*If you're reading this right after I updated, I also updated chapter 12 so make sure you didn't miss that!*
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We entered the hospital with Ben's phone practically glued to his ear.
The question was on the tip of my tongue: what were we doing? But I wasn't about to ask. Again.
Travis led the way in, looking hell-bent on whatever mission he had in his head. Jay and Ben were in either side of me. Jay kept sending me looks. Like he was just warning me to keep my mouth shut. I kept returning the same look back to him because I wasn't stupid.
We were in a hospital with a bunch of professional staff. I wasn't about to draw any unwanted attention to ourselves. Well, more than we might already be getting. I told myself we would be okay, though. Maybe no one would even notice us as Travis continued on. Maybe we just looked like four very concerned friends of a patient.
For all I knew, we were.
Travis stopped before a set of double doors and turned on his heel to look back at Ben.
"Nothing," Ben said, waving his phone in his hand.
He pushed the doors open and we continued into the hospital, up the stairs which I didn't know why we couldn't take the elevators but whatever. I grabbed my side as it started to cramp as Travis finally exited on a floor. Ben paused, holding the door open for me but didn't bother to do the same for Jay.
As I followed behind Travis, I noticed a few people in the halls cast us glaces. Others stepped out of our way. I suddenly felt very odd walking in the middle of the three very tall, very intimidating men. They seemed to know where they were going, or had an idea because Travis wasn't darting in and out of every room. And they at least knew why they were here. Travis' steps were confident and he looked like he was ready to strangle someone if they got in his way as he stormed down the hall. Not the best place to look like the hoodie-wearing grim reaper in. I started to slow down to give them space to do whatever it was they needed to do. I didn't really want to get in their way and they were a bit daunting to take in if I was being honest.
Ben looked back at me with a frown and grabbed my shoulder, hurrying me along to fall back into place between the three of them.
"Stay close," he said before redialling on his phone.
Travis heard Ben and turned back slightly to glance at me, as if to double check I was behaving like a kid in the backseat of a car.
We walked by a reception desk and I wanted to say it looked just like the floor I was on with Dylan and Josh when we went to visit Andrew, but I felt like all floors here probably looked the same. So I kept quiet.
When the hallway split, I wondered which way we were going as I read the signs for different room numbers and departments on the wall.
"I'll go this way," Jay said, not giving me much time to even read the signs before he turned left.
Travis, Ben and I went right. For what? I had no idea. But at least I knew they weren't exactly positive which way to go, if Jay had to split off at this point. I kept this observation to myself.
I had to walk quickly to keep up with Travis and Ben. When we rounded a corner, I spotted a familiar face.
Ah. So that's why we were here.
"Eli," Ben called out, lowering his phone and putting it in his pocket.
The man's head snapped up at us and his eyes widened slightly before he jogged over to us.
"What are you guys doing here?" he asked. I could see the panic flicker in his eyes before he calmed down.
"Where's your phone?" There was anger in Travis' voice.
Eli pointed behind him. "Lockers. We just got out of surgery. About to head out."
I looked him over to see he had clean scrubs on and his hair was wet, like he'd taken a quick shower before heading out here. He had a stack of clean towels in his hands.
"Where's she?" Travis' question was more of a demand.
"Probably still in the locker room." Eli turned around and led us back towards where he came, discarding the towels without a care.
"What's going on?" he asked looking at the three of us as he led us down the hall.
"House was hit," Travis said.
Eli's eyes widened for a moment before his jaw clenched.
We followed him around through some halls, walking even faster than Travis had caused us to go earlier. I don't know if it was particularly fast for them, but my legs were half their size.
"Hannah," Eli called, pointing ahead.
My eyes shot up from the floor to see the brown haired girl I'd met before. She was exiting a room dressed in regular clothes now and walking in the opposite direction of us without realizing it.
"Yes?" a different woman from one of the rooms called out. I wasn't sure if it was a patient or staff member. Either way, Travis groaned in annoyance.
