Chapter 10
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“CAMEO! Cameo, open the door. We know you’re in there!”
Cameo woke up with a groan. His side was spasming from sleeping on his gun, and his head throbbed from the silent tears still coursing down his cheeks.
“Shut up, Tanner,” he whispered, curling up and tucking his head between his knees.
Tanner paused mid-knock. “You know what, I don’t think he’s coming,” he said to Infinity.
She rolled her eyes. “Fine.” She bashed her foot into the door. “Then we’re going in after him.” She kicked the door again and again till it swung open. She stepped aside and swept her hand through the air. “Ladies first.” Tanner grimaced. Ethaniel shouldered past him.
“Why thank you, kind sir,” he said in a high-pitched voice. “You are too kind.” He walked through the door, and, dropping the falsetto, called out. “Cameo! Come on, man. Time to get going. Jaiden’s still out there, and that ain’t gonna change unless we do something, so get your sorry butt out here.”
Cameo appeared in the darkened hallway. His black hair was tousled and knotted and his fists were torn and bloody. Tears were streaming down his face, but he made no move to wipe them away. He just grabbed his shredded letterman, then pushed past Ethaniel to the back of the house, coming to a stop in front of the garage. He unlocked a small door and disappeared inside. A few seconds later, the garage door began to open, and an engine roared to life. Cameo stood in the shadows within, no helmet, eyes boring holes into Infinity. Cameo revved the BMW R1200RT’s engine and floored the gas, fishtailing out of the driveway. Harley dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding being hit. She sighed and stood, dusting herself off. The foursome climbed into the Rale-issued limousine and drove off, following the bike’s dust trail.
Charisma was waiting with Colton on the steps of the Rale mansion by the time Cameo got there. Colton bolted down the steps and dashed into his brother's arms. Cameo yanked off his black bike helmet with one hand.
“Hey, Cole,” he breathed into his little brother’s hair. “How are ya?” Colton shrugged.
“Doin’ okay. I was worried when you didn’t show up with the others, and then you wouldn’t tell us where you were. PTSD and all that,” he joked, trying to brush it off. “It’s cool. Where’s everybody else?”
“They’re coming. Hey, Wretch,” Cameo exclaimed, turning to Charisma, “You got HQ up and running?”
“I said I would have it ready by the time you all arrived, did I not?”
“Yeah, well then, let’s see it.” Just as he turned to throw open the heavy oaken doors, the limo screeched to a halt at the bottom of the steps. The foursome leaped out and followed Charisma into the Rale Mansion.
“So, ladies and gentlemen, I have sacrificed my front parlor for your headquarters. Behold!” She stood in front of a large bare wall. “Cameo, place your hand against the wall.”
Bored of her drama, he shoved his hand against the wall. His hand grew warm and the wall split beneath his palm. Harley gasped.
“This is way better than my designs!” she exclaimed. “It’s- it’s incredible! The door was so silent; is it maneuvered on hydraulics? And how was there zero seam where the halves meet? That’s amazing! And-”
“Giz,” Ethaniel cut her off, laying a light hand on her waist. “You do remember you spent the last four months developing all the technology in this room, right?”
“No,” she responded shyly and slipped behind Ethaniel to escape the rest of the groups’ indulging smiles.
“Well,” Charisma sighed, “your new headquarters is equipped with state-of-the-art technology that our very own Harley Daliah Jackson designed and fabricated! A round of applause for her immense efforts and contribution.” The group clapped politely while Cameo folded his arms across his chest and rolled his eyes.
“Can we get on with it? Giz did great, yeah, good job. On with it!”
“Alright, alright! We have access to nearly all security cameras in the world, and have calibrated our facial recognition technology to alert us when it picks up images of Jaiden or Simon Groth, who went into hiding when his company collapsed for unknown reasons.” A furtive glance passed between Cameo and Infinity. How they had wanted each other that night was forefront in both of their minds. Cameo hoped that a shred of those feelings still remained, however unlikely it was.
Best not to think about it.
“Harley, please lead the way into your headquarters?”
Harley skipped into the room, waved her arms in a gesture of grandeur, turned to the monitors.
And screamed.
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