12 Nikki

Back and forth my feet take me across the room and then back again. I’ve been home for two days now, and all my body can do is pace. I’ve held my phone in the palm of hands for hours and yet, no collect call from the county jail. I feel hopeless.

What the hell was he thinking?

A groan leaves my chest as I give up on my pacing and collapse onto my bed and stare up at the ceiling.

So much went wrong the night of our supposed grand scheme. I shut my eyes and concentrate on every detail form that night, ever second of every moment that I could have done something differently.

Brody wasn’t ready, and nothing proved my point more, than when we did our last practice run in the common area on the first floor of Serendin Atlas that morning. Brody was not only high, but he was out of his mind. He was excited about the schemes. His erratic behavior and spontaneous spurts of anger weren’t good for the night the majority of us had in mind, but one person was in his corner. One person was just as excited as he was.

Mick.

Mick is also another person I have not spoken with in two days. After we got back from the disastrous night, I had gone straight to my room, my mind too warped on what happened. Brody had a gun, and he was ready to use it.

Mick has been gone from the Serendin for the last forty-eight hours and none of us know where he went to, but that all changed one hour ago. Charles had come by my room and explained that Mick was not only back but wanted to speak with me privately.

Now, I sit here atop my bed with my pulse racing. Will he expect me to leave the Bandits? Will he threaten me because of my brother? I have only ever been on Mick’s good side and as much as I portray myself as a hard ass, Mick is the only man on this green Earth that scares me.

A knock at the door hits my nerve and I nearly jump out of my skin. I walk over and pull open the door, releasing a rushed breath when I see Charles on the other side of the threshold.

“Mick wants you.”

“Thanks.” I state, not bothering with the usual sarcastic rhetoric that normally accompanies myself when it comes to Charles.

I walk past him and practically run over to Mick’s suite, knocking soundly at the door while Charles takes his position beside it. I can hear Mick on the other side of the door and when it flies open, I’m relieved when I see a bright smile across his face.

“Nikki, come in please.” I walk inside and sit on the opposite side of the room as him. While Mick takes his usual spot on his leather chair, I sit on the couch.

“Before you speak Mick, I just want to say how sorry I am, and I don’t know what got into Brody that night but I’m sure he was just nervous. Brody hasn’t been himself lately and although I haven’t gotten a call from him yet I’m sure they will give him his phone call as soon as– “

“Nikki, Nikki please.” Mick stops me from mumbling with his palm up, the smile still resting on his face. “You don’t need to worry. I’ve spoken to everyone from that night and they assured me, there wasn’t much that could have been done. As far as Brody calling you, rest assured he has already been in contact with me and we are working on getting him out.”

Relief pushes through my veins. I assumed Brody hadn’t called me because they hadn’t given him a phone call just yet, but if he called Mick, it makes sense. Mick is his best ticket out of there, but Mick’s rule has always been to leave them behind if they mess up and there is no doubt Brody messed up.

Why is Mick helping him?

“Now that that’s out of the way, I can get to why I called you here in the first place.”

“You want me to leave.” I finish his unspoken thought. It makes sense that Mick wants me out if Brody is causing this stirring in the Bandits.

“Quite the contrary Nikki.” He smirks then stands and walks closer towards me. “I want you to do another job for me.”

“But–" Before I could say more, Mick walks over to his large black desk in the corner of the room and retrieves his laptop. Bringing it back over towards us, he sits beside me on the couch then opens the laptop, showing me the screen, he was previously watching, our security camera footage.

“Do you know who this man is?” He asks pointing towards the screen. It’s blurry, not much for me to go on but once Mick plays the video footage, I spot a man, no older than Mick walking around the perimeter of the Serendin Atlas. His hair is thin, military cut and he’s wearing a suit with a holster attached to his waist.

Who is this guy?

“Well?” Mick asks clearly unhappy with my timing. I narrow my eyes once more then shake my head at Mick. I’ve never seen this man before, but something is bringing Mick to attaching me with whoever this man is. “I have someone else to show you, and I want you to tell me if you know him.”

A few more keystrokes and this time a photo appear. Not just any photo, this one is of the man my dreams cannot stop conjuring up for the past forty-eight hours.

Bronson Fortworth.

Even his name screams wealth.

I hesitate to answer, something Mick notices immediately. Shutting the laptop closed, he stands and puts the computer back onto his desk then turns and leans against the dark wood, crossing his arms at his chest and smiling down at me. I shift in my seat as Mick clears his throat.

Whatever he is about to tell me, I am not going to like it.

“I want you to allow this man to find you Nikki.”

“Mick?”

“Mr. Fortworth sent this man to locate you and I’ve looked into him, he’s not the authorities. I want you to let him find you Nikki. We’re going to need him for our grand plan.”