"Not you, for fucks sake," Travis said under his breath.
"Hannah," Ben said through clenched teeth like he was trying to whisper yell her name but didn't want to catch the attention of anymore patients. Hannah disappeared around the corner.
"Hannah," he repeated as we hurried our pace. I could tell both him and Eli were trying hard to act casual and not draw attention to us as we walked. Both from the volume of their voices and each time we passed someone in the halls that looked important, they would slow their pace just slightly.
We turned the corner and could just make her out at the end of it.
"Hannah Martinez!"
I bumped into Travis' back as he stopped walking at our end of the hall and I had to do a double take in my head as I ran through what I just heard him yell down the quiet hospital hallway.
Hannah Martinez? As in the same last name that was on the title to the Casey house?
"What?" I whispered but no one answered.
With my arms still on Travis' back from bumping into him, I glanced around him. Hannah stopped and looked at us, freezing like a deer in headlights as she looked around. I felt the same inside.
"Get your ass over here," Travis yelled, making no attempt to be quiet despite Eli's shushing.
She ran down the hall towards us, holding her pale blue purse against her side to stop it from rattling.
I saw the same look on her face as I saw on Eli's when she reached us - fear, but she made no attempt to hide it.
"Travis," she began but he cut her off.
"Gimme your keys."
She finished her keys out of her purse and handed them to him. He took off just the car key and gave it to Eli, giving the rest back to Hannah.
"Find Jay," Travis said to Eli. "He's got his phone. He's looking around on this floor for you. Have one of you take her car and get it somewhere no cops can spot it. Probably same for yours since you work together."
Eli nodded and took off down the hall, quickly running into the room Hannah had come out of. Probably to get his phone and things.
"We gotta go," Travis said to her. "You got the stuff?"
She nodded.
What the heck was going on?
Hannah hurried down the hall and led us to a room you needed a card to access. She swiped hers and the door clicked, letting us enter.
I couldn't help but wonder why Travis knew this girl. Was she part of the gang? Probably, if she was the same Martinez the entire Casey house was under the name of and so close with Eli. That would explain why when I first met her, she didn't ask if Travis was alive or dead. She already knew how he was.
And Travis knew I got into a fight with Dylan at the hospital. I just assumed it was Eli who tattled on me.
How close were they?
I felt jealousy rearing its head as he followed closely behind her. Why did we come to get her? Surely she was safe. She wasn't at the house when it got attacked.
"What are we doing?" I whispered to Ben, who was following behind me.
"Getting a few things before we leave," he said quietly, looking around. That didn't answer my question.
"Who is she?" I asked.
Ben didn't answer and I eyed the back of her head.
We stopped at a door labeled 'Storage Closet' and she took out a key to open it, ushering is inside. Travis flipped the lightswitch on and stacked on the shelves were a few duffle bags. On other shelves, random medical supplies were thrown. Some were in boxes neatly organized and others looked to be tossed lazily on the shelf.
Travis and Ben quickly started pulling down the bags and opening them up. A few of the bags were stuffed with supplies and others had room left in them, so Hannah, Ben, and Travis started filling the bags with supplies from the shelves.
Hesitantly, I did the same but kept watching the three of them.
"Are we robbing a hospital?" I asked slowly, trying not to anger anyone.
Travis stopped what he was doing and looked at me before looking up and off to the side, like he was deep in thought about his answer which was never, ever reassuring.
"No," Hannah was quick to answer. "Of course not. I mean...no. It depends on how you want to look at it."
Travis raised his eyebrows for a second, as if to agree, before he went back to working.
I narrowed my eyes at them and Hannah must have noticed.
"I wouldn't call it stealing. My dad owns this hospital and I-"
"Donate," Ben interjected.
"Donate," she repeated, "supplies to them often and they make sure that everything that is donated is paid back, most of the time in double." Hannah nodded. "My dad doesn't even mind."
