NOVEL NEXT Chapter 39
The more incredible, yet dangerous, things that Ashe did, the more mundane returning to school felt. Just yesterday she had helped liberate a dozen girls from human traffickers, then joined Crystal in leading the police on a high speed pursuit through downtown Jericho. She’d been shot, a wound that still hurt like a bitch despite the painkillers she had taken. Nothing more potent than what could be found over the counter, but she didn’t want to end up lost in a fog again.
Even if she had been tended to by one of the Viuda doctors shortly after her stop at the safe house, stitches itched and the injury ached. She was wearing loose jeans to hide the wound, and sincerely hoped nobody noticed. The last thing she needed was some asshole sucker punching the wound. Other than that, she wore her hair in a loose ponytail and a band shirt. If anyone at the school knew her better than as a passing punching bag, they would recognize just how out of sorts she was currently.
At least Gray’s band of assholes were still out from whatever injuries she had inflicted upon them. She’d expected a visit from the police over the fight, but it seemed his own pride was keeping his mouth shut on those matters. That hadn’t stopped the lingering stares and hushed whispers that were now following in her wake.
Those were nothing new, but the tension lingering in the air was an almost perfect inverse of what she was used to from the school. She was walking with a slight limp, just a touch lighter on her left leg than she would normally, yet, people weren’t jumping on the obvious weakness like blood in the water. When she glared at one of the girls that used to openly call her some of the worst insults, she turned away, spooked. People were afraid of her, and she wasn’t quite sure why that was.
Ashe didn’t think it was her outfit, as simple as it was. She wore plenty of band shirts in the past, that was nothing new. Jeans weren’t her first choice, especially when it was almost eighty outside. If anything, she expected people to comment on how manly her arms were, or that they could see a bulge in her jeans or any other tired tripe they loved to throw about.
She could put all of that out of mind easily enough for the moment, because she had something she needed to take care of before classes got started for the day. Rachel Halsey’s locker wasn’t terribly far from her own, and despite her own feelings about her once bully, she had business with the woman.
The problem was, how would she reveal that Jessica was safe? It wasn’t a secret who Ashe’s parents were, not that it ever stopped the bullying. What it did mean was that any association with someone who might know about Jessica would raise so many red flags. She didn’t really have a plan, but she also knew Rachel was the only person really looking for Jessica. She needed to be placated before she turned up something bigger.
The other option was something Ashe really didn’t want to entertain, but if it came down to her own freedom and safety… Well, others were less important. Especially when Crystal got involved. Ashe had killed before, deliberately and in the heat of the moment, but that didn’t mean she didn’t anguish over it. She now had people that relied on her, and she had to put them first, she couldn’t be self-sacrificing.
“Rachel,” she said, stepping up beside her.
“The fuck do you want,” Rachel snarled, slamming her locker shut. “I heard you loud and clear, so just leave me the hell alone.”
Ashe raised a single eyebrow, then turned away. “Alright, I guess you don’t care about a lead on a certain missing person then. My mistake.”
Ashe was three steps down the hall before the answering yell came.
“Wait!” Ashe turned, a small smirk on her lips despite herself as Rachel got right up in her face. “The fuck are you playing at? You told me just a few days ago that you don’t care, so what changed?”
“I said I didn’t care about Jessica,” Ashe said, being careful with her words. “That doesn’t mean that I didn’t care about finding the people that were kidnapping young girls. Happy coincidence that they overlapped and one of the people that I asked for help passed this along.” She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a single folded piece of paper written in Jessica’s rather horrible chicken scratch. “That’s all I have, and I wasn’t told more, and I know better than to ask questions of those sorts.”
It wouldn’t be hard for her to piece together who Ashe was referring to, the news was running footage from the previous night’s chaos almost non-stop. This was another test for Jessica, in a way. Rachel would no doubt reach out to her, and if Jessica spilled her identity, then her course of action became clear. If she didn’t squeal, well, that meant she was loyal enough and just might be able to do the job Ashe had in mind for her.
