Trained One ✓

Chapter 04

Josh was talking to me but I was too transfixed on Finn and Ben across the street. I nodded my head out of habit.

"Lacey," Josh snapped, tugging on my arm. The two across the street continued to stare at us.

My eyes pulled away from the two of them to Josh. "What?"

"Aren't those the ones that used to hang around Casey? Dylan and Owen have their pictures, I've seen their faces up on their board," he said and squinted to get a better look.

I kept peeking in their direction, worried that they would vanish. "Yeah."

They didn't make any attempt to come towards us. Or leave for that matter.

"Let me go talk to them," I suggested and before I took one full step, Josh was grabbing my jacket to stop me.

"Are you crazy? They're the ones that kidnapped you."

My eyes widened. How did he know that?

It took me a second to realize he meant the Casey gang as a whole and not just Ben and Finn. I also realized given the panic on his face, he probably wouldn't take too well to the fact that they were the exact two who kidnapped me.

"We need to call for back-up."

I scoffed, "To do what? It's not a crime to walk down the street. We don't have anything that will hold up in Court."

"You can testify to who they are," Josh argued, still holding onto my sleeve.

"I don't know any of the things they did. I don't even know how they make money," I said slowly, trying to get him to drop it.

"Well, you're not going over there alone."

I clenched my jaw. He was making this difficult, which I should have expected. "It'll be okay. They're familiar with me. Maybe I can get some information out of them. If not, oh well. They can't do anything with you here."

He looked over at Finn and Ben, his eyes narrowed. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm not a child. I'm in the same program as you."

Finally, he let go of my jacket. "You have five minutes and then I'm coming over."

I wanted to sprint over there and hug them both but that would understandably send mixed signals to Josh. So instead, I looked both ways and crossed over to where they were still waiting patiently, hiding a smile as best I could so Josh wouldn't see it from the side.

"Hi," I piped out quietly.

They continued to stare at me, making me a bit self-conscious. Both of them looked considerably the same except bigger. They had more muscles, Finn more so than Ben but Ben had grown a bit taller. Ben's hair was longer, bits falling into his eyes which stared at me softly like he was sad. The biggest difference was a faded black eye Ben was sporting. I couldn't stop looking at it.

"What are you doing here, Lacey?" Ben asked.

I wasn't really expecting that as a reaction but I took what I could get. "I came to help."

They didn't say anything, but both seemed to be looking over me. I felt uneasy under their judging eyes. I wanted them to say something. Anything, but they remained quiet so I decided to speak up again.

"What happened to your eye?" No response. "What happened to Travis and Cameron?" I tried and Ben immediately held his head down.

"I think you know," Finn said, no longer smiling.

When Ben found my eyes again, his were cold. "I don't really think you should be wearing Travis' jacket when you've got a shiny badge on underneath. It's insulting to his memory."