“Animal?” I heard through the coms in my ear.
I looked around me, “Yeah, Vulture?”
“The system’s gone wonky in the west wing.”
I rolled my eyes, “Wonky how?”
“It’s on, but when you actually log into it and read the code in the system, it’s wonky. Digs wants it checked out.”
“I thought I was the boss,” I said under my breath.
He barked a laugh, “Technically with you in the field and her here, she’s in charge. If you could stand to actually be in the office, you might have more power.”
“I never should’ve given her an office.”
“I don’t think it’s the office, boss. It’s the ‘do what I say or I’ll kill you’ attitude.”
“Please. She wouldn’t hurt a fly,” I said with a smirk.
Vulture laughed loudly, “I know a few flies that might have something to say about that, or would if you know she hadn’t killed them.” I let out a breathy chuckle because it was true. Digs had one of the highest body counts of anyone at the company, “What’s your position?”
“Ascending the staircase that leads to the west wing landing. You should be picking me up,” I said, pulling my gun from its holster. I looked around at the motion detectors and cameras, but nothing seemed out of place. “Are you seeing me on cams?”
“Fuck.”
“Reboot the system. I’ll do a sweep while it’s coming back online, but I don’t want whoever is in the system to know where I am.”
“On it. I’ll let you know when it’s back up. Do you want me to dispatch Lock and Siz?”
“Better to be safe than sorry,” I whispered. “Stay off coms while I do my sweep.”
He clicked coms once to indicate he heard me, but otherwise stayed silent. I glanced into rooms on my way down the hallway to the office with the safe. The closer I got to the office, the louder the beeping got. “Shit, shit, shit,” someone said quietly, their fingers moving quickly across the keys of a keyboard.
I stepped into the room, shocked to find I had my gun trained on a lanky, teenage girl. “Hands where I can see them.” She looked up at me in shock. “Hands.”
She glanced down at her computer and, before I could react, punched in a quick sequence on the keys. Color exploded covering my field of vision as I was hit in the face and torso, “Ha!”
“What in the Home Alone bullshit?” I growled out, wiping the paint from my eyes. “Hey! Get back here!” I shouted as the teen ran out of the room, laptop in tow.
I chased after her, but as I rounded the corner, she was nowhere to be found. “Oof,” I heard Lock groan down the hallway to the right of where I was. Siz burst out laughing, “Hey dickhead, maybe restrain the gangly monster before she gets away,” Lock grunted, making Siz laugh harder. “Siz!”
I turned down the hall I heard their voices coming from and saw Siz still laughing his ass off, restraining the girl. “I’ve got her,” he turned as I walked up and doubled over laughing, “What the fuck happened to you?”
The girl managed to wiggle free from a still doubled over Siz. She tried to dart past me, but I grabbed her easily. “Let me go!”
“Stop struggling,” I said, tightening my grip on her wrists. “Did you guys clear the rest of this wing?” I slipped a pair of flex cuffs onto her tiny wrists.
Lock shoved a still laughing Siz as he stood, “Yeah there’s no one else around.”
“Outside?”
He shook his head, “She’s solo.”
“Huh,” I turned her slightly so I could look at her, “What are you doing here alone?”
“None of your business, asshat,” she bit out through gritted teeth.
“It is my business when you’ve been caught breaking into the property we’ve been paid to protect. What are you doing here?”
She snorted, “Yeah you’re doing a bang up job of that. It took me all of ten minutes to get into your shitty security system.”
“What the fuck did she just say about my system?!” Vulture’s voice sounded in my ear.
I let out an exasperated sigh, “What’s your name?”
“Mary. Mary Krismass,” Siz and Vulture both snorted.
“Okay, smartass, maybe you’ll have more to say to the cops.” I adjusted my grip on her arms as she began struggling so hard I worried I would actually break her arms. “Stop struggling,” I ordered firmly.
“No. You can’t call the cops,” she said, fear evident in her voice.
“The hell I can’t.”
She spun around to face me, tears welling in her eyes, “If you call the cops, they’ll send me back, and I can’t go back.”
My brow furrowed, “Back where?”
A small sob escaped as a tear rolled down her cheek which she quickly wiped onto her shoulder, “My foster family. Lloyd, the ‘man of the house,’ is a mean drunk. I think his wife convinced him to foster just so he would stop beating her and their son.”
“What’s Lloyd’s last name?” Lock asked.
“Waller.”
