CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR: AUSTIN

For the past few hours, I've been looking for leads to help me find where that jerk might be hiding.

He went off the grid after the police announced on the news that he is a wanted fugitive charged with attempted murder and drug possession.

I haven't told the guys I'm going after him to get justice for my mother because I don't want to worry them or drag them into anything potentially dangerous, and I know how they'd react; they'd be completely opposed to me going after him so I don't get hurt, but this is something I need to do so that we can all be at peace.

Another reason I don't want them to know is that they both have people to protect, and I would never put them in a position where they had to choose between helping me and keeping them safe. That's why I think it's best if I keep them in the dark until he's arrested or Mr Miller gets to him first.

So far, I've learned a lot about my stepfather thanks to a hacker friend of mine I met in juvie. He goes by Snow and he is the best at what he does that's why he ended up in juvie trying to hack into the FBI.

He was able to find my stepfather's real name and age, what he actually does, why he was here, and his last known location in Anwood.

While reading the file Snow sent about my stepfather, I learned that his real name is Dalston Stoke, he is 34 years old, and he is the right hand man of a small-time drug lord named Elijah Miller in Las Vegas.

Miller found out that Dalston had stolen four million dollars from him and had also given information about his daily dealings to his enemies, which resulted in Miller being arrested and imprisoned for two years, but he managed to get out by pulling some strings and now wants Dalston's head for betraying him, so Dalston had no choice but to run away; he was on the run until he came across Anwood and decided it would be a great place to hide.

While settling in Anwood, he met my mother while selling drugs to her, and they married after a few weeks; instead of taking his last name, he took hers to create a new identity because he believed no one would ever search the house of a single mother who was addicted to drugs for him.

Dalton thought he had successfully escaped, but Miller found him a few weeks after he was released from jail and sent out some people to get rid of him, but my mother was also at home that night and was shot while they were trying to get rid of Dalston.

I couldn't care less about their feud. All I want is for whoever shot my mother to pay for what he did.

A knock on the door jolted me out of my reverie, and I turned to see who had just entered; it was the nurse working the night shift at the front desk.

Her name is Amanda, and Nurse Sam introduced her to me yesterday as she was leaving work because Amanda would be in charge of the ICU department reception this night.

"How are you doing, Austin?" She asked, a small smile on her face.

"Good, I guess, and you?"

"I'm fine, thank you"

"You have visitors in the waiting room; they pleaded with me to come get you because they aren't allowed up here."

"And they didn't tell you their names?" I was perplexed as to why the guys didn't want to tell her their names when they were already registered. Could it be someone else? But who? I don't know anyone in this town who cares enough about us to come visit.

"No, they just said you'd know who they are if I came to tell you that you had visitors."

"Oh, I see, it must be my friends; I'll go see them, thanks, Nurse Amanda."

"No problem, kid," she said as she walked away, leaving me to my thoughts; the whole situation felt shady, but I needed to go see who it was; it could be the guys playing a prank.

When I arrived at the reception and couldn't see anyone I knew. So I walked up to Nurse Amanda to ask where they were.

"Hey Nurse Amanda, please where are they?"

"They moved to the cafeteria"

"Thank you," I said as I walked over to the cafeteria. My gaze scanned the room and I couldn't find the guys anywhere; perhaps Nurse Amanda made a mistake.

I turned to walk away when I heard someone say my name. I turned around to see two men I didn't recognise walking towards me.

"Hello, Austin"

"Do I know you?" I asked, taking my time to assess their appearance. They didn't seem to be from around here judging by their appearance.

"Who we are is unimportant; what our boss wants, on the other hand, should be of interest to you." The older one said.

"Who might your boss be?" I asked, genuinely curious as to why these men had come to help me.

"Elijah Miller," the older one said, and I felt the blood drain from my face; were they here to finish off my mother or kill us both to hide their trace? I thought as I tried to keep my face emotionless so they wouldn't see my fear, I might want revenge, but I'm not stupid enough not to fear a man like Elijah Miller.

"I can tell by your body language that you know who he his," the younger ones commented

"And if I do? I have no business with him.

"However, your stepfather does, which is the reason your mother is currently lying in that bed" the older one said.

"If you're here to make things worse than they already are, leave now or we will have a problem," I said, feeling my blood start to boil at his audacity for even thinking he could talk about my mother's condition when it's their fault she is here.

"I understand your anger; your mother wasn't the intended target; Dalton was, and you have my apologies, because my boss doesn't like it when innocent bystanders are hurt, the guys who made the mistake are already dead." the older one said

"I see," I said, feeling a slight weight lift from my shoulder at least half of my work is done, the guys who hurt mum are dead even if it was done in an unconventional way, "I'm sure you didn't come all the way here to tell me that, so why are you really here?"

