#NYGirl (Midwest Boys Series Book 4)

by A. M. Brooks

  Silas and Ciaran stand next to me, both of them breathing hard, the adrenaline hitting us after the fact.

  “What the fuck?” Ciaran says, bending down to look at the face of the second deceased body.

  “Johan Markson,” Silas answers, his voice low.

  “Scott Pollard.” I point my gun in the direction of the man I took down already.

  Just then, Matt and Erika run up to us. I scan them briefly, and notice only a small scratch on Matt’s cheek. “You two okay?”

  Matt nods grimly while Erika is assessing the area. “All of them were Rogue?”

  “Not all.” Silas nods to the third person. He moves closer and uses his boot to flip the body. We all stare at the unrecognizable face. My mind flips through catalogs and database photos and comes up with nothing.

  “An outlier,” I finally manage to get out.

  “We should take him with us.” Erika directs her statement toward Matt. I glance up and notice she keeps looking off in the distance. “If we stay here any longer, there will be questions and law enforcement.”

  “She’s right,” Ciaran adds, “we’re already lucky no one has driven past yet.”

  Matt’s eyes scan the distance then each of us before he nods in agreement. “Take all the bodies. We can’t get a cleanup crew here and we need to see if there is any evidence on them.”

  Quickly, we work together to haul the bodies into the trunk of Matt’s vehicle before taking off again. Ciaran follows Matt, neither of them following the speed limit, and soon, we’re back at the house. I step out of the truck right as Lux, Saylor, Molly and Reed run down the front porch. Molly hugs Ciaran first, then makes her way over to Matt and Erika, taking turns pulling them both into one of her hugs. My eyes move quickly over my friends, who are currently hugging the shit out of their girls. Regret hits my gut, but I force myself to let it go. I take a step toward Oaklynn, when I notice Reed eyeing up the bodies stacked in the trunk. His eyes move over their faces, and I watch as he reaches toward one of them.

  “What are you doing?”

  Reed glances up at me, and I catch a small glimpse of fear in his eyes before it disappears. “Did you check to see if they were bugged? What if they are carrying locators on them?”

  “Shit. Matt!” I call, and the small crowd moves over to us. “We didn’t check them for any type of tracking devices. What if we just led whoever is looking for us right to our front step?”

  Matt, Ciaran and Silas all reach for a body at the same time I do. Our hands fly over clothes and dive into pockets. “Nothing,” I breathe out in a rush.

  “Nothing.”

  “Nope.”

  “Nothing.”

  Matt leans back on his heels, his head cradled in his hands. Whatever happened to him in the last couple of hours is starting to take its toll.

  “You two should rest,” Molly tells him, placing her hand on his shoulder. Matt nods before glancing at Silas.

  “Any word from your dad?”

  My friend shakes his head no, his jaw tightening. Jason only has a few hours left and it’s not looking good. The sun is completely gone and not even a star is visible in the sky right now. The trees rustle in the breeze and fallen leaves crunch under my shoe as I turn to Reed.

  “Oh my God, you’re bleeding,” Saylor says, pointing at me. It takes a minute for my brain to process what she’s saying, but when I look, I notice the blood running down my hand, a soaked patch already seeping through my dark hooded sweatshirt.

  A halo of blonde hair suddenly whips around me, and her chilled hand is clasping mine, pulling me into the house. Too dazed to think, or maybe I’m just really hoping this is a dream, I follow Oaklynn into the house. She sits me down in a kitchen chair, then she and Molly cut off my sweatshirt and start fixing my wound. Thankfully, the bullet only grazed my arm. Molly stitches me up, but I didn’t even notice. Oaklynn’s gaze holds mine and it’s the first moment we’ve really shared, where I didn’t feel like she hates me.

  “I can’t believe you got shot,” she barely whispers from where she is sitting next to me, and I have to strain my ears to even hear what she is saying.

