The roads this time of morning weren't too crowded. They were still on the outskirts of the city, so a certain level of traffic was expected, but she was pleasantly surprised that Asa had no problem navigating the streets. She gave him the directions to her hideout, but as they got closer, she'd have to step up and give the details. The very thought was enough to tire her.
Theo was hurting more than he let on. The gunshot he suffered must have shattered his poor shoulder. He pretended he wasn't wincing in pain each time they hit a bump. There was a dryness down his cheeks that gave Charlotte the impression he was crying, but she couldn't tell for sure.
The phone she stole was in her grasp. She didn't notice how dark her fingers had become. They were covered with substances of varying brown shades. It could have been from mud, or it could have been a food she touched, or literally anything else.
Jimin was singing a small tune for them that Charlotte didn't listen to. His voice was as high as ever, but she had to admit he was right about the cracks. It was free entertainment though, so she was glad he had the courage to do it in front of those he trusted least. She was sure it was some pop song he listened to a hundred times. Lord knew Jimin was obsessed with 2010 pop music. How he'd survive without radios and his phone was beyond her.
Asa was the only one receptive to Jimin's singing. He was rocking his head back and forth and occasionally throwing in some lyrics. Most of the lyrics he threw in were wrong, but it got a chuckle out of Theo each time. Otherwise, Theo kept gripping his elbow with his good arm and staring out the window.
There were three rows of seats. Of course, the driver's and passenger's seats were up front. Then there were two seats that made up the middle. Charlotte was on the left side while Theo was on the right. They didn't want to shove him in the back and risk someone bumping his shoulder. On the contrary, they made Ariel go in the back for that very reason. She was tiny enough to squeeze back there in the middle. Charlotte found it as sad as it was amusing to see Jericho and Kayden back there together on opposite sides of Ariel. The girl was halfway there to getting squished in between them.
Neither Kayden or Jericho said a word to one another. Charlotte knew she had to get them to speak before this madness went on for too long. Her brain was scrambled and fuzzing with dizziness from the events that occurred, but she knew what she had to do.
The phone in her hands was a tracking device. It was a risk to trust that Ivan wouldn't sell them out. Then again, everything they had done had been a risk. Did it really matter if they took one more?
"Everyone, shut up," Charlotte said. Jimin stopped his singing, and the casual chatter turned into a silence Charlotte found herself dreading. From there, she dialed the number she had a million times and pressed it against her ear. The dial tone might have been the most terrifying noise she had heard in her life.
Two rings later, she heard a sharp breath. "Hello, this is Ivan Belmour speaking."
"Ivan," she said, and she could sense the way his mood dropped.
"Charlotte, you're okay. I'm so glad to hear your voice. I tried calling you, but I got no answer. Did you get rid of your phones already?"
"We had to, we didn't want to get tracked." In one motion, she turned the device on speaker and rested it on her knee to allow Ivan's voice to project around the entire vehicle. "I'm sorry to do this to you, I know that me talking to you is putting you in danger. Can you be honest and tell me if you're recording and tracking this?"
"Char, quite the opposite. I want to help. June and I had a few choice words to say to each other, and he made me realize how much of an ass I am. I have information on the High Council. There's a museum in the city that's a money laundering scheme. It directly ties to Madam, it's one of her only properties in the States. If we can find a way into the basement, we can find information on her and gain an advantage."
"As exciting as that is, taking down the High Council is near impossible even with an army. How is a group of criminals, that are even bigger criminals now, supposed to do anything? Breaking into the basement of a museum owned by Madam sounds insane, you realize that, right?"
"There has to be a way. We know the High Council is in London, but many of them stay in the States to monitor us. If we can find them, we can pick them off one by one instead of all at once."
Other than the chance that the High Council would quickly replace the members they lost, Charlotte had to say that wasn't a terrible plan. That was mostly since they didn't have much other option. Their best options were either hideout for the rest of their lives, or they could attempt to take their lives back. There was the option of escaping to another country and getting plastic surgery, but that would be even harder than breaking into that museum.
It sounded simple. Get plastic surgery, buy a plane ticket, bye bye America. It was more than that. Potentially learning a new language, choosing a place that had the least mafia presence, getting a new job and starting up the money laundering again. Changing identities meant they went to a new country with little to no money. If they were to get busted for the money they had, or their lack of background information, then the odds were the rest of their façade would come crumbling down with them. Charlotte couldn't risk that. But she also couldn't risk going against the entire High Council.
"June's one of the best and most known assassins in the Underworld. Would he help us for the right price?" Charlotte asked.
"He's the one who did this," Jericho mumbled, fiddling with his fingers in his lap. "He wants us to suffer."