I continued packing the duffle bag until nothing else would fit and zipped it up, unsure what to make of the situation. So we were stealing from a hospital, more or less. Why?
"What happened?" Hannah asked.
My hands stopped on the zipper, waiting to see if Travis gave her an answer.
"Not here," he said and I saw his jaw tense and the worry was back in his voice.
After everyone had packed the dufflebags, Hannah and I grabbed one each while Ben and Travis both had two.
"Holy shit," I began, lifting it up onto my shoulder and crossing it over my chest the weight was more dispersed. "Have you ever heard of roller bags?" I shot out.
I heard a slight chuckle from Travis as he opened the door. I followed Travis as he led us back down the stairs and to the side door we came out of. Thankfully, we had no problems but Hannah worked here. Apparently, her dad owned the hospital and I wondered if that was partly to blame.
Was that why Travis didn't wear a mask?
Was he close to her dad?
I bet her dad liked him.
He held a hand out, stopping us as we came up to the side door that led outside.
"Wait here with Ben. I'll go make sure the car's okay," Travis said and with one dufflebag crossed over his body and the other in hand, he made his way out of the hospital and started walking through the parking lot.
I looked back at Ben and Hannah, both keeping still and watching Travis. I furrowed my eyebrows. Even if he got into any trouble, he could hardly do anything about it with the bags he was carrying. I pushed off the wall I was leaning against and ran out of the door, after him.
He glanced behind him as I caught up to him, at first on guard but as soon as he saw it was me sighed and rolled his eyes.
"You're terrible at listening," he laughed.
"I learned it from this guy I know."
Travis shook his head and I looked around with him. Besides an older woman walking with flowers in her hand, no one was out here. He unlocked the car and opened the trunk.
"What happened to your wrist?" he asked as he dropped the first bag in. With his free hand, he waved Ben and Hannah out.
I looked at the ground, kicking a stray pebble. "I thought Jay was trying to kidnap me or something."
Travis looked at me oddly as he threw his second bag in.
"I don't know, he just grabbed me when everything happened and started dragging me away and I didn't know what was happening and...and I don't know."
He smiled lightly before he grabbed the bag from around my shoulders and lifted it off of me, tossing it in the trunk.
"I told him if anything happened, to get you to safety."
"You could have told me that," I said.
Travis squinted down at me. "You knew he was babysitting you and you avoided him on your trips to Melkin. I doubted you'd take kindly to anymore guard duty."
I looked down at the ground again, once again called out as guilty on my little visits to the Casey house.
Travis raised my chin with his finger and grinned. However, before he could say anything, Ben and Hannah arrived and I got back in the backseat.
After their bags were loaded, Hannah sat in the back with me, with Travis in the passenger seat and Ben driving again. We drove for a while in silence. It wasn't until it looked like we were on the outskirts of town that anyone spoke up.
"So?" Hannah said anxiously. I watched as she played with a giant engagement ring on her ring finger that I never noticed before. However, I suppose if she was working and doing surgeries, she probably couldn't wear that type of thing. I wondered if there was a Mr. Martinez. Or if she was engaged still. Either way, if that was who was going to be the one that Travis when he said he was going to have his ass handed to him. Was Hannah part of the cartel? Maybe the Caseys were involved in the cartel business and the house was a middle ground for them.
"The house was ambushed by Dacostas," Ben said softly.
Suddenly, Hannah gripped the seat. "Which house?"
There was more than one?
"The Casey house, yours," Ben answered quickly.
So it was her that the house was under. I looked over her again, trying to figure out why on Earth or even how her name was on the title to the Casey mansion.
She seemed to relax a little but went back to playing with her ring anxiously. "What happened to it?"
"Fire. Not sure what else." Ben looked at the mirror to meet her eyes.
"There's probably going to be cops or Lacey's little friends showing up at your apartment," Travis said. "Or at your work looking for you to answer questions about the house. So you're stuck with us for a few days."
Hannah sighed and nodded. "Yeah, okay."
