Author's notes :
Stephanie Myer owns Twilight ... I own the Cleaner
I would like to thank everyone who took the time to read my story and reviewed.
My wonderful banner made by Tkegl is on my profile, check it out if you haven't yet.
As always, I would like to thank my wonderful beta Bellavista88 for everything. Love you.
I also would like to thank tropicaltherani for all her help with places in New York (I constantly pester this poor woman) but I am so grateful for the help.
This chapter touches lightly on physical abuse of a child, there is no graphic detail but I would like people to be advised.
The characters back stories will not be nice but it needs to be told to understand them better.
Chapter song: Breaking the law by Judas Priest.
Chapter 2:
BPOV
"God damn it"…. Riley slammed his fist into the wall again. "I fucked up Pete, stop telling me to calm down. I fucking hesitated and FUCK"! He punched the wall again, harder.
"Riley, please we made it back fine, nothing happened. You're OK, I'm OK, would you please stop before you really hurt yourself"! I said
Ever since we got back to the warehouse Riley had been acting like this and I didn't understand why. Sure we almost got busted, but it wasn't his fault.
"Riley, if anything it was my fault, I froze when that man started to talk to us, the minute I knew he wasn't a cop I should have walked away. You did everything you could, you got us out of there as soon as possible." I said.
"Ha! You just don't fucking get it Bella! When I don't do my job people get hurt. I can't live with that. I …fuck!" He punched the wall again , by this time blood was pouring out of his cuts and down his arm.
"Alright dude, calm the fuck down now," Peter said. "I heard what happened and honestly you handled it fine.. I mean if you had started beating the guy up right there, in the middle of the street, you would have caused a scene. You did the best thing and you made sure to get Bella out first and then yourself." This shit has got to stop Riley you can't continue to blame yourself for everything that goes wrong because of one time!"
Riley snorted .."One time," he laughed again. "No Pete, it wasn't just one time, but you know that."
"Riley," I walked up to him slowly," I'm fine, we got away. We got plenty of cash for the next week. I just don't understand why you're so mad. I mean damn Riley, you would have thought one of us got hurt because of you."
Peter groaned and closed his eyes and I heard a small 'fuck' escape his lips.
"Riley looked at me and shook his head….. "Yeah go ask Mouse about that one," he stormed off.
"What did I say wrong?.. I don't…. ugh!" I hit the back of my head against the wall, "what happened to Mouse? I didn't know , I don't know."
'Clap Clap Clap' I turned around to see Jane clapping her hands at me.
"Way to go Princess, you insensitive bitch!" Jane sneered
"Hey Jane , knock it the fuck off, alright?" Peter said, "she didn't know, how the hell would she."
"Whatever " Jane said.
" I don't understand , what did I say?" I asked, "I was only trying to help." Jane just stood there with an evil glare on her face, shaking her head back and forth with her arms crossed over her chest.
" We use to go down to the subway, every so often," Peter started to speak, " Riley was with Mouse and there were some gang members down there. They…. I don't know, I guess they thought Riley and Mouse were invading their territory, maybe they were just assholes, I'm not sure. Anyway, after Riley and Mouse had taken a couple of wallets and they were leaving, Riley looked over at something and when they were confronted by a couple of the guys from the gang. When the one went after Riley he slammed him into the wall and instead of getting them out of there straight away, he punched him a few times. I guess while he was punching the guy another one stabbed Mouse."
My hand went to my mouth but I couldn't stop the loud gasp that came out.
"He carried him all the way back from the subway, he took it pretty hard. He felt like he'd let Mouse down; he'd let us down. Like Kristy and Joey, it really messed him up ," Peter finished
"Who're Kristy and Joey? And I didn't know, nothing like that happened tonight," I said running my hands through my hair. "I have to go talk to him," I spoke over my shoulder as I walked away from Peter.
-XxXxX-
As I headed to Riley's room I starting thinking about what Charlotte had told me one time. Peter was grabbed by a couple of guys during a pick pocket and Riley plowed them down like they were nothing. Apparently they were still lying on the ground while Riley and Peter ran away.
Riley keeps himself fit; he used to play football, before he ended up on the streets and I guess those skills came in handy in this line of 'work'. He had found an old punching bag and workout bench thrown out by a dumpster one day so he dragged them back to the warehouse.
