Page 43 of Queen Of WildCards

Sureenough, moments afterAcetyped up his demands, a little ding alerted us to a return message.

Ace'sforehead scrunched up as he read the message, then reread it for good measure. "Whatthe fuck does he mean, 'I'mbusy back at the compound'?"

"Beatsme."Acecould figure it out for himself.Afterall, what wasIbut a fucking street rat?Aworthless one, at that.

Man,Ineeded a shopping day.

WheneverIgot in my feelings about something, only two things made it better—alcohol and retail therapy.SinceIwas too busy to shop properly, it was time to rustle around for another bottle and fuck up that streak of dry timeIhad going on.

Acewould pitch a fit, butIdidn't much care what he thought about it right now.

"Let'scall it a day,Joker.Headback to the compound."Acestuck my phone back in my jacket pocket and patted it gingerly, moving his attention back to the short shopping list of informants he'd sketched out this morning over coffee. "Mostof these fuckers will take a day or two to track down, andI'mnot in the mood to pull an all-nighter.

Withyouwas the part he didn't tack on, but it hung in the air between us nonetheless.Nobodyin the crew liked being my stakeout partner overnight—Icouldn't sit still to save my life, and when we did recon, being invisible to passers-by was the key to not being made.

Sowhen your partner kept having to get out of the car to stretch or making late-night runs to the convenience store for snacks, you tended to get irritable real fast.

Iturned the car off at the nearest exit and slowed to a stop asItook in the familiar route home.Nomatter how many times we passed the tic-tac cookie-cutter duplexes, it never failed to amaze me how they looked so damn alike, but a simple coat of paint or hanging plant could set them apart.

Similar, yet so different.

Likethe four of us.

Wepulled into the garage in no time, andIcouldn't help but notice there was something different about the doors we passed under.Ididn't have time to dwell on it beforeAcehopped out of the damn thing and rushed off to god knew what.Imeandered about, taking my time, not wanting to be anywhere near him for at least the next few hours.

"Whatdo you mean he's keeping her holed up in his room?"

Great.NodoubtSpadewas being a right prick, trying to scareMalloryor molest her, more likely.Theman didn't understand personal space, nor did he grasp the idea of consent, butInever thought he'd sink so low as to—

"Imean, he just took her right off the couch and locked them in.They'vebeen in there for hours now.Itried calling you."

ThatwasSpade.Whichmeant—

"Wait,BlackJackhas her?"

Icame around the corner and stumbled across a hilariously comical sight.Spacewas sitting on the floor in front ofBlackJack'sroom, his arms crossed, staring up atAce, who was clearly irate at this new development.BlackJack'sdoor was locked, but there was a light on inside that streamed out from the crack at the base of the door.Myeyebrows must have disappeared into my hairline becauseSpadesnorted at my expression.

Acewas not amused. "BlackJack, get out here," he yelled through the door, his hand slapping against the solid steel monstrosity.

Theman on the other side gave no answer, but a deadbolt clicked along the seam of the door.Thenanother, and one more, until the door inched open a crack to admitBlackJack'sface in the sliver of space.

"What?" he deadpanned, givingAcea stare that chilled even me to the bone.

"Youcan't lock her up against her will, man, that's—"

BlackJacklifted a brow. "Kidnapping?Ididn't know we were against that now."

Aceopened and shut his mouth like a landlocked fish, confusion and irony warring with each other on his face for first place.Confusionwon out, but it was soon replaced with irateness.

"Lether out here if she wants to come out, dammit,BlackJack."

Heshrugged and flung the door open wide, gesturing at the girl lying on the floor of his quarters, fiddling with her hands in front of her face with a bored expression.

Acejust watched her curiously, butSpadestood up and nearly launched himself into the room, making a beeline for the poor thing, who immediately squeaked and flung herself behindBlackJack.Thesolid wall of man stiffened as her hands curled around his biceps from behind, but he didn't flinch away, andIthink that, more than anything else, contributed to the waySpadepulled up short with a tortured twist to his features.

"Heynow,Ithought we were having fun, sweetheart," he whined, trying to edge aroundBlackJackto get to her.

Mallorywas having none of it, and she directed the taller man in a circle to keep him betweenSpadeand herself.IfIwasn't so stunned by the display before me,I'dhave laughed at it all.

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