She was taking this surprisingly well but judging by the six bags of medical supplies in the back, I didn't think this was the first run in she'd had with them.
Silence fell over everyone so I looked back at her. "Are you a Casey member, too?"
Hannah laughed and shook her head. "Good Lord, no."
So maybe she was in the cartel.
She continued before I could figure anything else out. "I'm just a doctor who loves it probably a bit too much. I was actually in the top three percent in my University, but everyone thinks I only got my job because of my dad," Hannah waved her hand like it was ridiculous. "He'd been teaching me things since I could walk. I fell in love with the stuff. No. I don't do any of this stuff," she said, this time waving both of her hands towards the front seats at Travis and Ben.
"But your name's on the house?" I didn't understand.
She nodded. "It's been like that since I don't even know how long."
"How long have you known them?" I asked. I wanted to say Travis but I figured that would be too obvious.
Hannah thought for a second. "Oh girl, let's see. I met Travis, when did I meet you?"
He shrugged and she continued, "Maybe a year and a half ago? He was unconscious, like you," she said almost with admiration as she looked at me.
"Wait, so you didn't know him when I came into the hospital?" I pointed to myself and then to my leg. I thought maybe she'd worked on it because she knew Travis but I was dropped off before she technically even met him. That was too much of a coincidence.
"Nah," she said, shaking her head and playing with her ring again. "Or well. I knew of you two, kinda of. I had heard about you two but didn't really know you name. Sometimes I knew people just by what medical supplies I had to give the Caseys and that's kind of the extent I knew Travis, I would just see his name and injury and get the supplies he needed for Eli to drop them off. Eli saw your name on the paperwork when they were bringing you in and getting you set up and he explained it to me and as soon as he told me, I would not let anyone else touch you. I wanted your leg to get as close to perfect as I could get it. Especially since Travis was always needing stuff for stitches and I had never gotten to stitch him up so I figured they were all really bad jobs."
Travis gave her the middle finger and she smacked it down.
"Don't do that, boy."
"How did you guys not know her if she owned the house?" I asked, not really expecting an answer.
"Cameron had some secrets," Ben said.
Travis scoffed.
Not wanting to push the issue or bring up anything sensitive, I tried to change the subject. My hand ran over where my scar was located on my leg and I grinned at the girl's dedication to some random stranger she'd never met before.
"Thank you, you did a fantastic job," I complimented her.
"Yeah you did," Travis perked up and I tried not to blush.
I looked out the window to see fields and fields, much like when Travis took me out on his motorcycle. It seemed like Ben had also taken the speed down to a relatively safe speed, which had me relaxing some.
"Are you going to be staying with us?" Hannah smiled at me.
"Um..." I looked forward at Travis.
"Oh, who cares what he says," she said and I realized that she was one of the few people I had spoken to today that wasn't scared of Travis. The other was currently driving.
"Well, I don't have a car," I answered.
Hannah bopped from side to side happily in her seat. "So you will be, great. It'll be nice. Maybe you can make him smile more. He comes home all mopey. Probably whining about how much he misses you in his head," she winked.
I looked at Travis to see him burying his head in one of his hands and a soft smile played at my lips. However, shortly after, I started to register her words a bit more and it started to click that she spent time at this house, probably where all of my friends went when they weren't at the Casey house, often. Meanwhile, I was stuck in the actual Casey house trying to time my appearances to catch Travis at the right time.
I bit my lip, trying to keep my jealousy at bay.
"Speaking of home, you should probably tell her..." Ben said, glancing at Travis.
Travis shook his head hard. "No way, I know she has a knife."
I narrowed my eyes. "Tell me what?"
The boys remained silent and Hannah sighed.
"Oh my god, you guys are such wimps. She's not going to hurt you unless you keep this up," she said. "They didn't want this house in anyone's name because they didn't want anyone to find us. Police or scumbags. And the Casey house is already in my name and they didn't want it linked and we spent days arguing about this but Travis insisted that we put this house in your name."