“Lloyd Waller. Wife, Sherry Waller, and son, Dwight Waller. He has a rap sheet a mile long. They began fostering roughly five years ago while Lloyd was still at the halfway house from his last DUI charge. He doesn’t have any convictions for domestic violence, Sherry recants her statements every time the cops are called.”
I let out a sigh, “Okay. We’ll take you to the office, but you still need to speak with the police.” She shook her head, “We have contacts on the force. If we explain the situation to them, it’s likely you’ll be out of that house tonight.”
“Why should I trust you or your ‘contacts’?”
“Because you don’t have a choice. We either hand you off to the cops now, or you speak to our contacts at our office.” She gave one last half hearted tug against my grip before her shoulders slumped in defeat. “Office?”
Her teary eyes met mine and she gave me a silent nod. I led us out of the west wing toward my truck. “So boss, what happened?”
I grunted, “Kevin McCalister happened.” Siz let out a loud laugh. In my periphery I saw a small smile spread across the girl’s face. I pulled her to a stop near my truck, “I’m going to take the cuffs off, but if you try to run, they go back on and won’t come off again. Understood?”
She nodded and climbed into the passenger seat. “Are you sure you can handle transport back to the office on your own, boss?”
“Hey Siz, fuck you.”
He gave me a wide grin, “Touchy. Touchy.”
“You want us back inside in case the runt was a distraction?” Lock asked.
I nodded. “I don’t think she was, but you guys are here now might as well stay.”
The ride to the office was silent but I could feel the nervous energy radiating off of the girl. That energy only increased as I pulled into the warehouse parking lot next to Vulture and Digs’ cars. “Relax. Warehouses are cheaper to buy than office buildings and they’re more versatile.”
“I’m more worried about talking to the cops than I am of you taking me to a creepy warehouse. You have warehouse vibes. This isn’t surprising.”
I looked over at her in confusion and annoyance, “What the fuck are warehouse vibes?”
She just shrugged and slipped out of the passenger seat. I punched in my code and opened the door for her to walk ahead of me. A laugh rang out from where Vulture was standing in the doorway of his office where he ran surveillance and worked on anything and everything IT related. “You know boss, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but neon green is not your color.”
The girl snorted. “Fuck off, Vulture,” I said gruffly. “When are Bernie and Paul going to be here?”
He checked his phone, “They should be here soon. They had just finished up at a scene downtown, so ETA four minutes, maybe?”
As I started to move down the hall toward the conference room, Ox walked down the hall and froze. His brow furrowed, “Quinn?”
Quinn’s POV
My back went rigid as this hulking man stood before me. How did he know my name? “You know her?” The man everyone had called Animal said.
He nodded, not breaking eye contact with me. “She’s my first cousin.” He took a step forward, causing me to step back away from him. As if he were reading my mind, Animal’s hand automatically went to my elbow, keeping me from moving any closer to the door. “You don’t remember me,” he said quietly. I shook my head, “that makes sense. The last time I saw you, you were only five or six. What are you doing here?”
“She hacked our system at the Aimes residence and was most of the way into their safe.”
“I was all of the way into their safe, thank you. You walked in right as I was about to open it,” I said proudly, crossing my arms.
Animal sighed, “Vulture let the guys know they need to reset the safe.”
“Do your parents know where you are?”
A sharp pain went through me. It had been seven years and it still hurt like it was yesterday. Tears welled in my eyes as I shook my head, “They died in a car accident seven years ago. How did you not know that, if we’re cousins?”
He took a step toward me, causing me to take a step back and him to stop. The pain was clear on his face, “I’m so sorry. My parents and I aren’t on speaking terms and haven’t been for a very long time.”
“I don’t blame you there,” I said quietly.
“What did they do?” He asked gruffly.
My eyes snapped to his and I saw the anger in his eyes, “They decided I was ‘too much’ because I barely spoke or acknowledged them right after it happened. They wanted me to socialize at parties and be lively, and when I didn’t and wasn’t, they dumped me in the system, where I eventually landed with the Waller’s.”
“We’re meeting with Bernie and Paul to file a report against the Waller’s,” Animal said.
“Fuck,” he closed the distance between us and wrapped me in a bone crushing hug. The dam broke as he held me. I began sobbing uncontrollably into his chest. I returned his hug after a moment, holding onto him as tightly as I could.
I heard a loud buzz sound coming from the door behind me. “Oh shit,” a woman’s voice sounded.
“Ox, take her to the conference room. We’ll be there in a minute,” Animal said.
