“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” I say.
“You’ve been hanging out with Sander too much. You’re starting to sound like him,” he says.
Nolan is sitting by the computer screen. He’s looking at something on his phone. I wonder what’s going on with him tonight. He’s acting weird tonight.
Gage sees me looking. “Don’t worry about Nolan. He’s always working. You’ll get used to it.”
My ball comes back through, and I walk towards the lane again.
“Try not to miss this time,” Gage shouts.
I turn around and stick my tongue out at him.
When I do, I see the lane next to us now has a few guys sitting at it. One of the guys there is Sebastian.
Ugh… of course. Is he just going to show up everywhere now?
I turn around quickly and roll the ball. This time, I actually knock two pins down. I jump up and down and Gage gives me a high five.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen somebody get so excited about knocking two pins down,” Nolan says. “You kind of suck at this game.”
“Shut up. It’s her first time bowling,” Gage says, then smiles at me. “I thought you were awesome.”
“Thanks,” I say.
Then Gage takes his turn. And he knocks down every single pin on his first try.
My mouth falls open.
“I’ve bowled a lot,” he says.
“Whatever,” I say. “You suck.”
“Nolan, it’s your turn,” Gage says.
Nolan is on his phone, but he puts it in his pocket and gets up. He grabs one of the heavy balls. He too gets a strike on his first try.
I frown. “You guys are awesome. I suck.”
“Your turn,” Gage says.
I grab the ball and walk up to the lane. I turn around and see Nolan, who is on his phone again. Gage is giving me a reassuring smile. He believes in me. Because of him, I want the ball to not go in the gutter this time.
I roll the ball, keeping my eyes glued to the lane the entire time.
Four pins down.
I jump up and down. I turn around to look at Gage. He starts to walk over towards me, but I hear a loud shot.
A gun?
I look at Gage, who isn’t looking at me anymore. He’s looking down.
There is a huge bloodstain on his shirt that is growing bigger and bigger. He puts his hands to it. I watch as his eyes roll to the back of his head and he hits the floor with a thunk. I run over to him.
“GAGE!” I yell.
I look around for Nolan. “Nolan! Help!”
I hear a gun click right above my head and I look up to see Nolan standing there with a gun pointed right at my head.
“Get away from him,” Nolan says.
“Nolan, what are you doing?” I ask.
“I said get up,” he says.
I am too busy looking at Nolan to notice anything going on around me. I slowly get up off the floor, my hands covered in blood. Gage’s blood.
“Nolan,” I say, holding up both hands. I don’t know why I’m holding them up, but it seems like the right thing to do. “Please. I have to help him.”
“Touch him again, and I will put a bullet through your scull,” he says.
“Why are you doing this?” I ask him, tying not to let him hear the fear, though it’s there.
I trusted Nolan. I trusted him with my life. And now, here he is, with a gun aimed towards my head, threatening to kill me.
“You’re coming with me,” he says.
“No. She’s not,” I hear somebody say.
Nolan growls in anger. He lifts the gun up and hits me over the head. I feel my knees give away, and everything fades as I slowly fall to the ground. The only thing I can think is, that’s definitely going to hurt when I wake up.
Tuesday, August 22
He hates me.
I wake up in a hospital bed. I try to sit up, but there is so much pain in my head that I can’t.
“You’re awake,” a voice says.
I turn to look and see my dad standing there.
“Nolan…” my voice trails off.
“He got away,” Dad says, not at all looking happy about it.
“And Gage?” I ask.
“We don’t know yet,” he answers. “He was in surgery all night. His condition is still critical. It could go either way at this point. But he’s strong. I believe he will pull through this. He has to.”
“How did I get out of there without Nolan taking me?” I ask.
“Sebastian Soto saved you,” Dad says.
“Bass?” I ask. “But he hates me.”
“I do not,” a voice says.
I turn to look and see that he’s standing in the doorway. He takes a step closer to the bed.
“You’re awake.”
Dad stands up. “I will give you two some privacy.” He stops by Sebastian. “I’ll be right outside the door. Don’t even think about trying anything.”
“Dad,” I say. “Please, stop.”
I feel my face grow warm.
He is seriously going to threaten every guy that ever talks to me?
Dad walks out the door, and Sebastian comes to stand by my bed.
“Your dad is intense,” Sebastian says.
“Yes, he is,” I say.
We both fall silent, and he is looking at my head.
“You saved me,” I say.
He shrugs. “I just did what I was trained to do. And not very good or else that lowlife wouldn’t have gotten away.”
“He would’ve gotten away with me if you weren’t there,” I say. “I’m pretty sure that you’re the only one who could have, especially considering Gage was…”
Gage.
What if he doesn’t make it?
My head starts to throb. “Ouch,” I say, putting a hand to my head. There is a bandage wrapped around it. I can only imagine how I must look right now, lying in this hospital bed.
“Are you okay?” Sebastian asks. “Do you need medicine?”
“I’ll be fine,” I say.
“You’re not fine. You have a concussion,” he says. “You’re lucky to be alive right now. Nolan hit you hard.”
My eyes fill with tears at his name. “I trusted him. He protected me. He saved me. Why did he do that?”
