In Too Deep

Thirty Seven

When Nova headed inside the warehouse, the atmosphere was different. She had expected it, but she didn't think it would be so soon. She had thought they would know about Screw's disappearance after twenty-four hours, but then, she remembered everyone in the gang checked in with Vicious to make sure he knew of their whereabouts. She had completely forgotten about that, and it was making her so nervous when she felt the change in the air and the group discussion. She had noticed three cars missing on her way in. Vicious could have dispatched some of his boys to find him.

Her mind paused at the thought, and she wondered if Keenan had not left any clue behind or anything that would trail back to where he was. She wanted to check in and make sure he didn't fuck up anything, but she was afraid of contacting him. After all, they had agreed to only contact each other if it was a matter neither one of them could handle alone. Nova trusted Keenan not to mess up, but she didn't trust herself not to mess up in front of Vicious.

She ran into Mario first. He gripped her arm and drew her into a spare room before he lets her go. Her heart instantly sped up and skipped a beat as she took in the sight of him. The hardness of his eyes at once felt like a punch to the stomach. He seemed endlessly agitated and not calm.

"Uh, you won't leave the warehouse until I come back, alright?" That was all he said, keeping his hard gaze pinned on her nervous one. She didn't understand what he meant.

"Why?" Nova asked, fishing for more than that. "I have somewhere to be in an hour. As long as you don't take more than that, then I think I can be here when you come back."

"No." He shook his head. "Someone's gotta stay here and keep an eye out on Vicious."

Her heart jumped, hammering in her chest. "Why, what's wrong with him?"

"I think something happened to Screw."

There it was. What she had expected and what she was afraid of. Nova tried to keep her voice steady. "How do you know?" she ended up whispering without knowing.

"He hasn't checked in," Mario explained, frown lines appearing on his forehead. Even though he tried to appear unfazed, he looked worried and agitated. Then he glared down at her. "And this stays between you and me, alright? Apart from me, Vicious, and a few guys, no one else knows. We don't want to create a panic yet."

She found herself nodding to him. Mario pressed his knuckles. "He texted me before he went awol and said he might have found Vipers' nest. He's been on their trail for some time now, but no one knew that except the two of us, not even Vicious, which was why he's pissed."

"Oh," was the only response that came from her lips. She couldn't believe this. She couldn't believe they had done this without telling Vicious because if they had, Vicious would have told her, and she would have alerted Keenan, telling him to get out of town for a few days. Then Screw wouldn't have been kidnapped. Vicious wouldn't have been pissed, and her identity wouldn't be in danger.

"What are you going to do about that?" she bit out in anger without meaning to. She was pissed. It could have been avoided if they hadn't wanted to play detective. "I mean, do you have any idea where he could be?" Curiously, she stared at him, hoping he would give her something. If she knew their plans, she could take control.

But Mario didn't look like he wanted to share more than that. "Just keep an eye on Vicious, Nova," he dismissed. "Make sure he doesn't do stupid things because he's usually destructive when he feels the walls are closing on him. If he goes out there, he's going to do some damage. Keep him here. You can do that, can you?"

"I can't exactly tie him up, Mario."

"You can tie him up with something else."

She glared at him. "If you're thinking of tying him down with sex, I can't do that too."