I felt Ox nod before he released me, slinging an arm around my shoulder and guiding me to the conference room. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed him wipe his face as if he had been crying too. We weren’t seated long when a tall, lean woman walked in carrying a steaming ceramic cup. “Vulture said you might need something to calm down,” she said, setting the cup in front of me.
I looked at Ox who gave me a small, reassuring smile before looking at the woman, “Thanks, Digs.”
She gave him a smile and a squeeze on his shoulder, “Let me know if you guys need anything else.”
I smelled of the cup, and nearly burst into tears again. It was filled with lavender chamomile tea with a splash of cream sweetened with honey, exactly how my mom used to make it. “I take mine the same way. When I stayed with your parents in the summers as a kid your mom would make it for me most nights.”
The tears spilled over, causing Ox to wrap me in another hug. After a moment we pulled apart. I finally fully took in his features, “You look a lot like your dad.”
He blew out a breath, “Why would you be so mean when I’ve been so nice?”
I laughed but before I could respond, Animal and two cops walked into the room. ”Quinn, I’m Detective Bernice Jacobi. This is my partner Paul Sanchez. Can you tell us your last name?”
I glanced over at Ox, “Laughlin.”
Ox smirked, “Nope.”
“Farrell?”
“Nope.”
“Black?”
“Still no.”
I sighed, “Peterson?”
Ox laughed, “Kid, either give them your last name or I will.”
I rolled my eyes, “Fine. O’Neill.”
The cops glanced at Ox, who nodded, “Let’s start with the most pressing matter. Can you describe what an evening at the Waller house looks like?”
“Sherry orders takeout. Dwight picks it up along with a thirty pack from the gas station owned by Lloyd’s friend. Lloyd fills his plate, then Dwight, Sherry, and whatever is left which isn’t a lot is divided by the foster kids. Lloyd watches Fox News and drinks his thirty pack the rest of the night. When he gets angry at something, he calls a kid into the living room and hits the kid. We tried just not going in there and it’s much worse. If the take out is cold, he picks a kid and beats them. If you try to take the beating for one of the younger kids, he hits you harder and longer than he would’ve because you’ve defied the man of the house by being there instead.”
“And how many times would you say have you been beaten since being placed there?”
“Too many times to count.”
“Per week?”
“It depends. If it’s a good news week, maybe between ten and fifteen. If it’s a bad news week, probably between twenty and thirty. I try to take the hits for the small kids that come through the house because I’ve been there the longest. It doesn’t really bother me anymore. The summers are the worst though. You have to leave the house or you’ll be beaten every second he’s awake.”
I kept my gaze focused on Bernie through this entire exchange, but I could see Ox’s fist clinch out of the corner of my eye. “What made you run away if you’ve taken it this long?”
I blew out a breath, “He was beating Julian, the other foster, for spilling water. Julian is only seven so his coordination still isn’t good. He was crying and screaming which was making Lloyd angrier. I tried to pull him off Julian, but he wouldn’t budge so I hit him in the head with a pan from the stove. I grabbed Julian and my computer and ran.”
Ox shot out of his seat, and walked out the door. Animal quickly followed, “Go with them. Make sure Ox doesn’t do something stupid.” Bernie said to Paul who nodded. She turned back to me, “How have you been caring for a seven year old on your own? Where have you been staying?”
“A friend from school mentioned her aunt’s family was out of town for like three weeks, so we’ve been staying there.” My heart started beating quickly, “I’m taking care of the house I promise. I’m keeping it clean and not wrecking the place.”
She gave me a sad, conflicted look, “Sweetie that’s still breaking and entering. How have you been paying for food?”
Tears spilled down my face, “I didn’t know what else to do. We couldn’t stay there. Lloyd was going to kill us. Julian is still really hurt.” I took a breath trying to calm down, “I’ve been doing computer jobs to make money.”
“Do you have any photo or video evidence?”
I nodded and opened my laptop. My fingers flew across the keys as I broke through each encryption I had protecting my files. “I started taking photos and videos whenever I could once I bought my phone.”
“What kind of jobs do you do?” She asked as she clicked through the photos and videos.
I shrugged, “Taking rich kids’ SATs and ACTs since it’s all online now. They show up to the classroom and I remote in and take it for them. I’ve done a few other jobs like tonight, a guy contacted me wanting me to test the security system at a residence.” As I said that, a light bulb went off in my head, “Oh shit. I’ll be right back.” I slammed my laptop shut and ran down the hall back to Vulture’s office.
I burst through the door, causing Vulture to jump, “What the fuck?”
“It wasn’t about the Aimes residence. It was about testing your system. He wanted to see if your security system could be tricked.”