I stopped when I got to Riley's room knocking on the wall I waited for Riley to look up when he finally did I smiled. "Hey, can I come in?" I asked
"Sure", he moved over from his mattress, patting the sit next to him. I'm not going to lie, I really liked Riley, I mean what wasn't there to like about him? Riley is a strong, good looking guy, he has jet black hair and a six pack to die for. And of course he had his shirt off, God I'd love to run my hands up and down that chest, he was built like a machine
"How's your hand?" I asked while thinking Lame Bella.
He smiled and licked his lips Oh this little cut? It's nothing." He winked.
"Riley, what happened today, it wasn't your fault. Neither one of us knew that guy was around, that he was going to approach us like that.
"But that's just it Bella, I should have known, I am suppose to check out everything; the surroundings, the mark, keep a eye on you, and I didn't even see him. I should have known."
"Riley, how could you have known? No one can predict what someone else is going to do." I tried to comfort him.
"I should have known Bella, when I don't do 'my part' people get hurt, ask Mouse. I mean, come on, why wouldn't they attack him too? He could have died." He whispered the last part.
"Riley, It's not like you left him there alone to get beat up."
I heard Riley take a deep breath, "no not mouse, but I did".
"What ? Riley you are one of the kindest, sweetest guys I've ever met. I can't see you letting anything bad happen to someone you care about."
" I'm not this great guy you think I am Bella. I use to be one of the most selfish bastards you'd ever meet." I could hear the self-hatred in his voice.
"You're not selfish Riley, if you were selfish you would have left me on the streets where you found me, but you didn't you gave me food and brought me here."
"If I was a 'good person' Swan, I would have taken your ass to the bus station and made you go fucking home. That's what a 'good person' would have done." Riley said, while looking towards the broken window instead of me.
"That's not my home Riley, not anymore, I can never go back not after…." I shook my head not finishing.
"Hey," Riley put his finger under my chin and lifted my head up towards him, " I understand Bella, trust me I understand."
"Riley, what happened to you? I mean why did you leave? How did you end up here?" I knew I had no right to ask but he knew my story so I thought maybe he'd share. "Never mind that was rude of me to ask, I'm sorry." I added quickly.
"I never told you why I'm here, did I?" Riley asked.
I was biting on my lower lip, a nervous reaction I picked up when I was little, so I just shook my head .
Riley rubbed his hand over his face and took a deep breath, almost like he was mentally preparing himself to tell me what happened. I have to admit I got a little worried myself, I knew some bad things had happened with Charlotte and Mouse. Jane I assume had a pretty bad life, no one was just that nasty.
"My dad use to smack me around when he drank and my mom, was a good mom when she wasn't popping those damn pills. They'd put her in a comatose state, when she wasn't medicated she didn't let my dad do that shit. But then it got to the point where he was coming home drunk a lot, lost his job and she was getting more depressed and taking pills more often.
"One day he came home and was pretty wasted, more drunk then I had see him in along time, he started spouting off what a loser I was, how I wasn't gonna amount to shit. I said something like whatever dad and he smacked me upside the head.
"I tried to ignore him and I guess that just pissed him off further, cause he kicked the chair out from under me and I jumped up and shoved him away from me pretty hard. I wanted to hurt him you know like he had been hurting me?" I was just so tired of it all Bella, I just wanted it to all stop."
"My dad went flying back into the wall, smashing his head. And it hit me; I was stronger than that piece of shit. He could never hurt or bully me again so I grabbed him by the shirt and told him if he ever laid a hand on me again I would kill him. And I slammed him hard into the wall again to make my point. I stared into his eyes and that's when I saw his fear; my dad knew I was serious."
"My life changed then and I decided I could do what I wanted, since my dad was scared of me now. Fuck, I started staying away from home more often, doing what every I wanted to do."
"Life was finally good for me, it was my last year of high school and I got accepted into the college I wanted to go to on a free scholarship for football. That was until I walked in the door one day, actually excited to share with 'my family' that I was going to college, really that I was getting the fuck out of that house for good."
"I remember how quiet the house seemed, almost too quiet. I mean I could always hear my brother or sister playing some game, or at least the TV was usually on, but that too was quiet. I guess thinking back, that was a good thing it was so quiet, otherwise I don't think I would have heard the sobs coming from the back room. I walked passed my parent's room and saw my mom lying on her side facing away from me. I thought maybe it was her crying, but then I heard the sob again and I could tell it was coming from my sister Kristy's room. I opened the door and I found them lying on the bed together crying, I asked what was wrong, why were they crying…?"
Riley had to stop talking for a bit and catch his breath, tears were streaming down his face. Tears started to fall from my own eyes at the same time, and I reached out and took Riley's hand in mine. He squeezed it tighter and continued.
