Page 34 of Forget Me Twice

My spine straightens at the same moment that Lake leans forward, ready to leap out of the car. “Now who’sthis, motherfucker?”

We could power the entire Twin Cities with the chaotic energy he’s currently putting off. He’s practically vibrating through the leather of the seat.

I’m mystified. I thought she was meeting Blondie for a hook-up. So who the fuck is Shaggy? He’s awfully familiar with our girl.

Our girl?Christ, I’m losing my goddamn mind.

The three of them are obviously close though. Sabine’s comfortable as she eats, gesturing wildly. The new guy watches her with affection.

The more I stare at the newcomer though, the more uneasy I feel. There’s something about him that I can’t quite put my finger on.

“Does the second guy look familiar to you?”

Lake doesn’t answer me straight away, and I feel my sanity fray just a bit further. “Lake?”

“Yeah, hang on a sec, bro,” he mutters. I turn to look at him, reluctantly taking my gaze off the trio. His fingers are flying furiously across his phone. No doubt looking for a lead.

“Yep. Here. Rafe Morales. He’s got an older brother, Knox. Brother’s twenty-two. Graduated from Rox Academy a few years ago.” Rafe’s one of Tristan’s teammates. Cocky son of a bitch, but he’s not as painful to hang with as some of the other Rox jocks.

I narrow my eyes, considering. Now that Lake says it, the guy does look like he could be an older, buffer version of Rafe.

“Alright, so that might be Knox Morales, but who the fuck is the other guy? And how does she know them?” Frustration leaks into my voice.

“No idea, brother.Oh shit. On the move.”

While I’d been trying to place Morales, the three of them have evidently finished their lunch and are saying their goodbyes. Knox pulls them both in for a tight group hug, dropping a kiss on both their heads before shoving them playfully towards the door.

The dynamic is more fucking confusing than ever.

“What do we know about the older Morales?” I throw at Lake, rolling my shoulders and cracking my neck as I get ready to start the ‘Stang. Sabine and Blondie are still making their way back to his car.

“Not much, except that it looks like he left Rox City after he graduated. I got nothing after that.” He tilts his head. His eyes gleam. Despite his vibe bordering on frantic, he’s still completely in tune with me. As always. “You think they’re Aces, don’t you?”

I grunt. “Not ruling it out. They look like muscle for hire and dude’s driving a pricy as fuck car.”

Does that mean Sabine’s an Ace too?

My teeth ache with how hard my jaw clenches at the intrusive thought. I already figured she’d be hazardous for our sanity, but that would just be the goddamn icing on the cake. I won’t know for sure though until we can dig up more dirt on those two muscle-bound pricks.

I continue to gnash my teeth as we shadow the two of them down through the main streets and out towards the more industrialized sections of the city. The old Victorian style buildings of the business district slowly give way to strip malls and then to warehouses.

As the traffic thins, I’m forced to drop back further and further. I can feel my pulse thundering in my temple.

We’re not far from the docks when I lose sight of them.

“Fuck!” I slam my hands on the wheel and speed up.

“Hey, hey, there. Bro, right there,” Lake almost yelps, gesturing down the side street I was about to blast past. I yank the wheel and pull us over to the curb of the road we’re on, a few car lengths down from the corner. I kill the ignition. The muscle in my jaw throbs along with the ticks and clicks of the engine cooling down.

Lake’s already got a map of the area pulled up. “Looks like that’s nothing but a dead end street. A few warehouses, and an old metalworks.” He clicks around a bit. “At least two of those buildings are out of commission.” Glancing up, he looks around at the ones he can see. “Private, I guess.”

He’s looking at me now, waiting for my okay to pursue. Like he needs me to let him off leash. No matter how far his control slips, or how far inside his head he gets, he will still always seek out the structure and discipline that only we can provide him.

I grimace. I wish I could just turn around and go back to the Academy. “Alright, let’s go. Just keep it on a simmer.”

He’s out of the car and across the street before I can even lock the car. My mouth pulls even tighter and my stomach roils with anxiety as I race after him, cursing the gravel and broken glass that crunches loudly beneath my the leather shoes that form part of our Academy uniform.

As we move around the corner, we both instinctively slip into the shadows of the building’s many overhangs. Our carefully placed footfalls slow even further, both of us aiming to be as close to silent as possible with the detritus beneath our soles.

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