“Who? What were you doing in the safe if it wasn’t about the house?”
“The guy that hired me to break in. There was a safe, and I like trying to get into safes.” I plugged my laptop into an Ethernet cable on the desk and took over the system.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“I’m rewriting your code so the guy that hired me to break in can’t get in. I sent him what I did before you found me, so he knows your code but he doesn’t know mine.” The system began beeping as it detected an intrusion.
“Is that you?”
“Nope,” I said as my brow furrowed. I began tracing their movements in the system before managing to set them up to fall into a wormhole. “Have fun getting out of that,” I said before building a wall around it so that if they managed to get out, they wouldn’t be immediately back in the system.
“What is she doing in here?” I heard Animal grunt behind me.
“Rewriting my system. She was hired to get into the system at the Aimes.”
“By who?”
“I have a file on him. I fully checked him out before taking the job. I didn’t find anything weird, I mean he was using a fake name and photo, but that’s not that weird.” I said with a shrug as I kept writing code.
“If he was using a fake identity, how did you find his real one?”
“I backhacked him and sat in his computer for a few days. He had a meeting, where he turned on his camera so I snapped a photo and traced that.”
“And-” Animal started.
I shushed him, “I’ll answer whatever questions you have after this. I need to concentrate.” As soon as I finished rewriting Vulture’s system code, I fished the intruder out of the wormhole I sent them into and hacked into their system. I couldn’t stop the chuckle that came out when I saw their system protection. “Fucking amatuer,” I said under my breath.
I ripped everything off their harddrive and dropped a spike which wiped their entire system, leaving them with an “Q” over the blue screen of death. I quickly scanned through the files, checking them for viruses, trojan horses, and malware. Finding none, I sat back with a sigh. “You’re already done?” Vulture asked incredulously.
I shrugged, “I’ve been coding since I was a kid. This was easy. The hacker was an amateur running on my info.”
“You seriously started when you were a kid?”
“I’m a prodigy. My mom was too, with math not computers, but it still applies.”
“Did you completely rewrite the system?”
I shook my head, “Just added a little of my code here and there. It’s only enough to stop someone that’s already been in the system from getting in. I can rewrite the entire system if you want. It’ll cost you though.”
Vulture laughed, “Can I see your code?” I pushed my computer toward him. He looked it over for a second and I could tell he was recognizing my code from the test I ran against his system several weeks ago. “You little shit. That was you? It took me weeks to get my system back to where it should be.”
“It was a tryout. The guy that hired me had some of the supposed best hackers in the world try to get into your system, but I don’t have a lot of faith in that after tonight, and they couldn’t get in. I had to prove I could get in.”
“Why wait so long?” Animal asked.
“If I had done it right away, he would’ve noticed my intrusion right away instead of an hour into it.”
Vulture kept scrolling through the code until his eyes landed on my signature. “You’re not Q.”
“Why?”
“Q can’t be a sixteen year old. Do you code with anyone else?”
I snorted, “I don’t have anyone else to code with. Look,” I opened previous jobs I knew Q was notorious for doing, “I told you, I’m a prodigy.”
Vulture looked over at Animal, “We have to hire her.” Animal opened his mouth to argue, “No. My system is good, great even, she can make it so much better.”
“I’ll think about it,” Vulture started to interrupt, but Animal put up a hand, “We don’t know what’s happening with her foster home situation, but once we get it sorted out, we can have a conversation about hiring her.”
“Can we continue the interview now?” Bernie asked from the doorway. Upon noticing Animal, her brow furrowed, “Where’s Ox?”
“He’s with Paul. He’s not going to go off and do something stupid.” She gave him a look, “I promise.”
Bernie nodded, seemingly satisfied with that promise. “Let’s get back to it.” She questioned me for a few more minutes. Once I had answered her questions, she stood, “You’ll need to come down to the station so that our techs can pull the videos off of your laptop. I would just take it now and save you the trip, but I get the impression you go where your laptop goes.” I nodded, “social services should be here soon. She’s a very good friend of mine and is going to place you and Julian together. If I send Paul to pick him up, can you call him ahead of time and let him know Paul is coming?”
I shook my head, “I don’t trust Paul. I’ll only call Julian if Ox goes.”
She blew out a breath, “Okay what if I send Ox and Paul?”
I nodded and pulled out my phone to call Julian. He picked up on the third ring, “Hey bud.”
“Q-tip. Why are you calling? Where are you?” He asked, voice groggy making it clear I had woken him up.
