Page 90 of A Hero in Hiding

August: I understand. It needs to stop. Do not harm Lex, and I will end it.

CHAPTERNINETEEN

LANDON

“August?” I ask as he puts his phone away. “What’s going on?”

“We need to go back to headquarters,” he says, voice quiet.

“August… can you talk to me?”

“Now,” he says as he starts across the smoking field back toward the car. The rest of us have no option but to follow as he moves toward it, looking stiff. He refuses to answer my questions, so instead, I catch up to him before reaching out and squeezing his hand. Since I don’t know what to say right now to help the turmoil going on inside of him, I hold it tightly as we walk. He squeezes my hand in return but doesn’t look over at me as we make it back to the vehicle, only to find that it’s no longer sitting there alone. There are multiple cars around it along with a very enraged Valerie.

There are others gathered around the dead woman, blocking us from seeing what’s happening with her.

“What the fuck is this?” she growls.

August pulls the paper Nolan had written on out of his pocket and slams it against her chest. “You told me they lived.”

Valerie hesitates before flipping the paper over and scanning it. “I don’t even know what this is.”

“There werefourpeople that day. There were four fucking people, and you told me they lived. Did they die?”

Valerie hesitates before shaking her head. “Of course not. It would have been all over the news if they died,” she says. “I would have told you if they had.”

August glowers at her, and I realize that I have never in my life seen him truly pissed at her like this. She even seems taken back by it. “Why don’t you check again, yeah? Do that and maybe ask Ned what happened to his wife. I’m going back to headquarters, and when you return, you better have answers for me. I’m tired of being treated like a little kid who can’t know shit while also being thrown out there where people are dying and suffering. Where I’m expected to take care of it all.”

She seems almost hesitant as she nods. “I will.”

Deus gets into the driver’s seat as August climbs into the back, so I get in beside him. Valerie says something to Ellison, but whatever he replies, I don’t hear as he gets into the car.

“Fuck,” August says as he puts his head in his hands.

“You okay?” I ask.

“Yeah… I’ll… I’ll go over everything when we get back to headquarters,” he promises me. “I just… need a minute.”

“Okay,” I say as I rub his back before leaning into the front seat. “You okay, Ellison? You sure you don’t need to be checked over by the medical team?”

“Yeah, my chest hurts but I’m alive,” he says as he pulls the voodoo doll back out and stares at it. “What the hell is this thing made of?”

“Like what stopped the bullet?” Deus asks. “There are these little metal sheets that have a good luck emblem stamped on them that I slip inside. Some weird lady sells them. They also give them a nice rigid shape so they don’t get scrunched. Neat, eh?”

“It withstood a bullet,” Ellison says slowly.

“I think that was just good ol’ luck!” Deus says as we head into the city. Even though it’s late, the night life is still bustling, making traffic dense. This area is thick with bars and clubs, so people are mingling outside. That’s when I notice a group of people in masks in an argument with a man.

“It’s fucking irritating,” August says when we slow at a stoplight near the group. I’m not sure if the ones in masks are supposed to be heroes or villains but one of them pushes the unmasked man right into the road. Thankfully, there were no cars coming or it could have been bad. I turn away from them, not really giving a shit what they’re up to, but knowing that it’s likely annoying whatever it is.

August jumps out of the car and rushes over to them before I can stop him.

“What the fuck are you doing?” August yells at them.

“He was trying to steal a bike! And what the fuck does it matter to you?” one masked man asks, waving his arms around like it adds to his dramatics.

“I’m not trying to steal shit. This is my bike! You started being a dick and claiming whatever the fuck you wanted,” the unmasked man says.

August’s entire body is filled with tension as he stands between them. “I don’t give a shit whose bike it is. You are not the fucking police. Call the damn police if you think someone’s stealing something! Don’t shove someone into the goddamn road,” he yells.

---