Guys I got a boyfriend. Don't worry, he treats me like a queen.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I opened my eyes the best I could, considering the hot, Nevada sun was blazing down on us into the window of Gomez's car. I observed my surroundings. It appeared as though we were in the suburbs, surrounded by a multitude of clay tile roof houses that all looked the same.

"Is this where you're living now?" I asked Gomez, my voice hardly sounding impressed.

He nodded as he pulled into one of the garages next to a small duplex at the end of a cul-de-sac. "For the time being, at least." He turned off the car as our group began to climb out. "It's not very high rent, a quiet neighborhood, and away from the city. It's a good hide out."

I shrugged as I lifted a brow.

"Nah nah, you're right, Gomez. This is a great hide out..." Brams complimented as he scoped the place out and stroked his goatee. "It's low profile as hell..." he continued to coo.

"Come on, muchachos," Gomez prodded as he herded us inside his house like we were sheep. "I don't want anyone looking on at us. You can never be too careful." He shut the garage door and hurried in after us.

A pungent smell socked me right in the kisser as soon as I walked into his small house. It seemed to go straight through my nose and make a home in the front of my forehead. It wasn't disgusting or rancid, but just painful to inhale.

"Jesus Christ, what the hell is that?" Dennis rasped as he hurriedly walked through the small hallway and into the living room to escape the smell.

"Sorry, man," Gomez apologized. "A few weeks ago, we had some water damage and this air purifier is cheap as fuck." He motioned to a large, moaning piece of metal to his left. "It just seems to be making the smell worse, but at least we aren't getting asbestos or anything."

"I don't think mold causes asbestos..." I spat.

"Oh, what do you know, you're barely an adult!" Gomez spat back.

"No, he's right," Jack chimed in. Everyone's focus was suddenly on him, for he rarely spoke. "Mold is caused by water damage, yes. Both mold and asbestos are dangerous, but asbestos is a product that was used commonly in the construction industry over the past few decades. It becomes a problem when it starts to deteriorate. It's not related to water or mold."

Gomez rolled his eyes. "Will you all just shut the fuck up? I'm giving you a place to stay, you could at least be grateful."

I walked all the way out of the narrow hall and into the living room, where the smell the air "purifier" was making seemed to dissipate immensely. I took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh.

Gomez walked into the kitchen and pulled a cold beer out of the refrigerator. As he popped it open, I noticed that the TV had been on since we had walked inside, the volume turned down almost to nothing.

The four of us sat down on the couch that was directly facing the television as we took off our shoes and leaned back.

"Where are Ariana and your grandfather?" I questioned Gomez.

He closed his eyes and held up his index finger at me as he took a large swig of his bottle. I glared at his finger. I hated that finger. It meant "hold your tongue". That was all my parents would say to me when I needed them. It made me twitch. But I always did submit to the order.

When he was finished, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and set his beer down as he walked over to us. "They are in the city right now. I told them to rent a nice hotel room and stay hidden."

"So we have the place to ourselves, then?" Brams inquired. Gomez nodded. Brams nodded back at him. "Alrighty."

"Gomez, we need to get down to business," I said sternly. "Ava. How are we gonna find her and get her back?"

Gomez picked up his beer again and pulled up a chair to sit opposite to the rest of us. He set his beer on the table separating us and rubbed his hands together before beginning his spiel.

"I kind of have my own CI," he began.

Before he could go any further, Dennis already had his two cents to put in. "But aren't CIs something that the police use?"

Gomez closed his eyes and let out a breath. "I said 'kind of', Dennis. Obviously, none of us work for the police, so that wouldn't make any sense. But he is like my inside man. I wouldn't say he's a pimp, per say, or even a dealer. He just knows his way around, and has a way of getting what he wants."

"What's his name?" Brams asked.

"He's got a couple," Gomez began with a little chuckle. "Tick-Tock is his street name. But those of us who are more comfortable with him call him Shorty." The confused looks on all of our faces clued Gomez in for him to explain the meaning behind these names. "He's got a really bad temper, though," he continued. "He's like a bomb with a short fuse, hence the nick names. So just try to stay on his good side, okay?" He winked at us, but we all looked at each other with uncertainty, especially at Dennis, who was sure to royally fuck up that simple task.

