Midnight Memories

t h i r t y // n i n e

Niall was dialing a phone number into the tiny screen on the dash. It rang a few times, before a familiar voice picked up.

"Niall, where have you guys been?" Ryder asked frantically.

"Ryder, meet us outside the apartment building in ten. We need you."

"Why, what's going on?" Ryder sounded worried. "Is Stella okay?"

"She's fine. Right here with me." Niall reassured him. "It's Louis that needs our help."

"Okay." Ryder said without hesitation. "I'll be right out front."

"Why Ryder?" I asked when Niall had hung up. "Why not the others?"

"The four of us started this together." Niall said bluntly. "We're going to finish this together."

I crossed my arms, setting them in my lap. Niall was right. The four of us: Me, Niall, Louis, and Ryder had gone through this whole soap opera together. Sure, we had had tons of help along the way, but when it came down to it, it was us, only us, that could finish this.

We drove the rest of the way in silence, and sure enough, when we got to Ash and Tori's apartment building, Ryder was right out front. He ran up to the car, yanking open the door to the backseat and sliding in. "Okay, someone tell me what's going on."

"A rescue mission." Said Niall. "We have to save Louis from himself, well, and your brother, Sloane, and Derrick."

In the rearview mirror, I saw Ryder's eyes widen. "That's what this is about? Niall, we can't just go marching in there like some crazed vigilantes! Why didn't you talk to us first? Remy's been spying on them all day, and let me map this out for you, quite simply, they are ready for anything. Police, SWAT, FBI, they've got the place surrounded and almost entirely off the grid."

"Where are they?" Niall asked.

"A mansion in Weston, Ft. Lauderdale. A mansion which happens to belong to Maverick Reynolds." Ryder sighed. "There's no way we're getting in there unless someone wants to jump out of a helicopter and blast through the roof."

"Is that the Ricky Reynolds that Grier and Remy were talking about earlier? The one from LA." Niall asked.

Ryder nodded. "The one and only."

"Great. They're recruiting more and more people into their gang by the second, while we're falling apart at the seams. So far, they've got two billionaire brothers, a drug lord, a wife beating ex-con, his juvenile delinquent son, and some sort of nouveau riche young gun wannabe from LA, not to mention all their gun wielding friends of friends. We don't stand a chance against them. Talk about squad on fleek." I said sarcastically, sliding down in my seat.

"Chill, Stella. So we may not have as much man power as them, but we'll figure something out. All we have to do is find a way to hack into Ricky's security system, sneak past his guards, and break into the mansion unnoticed. Just take a deep breath and pretend you're a spy or something. Like the Jo Bros in the Burnin Up video." Niall said, completely serious. He was so ridiculous I couldn't even with him right now.