  “It happens.” I shrug, not even bothering to mask my usual sarcasm for her. Oaklynn’s brow pinches, her teeth biting her bottom lip. When she looks up, our gazes hold and the million things I should say, that I want to say, are suspended in the air between us. Because, even at the end of all of this, gunshot wounds or not, our lives are heading in very different directions and there is still an ocean of secrets between us.

  Oaklynn’s hand slips from mine, and she moves back, as if she can read my thoughts and has come to the same conclusion I have. Any progress we made earlier seems to slip away. I start to realize it’s going to take more than a talk to fix what I broke, and until this mess is cleaned up in Rogue, we’re all in danger, which means just like everything else in my life, Rogue comes first, and any talk about us has to take a back seat to what’s happening around us.

  She gets up and moves to stand over by her parents, who just got back from helping distribute meals and do check-ins. In all the excitement of the past few hours, I almost forgot they were here. Everyone gathers in the living room for a late meal, while we update Matt and Erika on what we found. Erika’s people start looking into the identity of the third body we brought back with us. Matt’s hands run through his hair and he looks haggard, like he is carrying the weight of the world.

  “Uh, guys?” Reed’s voice yells from the basement. We’re all up and out of our chairs before he can say anything else. I take the stairs two at a time and scramble to reach his computer.

  “What did you get?”

  “I picked up motion from the west side of the town border. One of the security firearms was taken out. Whoever it is, knows Rogue,” Reed explains.

  “You didn’t get a look at the person’s face?”

  “No, they’re avoiding all our set-ups.”

  “I’ll go.” Matt’s voice rises behind us. We turn to face him, ready to argue, but his arms are already crossed over his chest. Erika places her hand on his arm, and he doesn’t shrug away.

  “Call the Sheriff and have him meet me out there. We can’t draw any more attention right now. Plus, it’s crowded out there,” Matt reminds us, and I have to mentally remind myself to close my mouth before making a smartass comment about the multiple dead bodies in our possession.

  Ciaran moves to go with Matt, but he holds up his hand, forcing us all to stay behind. I never stay behind, and we never go alone. My hands comb through my hair and I hear a watery choke, the telltale sign that Saylor is holding back tears. Matt runs back up the stairs. We hear the front door close and soon, the engine of a vehicle fires up, before speeding away from the house. Matt’s GPS dot starts to move on the map, closing in on the stationary objects by the Western perimeter. I move closer to Reed, who hasn’t looked away since we all got downstairs. His knuckles are turning white where he is gripping the edge of the desk.

  Time passes slowly. My gaze dances back and forth between our housing board and the sensor map. I glance at Ciaran again, and he shakes his head, silently communicating that we can’t hit the alarm yet; we need to wait for Matt. Molly and Erika sit together on the steps, both of their heads bowed, and I swear I see Erika’s lips move as if she’s praying. I still can’t believe she’s here after years of only seeing her through a screen.

  “He’s there.” Reed’s robotic voice pulls all of us out of our own thoughts and back to the screen. Sure enough, Matt’s dot has stopped right where Reed picked up motion from the detectors. Everything on the screen halts and time seems to stand still. My legs feel jittery, the need to move around builds into a tingle that races up my spine.

  “What happened?” Silas suddenly asks, and my eyes fly open.

  “It’s gone,” Reed answers.

  “How is that possible?” Lux studies the screen too.

  My mind filters through the possibilities, but only one seems plausible.
Ciaran glances at me. “If Matt is a hostage.”

  “His truck is coming back this way!” Molly calls, gaining our attention.

  It’s like deja vu, we’re grabbing vests and weapons before heading upstairs. By the time we make it outside, Matt’s vehicle is closing in, the engine can be heard from a mile out. We jog down the steps, getting ready, when he pulls up and slams on the brakes.

  “Matthew!” Erika calls from the front steps, her feet pounding as she runs down them.

  “Dad?” Silas cocks his head when Jason gets out next.

  “Mom!” Saylor yells, while dashing across the lawn and throwing her arms around the woman standing next to Jason.