"Okay, so what about this Tick-Tock guy?" Brams further pushed. "How is he of value to us in order to find Ava?"

"Because he knows everyone you need to know in Las Vegas and anywhere in a 50 mile radius in any direction here. He doesn't have enemies around this part of the country. At least, not for long, so that's why we have to act fast."

"What makes you think we can trust him?" I asked. "If he's willing to betray someone else to help you, what makes you think he won't betray you to help someone else?"

Gomez leaned back as he gave me somewhat of the stink eye. "Listen, Lex, out of all of the people I've had dealings with, I know how to identify a good egg from a bad one. Tick-Tock may have his moments, but this motherfucker is A-1, and like me, he upholds certain morals. He lives by a code."

"When are we gonna meet this guy?" Brams asked, his patience running a bit unnecessarily thin. He brushed a jumble of curls out of his eyes. "And do you have a cigarette or something?" He began getting oddly fidgety and twitchy. "I can't keep still."

Gomez rolled his eyes as he got up and fetched a pack of cigarettes from a drawer in the kitchen. He tossed the pack at Brams along with a white lighter.

All eyes landed on the lighter as Brams held it in his hand and eyed it. "Why would you give him that?" Jack asked monotone.

Gomez scrunched up his face and looked at Jack like he was insane, which, he was, but that wasn't the idea. "What do you mean, hermano? How the hell else is he supposed to light his cigarette?"

"He's a fucking arsonist," I muttered. "It would be like you giving me some methamphetamine and telling me it's to treat my ADHD. It's just not a good idea."

"That's not it," Jack snapped. I turned my head from Gomez to the milky-eyed magician. "It's white. Don't you know anything about white lighters?"

"Not everyone has time to worry about superstitions like you, Jack," Dennis rasped.

Jack rolled his eyes as he ripped the lighter out of Brams' hand. Brams eyebrow twitched at him, but he didn't question Jack's strange authority. He instead simply stuck the stog in his mouth and allowed Jack to light it for him. Jack then put the lighter back into his pocket.

"What the hell, give me my lighter back!" Gomez yelled. Jack shook his head.

"Just get a new one, mate. You'll thank me later."

Gomez rolled his eyes as he sighed and headed back over to his chair. "As I was saying..." he picked up again. "Tick-Tock. He should be here..." there was a knock at the door in an odd sequence. "Right about now."

Gomez got back up from his chair once again and went to answer the door. The four of us looked at each other as Brams took a hit of his cig. "Do we trust this?" Dennis asked.

"We have to," I ordered sternly. "It's my only hope of finding Ava."

Brams seemed to be a bit more relaxed than the few moments before. He exhaled a large breath of smoke as he leaned back in his spot on the sofa.

I suddenly looked up from the rest of my associates to see exactly who this Tick-Tock character was. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but I definitely wasn't expecting this.

A Korean looking man walked in through the entry way, wearing nothing but a smoke stained white teeshirt, jeans and a simple, gold chain. His hair was styled nicely in the front and both of his ears were pierced. He only stood about 5'10, and looked maybe in his late 20s to early 30s. Not an older man like Taco, as I had sort of fabricated in my mind who this Tick-Tock was. However, his face was hardly friendly. His glare combined with concentrated, centered lips made him look like he was brooding over something that wasn't worth brooding. Already I was a little skeptical.

His eyes landed right on me. "You must be Luther," he announced in a clear, husky voice. His dialect sounded as though he has been raised somewhere in Northern California. I nodded my head at him. He walked straight up to me, so I stood as well, towering over him a good five inches. He took my hand in his and shook it so firmly that I felt like my wrist would be dislocated by the time he pulled away.

His expression never changed all the while. It was stone cold and unmovable. Not even a bullet to the face would make a single muscle on that man's face budge. He turned to Gomez.

"Sorry I'm a little late," he apologized. "But there are these fucking white boy street scum "gangsters" who were having issues with a simple kidnapping!" He rolled his eyes. "And they just inaugurated some new guy who doesn't know what the fuck he's doing."

"Kidnapping?" Brams asked, smoke escaping from between his lips. "Who'd they kidnap?"

Tick-Tock shrugged quickly as he sniffed and politely rubbed his nose. "I don't know. Some petite, red-headed chick."

