We were put on house arrest. Or, more specifically, hotel arrest. Dylan and Owen weren't pleased to hear we went where there were no cameras with no extra back-up. And on top of that, they weren't happy that we didn't know anything about who attacked us. I was pretty sure Dylan wanted to send us home on the spot but Owen talked to him and instead, we were told to stay in our rooms and rest for the time being.
I told them it was a Dacosta guy based off the location of where we were and Josh agreed.
Dylan asked why we didn't have our guns on us and when I told him he specified to keep those out of sight to stay undercover, he just walked away. Owen on the other hand told us good job despite the circumstances. Josh and I both failed to mention the giant or Tom helping us out so the small praise from Owen felt wrong.
I had a feeling the leash would be a lot tighter when the house arrest was lifted.
The following day I didn't really come out of my hotel room at all. Which, when you're confined to a hotel, there's not many places you can go anyway. I took a long shower, letting the water ease my neck. It was full of bruises, some parts a deeper shade of purple depending on where his fingers were.
After, I lounged around and tried to sleep to distract my mind. Josh was persistent in trying to talk at first but I told him I was tired and would find him when I was up for it. Eventually, he gave up.
It was late, maybe around ten at night when a shrill, deafening alarm blared. I jumped awake, sitting up straight in my bed. My heart felt like it was trying to pound it's way out of my chest with each beat. I put my hands over my ears and closed my eyes, trying to drown out the alarm. It took a second after the initial fright to register that it was the fire alarm going off.
My heart calmed a bit. Quickly, I scooted off my bed and grabbed some of my personal belongings. I followed the other guests down the stairs. The noise seemed even louder in stairwell, the sound echoing off of the concrete walls.
Exiting the hotel, I stepped outside and lowered my hands from my ears. A gust of cold wind blew my hair frantically around. Luckily, I was still in my jeans and hadn't changed into pajamas before falling asleep. I zipped my jacket, trying to ward off some of the cold. The noise was still loud out here but not as bad.
I stood in front of the hotel with everyone else as they looked at the hotel to see if there was an actual fire or not. A few people had wandered into their cars, judging by the headlights on. I glanced up at the hotel as the buzz of people talking muddled together.
I noticed some of the people huddled together as part of my team and others seemed like families or a few solo people speculating what was going on. Unease drifted over me as I took in the massive swarm of people.
Get far away from the crowd
Was this the crowd Finn was talking about? Did he start a fire somewhere? Dread filled me and I started pushing my way through the crowd to get out of it. After getting out, I looked behind me to see everything still standing. No damage yet, that was good. But how far away was far away?
Looking behind me every few feet, I continued out of the parking lot of the hotel. Two fire trucks pulled in and I moved to make sure I was clear out of their way.
When I got to the sidewalk, I checked behind me one last before crossing the street. There was a brick building directly across from me so I couldn't exactly keep going straight. My only options were right or left, but at the same time I wasn't sure how far away to even go.
Right as I started debating if Finn had just been messing with me or maybe this wasn't the crowd he was referring to, the roar of a motorcycle turning on caught my attention. I walked hesitantly to the right to see someone clad in all black sitting on the bike. He had his helmet on and as I walked closer, extended one to me in a gloved hand.
"Finn?" I asked, trying to see through his helmet but the visor was down and reflective.
He nodded and wiggled the helmet again in my direction. His other hand went up to where his lips would be, extending one finger to tell me to be quiet.
Hesitantly, I glanced back at the hotel as everyone focused on the fire trucks. Grabbing the helmet from his hands, I slipped it over my head. He reached forward and shut the visor causing everything to take a darker hint as if I was wearing sunglasses. After, his hand lingered around the collar of my leather jacket and nudged my head to the side. A gloved finger trailed lightly over the marks on my neck and the memory the man's hands sent goosebumps up my arms.
He pulled back and hooked a thumb over his shoulder, nonverbally telling me to get on. With some difficulty I managed to hop on the bike and wrapped my arms tightly around him. The last time I was on one of these was with him and all I could remember was it was fast. Very fast.