Better to be burned now rather than months later when she had so much more to lose. Rachel was left where she stood as Ashe made her way to her locker, more than a few students noting the interaction when they thought she wasn’t paying attention. Ashe had now been through enough life or death struggles that her instincts were honed and on edge. Every sudden movement seen from the corner of her eye had her hand twitching, and she was made acutely aware that she was currently unarmed.
That was a downside to attending a well funded school, they made sure their security checkpoints were properly staffed and all equipment was working as intended. Even with the correct permits, one couldn’t bring firearms into the school unless you were there on official law enforcement business.
Which Ashe certainly wasn’t.
Legally, a person needed to be twenty-one to work for the police, though there were other positions within the department that you could get at eighteen. Her original plan was to go to college out of state, get some law degrees that would help with a career in law enforcement and go from there. With the recent developments in her life, that was very much not likely anymore, and for the first time Ashe didn’t know what her future held.
There was one event on the horizon that she was purposely avoiding thinking about. She was scheduled to have a very important surgery as soon as school let out, it had been scheduled for three years now. No matter the state of her affairs, she refused to miss that appointment, even though she would be in recovery for months afterwards. She just needed to keep that in mind when making her plans, make sure she had people in place by then to keep things running smoothly enough that it doesn’t require her personal touch.
Ashe had to pause at her locker, chuckling softly as she did. She was already thinking of her future as revolving around her illegal activities, that she would have enough of a reputation and organization so such steps would be a necessity. It was ridiculous, she didn’t even know if she would survive the next time she put on the bandana, let alone make it to the summer intact.
Those thoughts continued to plague her throughout her classes. She’d seen Rachel here and there, sending odd looks her way each time. Ashe knew that she had contacted Jessica, her former bully having informed her almost immediately after the first text arrived. She wasn’t aware of the clone software built into the phone, of course. Ashe saw everything she did, getting a full log of every message, call, and internet search. Keeping her up to date was already a good sign that things might just work out.
All that remained to be seen was if Rachel figured it out on her own, which was always a danger when it came to people that knew her. Jessica figured her out within moments of speaking with her, but hadn’t said a word to anyone. That didn’t mean Rachel would be the same.
Ashe knew she was taking unnecessary risks, if her parents learned that she was a wanted criminal, she wasn’t sure how they would take the news. Would they arrest her, or just ground her until she was their age? It was hard to tell, as she knew the police sometimes stretched the rules and legalities of things when family was involved.
That was also assuming her parents didn’t lose their careers over her actions. It wasn’t likely, but she could see them getting overlooked for promotions following an arrest and conviction. Every little slip would be treated as a major offense until they were both fired under perfectly legal reasons.
Not that it would affect her, she’d be in jail.
She couldn’t think about that, she needed to focus on the problems right in front of her. Their raid had yielded considerable paperwork that Keiko was still parsing through, seeing what leads she could find on that front. Ashe hoped she would have time to sit back and take stock of things before the next crisis cropped up, her leg still hurt like a bitch.
Robbie delivered the girls to a bus heading for New York from Jacksonville, and those girls were all given prepaid burner phones to help keep them safe in the event something went wrong on their trip, but it was largely out of their hands. She now had seven girls under her protection to worry about. The others chose to walk away and she did what she could for them, they were now on their own.
It was strange, being seventeen but responsible for so many people. Sure, it had only been a few hours since she made the decision, and it had been a bit impulsive. If the Viuda were innocent of Heather’s claims, she could fold her girls in with Mercedes’ easily enough. It still put her in a time crunch to get things done. Graduation was coming sooner than she would like, the thought of which made her laugh.
There were so many fires burning, all demanding her attention. It was almost fitting given the name being pushed by the media. Inferno was such a heavy name, one she wasn’t sure she wanted to adopt, but she had little choice in the matter. If people chose to refer to her as that, they would. Maybe she should just run with it, and burn the fascists out of the city completely.