  Ci and Silas move closer, both caught up in the moment. I stand back, taking in the scene in both wonder and shock. This Kelly is not the same woman who left Rogue months ago. Her hair is jet black and long, and she is dressed in a pair of mesh basketball shorts and a button-up flannel shirt. She looks pale, gaunt, and hasn’t let go of Jason’s hand, even while her other arm is wrapped around her daughter and they both are crying.

  In the span of a few hours, everyone has managed to make it home, alive and fighting. For the first time since our summer imploded, I feel like we might actually have a chance at beating whoever is playing these games with our organization. We are finally Rogue United.

  Oaklynn

  I used to think when we lived in New York that Saylor had a great life, a great family. Her mom, Calvin and Mila. She would complain about normal teenage stuff, as I’m sure I did too, but she always said how she felt that something wasn’t right. Usually this came out when we did stupid things like sneaking my mom’s champagne or a bottle from my dad’s secret stash. These nights were almost always on the heels of she and her mom having a fight over Kelly’s protectiveness or from Calvin forgetting either her or Mila’s events. While she told me, I listened. If anyone who didn’t truly know us had heard, we’d, of course, sound like rich-kid cry-babies. Saylor always kept things involving her new family private. Until last night. Last night was the first time I’d ever seen Saylor actually look at her whole family with love and awe.

  When Matt pulled up with Jason and Kelly, the girls flocked to their mom, holding on to her as tightly as she was to them. After a few beats, Saylor reached out and pulled Jason to them, then everyone was shocked as hell when Kelly grabbed Silas and pulled him in too. The poor guy looked like he wasn’t sure if he was happy or if he wanted to die. The five of them stood in a circle around Mila, talking quietly and just hugging. Tears sprang to my eyes, watching them, and I had to look away to wipe the sleeve of my sweatshirt over my face. It was beautiful and fully unconventional.

  By the time they pulled back from each other, Ciaran looked like he was going to have a stroke. His hair was messy and his eyes ran over Saylor again and again to make sure she was okay, before he even spared his best friend a glance. Matt ushered everyone inside after that. I swore I saw tears in his eyes as well, but I didn’t say anything to him. In the house, it became painfully obvious how outside of this crew my family and I were. Kelly and my mom exchanged hugs, both of them tearing up, and I had the opportunity to wrap Saylor in my arms too, but eventually, everyone settled in. It was them and my family. Kai with them and me with my parents. It felt like we just moved even further apart in our differences and I could tell he was thinking the same thing with the way his eyes wouldn’t meet mine.

  I got angry after that debriefing. Angry at Kai for lying, and angry at myself for wishing Kai would fight a little harder to explain things to me, to want to open up to me. True, I had been shocked when he was firing off bullets like the guy from the Matrix, but it was worse to know he might never have shared that with me in the first place, if I hadn’t witnessed it. I also couldn’t help but ask myself, again and again, would he have cared at all about me if I hadn’t pushed that too.

  “It’s okay,” I practically whisper into the phone, speaking quietly so my voice won’t break and Kai won’t be able to tell I’m trying not to cry. It’s just prom. I’ve only been talking to Kai for a few months and I have no idea why I feel like I need to push this a step further. I’m addicted to him though. After talking to Saylor, I don’t hang up because Kai is there. This happened a few times before I boldly started reaching out on my own to talk to him. I thought for sure he would shoot me down, given that Saylor is always talking about how secretive they are, but he didn’t. It’s almost as if Kai is just as wrapped up in what is happening as I am. So I decided to be stupid and ask him to come to New York for my junior prom.

  “It’s just not going to be a good time to leave, right after the funeral and stuff,” Kai explains further, and I do feel a little bit better that he sounds like he wants to, but is unsure because he’s mainly in town for the funeral.

  “No,” I tell him, while clearing my throat, “I get it. Saylor was supposed to go with me. After last year, we decided no dates this year and that we would just make it a girls’ night. I guess I’m just sad, ya know?” He can’t see me, but my shoulders shrug anyway. I can hear Kai breathing on the other end of the line, but it takes a while before he answers.

