Accidentally Kidnapped

Chapter 27

        Heath gave me the mockery of a smile and went inside the house, letting the dead cigarette drop from his fingers and onto the clean now. After a moment, I decided there was nothing else I could do, at least not for today. My fingers were turning blue from the cold. I needed something. I needed a shower.

        "Delia went to bed." Nick said when he saw me approaching the living room. "We'll introduce you tomorrow. Heath is monitoring the security cameras in the basement and Micheal is in his room. Cage is awake, he's been asking for you. Your bedroom is on the far left, the last door at the end of the hallway. Do you want anything to eat? I can make a mean risotto."

        The wave of information took a moment to settle in my distracted mind. "Thank you for the offer, but no." I leaned against the doorway, warming myself up. The living room was green and pretty, with lilac chairs and a blazing fireplace. "I didn't know you cooked, Nick."

        "Oh, yeah." He nodded. "I'm kinda the, you know, main chef around here. Not many people are willing to come here and cook for us and ordering out is pretty risky. Delia is the only other person besides me who would be happy to make any food that's not processed."

        "How did Delia even get mixed up with you guys?" I chuckled at the contrast. "She's a sweet old Russian lady."

        "You'd be surprised." Nick perched on the couch arm, fiddling with a piece of string. "Nothing is ever as it appears with us. Delia Kosnove, have you ever heard that name before? She used to be a professional wrestler. Got pretty famous in the 60's, too, until they asked for a drug test and found she was a heroin addict. We did a few trades with Delia until she decided to go clean. Funny thing is, even after we stopped doing business, Cage still kept contact with Delia and he never does that."

        "People leave bigger impressions than they think." I murmured, mulling over what Heath said. "Words can, too. You guys are a funny group of criminals, you know. Especially you and Micheal. I know that being all badass is kinda your thing, Nick, but you don't seem like it. At least not when you don't have a gun in your hand. I just don't understand."

        "You don't understand what, November?"

        "You. And Micheal. And Heath and Delia and Cage. Everything about the Crows. Take it from the commoner, I never thought that it was going to end up like this. End up knowing you all like this, I mean. For such high class criminals, Cage doesn't really do the whole kidnapping thing properly. Shouldn't I be locked up in a basement, tied to a chair with duct tape over my mouth and a gun pointed at my head?"

        Nick smiled. "I think you might have watched a few too many action movies. But this is the first time we ever had a hostage. We don't really kidnap people. We just kill them."

        "How primitive." I said gingerly.

        "Not enough."

        I straightened up, shoving my hands into my pockets as Heath came up the basement stairs. He looked over his shoulder and gave me a knowing smirk, and then disappeared from my view. Nick dropped the string onto the coffee table and plopped down on the couch, both legs dangling over the arm. "I'm going to bed." I told him. "Goodnight, Nick."

        "Goodnight, November." was his cheerful reply.

        Trudging up the stairs, my stomach did flips as I neared the door at the end of the hallway. Heath's warnings whispered themselves over and over in my head. Nothing but an inconvenience. Nothing but a burden. Nothing but an incommode. What was I to Cage, really? What did he see me as? Because I saw him as a dangerous criminal with really great hair and loss of humanity. He probably saw me as an annoying teenage girl with one missing eyebrow and a geek personality.