"...What?" I asked.
I heard Travis groan from the front seat. "Sterling's guys wouldn't think to look under your name if you were gone for three years and the cops wouldn't think to check if you had anything under your name here," he listed on two of his fingers. "We couldn't risk anyone finding it."
"How?!"
"Annabeth may have signed your name a few times and some of it wasn't exactly by the books anyway," Ben confessed. "But it was for a good cause."
"I can't believe I'm a homeowner and I missed my own housewarming party," I mumbled, looking out of the window. "Do I have debt, too?" I asked.
Travis laughed, "No, we paid for it."
I leaned forward in my seat, "How much money do you guys even have?"
Travis grinned and winked at me. "Aren't you supposed to be investigating that, gorgeous?"
"Ugh," Hannah groaned. "You guys are so cute. I can't wait until you get married."
His face paled. "Ignore her."
Travis scrunched down in his seat really quickly after that and I couldn't hold in my laughter. My jealousy was wearing away and I really needed to ask her how she was so good at embarrassing him.
"Are you getting married?" I pointed to my own ring finger to indicate her ring.
"Mhm," she gushed. "I don't know when though. It's up in the air."
"The wedding or the date?"
"The date, we don't have anything planned. I don't have any plans to plan, even," she laughed.
I eyed her ring, "It's beautiful. They must really love you."
Or have their hands in the cartel money... was on the tip of my tongue but I kept it to myself.
"So your dad owns the hospital? Did he open it himself?" I questioned.
Hannah nodded enthusiastically.
"And you guys can afford to lose all of these supplies? Even before the Caseys pay you back?" I asked. Maybe the cartel or another gang kept them stocked. Travis said Caseys had outside connections, after all. Maybe this was part of it.
"Oh, definitely. We have so many supplies! Cameron used to always make sure to pay us back double what it was worth within the week. And then every now and then he would donate a big sum to us just because. We have so many upgrades just thanks to the Casey donations."
I cocked my head to the side. "Wait, really? Does your dad know...?"
She nodded. "About the gang? He knows, well he knows, enough. Like me. He knows what he needs to but he knows that the money helps the sick and without it, we wouldn't be able to help half the people we have. And it's not like we're giving away drugs or anything. Just medical supplies that we have too much of anyway so my dad doesn't mind."
My dad would have a heart attack. There was no doubt in my mind.
Conversation died down after that as I looked out the window and tried to process everything from the day. The Casey house, Hannah Martinez, a house apparently in my name, stolen medical supplies. I bit my lip as I rested my head against my seatbelt and closed my eyes. It was still bright out, but it was usually around this time that I went to sleep so with the quiet car and the lull of the road, I soon found myself fighting sleep.
"Lace," Travis' soft voice woke me up and I felt his hand on my knee.
I opened my eyes to see him reaching from the front seat to shake me awake. We were still in the car, but we were going down some dirt road.
"We're about to be there," Travis said.
I nodded and sat up straighter as a house came into view. It wasn't anything special. It was a one story, cream colored house on a large plot of land. Trees surrounded it and it was a good distance away from any neighbors. It looked like a medium sized house and I realized if they all had their own rooms, much like it was before, it had to be a decent size.
A few cars were already parked in the driveway. Some I didn't recognize. One was the black car that Jay told me not to touch, as it belonged to Annabeth. Had she gone back to the Casey house just for her car? Travis' motorcycle was next to it.
We came to a stop and Hannah practically jumped out of the car, grabbing a bag and running inside. I took my time, grabbing a dufflebag and my purse before hanging around with the guys as they readjusted to make sure they could grab two bags each. With Travis trailing behind me, I followed Ben into the garage where I noticed random piles of dufflebags. Some were full, some were empty.
"Are these all medical supplies?" I questioned.
Travis shook his head from behind me.
"Some are guns. Some are full of tech shit. Some are full of money," he smirked. "Wanna run away?"
