Heathens & Hand Grenades (Book 1 of the Heathens Duet)

Chapter 23- Kace

I slapped playfully at his shoulder. "If you think it matters, it does. How many times do I have to remind you kid, you know your shit. Own it."

He ducked his head at my comment. "Yeah I know. Still weird to see myself as an expert at anything real though."

"Those that think they're experts rarely are. True experts are always learning."

A slow smile lights up his face as he stands. "Thanks for the pep talk Rave. Let's go see what's up."

The girl is still in pretty much the same spot I left her, but now her legs are tucked up underneath her and her eyes are fluttering as she tries to fight off sleep. Between the food coma and the dim lights, she fighting a losing battle. The sunlight bulbs in our rooms help, but even then, it's easy to lose track of time in here. She's cute, I'll give her that, but nothing for everyone to lose their heads over. I get it, wanting to protect someone so small that clearly can't protect herself. But she's not weak. She showed that when she stood up to us for her friend. It was admirable, even I can admit that. the sooner I can get that though the guys' thick skulls the better off we'll all be. Just got to figure out how to do that without coming off as a heartless asshole.

The door to Riggs' room is cracked open with Riggs sitting on his bed nursing what looks like a watered-down glass of whiskey. A bit early for me, but who am I to judge. His brows are furrowed as he stares into the glass as if it holds the secrets to the universe and everything.

Jaxson is off in the corner twirling one of his more ornate blades between his fingers with barely a passing glance. It's one of the only times he's not wearing his leather gloves. The flash of polished metal as it spins is hypnotizing even as mindlessly as he does it. I doubt he'd even notice if he nicked himself.

Riggs' knee jiggling is what really gives me pause. He's always careful to hide any obvious signs of agitation and that knee might as well be a flashing red light. "G, what's up man?"

Dario slides in behind me before turning to shut and lock the door behind us. He leans against it absorbing the tension in the room.

Riggs ignores the question which sets my hackles up. Instead he turns to Dario, who tilts his head up. "What did you find out about her?"

I wasn't even aware he had Dario doing a deep dive on the girl. I grit my teeth against the anger of being left out of the plan, but have to remind myself that Riggs is the boss for a reason. He sees the bigger picture. Except in this case.

"She wasn't always Callie Danvers. Her records only go back three years. I mean there's some other records that go back further and they're pretty good fakes. I only caught them because you asked for a full dive. To anyone doing a standard background check, they'd easily pass," Dario's voice doesn't manage to hide the impressed tone of voice. Trust him to fanboy over another's work even as he renders it useless.

To say I'm stunned is a bit of an understatement. Why on earth would she need a fake identity? She doesn't give off a criminal air, hell there doesn't seem to be a malicious bone in the girl's tiny body. She flinched at me raising my voice for fuck's sake.

"So who the fuck is she? Really? I knew this was a bad fucking idea, but did anyone listen to me?! No, too blinded by a pretty face with a sob story. Wake the fuck up guys! She's a danger to us and everything we've been working towards. I vote we get her gone. The sooner the better," I huff out. My arms cross as I dare anyone to argue with the facts. We don't know this girl and she's clearly hiding something. Anyone who goes through that kind of trouble to hide who they are is either trouble or running from it, two things we don't need in our lives and my whole job. If only everyone would stop fighting me on it at every turn.

Jaxson stops his twirling that damn knife of his just as Riggs runs his hand over his face before taking a large gulp of what might not be just whiskey going off of the wince and shake of his head as he swallows.

"I know not everyone has been thrilled with Calista's presence here," he starts with a pointed stare my way. "But I made an executive decision in the moment and I won't apologize for it. Now is not the time to argue about things that are already done. Let's focus on where we are now. Cupid, what do you have for me?"

I hate that my outburst has caused even Dario to hesitate as he looks briefly at me before compiling with Riggs' order. That's exactly the environment we all tried to get him away from. I trust his information, the same as I trust him with my life. I have no business taking my own frustrations out on him when I could be using that energy somewhere else, like my traps. I've yet to check them this morning and now is probably not the best time for a supply run, but we're getting low.

I urge Dario on with a nod of my head.

He ruffles his hair quickly before getting started. "Okay so her name wasn't always Danvers, before that it was Wallis. Looks like it was just her and her mom until a car accident killed her. Drunk driver going the wrong way on the highway from what I could find in the news reports. After that, she moved in with her aunt. Aunt wasn't exactly in the best of health from the records I could find. Callie mentioned trying to get a message out to her earlier. She seemed really worried about her."

"And you really think that's a great idea?" I can't help the chuckle at the thought. She's got him more wrapped around her little finger than I could've anticipated in such a short time. "Letting her send a message out? Why don't we just say fuck the masks and let everyone get a good look at us next job? Clearly we have no desire to remain hidden and out of jail."

"That's enough Rave," Riggs states calmly.

"No, this whole situation is enough. It's plain across your face that the two of you are falling for the poor orphan sad story. She was just fine before we crashed into her life. Let her be just as fine when we send her back. It's not our fucking problem. We don't need to take on every poor stray that walks into our path."

Dario winces at that barb and the wall takes the brunt of my anger much to the detriment of my bruised knuckles. I'm not trying to hurt my family, I'm trying to save them. Even if they refuse to see it.

"You know what, I'm gonna take a walk. Check on the traps, do something useful, and maybe when I come back y'all will finally start seeing some sense."

The door slams behind me as I storm towards the exit. I take a deep breath and continue on my way, expecting to find the girl in pretty much the same spot. As with everything lately, I'm disappointed. She's in the kitchen making herself a sandwich with my Ezekiel bread on top of every other problem I have with her. I don't bother trying to hide the disgust with her presence when she looks my way.

Fuck this, I'm out.