Lost Boys (Slateview High 1)

“Hey, I’m just fuckin’ with you all. Loosen up. Now… to business.”

They ran over details from a previous job, one that seemed to tie in with whatever assignment they were being given tonight. I caught bits and pieces, but most of what I heard was stuff I already knew as far as what kind of work the Lost Boys did.

It all sounded pretty straightforward—if breaking and entering could ever be considered straightforward—so I wasn’t quite sure why Bishop had seemed so on edge.

Flint finished laying out the final details of the upcoming job, and then the guys fell back into shooting the shit. I could tell Bish was trying to wrap it up, but apparently Flint was a bit of a talker. I was about to press away from the wall and return to the couch when I caught two words from raspy-voiced man that sent a chill down my spine.

“…Abraham Shaw. Nathaniel doesn’t want to…”

My back straightened. Abraham Shaw?

That man knew my father.

“What was that?” Flint’s voice came again, sharp and alert.

Oh, shit.

Quietly, I moved from my place near the warehouse wall and sat back on the couch. I didn’t hear what came after that, but it was at least ten minutes of talking back and forth between the four of them.

All I could think of while I waited for the boys to return was the name I’d heard Flint drop. Abraham Shaw. He was a business associate of my father’s. I wasn’t sure what exactly it was that he did, but he’d been instrumental in securing a lot of Dad’s deals, as well as deals for other people in my father’s circles. He was well known within the upper echelon of Baltimore’s wealthy.

So what the hell was his name doing coming out of Flint’s mouth?

I kept my questions to myself as the Lost Boys came back inside. They weren’t carrying anything with them, and none of them seemed to be in a bad mood. Misael plopped down beside me.

“See, aren’t you glad we didn’t have to drive all the way across town to talk to him? Ain’t even going anywhere tonight.” He grinned. “Which is good. Means more time with our girl.”

My smile only reached my eyes halfway.

“Good for me, huh?”

Gears turned in my head. If Flint knew Abraham, then maybe Flint knew other things—like what had happened with my father. Maybe, if I played my cards righ

t, I could find out if he had any information about Dad. About Dad’s arrest.

But the boys would never let me get close to Flint. Their reluctance to let him know about my existence or even my presence in the building told me that they’d have a serious problem with me wanting to ask him about my father. What’s more, with the way Bishop felt about my dad—hell, with the way all of them felt about him—going through them to get to Flint would be out of the question.

“Cora? You alright?” Bishop’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts, and when I glanced up, the bright hazel of his eyes glinted in the dim light.

“Yeah. No worries.” This time, I made sure my smile really did reach my eyes. “I’m fine.”

Twenty-Seven

We got home well past “reasonable” hours. The street was uncommonly still—not even a wayward teen from school or an obvious out-in-the-open drug deal to remind me that peace was only as constant as the people in the neighborhood allowed it to be.

“You want us to come in?” Bishop asked as his car idled on the street between our two houses.

I seriously considered it, but for the moment, I actually wanted to be alone. Besides, there was the whole issue of my mom being a lighter sleeper these days. The part of me that was still pissed at her thought it would serve her right to wake up and find not just one, but three delinquents sleeping over at her house.

But that would probably only make things worse for the guys in the long run. My mom had a good memory, and she could hold on to a grudge forever. If I secured their spot on her shit list, I was afraid she might actually take real steps to stop me from hanging out with them.

And I couldn’t let that happen.

Not just because they protected me at school, but for so many other reasons I didn’t dare dwell on them all.

“Nah.” I shook my head. “Thanks for the offer, but I think I might actually go to bed soon.”

He looked at me skeptically, and I couldn’t blame him. In all honesty, I did want them to come in. It just wasn’t a great idea right now.