The Hidden Rose(Book One In The Rose Pedal Series) /✔

Chapter Forty-Four

i followed Noah outside and we strode over to a car. it was a 1971 dodge charger that was painted a bright blue with a white stripe down the middle. it was such a nice car and Noah was about to smash the window.

"no stop!" i screeched, grabbed his fisted hand. "it's such a nice car. use the wire."

"fine. it's just going to take longer, though." he rolled his eyes and reached into his backpack, pulling out a wire. he stuck it in between the window and frame and pushed it down into the door. he wiggled it around until the wire caught on the lock and he tugged on it, unlocking it and pulling the wire back out. he opened the door and put a lock picking tool into the ignition, starting the car and hopping into the seat. i slid into the passenger seat and put our bags in the back seat as Noah put the car in gear and drove off.

we pulled up to a run down motel and when we went into the office, a little old lady with white frizzy hair looked up at us and smiled.

"what room would you young couple like?" she asked, looked between me and Noah, beaming.

"oh, we're not dating. he's my dad." i explained awkwardly. i just said he was my dad because it would be easier than body guard or 'friend'. 

she made an 'o' with her mouth and looked away awkwardly. she turned back to us after a few seconds, but the air was definitely not as relaxed as it was before. it was tense and she looked awkward to be standing there, let alone checking us in. a woman who had come in and was standing in line behind us looked uncomfortable as well. we finally finished checking in and i sighed deeply, running to our room.

i opened it and went in, setting my bag down on one of the queen sized beds. i pulled my laptop from my duffle bag and set it on the small table and sat down in the chair. i began hacking. i wasn't an expert at it, but i could do it fairly well. i couldn't do a whole lot more than tapping into security cameras and ATM machines, but i was alright.

Noah came in through the open door with his arms full of his bag and snacks. he dropped the snacks on the table and i grabbed a bag of M&Ms. i popped one into my mouth and watched the number run across the screen of my laptop as i waited for the opening through the firewall. (A/N i no nothing of hacking only from what I've read and seen. I'm mostly making this up. lol)

i finally saw it and i dropped the bag on the table and moved my hands to my keyboard. my fingers flew across the buttons, finding the access codes and hacking into the police station. they had access to all the cameras in the city, and it would be easier to hack them rather than multiple security tapes. plus if any criminal activity came up involving Luke, i would know.

i got into the security tapes and minused the screen, making it smaller. i opened another page and hacked into the police radio. i made that page smaller and let it run, the radio going off occasionally. i watched the security cameras, munching on popcorn and my eyes scanning over all the screens. watching. watching for anything suspicious. watching for Luke. Noah sat across the table from me, his laptop set up with half of the security screens. not only did it make it easier to look, it made it easier to see them all without having to click and scroll.

his eye shifted across the screen, darting back and forth. i yawned and reached over to my phone. i turned on spotify and the first song that came on was perfect for the mood. the hammer's coming down by nickleback.

my foot tapped along with the beat as the song progressed.

"this is the calm before the coming storm..." i sung softly. "this is the ripped-sky morning, without warning now. this is the fight that we've been waiting for. and there's no sense in running, the hammer's coming down, dooowwn. the hammer's coming down, dowwwn."

"the hammer's coming." Noah sang with me. i stopped and let him sing the next verse as i scanned my screens. i frowned. there was a strip club that men kept going in. oh, that's genius. men going into a strip club? no duh! give this girl a round of applause!

shut up. i silenced my inner voice. the men weren't just going in, but they were all wearing hoodies. they all paid the bouncer to get in and their hands all had a tattoo. i zoomed in on the next guy going in. i looked at his hand and looked at the tattoo. it was a skull with knives in front of it and roses around it and his wrist. tattooed blood dripped from the knives and splashed onto the roses. i tilted my head and leaned forward in my chair.

i had seen a tattoo similar to it before. only it had been only the skull and knives. there hadn't been roses. where the hell have i seen it before? i narrowed my eyes at the screen and studied it.

"find something?" Noah asked. i didn't answer and just continued to stare at the tattoo on the man's hand and wrist. what the actual fuck? where have i seen it before?

"you ok?" Noah asked, snapping me from my thoughts. i realized i had been muttering 'where' and 'what the fuck'.

"i don't know." i answered, confused. what the fuck?! it's right at the tip of my tongue and i still don't know! it's like my brain is trying to look through a window with frost on it, making it impossible to see through until it melted.

i furrowed my eyebrows together and frowned in frustration.

"there's men going into a strip club, but they all were a black hoodie with the hood pulled up and they all had the same tattoo." i said.

"that's definitely something. what was the tattoo?"

"a skull with knives and roses around it. I've seen it before, just not with the roses." my frown deepened, and i closed my eyes, tilting my head back on the chair. a face flew through my mind and my eyes popped open. i looked at Noah horrified and he looked back at me confused.

"shit, this can't be happening." i whispered.

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hey y'all!! sorry for the later updates. this past week, i have been either busy, or spending time with my family. i hope you're enjoying the book so far!

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<3 sillylovebug432