“I got pinched, but they’re going to help. Get packed, grab my stuff too, we’re going to a new foster home. My cousin and one of the cops is going to come get you.”
“You have a cousin?”
“Yeah, who knew. Get packed and I’ll see you in a little while, JJ.”
“Okay Q-Tip. Love you.”
“Love you too buddy,” I said with a smile before ending the call. Paul and Ox had walked up at some point during my exchange with Julian, “He’s terrified of men, so be gentle.”
They both gave me a nod, and I rattled off the address. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding in and sat back in my chair.
Thirty or so minutes later I sat up straight in my chair as Animal led in an older black woman much shorter than him. “This better be good for two o’clock in the morning Bern.”
“Noel this is Quinn, Quinn this is Noel.”
Noel looked me over for the first time, and her icy tone and hard face softened, “Bernie, can I talk to you outside really quick?” They didn’t go too far from the door, so I could still catch most of their conversation. “I don’t have a home for them. Protocol states she goes to juve and he goes back to that house.”
“Even if I arrest Lloyd tonight for child abuse? I’ll take you to court over that girl going to juve for what she did. She, by her account, saved Julian’s life by getting him out of that house.”
“She can live with me. She’s my cousin. I have all of the qualifications to be a foster parent.” Ox said, walking up with Julian asleep in his arms.
“Ox you can’t foster. You’re out of town for months at a time,” Bernie said.
He shrugged, “I have time saved plus I literally just got off assignment. Or you could just move in like we’ve been talking about.”
“That creates a conflict of interest with the Waller case. If I went to court with the case, the defense could argue I’m biased as the victim is literally my boyfriend’s little cousin and now I’m helping foster her and the other victim.”
“You know when you put it like that, it sounds like you already have a conflict of interest.”
She said something softly to herself I couldn’t hear through the door. Animal walked up, “I can take them in. I’m in the field a lot less than you Ox and when I am in the field, I’m usually local. When I have to go out of town either Digs or Vulture can watch them, if you’re also out of town.”
While they talked everything over, I hacked into Vulture’s system. Don’t worry it’s just me, I typed in the chat box I opened, here’s the file on the guy that hired me to get into your system.
Thanks kid, he typed. How’s it going in there?
They don’t have a home for us to go to. Ox and Animal are trying to get it worked out, but protocol says I go to juve and Julian goes back to the Wallers.
That won’t happen. Bernie will bribe Noel with her favorite wine to say she was never here and both of you will go home with Animal or Ox. You don’t have to worry about it. Bernie will get it sorted just to keep Ox from helping Lloyd get what he deserves.
I snorted. That would be nice, but I don’t want him to get into trouble, I wrote before closing the chat box. I looked up as Bernie walked back in with Noel, “Well?”
“I have another detective coming here to interview you again. I have to pull myself from the case because you’re Ox’s cousin. Both of you will go to Ox’s place, and once Animal’s completed all of the training to become a foster parent, he will officially become your foster parent. For now though Noel is going to keep you both listed as runaways.”
Two Weeks Later
For the first time since I entered the system, I had nice clothes to wear to school. My heart was racing as I walked up the steps in the one of many outfits Bernie and I picked up this weekend. It was my first day back since running away four weeks ago.
“Holy hell, Q-Tip. Who’d you grift to get that outfit?” My old foster brother and best friend, Zami [Zamari Garret], asked, slinging an arm around my shoulder.
I shoved him gently, “I didn’t have to grift them. I told you about my cousin. His girlfriend took me shopping.”
“Right,” he drew out in a skeptical voice.
Before he could say anything else, I was hit by a body. “Fuck, Yelina, a little warning next time.”
“Shut up and hug me, bitch,” she said into my chest. I let out a sigh and wrapped my arms around her. Finally after what felt like five minutes, she released me. “I’m so happy you’re back. How was house arrest you fucking criminal?”
I laughed, “I wasn’t under house arrest. I was in protective custody. It was fine. Has your aunt said anything about the house?”
She shook her head, “They still have no idea you were staying there. You’re fine.” We started walking hurriedly toward our first class of the day. “How’s Julian?”
I smiled, “He has settled in so well. He’s got the entire office eating out of his hand, especially Digs. I think she might actually adopt him.” While I was very happy about the possibility Julian might get adopted and be out of the system, a small part of me was also jealous. I could of course understand why they wouldn’t go through the pricey process of adopting me since I was two years away from aging out of the system, but I was still a little jealous.