He pushed with his feet to guide us to turn around and back towards the alley he had come out of. Once we had traveled some distance into the alley, he revved the engine and we started off. It was slow at first but the further we got away from the hotel, the louder the engine got and the faster things buzzed by us.
Every time we passed another car, whizzing by it, I tightened my grip. I could feel my hair whip against my neck and I was glad I'd grabbed the jacket before leaving. Sooner rather than later with his speed, we were out of Melkin and grass fields surrounded us as we traveled down a two lane road.
We came across hardly any other cars out here but when we did, he would pull over into the other lane and speed by them. I closed my eyes, fearful that another car would be coming in the opposite lane at the same time but with the lack of traffic, it was unlikely.
Maybe twenty minutes into the drive, my hands and neck started to get cold. I held on tighter, the worry that I would slip off etching into my head as my fingertips started to tingle from the cold air.
Around thirty minutes, he slowed us down and sat up straighter. One of his hands left the bike and rested on top of mine, blocking the wind from hitting them. Warmth instantly spread over them. It was also around this time, as I continued to look out to fields of nothing, that I started to wonder where exactly we we're going, if this was even Finn, or if I was on a bike with someone who wanted to take me out to the middle of nowhere and kill me. I'd nearly been choked yesterday. Maybe this was their way of finishing off the job.
Or if it was Finn, what if he was trying to get me out of Melkin? Escorting me out of town himself wasn't unheard of considering he'd brought me here in the first place.
Great job, Lacey.
I figured it was about another fifteen minutes until we slowed and turned off of the lonely road, edging deep into the grass fields. I planned what I was going to do. Take the helmet off so I could see, then get my knife. Run like hell if I had to.
I repeated everything in my head over and over until we slowed down and he leaned the bike to the side so I could hop off. He stayed on, shutting everything off.
The plan was fine and dandy in my head. It was the execution that was a little choppy as I struggled to take off my helmet. I bent forward, groaning as I pulled at the strap. Finally when I heard the soft click, I threw the helmet to the ground and grabbed the knife out of my pocket.
I held it towards the man, who was just watching me from the bike. Even with the helmet off, it was dark but the moonlight was illuminating things.
"What do you want?" I asked as threateningly as I could.
He stepped off the bike and took a few steps towards me but stopped when I took a step back.
"Put the knife away, Lacey," he said as he unstrapped his helmet.
My hand lowered and it wasn't because of his words, it was his voice. He took off his helmet much more gracefully than I had and my knife landed in the grass with a dull thud.
"Travis?" I asked, as if my mind wasn't sure if I was imagining him in front of me or not. He didn't vanish into nothing when I spoke and my hands went up to cup my mouth as I stared. Tears started brimming my eyes and a sob was muffled against my hands.
He didn't move and he didn't say anything, but watched me cautiously.
His hair was shorter, no longer flopping in his face and he had a cut on the top of his cheek that was on its way to healing, like someone connected their fist with his cheekbone. He had taken a page out of Finn and Ben's book and was both taller and more muscular.
I couldn't understand what I was still doing standing over here, so despite the distant look in his eyes as he studied me, I lunged at him.
"I thought you were dead," I cried as I wrapped my arms around his neck, standing on my toes. He bent down slightly so I could get a tighter grip and stood up, taking me with him as his hands wrapped around my back. My legs went around his waist and I buried my head in his neck.
"How could you do that?" I continued. "Everyone told me you died. Why did you leave me?" It was like the last three years of trying to keep it together unraveled in his arms and I was a mess.
I hadn't realized until that moment how on edge I'd been feeling. My brain relaxed, no longer worrying about looking over my shoulder or if something bad was going to happen. I felt safe.
I hugged him tighter and he moved one hand underneath me and the other to my back, rubbing slightly.
Relishing in the feel of his hold, I calmed down. The palm of my hand wiped my tears away. I leaned back to see his face which to my disappointment, hadn't softened any.
