warns her.

“He’s right,” I agree. “If you let me know when you are coming, I can make sure that you are authorized to come onto campus.”

“It’s not like other schools, remember,” Rage adds.

Jynx smirks, her eyes sparkling with mischief, “Challenge accepted.”

Before any of us can argue with her or point out that it is probably dangerous to sneak onto a campus that is so well secured, she hangs up.

I can’t help the laughter that escapes me, “To be honest, if anyone can get on campus, then it’s going to be Jynx.”

Alaric grins, “Yeah, you are probably right. She has a gift for being able to get into areas and buildings that she shouldn’t be able to access, and no one would know that she had been there unless she wanted you to know.”

“You know, sometimes she scares me,” Rage admits.

I nod, “Yeah, me too. I am damn glad that she is on our side.”

Alaric chuckles, “Absolutely. The meeting point is about five minutes away, so we need to switch back to work mode.”

“Got it,” I reply.

“This time I want you guys in the shadows. Any advantage points that you can get so you can keep watch on the situation, and also if we are going to be interrupted.” Alaric orders, “Last time was far too fucking close, and I don’t want to go through that again.”

“Agreed,” I say.

I am more than happy to watch from afar and guard Alaric while he gets the information that we need. Rage nods in agreement too.

“Good,” Alaric replies, clearly having expected us to put up some sort of fight.

A couple of minutes later, we pull up outside yet another factory, “Your informants like factories, don’t they?”

“Apparently so,” Alaric replies, turning the car around, which I now understand the reason behind, and then he motions for us to get out. “The meeting this time is being held outside, in one of the courtyards. You should be able to find vantage points on the roofs of the nearby buildings.”

We both nod. He shows us on the map that he has on his phone, where he wants us to be and where we are going. We have parked on the other side of the building and Alaric tells us that we are cutting it pretty close to get into position before the informant arrives.

“Got it?” he asks us, studying us closely to make sure that we understand what he has been saying to us.

“Got it,” we say together.

“Good,” he says. “Stay safe and stay alert and watch my back.”

We both nod and then move away from him, heading in different directions and to the buildings that Alaric has assigned us. I move through the abandoned building, making sure that I always know which side of the building, the courtyard, Alaric is meeting the informant. I finally come to a stop around two floors up, and a window that already has had the panes of glass broken, so I don’t have to do it.

Looking out of it, I can clearly see Alaric below, and I will also have the perfect view of the informant. If he tries anything, I will be able to see and stop him. My position is such that I doubt that he will be able to spot me easily, and he should be too focused on giving Alaric the information that he wants and getting out of there before he is caught or arrested so that he won’t be looking too closely at his surroundings.

Of course, it could go the other way as well and he could be hyper vigilant instead. The kinds of people that are informants are either just looking to make some quick money, or they have found themselves stuck in a life that they don’t want and are trying to do something about it. At least those are the ones that I have met.

I scan the building that Rage is on to see if I can find him, but I can’t even see a hint of where he might be, so I know that he has done his job as well as he usually does and has set himself up with a vantage point that is as concealed as mine should be.

Now, it is just a waiting game.

I hate that Alaric is so exposed just standing in the middle of this courtyard and waiting for the informant, especially after what happened before with Blake. It is certainly not a safe position for him.

At least here he has us up in positions that we can watch his back. Hopefully, this meeting will go a lot better than the previous one and we will actually get the information that we need. With any luck, the information that this informant wants to give us is the same that the now very dead one tried to tell us.

The thing with informants is that unless they are your people undercover, you can’t entirely trust that the information they are giving you is accurate and worth it, at least not until you take the time to look into it and see if there is any evidence to back up the informant's claims. They risk their lives by giving information, but they can very easily be playing a double agent and giving us information that Blake or my father wants us to know.

It is a double-edged sword, and we have to be very careful.