Chapter fourteen
•Romeo•
Ring..
Ring...
Ring....
"Sorry, can't come to the phone right now—"
Ring..
Ring...
Ring....
"Sorry, can't come to the—"
Ring..
Ring...
Ring....
"Sorry, can't—"
"I swear to god Max, answer your damn phone", I pick up the pen holder on my desk, throwing it across the room, causing all of the pens to fall out.
I'm now back at my office. After 'talking' with Morgan, I decided to stay in my home office for the night, trying to figure out where he could be. But after many hours, I decided it would be better to work in my actual office, so here I am.
"He's so fucking stupid", I mutter to myself.
"Who is?" My head snaps to the door where Max and I's best friend appears.
"Josh? What are you doing here?" I walk over to him, doing the bro-handshake. Max and I have known Joshua since we were in high school. Junior year, he was the new kid; he always ate alone so Max and I decided to sit with him one day, bringing us to where we are now. He's not apart of our mafia however, he knows all about it. Instead, he decided to travel. He works as a photojournalist, meaning he has to travel anyway, which is what makes the job perfect for him. He's quite tall, slightly taller than me; he's light skinned and has brown, curly hair.
"I was told that something happened and I had to come back", he takes a seat in my desk chair, spinning around in it like a little kid. "Someone called me".
"Wait.. who called you?"
"I don't know. Some random number", he takes his phone out of his pocket, showing me the number. I send the number to my phone, checking if it's anyone from the office, or anyone I might know.
"What the hell?" I mumble under my breath. "I don't know who called you, but this could help", I hand him his phone back.
"Okay... help with what?", he questions. "Oh wait, where's Max?"
"Well, that's why you're here... I'm guessing. I don't know who called you but they could help us with our problem", he looks at me, confused. "Max is missing".
"What?" He turns to me. "No, you're lying. What the hell?"
"Why the fuck would I lie?"
"I don't know, sorry", he rubs his forehead. "How will we find him?"
"I'll get someone to track the number. But what I'm confused about is how they—whoever they are—got your number and why they wanted you to be here. Unless, they're on our side", I voice my thoughts.
"Okay, I'm sorry to pin this on you now but, I kind of got rushed here on short notice and have no place to stay so—", Josh starts.
"Dude, you don't even have to ask. You know you always have a room at mine", I say, grabbing my car keys and phone. "I need to go home, I'm tired as fuck. I'll call Chris on the way and get him to track the number. Are you gonna come back with me?"
"Yeah, sure", he follows me out.
"Brynn, I'm going home. If anyone needs me, tell them to come back tomorrow", I say to my assistant as we pass her desk. She finishes her call before muttering an 'okay' and crosses something out in her notebook.
✯✯✯✯
Josh and I went to get something to eat and catch up, seeing as it's been around two years since we saw each other last. We're now pulling up into my driveway, parking in the garage.
"Who's car is that?" Josh points to Morgan's white BMW.
"Oh, a—a friend", I mumble.
"Oh uh, y—you sure about that?" He mocks me, laughing to himself.
"Very funny", I fake laugh, jumping out of the car, causing him to laugh even more. "How d'you know it's not a guy?" I ask once he gets out of the car.
"That's a girls car".
"Sexist", I cough, jokingly.
"No, look", he points to it. "There's a makeup bag, and it looks pretty girly to me", he holds his hands up in surrender.
"Alright, whatever. Let's just go inside", I unlock the door, walking in. As soon as I shut the door behind us, I hear a small squeal followed by a thump.
"Ow", she groans as the loud music stops. I walk into the living room and see Morgan laying on the floor in a white T-shirt and green shorts.
"What the hell?" I chuckle as she holds her hand out for me to help her up. "What were you doing?" I ask as she stands up, dusting herself off.
"I was dancing", she mumbles.
"To-", I take the remote, checking what she was listening to on YouTube. "—guess these Disney channel and Nickelodeon them tunes?" I stifle a laugh just as Josh walks in.
"Shut up", she folds her arms, falling back onto the couch. "Who's that?"
"My fri—", I start but she cuts me off.
"Wait, don't tell me. I forgot I was supposed to be mad at you", she stands up, walking past me, her arms still folded.