" Joey said, 'sometimes daddy comes home and he was mad.' "Bella that fucker started to hit them, I swear to god I didn't know he never touched them before, if I had known…. They had some bruises on their backs and bottoms". He stopped again and took a deep breath and wiped a tear from his cheek. My hand, not holding Riley's, wiped away the tears falling from my eyes.
"If I wasn't seeing red, you know thinking clearly, I would have….. I should have just grabbed them and left that house right then but I didn't."
"I remember telling them to lock themselves in Kristy's room and not to come out, no matter what and waited for the mother fucker to come home, when he did I remember just punching and punching on him and blood everywhere.
I wasn't gonna stop, I wouldn't have stopped until he was dead, but someone hit me over the head and I heard my mom screaming. I guess it was her who hit me and called for an ambulance. Sometime later, I don't know when, I was lying with my brother and sister when the cops showed up. I heard them talking, they were coming to arrest me, for beating that piece of shit up." He laughed sardonically.
"I fucking panicked, I didn't know what to do so I told Joey and Kristy I had to go away for awhile but I'd be back and take them away from all of it, before walking out the bedroom door. I couldn't go to jail, so I fucking made a run for it; I ran right out the back door. I knew it would be my word against his and I fucking ran like a coward and left them there in that fucking house. I swear Bella, he was always fine with them, it was always only me I didn't think… I never dreamed he'd hit them."
Riley started crying again and I was crying right along with him, I could think of no words to make it better, so I just put my arms around him and held him tightly. It broke my heart what he went through...he has been on the run for 10 months.
Finally he broke the silence." So you still think I'm wonderful?"
"Riley, you didn't know and yes I still think you're a good guy, that wasn't your fault. You didn't know." I reached up and rubbed my hand across his face, he reached up and took my hand in his. My eyes darted down to our now entwined fingers then looked up at his face.
He slowly looked up from our hands and brushed a piece of hair away from my face.
"Bella," he said staring into my eyes so intensely. "I just don't want to hurt anymore, you know?"
"Yes," I nodded as I took my lower lip into my mouth. I closed my eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. I had never felt more closer to Riley then I did in that moment. I had started to develop feelings for him. I slowly opened my eyes to see Riley had moved closer and was still staring at me but the look in his eyes had changed from sadness to something else I couldn't quite say what.
"Bella, I feel…. I," Riley leant in and I felt his lips brush lightly against mine. Slowly, I felt his mouth moving and he opened more and his tongue lightly darted out and ran across my lower lip. I opened my mouth a little more allowing his tongue inside mine. His arms went around my waist pulling me closer, I put my arms around his neck and our kiss deepened.
-XXXXX-
"I'm just saying it makes more sense when we all go out." Jane was talking to Peter
"Yeah, well not today, Charlotte isn't feeling well and I'm taking her to the free clinic down the street . So two of you can head to the store for the stuff we are out of and two can head out to the streets." Peter said
I could tell by his voice he was a bit on edge and I had to wonder if this had anything to do with the conversation I had over heard.
"Umm, I agree Pete," Mouse said. " We normally don't all split up like this".
Peter took a deep breath, " You know, I don't give a fuck, I never wanted to 'be in charge' I never asked for this shit, Charlotte is my only concern, do what the fuck you want, all of you. Stay fucking here, all go to the store, I DON"T FUCKING CARE. I am taking my girl to the fucking doctors, do what the fuck you want. Come on Charlotte." Peter took Charlotte's hand and pulled her from the room and I heard the door down the hall slam after a few minutes. We all just stood there staring at each other for a few minutes not knowing what to say, then Riley finally spoke.
"What the fuck was that all about?" He asked while moving closer to me and taking my hand into his, squeezing it gentle.
Jane's eye brows rose and a look of disgust crossed her face.
"Apparently everyone in this fucking place has gone crazy." Jane responded looking down at Riley and I holding hands, then glared back up at me.
"Fuck off Jane," Riley said pulling me closer and leaning down and kissing me quickly before putting an arm around my waist.
I didn't know what 'this' was between Riley and me. I knew I had liked the kiss and I liked Riley. Being like this with him gave me butterflies in my stomach and it was something I had never felt before. Not even with my old boyfriend.
"Whatever Riley, if you don't mind the little Princess using you until she runs back home after she's decided she made mommy and daddy suffer enough, then be my fucking guest."
