Something passed between us as we stared at each other, something deep. I think, for the pair of us, something had changed over these past few days. There was no more me. There was no more Royal Prinze. We were Em and Royal now. We were Royal and Em forever, and I think he saw that too, bending my head forward. He kissed me, whispering words of love before getting out of the car. He told me to wait in the car for a second, and I watched as he walked in his low-sitting jeans to the car parked behind us. He bent his big body and spoke to the person inside, Jax the driver. I could see his friend well through the windshield, but noticed he was very much alone. I assumed LJ and Knight would be here as well.
Seeing me, Jax waved a hand from behind the steering wheel, and I did the same. They spoke for a second, but when my phone buzzed, I broke off from the distant conversation.
Ramses: What’s up, ’Zona? I’m coming home next week, but I thought I’d check in. Haven’t talked to you in a while. You ghostin’ me again? ;)
I actually hadn’t been. At least not on purpose. Oddly enough, I’d barely even noticed I hadn’t seen Ramses since well before Mira’s funeral. I supposed I had other things on my mind.
I snuck a glance into the rearview mirror, Royal and Jax still talking. We’d parked a few blocks away from the jewelry store so we wouldn’t be on the store’s security systems. Apparently, Knight was supposed to be working on that part, but since he wasn’t here, I had no idea what was going on.
Me: I haven’t been ghosting you, idiot. If anything, you’ve been ghosting me.
Ramses: Have not! My dad’s been on this crazy kick. We’re in the Swiss Alps right now. Can you believe that? Took me on a mini holiday.
Me: Wow. Why did he do that?
Ramses: Seems he wants to hang out with me. Says he wants to do it before I head out to college in the fall and life changes. Crazy, right? I guess this little piece of metal on my finger has been good for something. I actually don’t mind spending time with him. He seems to be trying.
That made me smile. Ramses had never said it, but I had a feeling a relationship with his father was something he’d really wanted. Why wouldn’t someone want that?
Ramses: Anyway, like I said, I’m coming home next week. What’s up? School still weird? Crazy about Mira.
S
chool was still weird, but I didn’t really have any time to talk about it now. Royal waved a hand, gesturing for me to come. After sending Ramses a quick follow-up text that I was in the middle of something and would chat with him later, I got out of the car, hunkering down as I made my way to the boys. We were in the middle of broad daylight, and I didn’t want to seem suspect.
Jax eyed me as I made it over. “What’s with that weird walk?”
I rolled my eyes. “We’re about to like rob a jewelry store. I didn’t want to look suspicious.”
The guys chuckled, Royal too when he threw an arm around me. He pinched my jacket. “I appreciate the stealth, princess, but it’s the middle of a Sunday downtown in a small town. Absolutely nothing is open…”
“And no need for the crab walk.” Jax jabbed me in my side, and I threw an elbow at him. He dodged the swing, picking up pace in the opposite direction. A hand behind my back, Royal guided me to follow him, looking like a god in his well-worn jeans and jacket. I wore my big puffer coat, really ready for this chill to be over. I had a feeling it was close because as we walked from the street to the alley, blades of green were popping out between the creases in the sidewalks and poking out of flower beds. Spring was coming. We just had to wait for it. I needed it, some good news and any sign to show the tides were changing in my life. We just may have that today if we could find my sister’s cell phone.
“What does that mean if we find it?” I asked, shoving my hands into my pockets. I gazed around as Jax proceeded to gain access to the building. He must have been able to swipe keys from good ole Benjamin, but I noticed he didn’t use them at this point. On his hand, he had some codes, punching each digit in one by one.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Royal said, taking my attention and responding to my last question. “Who knows? Paige might tell us exactly what we need to know. I’m sure there’s tons of evidence on that phone.”
“Yeah. DNA?” Jax had the jewelry store door open. He must not have needed the keys. “We’ll get it tested. Figure out who the creep is. Whoever was with her that night had to leave something on it.”
“But if your dad wiped it?” He could have, right? I shook my head. “So much can go wrong—”
“But so much can go right.” Royal lifted my hand. “Don’t lose faith. Yours is all I have.”
He’d said that so seriously, something in his eyes telling me he meant it. Who knew the emotional back-and-forth he’d been through before they brought me in on this? My hope may be all he had.
Vowing I’d be strong for the both of us, I allowed Jax to lead us inside the store, but as we crossed the threshold I wondered about the cameras. Wouldn’t we be all over them? Where the hell was Knight?
“Took you guys long enough,” Knight grumbled. He actually lounged inside the jewelry store’s back entry, LJ beside him. A sheet of polished glass and a set of double doors kept them and now us from actually accessing the merchandise part of the store. The building resembled much like a bank in that fashion, multiple secure entry points that could be either locked or opened to the public. Knight and LJ leaned on a wall next to a keypad by the doors, but both pushed off after seeing us. Knight frowned. “I disabled the security forever the fuck ago. You got the keys so we can actually get inside?”
Jax, I guess, had secured the keys from his cousin, pulling them out of his pocket and handing them to Knight. With keys in hands, Knight immediately went to those glass doors. He put one into the lock, turning it but stopped after a click. Right away, he moved to a keypad, punching in a random sequence of code, and I raised an eyebrow.
“Um, so he’s a hacker now?” I asked, and LJ’s chest bumped in laughter. I shook my head. “And how did you guys get in here?”
“The same way you guys did.” LJ chuckled, watching Knight in awe like the rest of us. “The first set of doors just uses a key code entry. Jax shot that over to us via text before you got here.”
“My cousin is an idiot and saves his work code on his phone. Swiped it and his keys at family dinner last night.” Jax dropped an arm over my shoulder. “He didn’t have access codes for the store front though. The store has a two-code entry. His other co-worker has that.”
“Which is why we have Knight.” Royal moved over to his friend, smirking as the guy worked. “He would have cracked the back-door codes if we let him, but I figured we’d give him a break.”