Us Against the World

44. The Trap and Heroic Return

"Of course, Papa picks the junkiest-looking storage unit to keep our things," Aceline sighs. Standing outside the rusty gold gates, she plants her hands on her hips and glares up at the spikes that decorate the tips of the gate. "This looks like the entrance to hell, not to a family storage place."

"Well, your dad was part of a mob," I say. "You can't expect everything to be cookies and rainbows."

"Yeah, whatever." Aceline scowls and stomps on the rumble, marching toward the microphone that's attached to the side of the gate. "Hello? Is anyone here? Hello?"

"That looks broken," I mutter. Putting my arms out like I'm balancing on a tightrope, I tiptoe toward Aceline and put my hand on her shoulder. "Let's try finding someone or going around. Maybe we'll be able to get inside then."

"Then what's the goddamn point of this thing?" Aceline snaps. Her patience is beginning to run thin. "If something is broken, fucking fix it!"

"We've tried." A voice from behind laughs. "But it's hard to get workers here when most of the stuff is illegal."

That voice...I'm struck by a wave of deja vu. Carefully turning so that I don't trip on any of the rocks, I find myself face to face with the blue-eyed, beach-blonde surfer boy that I used to be completely obsessed with. Obsessed, not in love.

"Raymond?!" I exclaim. "What...do you work here?"

He frowns and tilts his head. His straw-colored hair brushes the tips of his high cheekbones and a boyish smirk graces his wide features. "Meera! Long time no see." He strides forward and lifts me in a bone-crushing bear hug. "Damn, have you gotten shorter?"

"What?!" I snap. "Shorter?! Ray, what the hell?"

"I'm just teasing you," he chuckles, setting me down. He looks over my shoulder and whistles. "Whoa, who are you?"

"I'm Aceline," Aceline passively says. She puts her hand out and shakes with Raymond. "Meera and I are here to get something from my father's unit. Storage 34."

"Oh, Robaire Agent?" Raymond nods. "Yeah, sure." He pulls a ring of keys from his pockets and unlocks the gate. "It's not a far walk from here. Will you be fine, Meera?"

"I...yeah, I'll be fine," I murmur. He still remembers? But it's been almost eight years!

"I take it he's your ex?" Aceline whispers, her shoulder brushing against mine. "He's cute, you know?"

"That's kind of why I dated him," I scowl. "I've known Raymond since I was thirteen, and we dated when I turned sixteen until we graduated high school. I...I did the same thing to him as I did with Ezra. For years, I blamed him, but it's not until recently that I realized our relationship crumbled because of me."

"It's been weighing on you, huh?"

"Yeah, it has."

"Well, you have the chance to get all of that off your chest now," Aceline says, gesturing to Raymond as he stops in front of a medium-sized, blue garage. He bends down and lifts the door up with a grunt, revealing to us a room full of boxes of all shapes and sizes.

"Do y'all know what you're looking for?" He asks, wiping his brow.

"A hard drive," Aceline replies. She gives me a look, her eyes prodding me to talk to Raymond, and then she bounces into the unit, beginning to rip boxes open in search of the hard drive.

"She's quite the firecracker, huh?" Raymond notes, materializing beside me. "Aceline Agent...don't suppose she's Ezra Agent's sister, is she?"

"She is."