"That's what you think I .. …" Jane interrupted me before I could finish
"It's not what I think, it's what I know, so don't waste your breath with your little 'my mommy and daddy didn't let me do what I wanted to do so I showed them' sob story, Swan. I've seen people like you and it makes me sick. You had a fucking home ,your daddy didn't creep into your bedroom, or use you as a punching bag when he got drunk. Or keep you locked in a fucking closet." Mouse's head snapped up and looked at Jane, he swallowed.
"Jane." Mouse said and grabbed her elbows gently, shaking his head.
"Mouse, I'm sorry. It's just we all been through some fucked up shit and she," Jane pointed at me " She doesn't have a fucking clue what a 'hard life' is. She had everything and threw it away, I hate her. And get the fuck off of me, I'm not a fucking baby, I'm fine."
I noticed after she said that she made no attempted to step away from him. Those two had a very interesting relationship. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I never would have believed it. Jane was visibly upset; a sadness glazed her eyes just for a minute but it was there, I saw it, but then the bitch was back. I couldn't stop the horrible thought that ran through my head at who was locked in a closet. I knew Jane was in tons of foster homes and group homes before she finally ran away but ….. I looked up and the words escaped my mouth before I could stop them.
"Oh my god, Mouse!" My hand flew up to my mouth.
Mouse didn't look at me , Jane glared daggers at me and Riley just whispered "not now Swan."
"You shut up, you shut the fuck up!" Jane came flying at me, but Mouse grabbed her around the waist before she could get to me.
"No Jane," was all Mouse said
Jane looked back into Mouse's eyes.
"I'm sorry Mouse," Jane said sincerely. "Fuck I'm sorry, she just pisses me off and it slipped out, I didn't mean to say that."
I leaned into Riley afraid I would start crying if I looked at Mouse right now. God, maybe Jane was right about me. I mean my mom was a psycho that night but maybe I drove her to it. I mean I was always breaking the rules, mouthing off, getting in trouble. No wonder Jane hated me, they all should . They all had such horrible lives and really mine wasn't shit compared to what they had gone through.
"Okay, now if we are done with 'my life was worse than yours,' let's figure out what we are doing here. Pete's right, we are running low on shit so we can all go to the store around the corner, or you two can head to the Wall street area. At this point I think it would do us all a bit of good to separate, we all need some space away from each other."
"Fine, what the fuck ever, let's go Mouse." Jane said heading out the door. Mouse gave a small smile, "don't be sad for me, Bella." Mouse said and followed Jane through the door.
I looked up at Riley and he shrugged his shoulders, "from what I heard his parents were religious freaks, something about the devil.. I don't know, he doesn't like to talk about it so I don't ask. It makes me sick, but he got away and he seems happy now so we don't bring it up." He leaned down and gave me a chaste kiss on the lips and winked. "Let's go," he said grabbing my hand and we headed out the door .
-XXXXX-
Riley and I had gotten back first, a hour or so later Peter and Charlotte came walking in, Peter said something about Charlotte not feeling well, they were going to their room and not to bother them, just let them know when Mouse and Jane got back. Charlotte didn't open her mouth, but from the look on her face I could tell she had been crying. I wish I knew what was going on with her. I was getting really worried, two thoughts crossed my mind and neither were good.
Shortly after that, Mouse and Jane came flying in the door, the way they came running in I was afraid something bad had happened.
'Where is everyone?" I heard Mouse yelling, " Everyone come here quick!'
"Where's the fucking fire?" Riley came out of his room stretching his arms above his head and again no shirt, he must have just woken up. I couldn't help but stare a bit at his muscles. He saw me, winked and walked over to me, 'hey' he leant down and kissed my nose.
I was still confused as to what was going on between Riley and me but right now it felt good and it felt right so I wasn't going to push him to 'tell me his feelings'.
"So we're here, what's up you two?" He asked looking at Mouse and Jane .
"Where are Peter and Charlotte?" Mouse asked, "they need to be here, they've got to hear this shit. It involves us all."
"I'll go get" Riley said "they went to their room when they got back" .
"What's wrong with Charlotte?" Mouse asked.
"Don't know, they went right to there room when they got back" I answered.
"God, this couldn't have come at a better time, get the fuck out of this nuthouse!" Jane said
"Huh?" I asked.. what the fuck was she going on about?
Riley came back with Peter, but no Charlotte.
"Where's Charlotte?" Mouse asked.
"She doesn't feel good, Christ how many times have I got to say this people? Whatever you've got to say I will pass it on to her".. Peter said .