"That's true," Ivan said, his voice cracking over the speakers. "June hates you because of me." At Charlotte's silent surprise, Ivan sighed. "Back when June and you were building your reputations, he took a kill order for you. I had all the coordinates to your hideouts and mansions, and I refused to tell him where you were. Because of that, he got beat nearly to death. I'm so sorry, he only hates you because of me."
"That's not true. I'm pretty sure he hates my personality too. Poor June though, he didn't deserve that just for a job. But for whatever it's worth, I'm grateful. You saved my life. I wouldn't want to go up against June, even in the old days." Charlotte hesitated, Ivan's words clicking in her brain. "If you know all the coordinates to my hideouts, does that mean other people do too?"
"I have copies of the coordinates all over the city. It'd be impossible to burn down everything without arousing suspicion. I'm sorry Char, it looks like you might get found. But that's why I needed to reach you. There's a guy I know. An old friend. He runs an organization and distributes hideouts. We can get one from him, but I need to meet you at yours so I can guide you to it."
"I love you Ivan, but how do I know this isn't a trap?" she asked.
"You don't. I hope my word is good enough."
"I don't know if it is, but I don't have much choice. Either way, you have the coordinates to my hideouts. Either way we'd be screwed. Might as well give us a fighting chance." And with that, she told him the coordinates. The phone call ended after that, Charlotte keeping the device on her despite the glares she got from the others. "What? If he needs to call back, we should keep it until we meet up. It shouldn't be much longer."
The others didn't care enough to rebuttal, so she flopped against the window and stared out it. The roads were still primarily empty, but more cars were swerving into the lanes. Charlotte traced her finger on the side of the window, falling into her imagination. She imagined a world where her brother never ran away, and her family was a normal one. She imagined a world where this never happened, and she had a childhood full of laughter and joy.
She imagined what it meant to be free.
~~~
The hideout was much better than the bunker. For starters, the beds weren't hideous and stained with foreign substances. That was without mentioning the best part of the place: the watchtower. There was a tower that overlooked the entire clearing. A single house with one floor was present, the watchtower next to it.
"Why is there a watchtower next to a house?" Jimin asked.
Jimin was sinking in the ground. It was moist from the rain they kept getting, the cool breeze drifting through the air and brushing by the trees surrounding the place. It wasn't a forest exactly, but there were enough trees that it covered the backside of the house. The front was a clearing where they had eyes for miles if they went up to the tower to keep watch.
"Back in the early 2000s, this was being made into a military outpost," Charlotte said, pointing to the tiny structure next to the house. Beams of wood shot up and formed a square shape. Unlike the house, it wasn't painted. It didn't even have any windows. "It was left unfinished after 9/11. Military efforts were put elsewhere, and the budget for a big military outpost on the edge of New York slipped through their fingers. They ended up selling it to someone in the Underworld. My father."
"And now it's in your name," Jericho said, catching on. "You chose this one because of the watchtower?"
"It's perfect for watch shifts. We'll get a vantage point and see the whole area. There's no other hideout I have that has that good of a defense mechanism. Although if I'm being honest, I never thought I'd find myself in this situation," Charlotte replied, guiding them inside the building.
They were curious about the watchtower, but they were happy to see the interior. It was vast, and since it was military, there were plenty of bedrooms. Throughout the years, it's been turned more into a proper hideout than a military base. For example, the bedrooms had ceiling fans instead of gross lightbulbs hanging from a wire in the middle of the room.
The military touch was still there though. The front area was massive and looked more like a cafeteria than an actual entrance. There were tables narrow in width but long in height laid out in the square-shaped room. It felt like she was in eighth grade all over again. Not that she really went to school anyway, but it gave her memories she wished she could pull from her brain.
Charlotte tapped her feet as she traversed the solid ground that had cracks here and there, but it was a castle when compared to Kayden's bunker. Everything they needed was in this building. Enough food to keep them going for a bit longer, and more bedrooms and bathrooms than she could count.
"What do we do now?" Ariel asked as the entire group piled in. The ceiling was so high above them, it gave Charlotte uncomfortable flashbacks to her mansion. The same one she confronted Jericho in what seemed like years ago. Charlotte shifted her gaze to the man, and he met her stare. They couldn't take their eyes off each other. Regardless, Charlotte took the strength she had and answered Ariel.
"We wait."
~~~
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Heartless || •OG• ✔️
Mystery / Thriller|| 18+ Enemies to lovers gxb and bxb || Infamous NYC mafia leaders Charlotte and Jericho have been rivals for years. However, all of that changes when one of the leaders of their Underworld is assassinated. The rivals are forced together and must re...
