The Havoc We Wreak - Becca Steele Page 0,64

turned in her seat to face me.

“Are you okay?”

How could I answer that? “Yeah, I’m good.” I gave her a small smile, hoping she’d buy my lie.

“Call or message me as soon as you can.” She reached out and squeezed my hand. “They’re going to be okay.”

“Thanks,” I whispered. She slipped out of the car, and I clambered across to the passenger seat, contorting my body to move through the small gap between the seats. We’d agreed that she didn’t need to be there for questioning Allan and Joseph—the less people that were around them, the better, but she was on standby in case we needed anything. Weston had set up an alert system on the apps on our phones, so that we could send an SOS message with one tap. Of course, I didn’t actually have my phone at this point in time, so I had to hope that nothing would go wrong between now and the rendezvous point.

Mack started the car up again, taking us away from the Alstone area and onto the motorway.

“What do you do? Like for a job, I mean?” I felt a sudden need to make conversation, to take my mind off the panic bubbling up in me as I thought of everything that could have possibly gone wrong.

He glanced over at me. “This and that. I’m a tattoo artist, among other things.”

“Oh. That sounds fun.”

“Yeah, it is. I did most of your boyfriend’s tatts.”

And there went my plan to get my mind off Caiden. I thought back to him, peeling off his T-shirt and watching me notice his new tattoo. That look on his face, the combination of nerves, excitement, and love… fuck, he slayed me. I still found it bizarre that he even had any kind of nerves or was unsure around me. He was so confident, so commanding, that when he bared his soul to me, it took my breath away.

Mack continued speaking, shaking me out of my thoughts of my boyfriend. “Hit me up if you want any ink done.”

“Thanks, I will.”

We turned off the motorway. “Not far now.” Our surroundings changed from fields to industrial as we drove, and my body thrummed with a mix of fear and anticipation.

I kept talking to take my mind off my nerves, as I twisted my hands together in my lap. “Have you ever had to do any really bad tattoo cover-ups?”

“Loads. Normally names. Never get anyone’s name tatted on you. Bad idea.”

“I wasn’t planning on it.” Although, now I thought about it, it might be nice to get some kind of tattoo to represent Cade. Momentarily lost in thought, I jumped when Mack’s voice sounded again.

“We’re here.”

TWENTY-FOUR

Earlier…

We stole through the night, fucking armed and ready. I was confident we’d get the job done; my concern was with my girl. I had to trust Mack to keep her safe. Kinslee, too.

I pushed all thoughts out of my mind and focused on the job. Get in, get the targets, get the fuck out.

Cassius murmured into the headset as we got into position, ready and waiting. Once we were in place, Z slipped through the shadows towards the guard, and I watched from my position behind a crumbling pillar as the guard crumpled silently to the ground. Good. It might not be long till they noticed him gone, but with luck on our side, we’d be able to get in position to grab the targets before anyone noticed.

I breathed deeply in and out. So much of this mission relied on fucking luck. I didn’t like it, but we were almost out of time, and this whole thing could be the difference between my dad living or dying.

Z rejoined us, appearing next to my shoulder. “Guard down.”

Weston scanned the area in front of us with the night-vision binoculars. “Right. Allan’s sitting down on the stone.” He pointed, still scanning the courtyard. “Hyde’s over that side.” Lowering the binoculars, he pointed in the opposite corner of the courtyard. “Uh, ten o’clock and two o’clock.”

I would’ve laughed if the whole situation hadn’t been so serious, but it was hard to find humour when so much hinged on what we were about to attempt. “Wait for the signal. You know what to do.” I glanced around at the others, and they nodded. I held out my fist, and one by one, we bumped fists. “Stay safe,” I cautioned, then Zayde and Cassius were gone, swallowed by the shadows, heading in the direction of Allan. “Ready, bro?” West nodded, and