Hostile Takeover ❖ Jake Riley | ✓ [book 1]

1~ I Can Hear You

I can hear you, the rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.

~ George W. Bush

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*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

Jake's hand flew out and slammed down on the alarm clock, and he was plunged back into sweet silence. But that silence didn't last very long; the door suddenly swung open, and he heard light footsteps pad across the floor.

"Jake. You got to get up, Jake," Quentin, "Come on. You got to go to work. And I have school," he said. Jake grumbled and turned over.

"Five more minutes," he grumbled. Quentin rolled his eyes.

"That's what you said ten minutes ago. Come on, what about the marathon? Aren't you chaperoning that?" he asked. Jake rolled his eyes from under his eyelids and sat up.

"Securing, not chaperoning," he opened his eyes, surprised to see Quentin still in his pajamas, "Hey, why aren't you dressed? And you're giving me hell for sleeping in," he said.

"I lost track of time. I was watching Teen Titans," he said.

"That's no excuse. Get dressed, we're leaving in thirty minutes," he said.

"Yes, sir," Quentin then ran out of his room, hopefully to get dressed and ready for school.

Jake huffed and started getting dressed right away and ready for work. He had his usual vest and helmet ready, just in time for the marathon today. It had been a year since the whole, crazy ordeal at the cordon, and the city decided to celebrate the tragedy through a marathon to raise funds for medicinal research. The mayor specifically said; it would be a time the entire world would never forget.

But all Jake wanted to do was forget.

He wanted to forget everything; the patients, the doctors, the riots... Katie. It had been a year since Katie died, and not a day went by he didn't remember her face. One way to ensure that was Quentin; he spoke to his grandparents, and they allowed him to share custody of him; merely because Quentin begged them to let him.

Now, Quentin would stay over from time to time. Jake enjoyed it, merely because he didn't have to spend many more nights alone with take out. It was more fun having Quentin over; they'd have movie nights, play basketball, and he was able to help him with homework... well... some of it.

Jake headed into the kitchen, where Quentin was already eating a bowl of cereal and watching TV. Two bags were packed and sitting next to the door; a bright red and blue backpack with papers sticking out, and the other one was bigger and dark blue, with the Atlanta PD shield sewn onto the side.

"Got your homework?" he asked him.

"Yep,"

"Laptop?"

"Yep,"

"Lunch?" Quentin looked up at him, "What?"

"Could I have twenty bucks for pizza? Colby and Max want to head down to Pizza Hut so we can watch the marathon," he said.

"Look, take my advice and stay as far away from the square as possible," he said, "It's going to be a nightmare, and the last thing I need is getting a phone call from you telling me you're lost in the middle of a crowd,"

"I won't get lost. That's what google maps is for," he replied. Jake smirked and grabbed a twenty dollar bill from his wallet and gave it to him.

"I want the change back. And if I get an angry phone call from your principal that you and your friends are skipping school, then next time it's frozen macaroni for lunch,"