"I'm Joshua, by the way, but people call me Josh", he introduces himself.
"I'm Morgan, but if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go out", she begins to walk toward the stairs.
"Where?" I follow after her.
"I don't know, but either way, it's none of your business", she stands on the stairs.
"Okay sure but, Max is still missing and we can't risk them taking you too".
"Well, I don't know who 'they' are but, I can assure you that they don't know me, so I think I'll be safe".
"I can assure you that you don't know what these people are capable of", I try to reason with her.
"You don't even know who they are, so how can you know?"
"I have an idea of who they could be", lies. "Look, can you just stay here for today? You can entertain Josh while I go take a nap.. please?" We end up having a staring contest until she looks away and agrees. I internally smile in victory but externally nod, thanking her as I make my way to my room.
✯✯✯✯
As much as I tried to sleep, I only ended up sleeping for about 30 minutes, maximum. The rest of the hour I spent in my room, I was thinking of who might've taken Max, and why. I take a shower and change into some comfortable clothes.
What's taking Chris so long?
I grab my phone, making my way into the living room but, before I go in there, I hear Josh and Morgan talking. "Yeah so, I'm a photojournalist. Romeo, Max and I were in high school together, and while they went off to do their thing. Did you know that they're apart of a g—"
"Hey", I walk in, cutting him off.
"Hey, did you manage to sleep?" Josh asks as I sit on the other couch.
"30 minutes", I shrug, running a hand through my hair. Just as I begin to pay attention to what's on the tv, my phone rings. I check the caller ID, Chris. "It's Chris", I mumble as I answer. "Hello?"
"Hey, Lucifer", stupid nickname. "So, we tracked the number—which was harder than expected—and it ended up being tracked back to Indiana, and from where I'm looking, it's moving east... pretty darn fast".
"Could be on a train", I voice my thoughts.
"Yeah, that's a definite possibility", he pauses. "Let me try and figure out the average speed and then we'll have an idea of whether it's a plane or train", I nod, despite knowing that he can't see me.
"Yeah okay", I stand up, walking out of the living room and into the kitchen, sitting on one of the bar stools.
"So, I've checked it. It's definitely a train, it's going up to 110 miles per hour although, it could be a speeding car. But then again, the police would already be on to them if the car was speeding that fast".
"I doubt it's a car, but then again, you never know", I rub my forehead, leaning on the counter.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's a train; from where I'm looking, it looks as if it's on the train lines. I'll call you when it stops to give you it's final location. Obviously, we don't know how long that will be but, it shouldn't be too long", Chris informs me.
"Okay, yeah thanks. When it stops, call me right away and I'll go there, but can you make sure to let me know where he's going so I can find him?"
"Yeah of course".
"Alright, bye", I hang up, walking back into the living room.
"What did he say?" Josh asks. I take a seat next to him, as Morgan is laying on the other couch.
"That, whoever called you is on a train and he'll let me know when and where it stops", I inform him.
"And then what will you do? Do you need any help?"
"Then I'll go after him", I shrug. "And no, thank you. You can just stay here and make sure Morgan is safe", I turn my attention to the TV.
"I am perfectly capable of handling myself, thank you", Morgan mumbles from her place on the couch.
"Well, it never hurts to have a little more security".
"Whatever", she closes her eyes again, and within minutes, she falls asleep.
"I think I'm gonna go to bed", Josh stands up.
"Yeah me too", I stand up with him, walking over to Morgan. "Do you mind turning the TV off while I take her to her room?" He nods, grabbing the remote and pressing the off switch.
I walk up the stairs slowly, careful not to wake her. I turn around as I reach her door, opening it with my back and slightly closing it with my foot. "Where are you going tomorrow?" She asks, sleepily as I put her on the bed, pulling the duvet over her.
"I don't know yet, but promise me you'll stay inside, just until I find out who has Max?"
"Mhm", she holds up her thumb before turning over, groaning in the process.
"Goodnight", I whisper, almost inaudibly, taking one last glance at her sleeping form before making my way to my room.
introducing, mr. joshua woods :)
updated authors note:
heh, hi. one of my least favourite chapters but it's cool.
i love josh omg. ive been trying to find someone that looks like the picture i have in my head but i can't😭