Strings and Schemes

Chapter 36

Liam frowns. "You think something happened?"

Louis drags a hand through his hair. "I think this is weird, and I don't do weird."

Harry leans forward, resting his forearms on the table. "Alright, worst case scenario?"

Louis tilts his head, thinking. "They changed protocol and didn't tell us."

Niall's brows furrow. "They ever done that before?"

"No," Louis admits. His voice was flat.

Silence.

A cold, creeping sensation crawled up my spine. Something isn't right. Louis should have been taken.

But he wasn't. And that meant something has changed.

I sat up a little straighter, my tea now stone cold. "Maybe we should call someone." 

Louis scoffs. "Call who?"

I clench my jaw, swallowing back my frustration. He was right.

This wasn't like some normal fucking government training schedule where you could ring up HR and ask for an update. This is something else. And whatever it is, I have a sick feeling it had to do with Raina.

The waitress comes back, refilling Liam's coffee and setting the check down on the table.

No one move to grab it. We just sit there, the tension thick enough to choke on. Louis finally breaks the silence, voice quieter than before. "It's been too long."

I run a hand down my face. "Yeah."

Harry exhales sharply, fingers tapping against the table. "You think we're being fucked with?"

"Maybe," Louis mutters. "Maybe not."

Liam shakes his head. "Either way, this isn't normal."

Another beat of silence. Then Louis stands up.

"Alright," he says, grabbing his jacket. "If they're not coming to get me, I'm gonna find out why."

We all follow without question. Because at this point, there is only one truth we couldn't ignore.

Raina is gone. Louis is still here.

And we have no idea what the hell that meant.

"Alright," Louis exhales, breaking the silence. "I'm done sitting around."

He pulls his phone from his jacket pocket, tapping quickly.

Liam frowns. "Who are you calling?"

"Not calling anyone," Louis muttered. "Checking my messages. Seeing if they sent something we missed."

I resist the urge to tell him we hadn't missed anything. We aren't idiots. We all would've noticed a damn message.

Louis' fingers flick across the screen. His shoulders tense.

Harry leaned over his shoulder. "Nothing?"

Louis shook his head. "No texts. No calls. No updates."

He sounds calm, but I could see the shift in his posture. His casual, lazy stance had tightened—his weight balanced, his muscles flexed.

He is ready for a fight.

Liam pulls out his own phone, scanning for any messages. "I'll check with some of my contacts. See if anyone knows anything."

"Yeah, do that," Louis mutters, rubbing his chin. "Because this isn't normal. Even when they change plans, they don't leave me hanging like this."

"They sure as hell don't take only one of you," Niall adds, voice lower now.