“I don’t know,” Sebastian says. “Nolan is smart. I don’t know why he tried to take you in such a public way. He had to know he wouldn’t be successful with all of us there. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“He’s been alone with me before,” I say. “I mean, the guys are around usually, but he could’ve taken me easily.”
My head throbs again.
“Agh,” I grab my head, wishing the pain to go away.
“Nurse!” I hear Sebastian yell out the door. A few seconds later, a nurse, along with my dad, Sander and Brett, runs into the room.
“What’s the matter?” the nurse asks.
“Not—.”
Sebastian cuts me off. “She’s in pain.”
The nurse pushes a button on a nearby computer. “That will help. Just sleep.”
My eyes fill heavy.
“I don’t want to sl…”
Always.
The next time I wake up, the sun is starting to set and the sky is getting dark.
I slept all day?
I try to sit up, and when I do, Sander jumps out of the chair beside my bed. He pushes a button and the back of the bed starts to raise into a sitting position. I lean back, thankful that my head is feeling better.
“Hey,” Sander says.
“Hi,” I say, my voice cracking.
He grabs a bottle of water and puts a straw into it. He puts it up to my lips and I begin to drink.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I answer. “Gage?”
“No change,” he says.
“Can I see him?” I ask.
“Not tonight. Maybe tomorrow,” Sander says.
“I can’t believe I slept all day,”
I say, looking out the window of the hospital room. The sky is so pretty as the sunsets. Definitely different than a Florida sunset, but a good different. It’s the first sunset I’ve seen somewhere besides home, and I like it.
Home.
Is Florida really my home?
No. I don’t think so anymore. Here, with my dad and my friends, this feels like home.
“Sebastian saved my life,” I tell Sander.
“I know,” he says.
There is a knock on the door, and I look over to see Jax, Hunter and Brett walk in. Seeing them all here with Sander and me makes it that much more obvious that Gage and Nolan aren’t here. My heart aches for them both.
“So where do we go from here?” I ask. The question isn’t directed towards anybody in particular.
“We keep living, because that is what we do,” Jax says, as they walk close. “Gage is going to make it through this. And then we are going to find Nolan and kill him.”
The thought of Nolan being dead makes my chest hurt even worse.
“We can’t let him live. If he does, he will keep coming after you,” Sander says, as if he’s reading my thoughts.
“How can you just talk about killing him like that?” I ask. “He was my friend. He was your friend.”
“Serenity,” Hunter says, surprising me when he uses my birth name. “Our job from the beginning has always been to protect you. Nolan tried to kill you and he’s not going to stop coming after you. He’s ruthless. He always has been. It’s why he’s the best. But we’re ruthless too. And we care about you. He is not going to touch you.”
“Why do you guys care about me?” I ask.
“Why do you care about us?” he counters.
“Are you kidding? You guys saved me,” I say. “I’ve been waiting my whole life to be rescued from the life I was living in. I guess, deep down, I knew somebody would come for me. You guys did.”
“We will always come for you,” Brett says. “Always.”
The guys—they are my family now. And I wouldn’t change it for the world.
The end.
Episode 2, Keeping Me, is coming soon!
Letter from Scarlett
Hey! Thank you so much for reading the first book in my newest series, Spy Chronicles. Sorry about that cliffhanger ;). Don’t worry, I have a lot more planned in this world and look forward to spending time with these characters. I hope you enjoy it as well! Books two is coming soon.
If you did enjoy this book, it would mean a lot to me if you left a review wherever you picked this up.
For more information on this series, be sure to check out my blog https://scarletthaven.wordpress.com!
—Scarlett Haven
More books by Scarlett
New Hope Academy Series:
Luck (Episode 1)
Fate (Episode 2)
Fame (Episode 3)
Wish (Episode 4)
Bayside Academy Series:
A Girl Like Gracie (Episode 1)
Imperfectly Gracie (Episode 2)
Loving Gracie (Episode 3—coming soon)
The Spy Chronicles:
Finding Me (Episode 1)
Keeping Me (Episode 2—coming soon)
Find me online.
Blog: https://scarletthaven.wordpress.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Scarlett_Haven
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorScarlettHaven/
Newsletter: http://wordpress.us13.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=2b073ef1d3dd1a8003e58a389&id=8393d2923e
Acknowledgments.
The acknowledgment section of my books are always the same. ALWAYS. Which is awesome, because it means that I have really supportive, really awesome people in my life.
As always, God is first. I try to keep him first in everything, though I don’t always succeed. But I try. And I hope that this book is pleasing to Him.
This book… is my favorite book I’ve ever written. Ever. Like, ever, ever, ever. I love all six of the guys. I love Karlie/ Serenity. And there are SO MANY different directions this story could go. I mean, she’s in SPY SCHOOL. How cool is that? BTW, did any of you guys notice… the spy school… Tristan from the New Hope Academy Series went to THIS SCHOOL. Which is awesome. I’m so glad I can finally write this. I’ve planned it for a long time, and can’t wait for book 2 so we can explore the world a little more. Thank you guys for reading it. I hope you love it as much as I do.
Mom and Dad… yes, I have a very twisted mind. But you guys gave it to me :P Yay for genetics!
My wonderful husband… thank you for buying me chocolate and caffeine. Seriously. You are amazing, and this is my job because of you. You are so supportive and I love you.
—Scarlett
Finding Me (The Spy Chronicles Book 1) Page 9