"It really involves all of us, can't she just come out for …" Peter interrupted him
"We do everything together, you know that I wouldn't make any decisions without her. I will discuss with her what you told me, when she wakes up, alright? Now drop it and tell us what is so important." Peter finished speaking and I could tell his thoughts were focused on what was going on with Charlotte.
"Okay, so Mouse and I were on Wall Street going to and from Broadway to South Street, looking for a 'mark'. Anyways I saw a' friend' from back in the day, and he was telling me about some fucking stuffed shirt who's paying fat ass money for him to push his drugs" ….
"Jane," Peter got ready to interrupt. I knew what he was going to say, we don't mess around with running drugs. That's some dangerous shit, plus after what happened to Trent, Mouse wouldn't dare go around that 'business'.
"Shut up Pete and let me finish. Anyways he was hyped up a little too much from whatever he was supposed to be pushing and let some shit slip about a huge money drop taking place tomorrow night. I mean, we're talking 'fat ass money," the kind of money that could get us all the fuck out of here and get our lives back, you know? There is a huge shipment of drugs coming in so these two guys are meeting up to exchange the money tomorrow." Jane finished
"We scoped out the location where the 'drop off 'is taking place and it couldn't be at a better spot there are so many escape routes it's perfect." Mouse said "I calculated every possible situation and it's virtually impossible to get caught."
"For you maybe but you got your name for a reason, we're not all fucking anorexic here toothpick, and I for one, am not risking my life to only get stuck in some hole just big enough for a rat." Riley said
"That's the beauty of this whole thing! Afterwards we tailed 'spider,' the dude we were talking to that's his name, well street name, and he took us right to the one of the guys involved in the drop off. We were hiding, but we were able to hear the tail end of their conversation; they are meeting up at Da Nico in little Italy, it's perfect; that area is always crowded."
"I don't know, this sounds kind of dangerous guys, I mean they could be carrying guns and it just doesn't seem like something we should even mess with." I spoke up.
"Well some of us want out of this life, Swan. Some of us don't have the option to run back home when we get bored. You know, I'm not even talking to you, as far as I'm concerned you have nothing to fucking do with this," Jane said.
Riley stepped forward, "Bella is a part of this group, Jane, so she has a right to her say in the matter and you will shut the fuck up and listen to her opinion! This shit isn't a joke and you know more than anyone how I want to get the fuck out of here and get back home to Pennsylvania so I can get my little brother and sister out of there. So if we can come up with a plan that is safe, then I am sure everyone in this fucking room will be down with that. But don't fucking tell people they can't voice their concerns cause I can't very well fight the charges against me and get guardianship of them if I'm FUCKING DEAD NOW CAN I JANE?"
"Alright everybody shut up now!" Peter yelled "how much money are we talking, do you have a clue?"
"We heard the one guy say he was told $1 million in $100 unmarked bills."
"Holy shit!" I said out loud, "that's fuck…. that's a lot of money."
"Exactly. That's why I say we come up with a plan and take this money; then we're free, we can all get the fuck out of this warehouse and make a legal life for ourselves. The danger is minimal at best, it's in the middle of the day, on a busy street, they have no idea we know and they sure as hell won't call the cops. It will be so easy! We just need a fool proof plan. So I want to know who's in, then we can go down there and Mouse can show you all the places to escape and we can get a feel for the exact location and surroundings." The excitement was clear in Jane's voice.
"I don't know, that's a lot of fucking money, there's no way they're just going to let us walk out of there alive, day time or not" Peter said
"If we take them by surprise they won't have a time to react, and that's the point; we hit so fast they won't have time to do anything."
"I'm in." We all spun around to see Charlotte standing in between the rooms.
"Charlotte, babe what are you doing up? You should be resting and I don't want you stressing over anything right now. We'll discuss this later."
"Fuck Peter! I'm pregnant not fucking dying! Stop treating me like I'm incapable of doing things."
"Charlotte, I thought we agreed not to tell anyone," Peter spoke only to her.
"No, you didn't want to tell anyone , they knew something was going on Peter, I'd rather they know the truth than worry it's something more serious."
"I'm sorry Charlotte, it's just, fuck, I love you so much and now the baby," walking over to Charlotte, Peter took one hand and rubbed along her cheek while the other rubbed her stomach. "You two mean the world to me and it's my job to take care of you both."
"I love you too, Peter. God I do but, I swear if you continue to baby me like this the whole nine months, I'll end up killing you," she laughed and leaned in to kiss him.
"Now let's hear more about this 'job' and I agree we go check out the location."
