Notice me

CHAPTER XIII : FAKING IT

Rory held up his fist signaling them to stop, something didn't seem right. They've checked all possible locations but came up empty handed, the irritation was starting to make itself know on everyone's faces showing more in their actions.

No traps were left anywhere Clay genuinely seemed abandoned with the exception of the old rusty warehouse but that was long gone in ruins from last years. The ground felt whole the thirty six acres. No metal came up in their search and they knew for a fact he wasn't camping away underground. He was here in the town but where exactly was he hiding off.

"Fall out and go back home, we're gonna find that bastard of it's the last thing we do" Judge stayed back a moment longer flicking the lighter open and taking a long well needed draw of his cigar.

They huddled back in the vehicle. The night air sweeping through the windows and rubbing over their heated skin. Anger wasn't the best word to describe the mindset Rory held, he didn't feel the man he was four years ago. His skills were rusty and a man of his rank should never loose the skills he had.

"Tate" he looked through the rear view mirror raising a curious brow at Judge.

His voice raspy from smoking , a scent that lingered on him far too long for a man his age.

"Yea" his eyes retreated back to the empty road.

"We need to do a full sweep of Ivory one last time, then bait him. I know you won't like my plan but he needs to be smoked out" smoked out? What game was Judge playing at? everyone's life was at stake and his plan is to anger the man with the power over their very lives.

"Keep in mind that if he even catches wind of us getting on to him those files will be the least of our worries major" imagine of three highly trained military operatives who were thought to be dead somehow managed to come up alive, five years after the grand assassination of Slovakian prime minister and robbery of its royal treasury.

It wouldn't reflect well on the government.
And for that they'd have to eliminate the problem.

"You have something better? You're not thinking straight and Danny's just here going crazy by the minute. It's either that or we run and become fugitives even to ourselves" he couldn't cope with becoming a whole other person again.

Once was enough.

"And what do you suggest we do General" his sarcastic voice wafted through the air stifling a hard slap from judge.

"When you scrape that shit attitude of yours out of the gutter you approach me with the respect I deserve. I'm not one of those chicken shit privates you trained back then boy I'm your senior" Rory held back his onslaught of expletives. Judge may have been his senior but now of all times was the last place he needed to get that cemented into his head.

"What do you suggest we do general?" Begrudgingly he kept his eyes on the road clenching his jaw to keep silent. It was better this way. At least for him.

"I suggest we have him thinking we're one step closer than we need to be, you're  sheriff here. Maybe post an ad in the paper that'll get his attention one you know he'll crack, we know this guy like the back of our hand Tate he's not as stable as we'd like him to be" Beckham just had to make himself known when he had the woman of his dreams in palms reach. He appeared in less than a minute and she was gone like a frog seeing salt.

"I'll do it, but I don't know how I'm supposed to make it work when the paper's chief editor and CEO are upset with me beyond repair. This cat and mouse game isn't going well Sir"
Silence wafted between the two. Danny humming along to an old tune cutting the invisible threads from off her greens.

"I'll do it" even though she didn't look up she could feel their eyes burning into the shell of her skull.

"How?" Rory couldn't resist asking. She'd been the least social person he's met but doubting her skills was like saying a bird couldn't chirp and fly at the same time.

"I'll worry about that pretty boy, in the mean time how about you focus on making back your friendship bridge and I'll handle the big guns" his jaw ticked. He had half the mind to slam her head onto the dash board and hear her cry but this wasn't the time for his sadistic nature to come out.

"Thirty going on eleven" pulling out his flask judge took a swig masking in the burn of his throat coughing up a storm shorty after.

Whisky and rum calmed the mind not like his old lady but it did just about enough for him now.

Rory kept driving til he saw the familiar line of traffic and a sign saying fifteen miles into town, slowing to a stop his fingers tapped the wheel anxiously . He turned his head and saw a white Mercedes SUV.

For a split second his mind was calm but that was soon gone when he saw who was in the driver's seat. With widened eyes he held his breath; that same charcoal black hair was the same as he remembered that one faithful morning. His eyes followed the trail until it stopped on a child tapping the window playfully. A small boy with dark amber hair and the same warm honeysuckle eyes as his grandmothers the exact kind he inherited at a much older age.

The driver pulled off leaving him stunned. No words could describe the way he felt now. Following suit he switched lanes trailing the car holding a potential heir? He had a child? No that wasn't possible, but why was he still trailing them? He ignored judge's voice keeping his eyes on the license plate 'Jkp246'

What was she doing here! Hadn't he clearly told her she was a mistake. She looked exactly like his Zo. He thought she was his Zo! He was drunk exactly a week after coming from the hospital with severe traumatic injuries, somehow his mind spiraled back into an alcohol induced state and his only friend became the bottom of the glass.

He was so out of it he thought it was her his precious Zo, of course if he had know he would've done everything in his power to not have done what he did but of course it was too late. The damage had already been done and he gave what he promised Zo to someone else.

It's been a while but Thanks for reading💞 word count:1150. stay tuned for the next chapter. Xoxo Bree💋