Red Alert/Red Notice (The "Super Jerk" Prequel)

26 - I Want to Break Free

^^Above, chapter title credit: Song by Queen.^^

{Raina}

Hugo and I are alike, in a way. I can see that already. Neither of us are afraid of confrontation, nor are we willing to go down without a fight. I'm not afraid of Ridley – although it seems that every day, he's giving us more reasons to be – and Hugo isn't either. No journalist who wants to stay on Ridley's good side would have ever dreamed of printing that article.

Roberto finally calls back a half-hour later than he'd thought, after Hugo got home from work and gave him an earful about how inconvenient this is. He has good news: the both of them are in the car, packed, and ready to go. That gives me time to take a shower, change my clothes, and then give both our kids a bath as well. Cam doesn't really like dirt, but Ettie seems to get it on her wherever she goes. Geoff says that figures, because she's as fearless as me.

Geoff comes into the kitchen right as I've finished feeding Cam his mush, and just as I stand up, he spits the last mouthful out.

"They're here," he says before I get a chance to ask.

"Give me a second," I say, kneeling down again to wipe the mess from Cam's chin. He bats at my hand, but I manage to get him relatively clean. Then I lift him out of his high chair and set him on my hip, his little fists drumming into my shoulder.

Roberto's bringing their bags inside when we meet them in the entryway. Hugo's disheveled and tousled, his jaw lightly stubbled and eyes bloodshot. Aisha follows closely behind him, her normally bright blue eyes flat and glazed and her shoulders hunched in.

"Hey, Raina," Hugo says, giving me a gentle side-hug. "How're the injuries?"

"Cast's coming off next week," I answer, noticing how thin he feels under his clothes. "I should be asking about you, though."

"Tired." He runs his hand over his face.

"Hug-go," Cam says, stretching his arms out towards him. "Hug-go."

"I think he wants to see you." I adjust Cam and maneuver him over to Hugo, who dandles him on his hip.

I don't get to talk to Aisha until we migrate into the dining room, where Mila's setting out the take-out I'd ordered. I know Aisha's vegan, but beyond that I was unsure of what to get. But since no one felt like cooking and it was getting late already, this seemed like the best decision.

"Holding up okay?" I ask her as I jump in to help Mila unload the bags of food. She seems lost, staring the thousand-yard stare that I'm plenty familiar with. Mine tended to emerge when I was yanked back to those years enduring Dad. I had to be shaken out of it by whoever was nearest most times.

"I do not understand Hugo," she says, her voice hollow. "He seems to have lost all sense of inhibition."

"At least he's doing something," I say, trying to put a positive spin on it. "Most journalists wouldn't dare to touch Ridley's campaign."

"There's a reason for that," she says curtly, and then shuts down.

The four of us are silent and tense over dinner. Cam and Ettie are whisked off to bed by Roberto and Mila, who seem to know when to withdraw. Geoff keeps giving me anxious looks, like he hopes I'll know what to do. I don't, especially not when it's Ridley. And especially not when it appears he's organizing hits on his opponents like a Mob boss.

Hugo goes to bed early, saying it's been a long stressful day and he's exhausted. I don't blame him. My nerves are ragged from worrying that Ridley got to them first. But as I'm about to go up to bed, I see a light on in the living room. Aisha's sitting on the couch, in the same spot I'd occupied for days after El died.