Trained One ✓

Chapter 32

Travis.
6 years ago.
14 years old.

I ran. Faster. Harder.

Don't kill anyone, Cameron's words this morning ran through my head. Aim for the legs.

I turned the corner in the night, using the street sign to whip myself around.

Stay out of sight.

The car in front of me was going faster and my legs were going numb. But all I could focus on was their taillights illuminated red, I couldn't lose them.

Ben was in the backseat of the car with Dacostas.

It was supposed to be a quick job. Just intercept two Dacosta members that were stealing from us and then go back to the house.

But as soon as I shot one of them in the leg, two others had snuck up from behind Ben and I's hiding spot.

One threw my gun out of my hand and the other grabbed Ben.

"Which one do we take?" the guy said, holding a handful of Ben's hair and twisting his neck in the process.

"The quiet one. The crazy one will cause too many problems."

The guy ran, dragging Ben with him. I kicked the guy holding me down in the nuts and pushed him off me as he fell. I scooped up my gun and started sprinting after Ben.

Cameron was around here. So was Finn. Plus a few other Caseys I tried to ignore. I hated most of them but right now they could deal with the job we were supposed to do. I had to get to Ben. They were supposed to come out as soon as I shot the two guys in the legs but I only shot one and I couldn't wait around.

He got thrown in a waiting car.

The guy drove past the one I shot down and I saw a few of the Caseys but I didn't care. It sounded louder than it should've been and in the back of my mind, I wondered if the Dacostas had set us up because there were too many people on the street now.

"Cameron!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I didn't care if he was busy. I was busier.

But I didn't have time to look around for Cameron to see where he was, if he was close, or to tell him what was going on. If I lost track of the car, I would lose Ben and I promised nothing would ever happen to him.

Cameron and Finn had given us the same promise. All of the bad Caseys that we hated, they'd had gotten rid of. He said we didn't need them. Cameron got a house. A real one, a tiny one and let Ben and I move in there with him to keep us safe. He said I had too good of a shot and it would make the bad people mad. He said we were safe there and sometimes I believed him. 

He didn't let Ben and I go on jobs alone and he promised me I didn't have to talk to any of the other Casey members. Cameron had promised that the others still here were good but I couldn't bring myself to trust them. Everyone I could trust, I could count on one hand. So when I was around the others, I stayed quiet. A lot of them thought something was wrong with me. They thought I was crazy. Tom told everyone I was messed up in the head and the Dacostas thought so, too. I didn't care. It meant everyone stayed away from me.

But now they were stealing Ben.

"Cameron!"

The car was swerving back and forth like Ben was giving them hell. They shouldn't have ever thought he was quiet.

I took out my gun and shot at the car tires but I missed. My hand was bouncing too hard from running and I couldn't catch my breath to steady it and it was dark. Someone barreled into my side, knocking me off the ground. I felt a body on top of mine as we skidded on the concrete street. I heard a gun shot go off at the same time but I didn't know who it was. Was it me?