A Criminal's Kiss

Chapter 3✓

Authors note: This chapter has a bit more info on Blake, nothing to special but still, if it’s worth a vote or comment then please, do it:)

Oh and did you know that on average, a hundred people choke to death on ballpoint pens each year? That is a very worrying number...

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“Holy shit, you’re kidding, right?” I turned to Marcus. Silence fell on the table as we all exchanged looks of disbelief. Hearing that Elliot got out of prison with Blake Reynolds is like hearing the president became a clown. Wrong. Just plain wrong.

If you want to know exactly who Blake Reynolds is then just think of your typical bad guy. Oh wait, I’ll make it easier for you. Think of the bad boy in high school, you know the one with all the girls, that’s been in jail way too many times and has his own little gang. Yeah, that’s pretty much Blake Reynolds summed up, but Blake Reynolds wasn’t that bad boy of a high school, he was the bad boy of everywhere.

Blake Reynolds is basically all talk. In my line of work, I hear about him all the time. How he killed a guy with his pinky or how he got shot over and over again in the heart and he lived. There are also rumors that he stabbed his mom at the age of thirteen for making him eat his vegetables, not that I believed that rumor or any of the others about him. It was his reputation that made him what he was, and his reputation was based on tales fabricated from fear. The type of rumors that a five year old would hear about the bogey monster.

 In my nineteen years of existence I hadn’t ever actually come across Blake Reynolds, and I guess I should be thankful for that, I mean I didn’t want to be killed by his pinky or anything. But at that moment, I knew I was about to and something told me it would not be pretty. 

 But what failed to make sense to me was how Blake Reynolds had managed to team up with my brother and get out of prison. I mean, Elliot was no idiot. He knew who Blake was. He knew what Blake Reynolds did, or supposedly did. So why on earth did he decide that teaming up with Blake Reynolds was a good idea?

I was broken out of my train of thought by Jake, who scratched the back of his head uncertainly, He turned to Marcus."So...Elliot is with Blake Reynolds?"

I swear my brother was a complete idiot—or completely deaf. Had he not heard a single word that came out of Marcus' mouth? 

"No Jake. He’s with a dancing cow," I said sarcastically.

Jake ignored me, "But Blake Reynolds? Why him? Elliot must have hit his head really hard or something because he seems to be lacking brain cells.” 

That statement made my lips twitch, clearly Jake and the others took Blake Reynolds a lot more seriously than I did. Despite the seriousness of the topic, I nodded in agreement. 

"It seems like it," Aaron muttered.

I sighed, "What else did Elliot say?" I asked, hoping to find out the reasons behind his idiotic actions.

"Elliot asked us to meet them," Marcus said.

"Them?" I echoed, hoping he wouldn't say what I thought he would.

"‘Them’ being Elliot and Blake," Marcus replied. Jake groaned loudly.

"Oh no," I shook my head, hoping he wasn’t actually going to make us follow through with this.

"Oh yes."

"Oh God," I moaned.

"Meet them where exactly?" Aaron asked.

"Las Vegas." I raised an eyebrow. We hadn’t been to Vegas in months. Now Elliot and Blake Reynolds were asking us to meet them there. "Are we going?" I questioned. I wasn’t sure of Marcus’ intentions. Not now that he knew Blake Reynolds was tagging along.

"We don't have much of a choice here."

"Why the hell do we have to meet Blake Reynolds?" I asked. "Has Elliot gotten into trouble with him?"

Marcus shrugged, "He didn't say, but, knowing Elliot, that's probably the reason."

"What part of 'stay out of trouble in jail' did he not get," Aaron hissed.

"We don't know if he's really in trouble," Jake shrugged. "Maybe he and Blake became best buds in the slammer."

"Oh yeah. That’s very likely," I said, the sarcasm dripping through my voice.

"Seriously, did he get into some kind of trouble?" Aaron inquired.

"If only I knew," Marcus replied with a shrug, his shoulders tense. Another awkward silence filled thick atmosphere. I looked around the small, round table at my three brothers. They all had frowns on their faces, lost in thought.

"Come on guys, look on the bright side. Elliot's out of the slammer! We get to see our big brother!" I said.

Aaron nodded, "Skye's right. We get to see Elliot again! We should be excited!"

Jake sighed, "Alright. Come on, we should start making our way to Vegas before Elliot throws a tantrum and ends up losing even more brain cells."

I laughed half-heartedly at his lame attempt at a joke before returning my attention back to the food. I picked up one of my fries, taking a small bite and chewing it slowly before putting it back down, suddenly losing my appetite.

Jake noticed and raised an eyebrow, “Not hungry?”

I shrugged, “Not really.”He stuffed his cheese burger in his mouth, not fully closing his mouth so that the whole table could catch glimpses of the food he was enjoying so much.   I pulled a face, that boy could eat during an earthquake if he needed to.

“Ready to go?” Jake asked, standing up.

Marcus stood up looking more than relieved and Aaron leapt up, pushed away the plate of food he had barely touched.

It was clear that none of them were hungry or eager to talk after the piece of news we ha received.

"Can I drive this time?" I asked Marcus after we got to car and he pulled out his keys.

He turned to look at me in horror, "There is no way in hell that you are touching my baby!" he shouted.

I raised an eyebrow, 'His baby?'

"Aw come on, I never get to drive!" I moaned.

"That might just be because you are such a bad driver," pointed out Jake.

"I am not!" I hissed, scowling at him.

“Well what about that time we were picking up cocaine from that port in South Carolina and we told you to floor it because the cops showed up?”

Aaron laughed, "I still have no idea how you knocked down that tree without killing somebody."

“It was an accident!”

“And what about that time we were in Texas and you almost killed that horse trying to do a U-turn? ” 

“That was once! And I was only seventeen. You can't blame me for that!” I complained.

“Three years later and you’re still just as bad,” Aarons said, shrugging.

"My point exactly," Marcus said shaking his head at me.

“I am not that bad,” I pouted, “Please can I drive Marcus? Please?”

Marcus stared at me for a couple of seconds before sighing, "Fine, but I'm only letting you drive because I'm tired and you're giving me a headache."

I grinned at him. "Yay! Thanks, big bro!"

"But if you hurt my baby," he warned.

"Marcy, I'm your sister. Threatening me isn't going to work," I said.

"Would you stop with the nicknames?" Marcus said. I shrugged and climbed into the front seat, slamming the door shut behind me. I could have sworn I heard Marcus whimper as I began speeding along the highway.

"Vegas here we come!" Jake shouted.

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