"Say something," I urged.
He leaned forward and pulled me off of him. Standing there in the grass fields with him an arm's length away, I felt bare.
"Phone," he whispered so quietly that if I hadn't been studying his hard expression and saw his lips move, I wouldn't have heard him. He held out his hand, beckoning me to give it to him.
I scrunched up my face in confusion and handed it over. He examined it for a second before shutting it off and pocketing it.
"What else?" he asked at the same volume as before.
"I don't have anything," I argued, not understanding him. I emptied my pockets onto the ground. My phone charger, ID, note I'd received from Finn, and hotel key clattered into a small pile.
His eyes ran over them before looking back at me. I thought for a moment that would be the end of this and that when he walked closer to me, he would hug me.
Instead, his hands ran over me checking to make sure I had nothing else on me.
"Are you serious?" I asked.
He ignored me as his hands felt along my sides and he kneeled down to feel one of my ankles.
"You can't keep taking my phones. They cost money," I stated.
"You'll get it back. The old one too, if you want."
My heart fluttered something awful.
"You have it?" I whispered. His eyes found mine for a second before he moved onto the next leg. The idea that he had my phone still when he couldn't exactly pack fifteen different bags full of possessions if something happened to wherever he was living currently had me itching to hug him again.
His hands traveled up my leg, resting below where I had been shot. He stared hard at the spot, like he was trying to see through my jeans to the scar. "How's your leg?"
I told myself I didn't want to answer his question when he hadn't answered mine, caused me to think he was dead, and was currently frisking me after three years of separation. It wasn't even the good frisking. But my mind and heart were on two different pages.
"It hurts sometimes."
"That'll go away," he said off handedly.
"It will?"
"How's dance?" he changed the subject as he stood up and started feeling my other side. His lack of answer made me doubt his words.
"It hurts sometimes," I repeated.
He nodded and stepped away, causing me to immediately miss his touch. I watched his hands as they rested at his sides, clenching and unclenching.
"What did you tell them?" he asked slowly, like he was calculating each word which was odd for him. His voice was louder now, no longer feeling the need to whisper but I hated it.
My eyes snapped away from his hands to his face which was staring at me. This was so different from the memory I had of him. It was like someone tore him apart and ripped out every thread of emotion before sewing him back together.
I scrunched my eyebrows together. "Nothing."
"Lacey, I need to know everything you told the cops."
"I didn't tell them anything," I yelled, frustrated that no one would listen and frustrated at the way he was acting. "I told them about Sterling but that's all. I didn't mention anything about you guys. The only reason they even know Finn's name is because he told them."
He didn't seem to buy it, if his silence said anything.
"I just wanted to help you. I wanted to help get Sterling out of the way so you could have your life back and I didn't know how else to do it. My dad wouldn't let me out of his sight afterwards."
"How is he?" Travis asked, but his tone told me he was only asking because it seemed appropriate, not that he actually cared.
"We don't talk anymore," I answered and at his silence, I continued. "He didn't think this was a safe profession and kept telling me and anyone who would listen that you were to blame."
As he walked up to me, he placed one hand against my cheek and I leaned into it. His other hand lightly trailed along my neck, tracing the bruises again. His fingers eventually halted on my neck with his thumb on my jaw. He titled my head to look up at him and my stomach flipped both from fright and joy at our closeness.
"Think hard, Lace," he urged, the strict tone poisoning his voice. I would have shied away if he didn't have a hold on my face and neck still. His eyes drifted down before finding mine again. "Anything at all they can trace to us. Our operations, where we live, Cam's house, what we do..." he trailed, searching my face.
I shook my head, certain. It wasn't from lack of questioning. When I first called the program, eager to help, they'd asked multiple times things about the Casey organization but I continuously told them I knew nothing or instead, gave them intel on Sterling's gang.
"I swear on my heart," I said. "I didn't -"
That was all I managed to get out before his lips were on mine and I felt like I was finally back where I was supposed to be. My heart soared and I pulled on his jacket to bring him closer to me. He grabbed under my legs and hoisted me up around his waist again. I held onto his neck as he lowered us to the grass.