I walked quickly through the glass double doors in the gym right as the last bell rang. I wanted to avoid this class altogether. It was the only class I had with Dwight. I had managed to stay away from him and his friends all day, but I couldn’t do that now. “That’s close, O’Neill. Very close.” Coach Perry called out from where he was seated near the bleachers, “Try harder next time to make it here faster than that.”
“I’ll try Coach,” I said just loud enough for him to hear me. My face burned with embarrassment from the attention.
I slipped into the locker room where the other girls were mostly done changing. I unlocked my locker and shoved my backpack inside before changing into my gym clothes and relocking my locker. “Today is mile day. Once you complete your mile, head to the weight room,” Coach said as I walked out of the locker room. “O’Neill, try not to fall behind like you have been this entire class.”
Snickers sounded from where Dwight was standing with his friends. “Yes, Coach,” was all I said as my cheeks flared again.
I finished my mile quickly, managing to avoid Dwight and his friends. “O’Neill you should join the track or cross country teams.”
“No thanks,” I said quietly.
He crossed his arms, “Why not?”
I shrugged, “I’m just not interested.”
As I started to walk away, he caught my arm, “The team could use you.”
“Right, but I’m a foster kid so I don’t really have anyone to pick me up or drop me off at practices or meets. Not to mention, I’m not interested. I have other things I would rather do with my time.”
“Like what?”
I barely kept myself from rolling my eyes, “Like hanging out with my friends and working.”
“You could get a full ride to college,” he snapped.
“I’m not going to college, and even if I planned to go, I would get scholarships through academics and the rest would be covered by a waiver from the state.”
He grunted, but released my arm, “Go to the weight room.”
I bit my tongue as I jogged to the weight room. On my way, I shot Animal a quick text. If you get anything from the school about wanting me to join the track or cross country teams, please tell them it’s completely impossible and also that I. Am. Not. Interested.
I received a text back immediately that just said, You got it kid.
I let out a breath as I reached the weight room. I spent the rest of the class lifting weights and rowing on the row machine. Coach sent us back to the locker room with ten minutes to spare. I took my time changing, hoping if I changed slowly Dwight would get bored and leave.
The second bell rang out indicating it was just after three. I slipped into my backpack and started toward the door. I made it two steps before I was hit hard in the face by a fist. I stumbled backwards as I was hit again. “You stupid fucking bitch,” Dwight hit me hard in the stomach, knocking the breath from my lungs. He slammed me into the wall. My heart broke as I felt the crunch of my laptop screen. As he started raining blows down on me, I tucked my head between my arms, attempting to protect myself. “You fucking snitch. Why the fuck did you run your mouth to the cops?”
He stopped his attack for just a moment, giving me the chance to shove him hard. He stumbled backwards, trying to catch himself. Before he was able to restart his assault, I kicked him in the balls and ran as fast as I could. (Levi Weber)
As I ran, I turned my head to look behind me for Dwight. Right as I started to turn my head back around, I ran right into a brick wall of a person. Arms went around me as I bounced off of the person I hit, stopping me from falling to the ground. “Holy shit are you okay?” A familiar voice asked.
I pushed against his chest, looking up at the star receiver, Levi Weber, as I did. “I’m the one that ran into you, are you okay?”
He smirked, “I get tackled all of the time. It takes more than a hundred pound girl to hurt me. Are you okay? Why are you running?” He glanced behind me.
“I’m fine.” I cleared my throat, “I just didn’t want to miss my bus.”
His eyes narrowed as if he were deciding on whether to call me on my bullshit or not. His focus shifted to something on my cheek that I could only assume was the start of a bruise. He tucked my hair behind my ear and gently grabbed my chin to tilt my head. “Who hit you?”
I pulled away from him, “No one. It happened when I ran into you.”
“Right because that’s what happens when you run into someone, you get a bruise immediately on the other cheek.”
I checked the time on my phone and cursed under my breath, “Look I’m sorry I ran into you, but I need to go or I’ll miss my bus.”
He let out a sigh, “I’ll walk with you. To make sure you don’t run into anyone else.”
I rolled my eyes, “Fine.” My heart raced as we walked quickly in silence. Right as we reached the front lawn of the school my bus was pulling away from the school. “Fuck.”
“I can give you a ride.”
I shook my head, “I can text my cousin or foster to pick me up.”
“You could, but then you would have to wait for them to get here and then also explain how you got those bruises. I’m assuming you don’t want them to do anything about it based on the fact you won’t tell me what happened, and if they came here to pick you up they would be able to do something about it right away.”
