Carlton ✔

15| The Anticipated End

"So are we, chum." I inhaled once again, never looking away from him. I wanted him to help me out, mostly because he grew up with the same lifestyle as me. He knew how inside business functioned. His assistance would be really advantageous.

"Fine," he exclaimed, earning a winning smile from me, "You're lucky that I have your back."

I watched him with delight as he pulled his cell phone out from his pocket and casually moseyed around. A few clicks later, he held the screen up to show me a contact without a name.

Calling the number and placing the phone on his ear, he smirked at me. "I know some people who can help us look for her."

Breanna's POV

Massachusetts' night sky was starless and cloudless. The temperature mercilessly dropped to freezing degrees, numbing my fingers and face.

I tucked my hands deeper into my overcoat pockets, fighting the ruthless city climate. My warm breath wafted in front of me like a foggy haze as I overlooked the darkness omnipresent below the bridge I was standing on.

Various vehicles zoomed past from behind me, their approaching and dissipating engine roars matching the rhythm of the waves of the river, below the bridge.

The fake blonde hair that I wore fell on my shoulders in a disorderly fashion, considering how rough the past few hours had been for me and my friends.

My crestfallen eyes wandered towards Raymond's face as he stood close to me, watching the flowing river with intent.

He looked tired and confused, but mostly nervous. His cheeks hollowed, the bright city lights shining on his dark skin, casting fretful shadows on his cheekbones.

It had been only a few hours since our arrival and we hadn't spoken to each other properly since.

Perhaps we were both questioning how they found out about our hideout in the New York suburbs; we had carefully locked it up by installing wooden planks and locks on all possible entry-ways. How did they manage to break in without us noticing?

Only Raymond, Ace and I were present there when they attacked; we escaped from the backdoors and fled in our SUV. We stayed at, Ray's younger sister, Liz's apartment and the three of us immediately flew to Massachusetts in the next few days.

In the heat of the moment, we left all our money, all our research and essentially everything back in the NYC hideout. They probably already found and burned it all.

We were fucked. We had nothing left.

It was over.

I watched my trembling hands as I fiddled with the hem of my overcoat sleeve.

"Mackenzie?" Raymond's voice was coarse and fatigued, as if problems that weighed a hundredfold, were suppressing it. "We need to talk."

Even though I had been waiting for him to break the silence, I didn't want to talk to him anymore. A knot formed in the pit of my stomach as I feared his next words. Trying not to meet his gaze, I bit my quivering lip, pushing back tears of distress.

I was about to lose someone very important to me.

Out of the blue, I felt his fingers tucking the fake blonde hair behind my ears and tenderly caressing my cheek with his thumb.

His actions held a hint of hesitance as he shifted closer and looked at me. "Mackenzie, whatever happened isn't your fault. You mustn't blame yourself. You're brave and strong, everyone knows that."