Animals

35.

DEREK'S POV:

I went to check on Callie an hour or so after I had shown her to the room, I poked my head through the door, and saw her sound asleep, curled up in a ball under the sheets. I smiled as I quietly closed the door and began to walk towards the living room again, where Peter and Braeden were still glaring at each other from across the coffee table. I sat myself down beside Peter on the couch, and looked over at Braeden who was in a kitchen chair. Braeden sat there for a few more seconds and then lifted up her feet so they could rest on the table, "The table is Italian," Peter dryly said as his eyes went from hers and down to her boots.

"So are these boots." she replied, obviously not caring. I smirked and shook my head at her comment then looked down at a pair of sunglasses I had in my hands, "Are we going to talk interior design and fashion, or are we going to talk numbers?" she asked, hands folded on her lap.

Peter stared up at her then began to write something down. I listened as he put the pen down loudly, then slid the paper over toward Braeden. She picked up the pen again, crossed out whatever Peter had previously written, and then wrote down something else. She did as Peter did, and set down the pen and slid it over, "We're hiring you to find Kate, not assassinate the President." Peter said, annoyance in his voice.

"I was hired by the Calaveras to find Kate. You're hiring me to find her first. Going against the Calaveras is what's going to cost you." she said, her eyes darting back and forth from Peter to me.

Peter crossed out the large number Braeden had wrote and then wrote something else. He slid it across the table towards her, but this time she didn't even look at what he wrote down, instead she just slid it back to him with a small grin. Peter stood up hands in the air as he gave up trying to fight with the stubborn woman. I grabbed the piece of paper and ripped it into two, "We'll pay. Just find Kate, that's all we want." she tilted her head as I spoke to her, then she finally gave me a small nod.

I stood up as Braeden did, but I walked towards the desk table that was by the wall of windows. I listened as she walked out the door, and Peter then slid it shut, loudly. I flinched a little, then my mind thought about Callie just down the hallway sleeping. My thoughts of my sleeping sister were broken when Peter asked loudly, "Are you insane?"

I didn't turn to look at him, "We don't have a choice. We spent a week looking for her and came up with nothing." I said back to him, I listened as he began to walk towards me.

"If we don't find out who told Kate about the vault, we don't get those bonds back." Peter said a little more loudly as he continued to walk towards me, "What do you think I'm going to do then, huh? Get a job?" he asked, "My resume is slightly out of date. We got robbed, Derek." he said from right behind me, "Robbed!" he grabbed my shoulder to turn me towards him, but I grabbed his wrist and let out a loud growl. He stared at me, "Oh, that's a new look for you." he said as I pulled myself away from him, "What happened to your eyes?"

"I don't know," I said as I looked up at him, "But I'm willing to pay to find out."

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CALLIE'S POV:

After I gathered my books from my locker and made my way into my classroom, I sunk down into my seat. I had been sleeping well until I heard Peter and Derek arguing in the living room, which ended in Derek growling at our uncle. I didn't tell Derek that I heard everything though, he felt bad enough that he thought they were too loud to begin with. I sighed a tired sigh as my biology teacher walked in to begin the set up for today's lesson. I opened my book and looked through it since I didn't do any of the readings the previous nights, I would glance up every now and then to see who was walking in, but I really didn't pay attention; not until one boy walked in. I stared up at him as he stood by Mr. Troy's desk, I had never seen him here before. Mr. Troy turned around and finally acknowledged the boy and held out his hand, "You must be Liam," he said and they shook hands, "Let's see here..." he trailed off and I watched as he looked at the people who were already seated, "You can have a seat next to Callie in the back, Callie raise your hand please." my eyes went wide and my face felt warm as I slowly lifted my hand up enough for him to see. Once he nodded his head at Mr. Troy, I tried to act as if I were interested in the biology book.