-XXXXX-
I couldn't get what I heard out of my mind, Charlotte was pregnant? Oh man, they really did need to get the hell out of this place. I mean, to bring a baby into this world is hard, to bring a baby into this world when you're still a child yourself is even harder. But to bring a baby into this world, with all that and being homeless, the odds were all stacked against you.
"Yo zone queen." Riley hipped bumped into me. Thinking of how you're going spend that money? Cause I was thinking of you in some sexy ass lingerie dancing for me, modeling it for me. Me ripping it off of your hot little body," he whispered the last part in my ear.
I laughed shaking my head, "yeah right," I said pushing him off of me, "I was actually thinking about poor Charlotte being pregnant and in this place."
"Hmm, I liked my idea better," he smirked. I reached over and smacked his arm
"Alright get your asses over here we've got to finalize this plan," Peter called,
"so we know where and when, we just have to figure out the how?"
"Everyone knows where they are going to be and we all know our jobs, I really don't see the point of going over all this again." Riley said
"Cause this is important, one person fucks up… any fuck ups, and it's done, over and someone could wind up fucking dead!" Charlotte said
"Such a lady Charlotte" Riley's eyes darkened as he spoke
"Everything is a joke to you Riley, and this is not a joking matter, this is serious! This is the break we've all been waiting for; our one chance to be free of all this." Charlotte spread her arms wide, gesturing to the space around us.
Riley jumped up and smacked the folding table hard " Fuck you Charlotte you think this is a fucking joke to me? Seriously, you think that? I need this; this maybe my only chance to have the money to get my family back. So yeah, I may make a joke here and there but don't you ever fucking tell me this shit isn't serious to me! They are the only ones that matter to me in this fucking world."
Peter jumped up from the table flying in Riley's face.
"Back the fuck off of her now Riley I swear to god!" He shoved Riley hard.
Riley jumped back up and went towards Peter…. I jumped in between them before anyone was hurt.
"Both of you stop , just knock it the fuck off!" I yelled "Everyone is stressing and nervous and yes it's a big deal to," I looked between the two of them "all of us, so let's finish this shit and then we can all go to our rooms and not talk again till the morning….. damn!"
I was pissed and nervous as hell and the last thing my nerves needed right now, was these two butting heads like Neanderthals.
"As much as this pains me to say and I mean really pains me … I have to agree with Princess over there." Jane grimaced as she spoke.
When the hell did I become 'Princess'? I thought rolling my eyes at her.
"Alright, so Mouse showed us all the ways out if the streets aren't an option. There's a back alley directly behind the restaurant with back door entrance to the kitchen, if need be someone can run in there. There are back doors to all of the businesses along there go in any fucking door you can get into .. worry about the owners later. We meet up at St Patrick's old Cathedral." Peter went over the plan again.
"So who's actually grabbing the briefcase? Have we decided?" I asked hoping like hell it wasn't me cause when it came to running, 'two left feet'.
"I think the best choice is Mouse," Charlotte chimed in "I mean he knows all the ins and outs better than the rest of us. Riley and Peter can hold them back long enough to help him get away."
"You mean you don't want your precious Peter in direct line of 'danger'? .. Fuck just say it Charlotte. Mouse is just 'collateral damage' to you! Go ahead and say it you're being selfish no one would blame you.. At least Pete here has the balls to admit it' you are the only one he gives a fuck about".
"Yeah Jane, Peter is the one I care about most of all. But I care about everyone here. I don't want anything to happen to any of us. I was just suggesting Mouse cause he knows these streets like the back of his hand."
" I think Mouse is the best choice too, and I trust him not to take the money and run." Riley backed up Charlotte's suggestion.
"I'll do it" Mouse agreed, Jane's head snapped up and she mouthed 'no'.
"Jane it makes the most sense I'm fast, I can fit through shit 'normal people' can't and I know of spots to hide that no one knows even exist." I'll be fine, I promise." He leant down touching his forehead to hers, she was visibly tense but didn't pull away.
"Alright so that's settled. Let's go over the rest of the plan." Peter controlled the meeting.
-XXXXX-
Riley was hanging out at the corner of Broome and Mulberry while Peter was on the corner of Grand Street, both were perfect spots to watch Da Nico restaurant. Jane was hanging out in front of the restaurant, at a bus stop pretending to be waiting for a bus. While Charlotte and I actually where at the restaurant on the patio. We had a good week so we had enough money to swing for a couple of pops and something small to eat. Charlotte had even used the pay phone earlier to make a reservation to insure we would be able to get a table. Mouse…. I don't have a clue where he was, hiding somewhere, waiting for the signal to swoop in and grab the briefcase. The plan was fool proof.