  “Who did you go with last year?”

  “Oh, uh, Saylor went with her ex-boyfriend, Nash, and I went with a guy who was friends with them.” For good measure, and to give him a visual, I send a picture of the four of us from last year. There is a few minutes of silence and I almost wonder if our phone call was disconnected. I wouldn’t be surprised, since we aren’t supposed to be talking. He’s secretive. My best friend is cagey these days. I keep telling myself these conversations aren’t a good idea, but each time we talk, I get butterflies. I also can’t ignore that, right? Plus, I’m curious. I want to know more about what is going on and about the mysterious voice on the phone...I want to see the face that goes with the voice.

  “Hello?”

  “I’ll be there,” Kai says suddenly, and I forget to breathe. My cheeks heat and I feel excitement build in my chest. It’s a good thing he can’t see me because the smile on my face is borderline embarrassing, it’s so big.

  “Great,” I manage to get out with my voice calm, “I’ll talk to you later then.”

  I hear him grumble something that sounds like ‘if I live that long’ before the line clicks off and my phone returns to the call screen. I swipe to the left, deleting the call from my log before throwing my phone in my backpack. Even as I walk into school, knowing I have a test in French class, I don’t care. I’m going to prom. I’m going to prom with Kai.

  The memory haunts me now, and I feel even more stupid, knowing what I do about Rogue. Suddenly Kai’s reluctance and telling me how he wasn’t sure if he could make the time makes sense. It wasn’t just a flight to New York; it was asking permission and leaving his friends during all this chaos. God, they must think I’m an entitled princess. No wonder no one thought I could handle knowing about Rogue. Not that anyone thought to give me a chance anyway.

  “Hey, don’t do that.” Saylor’s voice interrupts my self-bashing time. I glance at her and she frowns at me.

  “What?”

  “You know what,” Saylor points her finger all over my face, “I can read you just like you can read me. None of this is your fault, so don’t even think about being hard on yourself.”

  “Easy for you to say,” I huff, “you’re not the one who everyone thinks can’t handle knowing about Rogue.”

  “I only know about it because I was forced to live in this world. Lux too,” Saylor reminds me, and I swallow past that piece of truth. I hate thinking about why both of them were forced to live this life. I immediately feel both guilty and thankful to have the family I do.

  “I wish I could have told you.” Lux finally speaks, and I turn to face her. I think that’s the reason she and Silas are a perfect match. They are both people of very few words, but their hearts are big. When they do have something to say, it’s important, and it means you matter to them too.

  “I get it,”
I tell them both finally. “It’s for your safety, I get it. But once my family arrived over the summer, I wish I could have known then. Now I feel like more of a liability, you know? I don’t think Matt trusts that me or my brother won’t spill Rogue’s secrets.”

  Saylor snorts. “Matt’s just a prickly person overall, Oak. Sometimes I think he still doesn’t believe I won’t disappear either. Rogue is his life, though. His family literally created this business from the ground up. If he thought you or Ollie or even your dad couldn’t handle it, he wouldn’t have approached your mom about coming back.”

  We keep walking in silence for a while, them trying to give me time to process and me trying to find a way to ask about Kai without being too obvious. I follow Saylor and Lux through the woods, taking the path that is quickest to the backside of the Rogue Auto Repair shop. Kelly tasked us with bringing supplies and some snacks to Randy. My backpack feels weighted down, knowing that not only are there chips in my bag, but a gun and a taser. Not that I know how to use either of those. Each of us girls are packing and Saylor has her phone out in case we need to call the guys right away. After yesterday’s events, they decided they needed more sensors and security around town. They are also taking turns doing drive-bys and checking in with their higher priority targets. Kelly and my mom are insistent on helping Reed, who we’re all relying on for the information on the events in Toronto. Even though that is an extreme amount of pressure on him, the guy barely flinches; he just takes it all in stride and continues working.