Lost Bird

25

So, shorter chapters. Sorry it took so long. Life has a way of derailing the best laid plans. Thanks for reading!

Pulling up to her tiny little campus apartment, James got shivers. Something was wrong and she had no idea what it was. She reached out and stopped Brandon from getting out. "Call the guys. Check in, please. Something's not right and I have a bad feeling." She was starting to panic, but Brandon just nodded and pulled out his phone. He put the calls on speaker phone and called everyone to check in.

Marc and Raven were getting all their stuff packed up. Thankfully they hadn't been there long enough to really unpack or get settled in so it would be a quick job clearing the little house out. Corey and Max were making some headway, but it seemed to be slow going and Axel was locking down the condo and the floor. Not in total lockdown mode but securing all ins and outs. Making sure no one had access but from the main elevator and vestibule. Only secure keycards got them up and down, so they would be alerted to any traffic coming up to their floor. James nodded after they hung up and climbed out of the SUV.

Just as they reached her place on the fourth floor she realised why she had a bad feeling. All the lights were out in her hallway and her door was cracked open. "Fuck, get behind me James. Call the guys and let them know what's going on." Brandon whispered. She grabbed the phone and called Axel, she whispered to him what they had found and he told them to hold tight he was coming. But she stopped him. "No, Ax, don't. It'll just give them more people to follow and more faces to tie to me and this place. Just stay there. We'll do a quick walk through and make sure we get in and out quick. Promise, no crazy stuff." Axel sighed, not happy but knowing she was right.

"Ok, but keep me on the line as you go through. That way I'll know that instant anything goes sideways." "Ok.....love you Ax." He inhaled sharply "Love you too baby girl. You and Brandon be safe and be aware." She dropped her arm to her side and looked at Brandon. He nodded and crept forward. They slowly and quietly made their way into the apartment and James was shocked at how clean the place was. She was sure they were going to walk into chaos. But she guessed that would have given away the fact that someone knew about her. The door being open must have been a mistake.

She looked at Brandon and walked into the small bedroom at the end of the short hallway. She walked over to her closet and opened to see her clothes had all been moved. She was confused and decided right then that it was better to leave this place set up as a decoy. She signalled to Brandon and called him over. He looked confused and she hoped he would play along. "Babe, I'm just gonna grab that sweater and we can head out to the movie, ok?" She smiled and leaned into him. He pulled her close and nodded his understanding. "Ok, be quick, we don't want to be late." He kissed her and stepped back. She pulled out a single sweater while she scanned her room. Trying to see anything personal she may have left there.

She caught sight of her student id lying on the side table and went over to grab it. They left and went into the open common area and she scanned around quickly. She walked over to the kitchen grabbing a glass, making it seem like she was just getting a quick drink of water. She poured the glass and slowly pulled open all the drawers, hoping they couldn't see her checking to make sure it clean. She was pretty sure they had set up some sort of surveillance but she was praying they couldn't see Brandon and her clearing out all signs of her. She only found a single business card in her kitchen drawers.

It was from Victor from when he had asked her to contact him about some accounting help he needed with his royalties audit. She pocketed it. Knowing she would have to get Axel to contact them with a soft warning. She was dreading dragging anyone else into this, but she couldn't ignore the possibility either. Especially with them being Academy. Fuck, we're going to have to tell them the truth about who I am and what I've been doing. They're going to hate me. James slumped a little, but Brandon caught her movement and looked at her in question. She just shook her head and mouthed "Later". He nodded and they headed out to the SUV.