I narrowed my eyes, “Why are you pushing this so hard?”
He shrugged, “You won’t tell me who hurt you, so I want to make sure whoever it was doesn’t jump you again.”
I sighed, “Fine. Do you mind if we make a stop? It’s on the way.”
He smiled, “Sure.”
We fell into a slightly awkward silence as we walked to his car. I had never been out in the parking lot to notice what he drove, “I thought your family was well off,” I said before I could stop myself. My face heated, “I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I just said that.”
He shook his head and gave me a small guarded smile, “It’s okay. You clearly don’t know cars.” I shook my head, “This is a ‘77 Ford Bronco and if it had a new paint job, I could get a quarter of a million dollars for it.”
“Are you going to paint it?” I asked, gently running my hand over the rough, rusty metal. He shook his head, “Good. I like the rusty look.”
He gave me a genuine smile this time, “Me too.” He pulled on the passenger side door but it didn’t budge. He pulled again and again but the car only shook with the force of his attempts. He looked at me sheepishly, “My dad and I have been trying to fix this door since he and my mom bought it for me.” He gave it one last tug, but when it didn’t budge, he looked at me, “you’ll have to climb in on my side.”
“That’s fine,” I said, walking around the back. Instead of following me, Levi rushed around the front of the car, beating me to the door. I snorted as he opened the door and gave a grand gesture. “Thank you,” I said as I slid into the driver’s side and climbed over the center console to sit in the passenger’s seat.
He climbed in the driver’s seat, cranked the car, and turned to me, “So where to?”
I rattled off the address of the computer store I bought all of my replacement parts from because they were one of the only stores that sold professional kits to repair computer screens. As he punched the address into his phone, I shot a text to Animal, missed the bus but I caught a ride with someone from school. We’re stopping by the computer store but will be there soon.
Someone?
I let out an annoyed sigh knowing he was going to turn this into something bigger, yes someone.
Make sure he sticks around. I want to meet him, he texted back.
My back straightened, I didn’t think you were home until Friday.
Assignment went sideways which moved up the timeline.
“Fuck.”
“What?” Levi asked.
I looked over at him, “Nothing. I was just letting my foster parent know I missed the bus. He wants to meet you when you drop me off.”
He shrugged, “Okay.”
“Really? You can say no, and drop me off down the street from the office.”
“It’s fine. I’m happy to meet him.”
“He might look rough. He just got home from an assignment and apparently it didn’t go well.”
“What does that mean?”
“Animal is-“
“Animal?”
My cheeks burned bright red, “Um yeah. It’s what his army buddies called him, so it’s just what he’s called now.”
“Ah that makes a lot of sense.” He looked over at me and gave me a smile, “How long was he in the army?”
I shrugged, “A while. I haven’t been living with him for that long, and we don’t really talk about his time in the army.”
As we pulled into the parking lot of the computer store, he put the car in park and turned to me, “What does he do now? He’s retired right?”
“Kind of. He runs his own private security firm.”
He slid out of his seat and I climbed over the console and out of the car, pulling my backpack with me. “My dad was the same way when he retired from the army, except he started his own mechanic shop.” He held the door open for me, “So how did you end up with him? I would’ve thought his job would’ve disqualified him as a foster parent.”
“Animal is a family friend, so there were exceptions made because of my last foster home.”
I could tell he wanted to ask more, but held back. “Quinn!” Howie, the owner of the store, greeted me. His smile turned into a glare when he saw my face and he turned to Levi, “Did he do this to you?”
I snorted and set my bag on the counter to pull out my laptop, “No. I wouldn’t be here with him if he were the one that did this.”
“I’m Levi. It’s nice to meet you,” Levi said, offering his hand to Howie.
Howie grunted. “Be nice Howie,” I chided, cutting a glance at the two of them.
He begrudgingly grasped Levi’s hand, “Howard, but you can call me Mr. Fischer.”
I snorted, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Fischer.”
I cursed under my breath as I inspected my laptop. The screen was broken, but it looked like my hard drive might have been damaged too. “Howie can I get a new screen?” I glanced over at them, and rolled my eyes when I saw they were having a standoff still holding each other’s hand. “Howie?”
“Understood,” Levi said before releasing Howie’s hand.
Howie nodded and turned to me. “I had to get a new vendor for them, so the price has gone up but they should be the same.”
I shrugged, “That’s fine. I might need a new hard drive too, but I won’t know for sure until I get the screen on.”
He slid the new screen across the counter to me, “You know kid you should really consider getting a new laptop.” I gave him a glare and shook my head, “Just consider it because eventually I’m not going to be able to get these parts.”