Every time a man would walk towards us we would look at Jane, waiting for the signal which would show him to be 'the one'. We weren't sure about the other guy he was meeting, but they knew what the two guys they saw talking looked like. For all we knew the one he was meeting could already be here so we had to keep up the appearance of friends just meeting up to eat and hang out. This was New York, so almost every man you saw had a brief case with them.
I glanced up at the big clock on the corner; it was 12:45, the meeting was in fifteen minutes and my nerves were getting the best of me. I really wanted this, after what happened with Tina the other day, I just wanted a new life away from this kind of shit.
We placed our order while sipping slowly on our coke's, chatting away to make everything look 'normal'. Charlotte tapped my leg lightly with her foot and I looked up casually towards Jane. She was rubbing her eyes, which was the signal he was here. I ran my hands through my hair letting her know I saw her signal and took a deep breath.
The man was in an Armani black Pinstriped suit, he had long blond hair pulled back in a hair tie. As he got closer, I could tell his fingers were manicured. Damn, you could tell he was rich. He sat down next to Gucci navy pinstripe suit guy; he was here when we arrived because I remember noticing his suit. Yeah. I look at fashion magazines, shoot me. The blond really made me nervous I don't know why but something about him just sent shivers down my spine. I wanted this over with, the sooner the better.
The waiter came right as Armani sat down, blocking my view of them for a moment as the waiter sat our plates down and then asked if we needed anything else.
"No." We both spoke at the same time and he walked away.
I looked up to see Mouse had come out of hiding and was making his way towards the side of the building. Peter and Riley had also edged closer; they were all getting ready, it was up to me now. I was to cause a distraction by playing 'the clumsy girl' for the last time I hoped.
I got up at the exact moment I saw the waiter coming with a tray full of food and right as he was almost by me, Charlotte yelled
" Hey Lisa!" I spun around to look at her "Hurry up, I got to get going." She said .
"Okay!" I yelled back , spinning around knowing as soon as I did I would be banging right into the waiter. It worked perfectly, as soon as I had spun back to head inside I could see the waiter out of the corner of my eye, so I turned just right, smashing directly into his arm, just as he was right in front of the 'Armani and Gucci's' table. His tray flew out of his hands, sending food flying, which made the 'suits' jump up from their seats immediately to avoid the flying food.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry, I didn't even see you there!" I shouted in pretend shock. The waiter said something like it was okay, but I heard him mumbling under his breath 'clumsy bitch'. He was bent down picking up the food, while apologizing profusely to the men in the suits.
While he was apologizing, I quickly made my way inside the restaurant, my heart was beating a mile and minute and I could hear the yelling outside which let me know Mouse must have grabbed the briefcase. When I got to the restrooms I saw Charlotte getting up from the table with the bill, heading towards the counter and Riley and Peter in front of the patio. I quickly made my way out the exit door.
As I was coming around the side, I saw Mouse running with the briefcase in his hand, down the street, while Peter and Riley were blocking 'the suits' path, giving Mouse time to get away. Jane was up on her feet and making her way towards the back alley. I could no longer see Charlotte so I was assuming she had already started towards the church.
I was turning towards the sidewalk and I saw the blond in the Armani suit heading towards me. "Hey you, come here! I wanna talk to you NOW!" He started to shout and picked up his pace. I quickly picked up my speed, deciding to head towards the alley since going to the sidewalk was no longer an option with Armani there coming towards me. I could hear Peter yelling at him, I was hoping that meant he was distracting him enough to give me time to escape.
I was so scared when I got to the alley, I ducked behind a dumpster and tried to calm my breathing. I know this wasn't what I was supposed to do, but I was panicking. I froze in my spot afraid to move, fuck. I was starting to hyperventilate and I was trying to take deep breaths to calm my breathing .
I heard him before I saw him
" I saw the little bitch turn down this way." I knew it was the blond. I knew I had to get up and run, but I couldn't; I was frozen in fear and I heard the sound of a gun being cocked.
Having a father who used to be a cop, I knew that sound very well. I recognized it from when my dad would 'cock the hammer'. I didn't know what to do; I knew if I tried to run now he would see me and shoot me, but if I stayed here he would for sure find me and shoot me. All of the sudden I felt a hand go over my mouth but I still tried to scream. Oh my God I didn't want to die! I flung my arm back, trying to fight off whoever had grabbed me, when I heard the last voice I thought I ever would.