"To ask if you know where Dalton is?" The younger one said

"Trust me, if I knew where that bastard was, I would have told the cops a long time ago, and he would be behind bars,"

"Hmmm," the older one said, his gaze focused on me, then he sighed and turned to his partner, "he isn't lying, let's get back to the boss."

"That's it?"

"Yes, that's it, obviously you don't know where Dalton is because we both know what would happen to him if you did," the younger one said.

"You talk like you know me."

"Trust me kid, we know everything; it comes with the job. I'm sorry your mother was hurt and hope she recovers, but if you find Dalton, call this number," he said as he handed me a black card with one phone number written in gold on it.

"Take care kid, and don't tell the cops about our little meeting, you don't want to get those idiots involved," the older ones warned.

"And what if I go running to them after you leave?"

"I know you aren't stupid, kid; you have people you want to protect, and Dalton isn't on that list, so be a good kid and hand Dalton over to us and let us deal with him as we see fit."

"How do I know you won't come back for my mother and me after I hand over Dalton to you?"

"Even if the movies portray us as bad guys, we never go after innocent people who have done nothing wrong; you just have to keep quiet and go about your business after we leave with Dalton and we won't have a reason to come back."

"Trust me, it won't be a problem."

"Good, we'll be in touch picasso," the older one said, and shock washed over me because the name he called me was what I was called in juvie, they really do know about me, it wasn't a bluff.

The two men left me in the cafeteria with my jumbled thoughts; if I surrendered Dalston to Mr Miller, he would be a dead man and that would satisfy my vengeance, but it would make me an accomplice to murder; if I surrendered him to the police, there was a chance they wouldn't do shit and he could come after me and my mother for going to the police.

What was I going to do? I rubbed my hands down my face in frustration. I need a second opinion, but telling the guys will endanger them.

Fuck! A frustrated sigh left my lips as I walked out of the cafeteria to return to my mother's room, but as I entered the lift, I heard a very familiar voice call my name.

"Austin"

I turned around to see Shane running up to me, with a huge smile on his face, he jumped on me and gave me the tightest bear hug I'd ever had, and I felt all my worries wash away as I returned his hug. We were there for a few minutes before he pulled away.

"Hello, Austin, I've missed you."

"I was only gone for a day, kid; you couldn't have missed me that much."

"No, we missed you soooo much, the house isn't the same without  you" Shane signed, and I felt my heart swell; being around them made everything okay, no matter how bad the situation was.

"He isn't lying, Austin, everything isn't the same without you," Athena said as she walked up to me and pulled me into a hug, "How are you holding up?"

"I'm doing my best to hold it together, Red, how are you?"

"I almost got in trouble, but it was worth it," Athena blurted out, and I couldn't help but laugh; my little Red had turned rebellious, and I had only been gone for a day.

"What happened?" Red"

"She hit a douchebag named Sam and he deserved it," Leo replied as he pulled me into a hug.

I clung to him as if my life depended on it. Leo was more than a friend to me; he was gradually becoming my brother, and it felt good to have him by my side, to have all of them by my side right now.

"What did the jerk do to you that you had to hit him?"I asked, as I felt my anger resurface, can't those jerks just leave her alone, so she can have the normal life she deserves.

"Hmm, he didn't do anything to me," she responded,

"I'm confused; he must have done something."

"He said shit about you and your mum, and before you ask, what he said isn't relevant, so I won't repeat it," Leo said before continuing the story, "so our little Red here got mad and smacked him around with his history textbook, giving him a bloody nose and a very bruised up face."

When he finished speaking, a huge grin spread across my face, not only because she stood up for me, but also because she finally fought back, even if it was for my sake.

"Is that so?" I said as I walked up to her, picking her up in my hands and twirling her around for a few minutes before setting her down, "I'm so proud of you, Red, how much damage did she do to his face?"

"He's probably going to be out of school for a while," Leo said proudly as he looked down at Athena who had the cutest smile on her face. I'm so happy to have them in my life.

"No one talks bad about my family," Athena said as she took a seat and placed the bag she was carrying on the floor beside her.

"Remind me not to piss you off, I like my face the way it is," I said, causing everyone to laugh and Athena to stick her tongue out at me.

My happiness was short-lived when memories of my mother and everything that had happened flooded my mind, and I felt a dark cloud form in my mind, causing me to become lost in my head once more.

"Austin?" Leo said.

"Yes,"

"Everything will be fine, trust me; she will wake up and everything will return to normal, and you will go back to bugging all of us and being your crazy self."

"Thank you for being here; it means a lot to me."

"There is no other place we'd rather be, Austin," Athena said, taking my hands in hers and gently squeezing down to comfort me.

I'll make certain they're safe, and that Dalton or Mr Miller don't ruin our lives.