"Where are we going?" I asked, looking forward for a second to make sure I didn't run into anything before turning back to face him.
Travis grinned. "Anywhere you want to go, love."
I laughed before walking up the two steps into the house. Ben set the bags in a small room off to the side and I did the same. This was a lot nicer than the other places they had. It looked a bit more lived in. But if they were going through all of the trouble to make sure they stayed safe and no one found them, then it gave them the chance to live in a place longer than a month at a time.
He shrugged off his own bags and took my hand in his.
"Thank you for telling Jay to keep me safe," I whispered.
The tips of his lips turned upwards and he nodded. "Of course."
"You know I can handle myself a little bit now, right?"
"Yeah," he said, "But you don't need to."
He gently pushed my sleeve up again and examined the mark on my wrist.
"Did anything else happen?" Travis asked seriously.
"No, I promise."
He pursed his lips to the side and I wanted to know what he was thinking, but with today's events and how little he told me already, I doubted he'd tell me.
"Would you like a tour?" he asked, extending his arm out for me to take.
I tried to contain my amusement as I held onto his arm, squeezing his bicep probably a little more than necessary but it was there and available and I was going to take advantage of it while I was with him. He led me around the kitchen, complete with a dining table, living room, with only the necessary furniture and no television. Annabeth and Finn's room, which I could hear them talking on the other side of the closed door, Ben's room and Hannah's room. He paused outside of another door, wiggling his eyebrows.
"This is my room. Which, I mean, I guess, I can share with you since you kind of pushed yourself into my room in the Casey house. But if it's weird, we can find somewhere else for you to sleep but I'll probably end up wherever you are," he sounded sure of his words.
He pushed open the door and it was just as plain as all his other rooms were. Bed. Dresser. Closet. But it was his and I went to lay on the bed to test it out.
"I think this'll do," I joked.
Travis watched from his door. "I'm so glad it's up to your standards."
I laughed and scooted over so he would have room. "Do you want to join me?"
He shook his head and beckoned me to get up with his hand. "I'm not done with the tour."
"But this is the best room."
He tilted his head down at me impatiently and gestured again but with just one finger for me to join him. I sighed and did as he said. This time, he just linked our fingers as he led down one of the other halls. We neared a room with the door open and I tried to figure out what it could be. Maybe Jay or Eli's room. Or their gun room, knowing them. Or Ben's tech room.
Once we got closer, Travis slowed us down, his arm stiff and pulling me back to stay at his pace like I was on a leash instead of just holding his hand. His hand tightened around mine. I stopped walking and turned to look at him.
"What?" I grabbed his arm with my free hand.
Travis looked over my face for a second before his eyes softened and he shook his head. One hand went up to cup my cheek and I leaned into it. He placed a small kiss on my forehead.
"Nothing," he answered before tugging me the rest of the way to the doorway of the room.
My eyes widened and my hand flew to my chest. Instantly, it felt like my heart beat tripled and if my brain could have processed speech at the moment I would have been saying something along the lines of What the fuck, Travis?
Because now I understood why they needed a house that went undisturbed by everyone and anyone. On top of the guns, medical supplies, tech gear that probably cost a fortune, and piles of cash they had collected, this house was holding cargo more important than all of that.
This house was holding a person.
Cameron Casey.
Cameron was sleeping on the bed with Hannah fussing over him. Medical machines were around him. Some on, some off. His left leg was in a full cast and he had an IV hooked up to his left arm. I watched as Hannah replaced the bag of IV ever so carefully, watching his face but he didn't stir. Glancing around the room, it looked like he had much more at one point, but they'd just pushed all of the discarded machines and material to one corner of the room.
Hannah brushed some hair away from Cameron's face before moving onto do something else for him.
Finally, my mouth was able to catch up to my brain.
"What the fuck, Travis?"
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SOOOO....Thoughts on Cameron?!
Thoughts on Hannah?
Thoughts on everything?
I hope you liked it! Have a great day and don't forget to smile!