It wasn't a slow or hesitant kiss. It was fast and desperate. It was like everything from the last three years and even before that, when we were together but things were going too far out of control too fast for me to register, was wrapped up in his lips as he kissed me.
He laid me on my back and stopped for a second, hovering over my face. There was a genuine, over the top smile on his face that was supposed to be there all of the time, if anyone asked me. His eyes raked over my face, shining. He let out a small laugh and my stomach twirled around itself. I smiled up at him, pulling his face back towards mine.
Travis was on his hands and knees over me, leaning his head down to kiss me but that wasn't enough. I wrapped my legs around his waist, trying to pull him down on top of me. It didn't do much, considering his strength and he laughed lightly against my lips.
He seemed to get the hint as he lowered himself onto me, finally relaxing. One of his hands ran through my hair. I kissed him eagerly, wrapped up in the feeling of his body on mine. The pressure and weight screamed at me that he was here, he was alive, he was okay. I couldn't get enough of it.
Eventually, he pulled away and fell onto the grass next to me. Cold air hit me where he once was. I turned, rolling into his side. The warmth from his body was almost as good of a reminder as before that he was here and okay. A close second.
"I missed you," he said. All poison in his voice had diluted and he sounded like the carefree Travis I'd grown to know.
I wrapped one arm about his torso and squeezed, hugging him and pulling myself closer to him. "I missed you."
"I don't think you should be here though," he said with a sad voice. "Things aren't...good."
I propped myself up on my elbow to get a better view of his face and so he could see me looking as serious as I could. "I've spent the last three years, three years, Travis Miller, working my ass off to get back here and find you. You aren't allowed to kick me out. You can't, it's my job. And I'm not leaving you this time, I swear, you can'tâ"
"Okay, okay," he said, grabbing my hand that had started to point at him and holding it to his chest. "Stay, gorgeous."
My heart melted and I fell back onto him.
We stayed like that for a few minutes, with me in the crook of his arm and his fingers playing with a lock of my hair. I wanted to stay like this forever, this was what I had been working for. Just to find our own little bubble somewhere with no worries and no one shooting at him. I wanted every day to be this moment.
"I'm sorry about your neck," Travis said, bringing me back to the real world as he took off his gloves.
I shrugged.
"I should've sent Jay to you sooner."
"What?" I asked, confused. "The big, giant guy?"
"Yeah, I thought it would be fine because Sterling's guys were walking the other way for a while. You lost them around Jones Street, I think. I mean not on purpose but you didn't know where you were going and turned and they didn't. But then they doubled back and found you quicker than Jay could run."
That didn't clear anything up. "What are you talking about? How do you know all of that?"
Did I have a tracker on me or something? Had he managed to do that in my sleep?
"What do you mean? I've been watching you," he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world and any rational human would do it.
My heart thudded a little harder, despite how confused I was getting.
"How? I haven't seen you. Ben and Finn told me you were dead," I said, sitting back up trying to wrap my head around this.
"Don't blame them, we weren't sure how safe it was. And it's not like we could predict what your reaction would've been with Josh there, so we kept it quiet," he said. Just how many tabs he was keeping on me was starting to register. "We actually got into a little fight about it. Ben didn't want to engage with you at all, he thought it was best to just let you do your job."
"I'm only here because of you," I argued and looked to his cheek. "Who knows you're not, you know, dead?"
"Just the Casey's," he said slowly, "It needs to stay that way."
I nodded, having no intention of spilling the secret to anyone soon. "No, I mean, if the only people who know is the gang...did he do that do your cheek? He has a black eye."
Travis didn't answer but started playing with my hair again that was hanging down by the side of his face.
"You gave Ben a black eye?" I yelled.
"We worked it out, yeah?" he said, like it was as casual as saying he picked up groceries. "It was just supposed to be quick and then the note was going to be back-up if things got messy or we needed to intervene with whatever shit you were doing. But after yesterday in the street, I had to see you and make sure you were okay."