Gomez and I looked at each other with a look that only the two of us could recognize. The light bulb had switched on.

"Shorty..." Gomez began. "What are these white guys' names?"

Tick-Tock began making his way towards the kitchen like a show pony, his biceps screaming at us through the white shirt he was wearing. "Why you wanna know?" he asked as he opened the fridge.

Gomez stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged his shoulders up to his ears. "Just curious."

"Why the FUCK do you only have light beer in here?" Tick-Tock yelled, causing us on the couch to flinch a bit.

Gomez closed his eyes and chuckled a little. "Just answer the damn question, Shorty."

He took a beer out of the fridge and opened the cap with his bare hands. He took a giant gulp of it and let out a hearty burp before answering. "Their names are RJ and Sean. Fucking idiots too." Gomez and I looked at each other again, this time with so much certainty in our eyes.

"And you said they just inaugurated a new guy?" I asked further. "Who is it?"

Tick-Tock took another drink of his beer as he rolled his eyes. "They named him some dumb shit. I think it was Gold-dime, or something retarded like that. I think his real name started with an N though. Real pretty boy too. Trimmed blond hair, big brown eyes, strong nose."

"Was his name, by any chance...Nathaniel...?" I asked, gritting my teeth at the mention of his name.

"Uhhhhh...yeah! Nate. That's what it was. Crazy to think a guy who looked like that could get mixed up in a crowd like them." He took another sip of beer but nearly choked on it. Our attention was pinned on him. He coughed as he bumped himself in the chest with his fist and swallowed. "How the fuck do you know who I'm talking about?"

Gomez chuckled and shook his head, his hands still in his pockets. "Ohhh boy oh boy oh fuckin' boy..." the Brazilian muttered. "This is turning out better than I thought."

"Do you know these kids?" Tick-Tock asked us, clearly still confused as hell.

Gomez walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Shorty, this is why I called you up here."

Tick-Tock took a seat on a tall chair that sat at the bar and looked up into Gomez's green eyes. "What the fuck is going on, Gomez?"

"We have had some trouble with RJ and Sean in the past..." he began to explain. "And that red-headed chick they kidnapped? Her name's Ava, and she's the reason why we're all here."

Tick-Tock sat there silently while we all took turns explaining who we all were and how we had gotten to where we are now and why we needed to find Ava.

"I don't really feel like RJ and Sean are after you, though," he said to Gomez after we had all finished. "They're after Luther, obviously, but their boss, Taco, is only set on finding one person."

"Wait, is Taco out of prison?" Gomez inquired.

Tick-Tock looked at Gomez like he was crazy and nodded his head. "Um, yeah he has been for about two months now I think."

Gomez put his hands on his head and started pacing around the room while muttering Spanish curses under his breath.

"You got nothin' to worry about, Gomez," Tick-Tock reassured. "He's not after you. He's after some guy named Antonio."

"I am Antonio!" Gomez shouted. The room got eerily quiet, the only sound coming from the nasty air purifier.

Tick-Tock chuckled. "Wait a minute..." he said. "If you're Antonio, that means that..." His voice trailed off for a moment before his face fell blank and he looked Gomez dead in the face. "You're Taco's fucking son."

"Guilty."

My eyes widened at how much was just revealed. This just made things ten times harder than they already were.

Tick-Tock ran his hand along his face as he took in a deep, pained breath. "Well fuck me deep."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Yay new character! I really like this guy.

Sorry it's been a couple of months. I had college classes that I was doing through December so that took up an ass-ton of my time, then I got a boyfriend and it was the holiday break so reaaaal fuckin busy with that. Anyway I think I'm finally over my writer's block now, I just needed this chapter to be sort of the turning point in the book and I just felt a new character was needed. I can finally take the book where I was originally planning😩😩😩YASSSS

Anyway in case y'all are wondering, my boyfriend's name is Austin, so we're like Austin and Allie and it's pretty fucking cute. He asked me out with flowers on November 22nd last year and everything has been smooth sailing so far and I definitely am in love with him... UGHH

Anyway enough of that gross stuff, another update will be very soon, I PROMISE this time guys. Anyway, I hope you have a good day. Please vote and comment! I love you guys❤️