I pulled my tool set out of my backpack and set to work changing out my screen. “Why don’t you get a new computer?” Levi asked.
“My parents got this one for me right before,” my sentence trailed off and I hoped he didn’t ask me to finish my sentence.
“Ah,” he said. My body relaxed at his understanding. “I think my parents sent flowers to the hospital.”
I nodded, “I remember. You guys sent a bouquet of some of my favorite flowers.”
“What are your favorite flowers?”
“Sunflowers, daisies, snapdragons, and tulips,” I said before sticking the tiny screwdriver between my lips and disconnecting the screen from the wire that connects it to the display. I unboxed the new screen and quickly reconnected the display and the screen itself to the laptop. After reattaching everything, I tried turning it on, “Fuck,” I cursed softly when the screen flashed once, then twice, signaling a broken hard drive.
“Hard drive?” Howie asked.
I sighed, “Yeah. Let me check my keys too and make sure they’re working and what I have versus what I need, and then we can go Levi. Sorry this hasn’t been a quick trip.”
“It’s okay. It’s been really interesting to watch you work on your computer. I can take apart my car and put it back together again, but I could never do that with a computer,” he said with a shrug. “I texted my dad to let him know I would be late to the garage. He doesn’t let me get away with much, but if I have a good reason, he lets it slide.”
I looked up from going through my box of keys, “And I’m a good reason?”
He gave me a soft smile, “Absolutely.”
I gave him a small smile as my cheeks heated and quickly looked down back at my box of keys. I cleared my throat and looked up at Howie, who had a smile on his face that he was clearly trying and failing to hide, “Can I get another set of keys too please?” Howie didn’t move, “Howie?”
“Hm?” He turned to me, “Right. Yeah. I don’t think I have any out here so I need to go to the back to grab one.”
I looked at him with narrowed eyes and looked behind him, “They’re right behind you.” He turned around and turned back, giving me a sheepish smile. I gave him a small smile and went back to picking through my keys, “You don’t need to give us alone time, Howie, we’re about to be in a car alone.”
He scoffed and Levi snorted, “I just thought I sold the last one yesterday and didn’t have a chance to get more of them from the back.”
I knew I was one of the only reasons he kept that specific keyboard key set in stock, but I didn’t call him on it. He rang everything up and Levi whistled low, “Have you got this? I can lend you some-“
I gave him a smile and raised my hand, cutting him off, “Thanks, but I’ve got it.”
His brow furrowed, but he didn’t question me. I slid my bank card and punched in my pin. “Kid, you’re looking at one of the best hackers in the world,” Howie bragged to Levi.
“Howie,” I warned.
“What? You are.”
I glared at him, “It’s not the kind of thing I want advertised.”
Levi leaned in and whispered, “Your secret is safe with me.”
I couldn’t stop the small smile that lifted at the sides of my mouth as I bumped my shoulder against his, “Good. I would hate to have to completely ruin your academic career.”
He leaned back laughing loudly with his head thrown back, “Duly noted. Never piss off a hacker.”
“Smart kid,” Howie said with a nod.
“We need to get going. Thanks Howie. No offense but I hope I don’t see you for a while,” I said, giving him a smile.
Howie laughed, “No offense taken kid. If you don’t need parts, at least come by and say hello.”
“I will.” Levi and I made our way to the door. “Thanks again,” I said over my shoulder as I walked through the door Levi was holding open for me.
I rattled off the address of the warehouse and watched as his brow furrowed slightly, seeming to recognize the warehouse district, but he didn’t say anything if he did recognize it.
“Uh,” he started as he parked next to Animal’s black truck.
“Warehouses are cheap and they suit the needs of a private security firm better than an office building would.” He glanced over at me, “Come on.”
As my feet hit the ground, Vulture came rushing out, adjusting his shirt. “Quinn? Who’s the kid?”
“Vulture Levi, Levi Vulture.”
Vulture’s brow furrowed once we got closer to him. He put a finger under my chin and turned my head so he could get a better look at where Dwight hit me. “Do you know who hit her?” He asked, glancing over at Levi.
“No sir.”
Vulture didn’t respond. He just stared Levi down, assessing him. I pulled away from Vulture, “Can we go inside now?”
His eyes refocused on me, “Are you okay?”
I backed away from him in an attempt to go around him, “I’m fine. Kid couldn’t throw a punch for shit.”
He snorted but seemed to be satisfied for the moment.
Author: Kailan Counahan 