"Why are you letting everyone think you're dead? What happened?" I asked.
Again, he didn't answer but pulled me down closer and placed a soft kiss on my lips. I could deal if this was how he was going to respond to questions he didn't want me to ask.
"How have you been doing it?"
"Huh?" he asked, looking away from my lips. I was a little let down with him actually, for somewhat answering that question instead of kissing me.
"How haven't you been caught yet?"
The tips of his mouth quirked up slightly and he ran his hand lightly over my cheek. "Isn't that your job? Why don't you figure it out, killer."
"How do you know no one's going to snitch?" I asked.
Travis laughed. "We're not Sterling's bitch boys," he paused. "Or the cops."
I stayed propped up on one of my hands, angled towards him as I looked over him and thought about everything he'd said. "They're trying to find out if there's any new leaders of the gangs," I started.
"Is this going to turn into an interrogation?" he challenged.
I narrowed my eyes, "No. I just wanted to let you know. They're trying to get evidence to take down the members of the gangs before any new leaders pop up or take out the leaders that are already there. I've been trying to lead them towards poking around Sterling's old life to get them far away from looking at you guys."
Travis nodded but his eyes looked like he was deep in thought, not focusing on my words. "Officer Carson," he said with a smirk.
I sighed. "I'm not a cop."
He laughed, pulling me close. "Relax. Sterling's guys are practically brawling behind the scenes to take his place. It's only a matter of time before you guys get wind of it. And they're not going to find any evidence on any new leader of our gang."
"How can you be so sure? They do this stuff all the time," I argued, worry creeping into my voice. The last thing I wanted was for them to have reason to look into the Casey gang any more than they already were. We just had to get evidence on the Dacostas and hopefully it would distract them and the Casey's could quietly leave town.
Travis trailed his hand up my arm that I was supporting myself with. "Because according to their records, I'm dead. You can't arrest a dead man."
My gut dropped and this time it was purely out of fear. I stared at him for a few seconds as he watched his fingers go up and down my arm. I kept waiting for him say that he was kidding and laugh.
"You?" I finally spoke when he made no indication to it being a joke.
He snapped his eyes away from my arm like he was just tuning back in. "Hm?"
"Tell me you're not in charge of the Casey's."
He smiled. "Can't prove it," he said and booped my nose. "And even if you tried, I don't need to remind you about my aim."
I pushed his hand out of my face. "You can't boop me and threaten to kill me at the same time."
He stayed quiet which wasn't helpful.
"Travis, I'm serious. This is a big deal. What happened to Cameron?"
"Nothing that you need to worry about," he said casually.
"If something happens to you, they aren't just going to give you a smack on the hand. I'm trying to help but I'm not going to be able to if they catch you as the leader of the gang." I felt like I was arguing with a wall at this point. He wasn't planning to show any signs of listening.
He took a deep breath in and slowly let it out, his chest rising high as he did so. "You just keep doing what you're doing. If we need something, we'll let you know. Otherwise, don't worry about it." He hooked his arm around my side and tugged me so that I was on top of him. "This is the happiest I've been in a long time."
I rested my head on his chest and let his heart beat calm me down. He was okay, he was here. "Good. You deserve it."
"It's been hell," he said.
Just looking around in Melkin, it was obvious things had gone downhill fast. "Maybe you're in hell."
Travis paused for a second and I could hear his heart beat quicken. "No. You wouldn't be here if that was true."
_____________
Yayyyyyy. Finally, am I right? Thoughts??
Also just a heads up, I'll be moving out of my crappy apartment soon so if I'm not uploading as fast as usual, it's probably because I'm getting everything ready to move, my cat bit through my laptop charger (she's trying very hard to accomplish this), or I'm half way between apartments. It shouldn't be an issue but I figured I'd let you guys know just in case I'm quiet for a few days.
Have a great day and don't forget to smile!