"Fuck Princess, you can't follow one simple rule, come on!" She grabbed my arm, "stay the fuck down and back up slowly with me now." She whispered taking her hand off my mouth.
I backed up from the dumpster, still crouched down as Jane reached up when we got to a back door and opened it quickly pulling me inside with her.
As soon as the door shut behind us, I looked up at Jane. I still couldn't believe she saved me " Jane thank you…" she interrupted me.
"I haven't saved you yet Princess, now we need to get the fuck out of here and I can't have you slowing me down. We are going to walk out of here then when we get out to the street you run and don't stop, do you understand?" She spoke calmly, "No panicking," I looked up into her face and her eyes actually held a bit of concern in them.
I couldn't speak, so I just nodded my head.
"We are gonna make it out of here! And as long as you listen to me and do what I say, we will make it, I…" that was all Jane got out as we heard the handle on the door we had just walked through start to turn…
"Run Now" Jane mouthed and I turned and ran through the store. I wasn't even paying enough attention to tell you what kind of store we were in; I saw the front door and headed that way. I got out onto the street and headed towards St Patrick's Old Cathedral. I heard Jane scream, "Keep going, RUN!" And I did.
-XXXX-
"Where the fuck are they?" Charlotte asked, she was visible scared. "Did you see? Any of you? Did you see them get away?" She was pacing back and forth on the back stairs of the church.
"When I saw them they were OK Charlotte." I tried to reassure her.
"I didn't see them, Char I grabbed the brief case and took off, I'm sure they are fine." Mouse said, Jane didn't speak.
"Oh god no, I can't …I can't live w …w…wit…without h… hh… him," Charlotte was in tears. She was bending over, her whole body shaking.
"Charlotte," I walked over to her, putting my arms on her shoulders. "I'm sure they just took extra precautions before they came back here, to make sure they weren't followed. Riley wouldn't let anything happen to Peter and Peter has got more reason than anybody to make it back safe." I hugged her tightly, I didn't know what else to say because the truth was; I was scared for them. We had been here at least twenty minutes and I was starting to think the worse.
"Fuck this! We are sitting ducks out here; I say we fucking leave. We don't know if they even are coming!" Jane finally spoke
"Jane," Mouse warned.
"What? I'm just saying what we are all thinking; why stand out here, in broad day light? We don't even know where those two are and I don't want to get caught out here with those suits looking for us."
Uncaring Jane was back, I thought. She did make sense, but she could have worded it better.
"You go," Charlotte said "I'm not leaving, I won't leave here without him."
"I'll stay here with you, Char. You two can go ahead; I'm not leaving her."
"Good, you two idiots stay here and take a …" Jane didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as we heard Riley's voice.
"Hey, fancy meeting you all here." We all looked up to see Riley and Peter heading towards us. Charlotte spun out of my arms and ran straight into Peter's crying even harder.
As they got closer, I noticed Peter had a huge gash on his forehead and the side of Riley's face was swollen.
"What happened?" I asked reaching out and lightly touching Riley's face and looking at Peter.
"Umm, we will talk about this later, let's get out of here and back to the warehouse, okay?" Peter said.
We made our way down the back roads to stay out of sight; I saw Charlotte clinging onto Peter's side still crying. I moved closer to Riley, needing to feel him, I understood how she felt. I didn't want to think about anything happening to Riley, or any one of them. I felt his hand run over my cheek wiping away a tear.
"Hey, you crying over me Swan?" He asked, stopping up for a minute.
I looked up at him and nodded, "I was scared something bad had happened to you."
He took me in his arms and hugged me tightly for a moment then leaned down giving me a chaste kiss. "Come on let's go and when we get back you can show me just how happy you are to see me." I reached out and smacked his arm while smiling through my tears.
"Ouch Swan, don't beat up on the wounded man." Riley joked
Mouse and Jane didn't say a word, but they were so close their elbows were touching and every once in a while they would look at each other.
We got to the warehouse, opened the door and shut it behind us. I had never been so happy to see this warehouse.
This story is now posted on TWCS also, this is the link: (dot)?sid=2736 You just have to put the actual . in
I also just wanted to let everyone know they only give you two choices for what this story is about... I choose Angst and Romance. If I could have, I would have also chosen Crime and Action too. I believe that covers all areas of this story.
Thank you for taking the time to read this chapter and please review and let me know what you thought of it.
And I promise Edward will be making his appearance very soon.