Ashe had to shake her head at that, it was one thing to unravel a trafficking ring, it was another entirely to undo nearly a century of hate engrained in the very foundations of the city. Ambition was all well and good, but there was such a thing as too much of it. She had her goal in mind and just needed to stick to it.
She could worry about further steps when the time came.
Shutting her locker, books safely stored for the day, Ashe made her way out the front door. Rachel wasn’t waiting for her, which was something of a surprise, but she rolled with it. Crystal however was, and apparently talking to some guy. She was smiling, but Ashe recognized the tightness of the smile, the worry in her eyes. It wasn’t the worry of someone afraid for their own safety however, Ashe knew she was worried about having to shoot some dumb idiot so close to school property.
Ashe strode forward with purpose, her face tight to hide the pain from showing. Her pain meds were wearing off, and she still had another hour before it was safe to take more, even staggered as she was spacing the different types. Crystal caught sight of her and her frigid smile turned far more genuine, which the guy apparently took as a sign that his dick was working or some shit.
Ashe’s hand snapped out, grabbing him by the wrist before he could lay a hand on Crystal. He spun, and she recognized him as one of Gray’s football flunkies that didn’t join in on the ill conceived attack days prior. He also recognized her, eyes going wide in recognition before he pulled away. She let go, knowing her hand didn’t have the strength to grip him hard enough to prevent it.
“The hell do you want, freak?” he demanded, though there was a wariness to his stance.
Ashe simply rolled her eyes. “Go wave your shrimp dick at someone interested. She’s clearly not.”
“She seemed plenty interested to me, tranny fag,” he snarled.
An arm snaked around Ashe, pulling her close, almost protectively as Crystal stepped forward. Ashe didn’t miss that the action also allowed her jacket to flutter open, revealing the concealed handgun to the interloper. What she also didn’t miss was how her heart fluttered and a thrill ran through her at being held possessively in front of the whole school.
“I do believe I told you to beat it,” Crystal said. “My next hint won’t be nearly as subtle.”
Crystal’s arm shifted, and Ashe could see her holstered gun out of the corner of her eye. The guy spit aside, stomping off and she almost expected him to shout some catch phrase or some shit as he left.
“Beep beep, don’t forget to write,” Ashe said, filling the void for him.
Crystal snorted. “I thought the line was ‘eat me’, not ‘beep beep’.”
“I mean, if you’re offering,” Ashe said, shrugging as she turned to face Crystal. “Gonna have to wait another six-ish months before the refit is complete under the hood.”
Crystal’s jaw moved for several seconds, any words that might have come were aborted as nothing but unintelligible grunting. Ashe laughed, pushing Crystal’s jaw closed. “Come on, we need to swing by your place then hit up some Chinese joint for the girls.”
“You’re going to bankrupt yourself by feeding them,” Crystal muttered, accepting the loss. “Any other plans for the afternoon?”
“Snuggle up on the couch and watch something on streaming?” she suggested. “My parents are working another late night, so I don’t need to make an appearance again.”
“It’s almost like they’re trying to encourage us to get up to debauchery,” Crystal said, hopping on her bike. “Well, at least the ‘be gay’ part of it. I don’t think they intended the ‘do crime’ side of things.”
“No, they certainly didn’t,” Ashe said, taking her spot behind her friend. “Anything exciting happen while I was trapped for eight hours?”
“Got a message from my brother,” Crystal said, almost hesitantly.
Ashe hadn’t met him yet, just knowing his name was Jason and not much more aside from the little tidbits that Crystal sometimes dropped into conversations. Though, the way she phrased it was certainly more ominous than it should have sounded.
“What kind of message?” Ashe asked.
“A dinner invitation,” Crystal said. “There’s a Senate recess and my sperm donor will be back in town. He wants me to make an appearance at one of his fundraisers as the ditzy blonde persona again.”
Ashe winced, recalling how miserable she had looked on the announcement broadcast. Moreso, it meant the Patriots would be emboldened by his presence, but it also presented an opportunity. If Theodore Ellington was in town, it meant they could get some egg on his face. She just needed to figure out the best way to go about it.
