Alek

Chapter 36: Alek Russo

Chapter 36: Alek Russo

It's a fucking madhouse.

And I'm going insane.

"What are we going to do?" Mae gasps as she takes a step back. "Why the hell is that even in there?"

I reflexively put myself between her and the bomb, "I'm going to take this outside, and we're going to figure out what the hell we're going to do with it."

"How big is it?" Diego peers inside. "It looks pretty small..."

"It might be small but the explosion will be huge. We have to get it out of the house now," Rashid says, his skin pale.

Yan begins to pace, pulling aggressively at her hair as she thinks. I stand there, staring at the fucking bomb inside the box, my thoughts already going to the papers below it.

"The notes are below the bomb," I say, running frustrated hands through my hair. "Rashid, if I pull out the notes, will the bomb detonate?"

Rashid peers into the box cautiously, eyes running up and down its length as he studies it. And for a moment, there is nothing but deadly silence, "I don't think so. It's just placed on the top...I don't think-"

Kai lets out a foul string of curses as I lean forward to look at the green bomb that is attached around the notes inside the box. I put my hands inside as everyone nervously steps back, tension high in the air as I try to squeeze the papers out from under it.

"Kai hold the box down," Mae whispers as I shake it to get the notes free. "Alek stop shaking the box, my god."

I ignore her, cursing inside my head for being so stupid. What did I expect? To find the answers to who my brother's killers could possibly be in this box? Did I really expect my answers to come wrapped up in a fucking Christmas bow and dropped outside my house? I'd listened to my desperation. And now we were all dead if I didn't deal with the bomb.

And fast.

I slide the papers free and Rashid lets the bomb drop into the box with a loud sigh. Everyone surrounds me instantly as I drop the papers to the ground, and sit down cross-legged to get a look.

"All the information on The Blue Star gang should be in there," Yan says, dropping to the floor on her knees. "I went through some of it, but it wasn't in order so I wasn't sure what was what. But I was on a tight schedule and alone, but if we work together we can get it in order pretty quickly I think."

"The bomb says we have twenty-four hours until it explodes right? We have plenty of time to sort these papers out." Diego says, motioning to the notes. "After we get what we want, one of us can drive the bomb off to a deserted area and leave it there."

"I was thinking the same thing," Mae nods in agreement, her short black hair brushing against her cheek. Shadows creep up her flushed brown skin and I find myself wanting to brush her hair out of her face.

What the fuck? Get your brain out of the gutter.

"Who's going to drive it out?" Kai asks.

Rashid brushes his question away, "it doesn't matter right now. What really matters is that we find out what the hell is in those papers and find The Blue Star gang before they pull something like this again."

"We're not even sure it was them who pulled this off," Kai argues. "It's obvious that someone with a higher power is behind this-"

"Someone who knows," Mae snaps her fingers, eyes brightening. "Someone here is working with The Blue Stars. How else would they have known about this?"