Chapter Eight

I regretted agreeing to this mission, I thought when we pulled into Long Beach. There seemed to be paparazzi everywhere, looking for their next celebrity victim.

"Okay, so there is a wealthy part of town and a not so wealthy side. Matt says we are heading to the wealthy side," Joey said, looking at his phone.

"Oh, great. So, they judge people in this place. It's basically Gossip Girl," I said, rolling my eyes. I mean, c'mon, we all know about the Upper Eastside.

"They don’t judge people, you’re just dramatic. It’s life.” Joey said shaking his head. I only shrugged in response.

"Oh, Riley! Look out the window! It's Clover Thompson!" Joseph said.

"Who's that?" I asked with a raised eyebrow at Joey's excitement. I slowed down a little so I could take a quick look.

"You know, Lucky, the supermodel! Can we please stop and get her autograph?" Joseph begged.

I just shook my head and sighed. "Maybe after. Anyway, she looks busy doing some type of commercial," I pointed out and this time it was his turn to sigh.

"Fine, the house is on the next street, I think. The address is 9873 Kingston Road."

"Okay, I don't understand why this kid would join a gang. These people obviously have lots of money," Joseph said.

"Probably a kid who wants to party, get drunk, and fight. He probably thought the solution to that would be to join a gang," I said as we got out of the car.

"Oh, my goodness, you're finally here! I thought I would be dead by the time you got here. Geez! I called you in like three weeks ago! Hurry up and get inside! Now!" the lady said as she slammed the car door closed and grabbed our arms, pulling us inside. Joey and I shared a look.

"Listen, ma'am, calm down," I said, pulling my arm out of her tight grip.

"Calm down? Calm down!? My son is in danger! He is only sixteen years old and his life is at risk and you want me to calm down!" she yelled at me with tears filling her eyes.

"Listen, ma'am…"

"Sarah."

"Listen, Sarah, I understand you're worried about your son but don't worry. We are the best in the business," Joey said.

"You better be or else I will sue," she threatened, glaring at us.

"Well, we are. Now, we need you to take a deep breath and sit down and we'll ask you a few simple questions. Sound good?" I asked, not really caring if it was.

I observed the young woman carefully. She looked to be young, early twenties even. How did she have a sixteen-year-old son already?

"I'm not stupid you know. I’m Lucky's manager, so I'm obviously not crazy," she said, flipping her blond hair over her shoulder and sitting down.

"We don't think you're crazy. We just think you're a worried mother," Joseph said, as we sat on the white plush couch across from her.

"Well, thank you. Now what are the questions you need me to answer because I have a meeting with two new potential clients," she said, looking at her phone.

I narrowed my eyes at the woman. Two minutes ago, she was almost in tears over this whole thing.

"Like who?” Joey asked.

She waved him off in response. “Not important.”

"Okay, so the first question is, what school does he go to?" I asked, getting on subject.

She gave me a flat look. "He goes to Falcon High," she said matter-of-factly, and Joey quickly scribbled it on the blue notebook he had.

"Of course, and do you know how long he has been involved in this gang?" I asked.

"I think it's been about ten months at least," she responded with a frown. "Mandy, can I get three cups of tea?" she asked, talking to the maid who came out of nowhere. The maid nodded before heading into the kitchen.

"Has his attitude changed at all?" I asked.

"Definitely!" she said. "He’s had a rough life, but even with everything he’s faced he still was a nice perky boy. I never saw him without a smile on his face. That was until this whole thing started. Now he goes to all these parties and he even swears!" she said, with tears forming in her eyes again. Joey gave me a look at the last part, I knew what he was thinking, but I didn’t comment on it and stayed focused as the maid, Mandy, set three cups of tea down on the table, and I quickly thanked her.

“You mentioned he’s had a rough life?” I commented.

She chewed on her lip nervously, “I didn’t want to share this, but as you’ve probably noticed, he’s not my biological son. I’m only twenty-three. My close friend owns a foster home and about a year ago, when I was visiting her I met him. The guilt that I felt can’t be described, so I adopted him. He’s old enough to take care of himself when I’m away for business and I love him already like he’s my very own. The most I know about his biological parents is they left him there with no contact information.” She explained and I listened intently.

“And what’s the name of this foster home?” I asked curiously.

“Leah’s Fostering” She named it easily.

I nodded, watching as Joey wrote the name down.

“That’s actually all we need to know.” I said standing up.

“Thank you," Joseph said, standing up as well as he shook her hand.

"We'll get your son out of this mess as soon as possible," I said.

"Thank you so much! You two are too sweet. I guess I won't have to sue you," she said, smiling widely. I was about to open my mouth to retort, but Joey just shook his head.

"We will get back to you as soon as possible. Goodbye, Sarah," we said with a quick wave. As soon as the door shut, we gave each other a look.

"I have dealt with a lot of crazy people in my life on missions, but I must say she basically topped them all," I said, and Joey nodded in agreement.

"We need to get out of here so we can go back to the normal stuff," I said.

Joey laughed. "What normal stuff, Riles? I mean, nothing is normal in our lives. That’s like saying the zombie apocalypse in the Walking Dead was normal."

"You're right. Our lives are not normal, and I'm almost positive they never will be, which is why we have to get used to that fact. I mean, Rick Grimes is used to his lifestyle at this point."

He nodded. We were huge Walking Dead fans, don't judge.

-------------

We were sitting outside of the school, waiting for it to let out so we could get some more information from Calum.

"So, basically, this may only take a few days?" I asked with my right eyebrow raised.

Joey smiled innocently. "Cole actually said you didn't have to come if you didn't want to because this mission is so short. I doubt it will even take that long."

"Joseph!" I hissed with a scowl.

"Riley!" Joey said, smiling innocently.

"You know that doesn't work on me, Joey," I said, still scowling.

"Yeah, but, hey, you got to leave for a while," he said brightly.

"You do know that I haven't gotten any sleep whatsoever," I said and he just continued to smile.

About an hour later, I groaned, unbuckling my seatbelt.

"Hey, wait, where are you going?" Joey asked with a panicked tone, quickly unbuckling his seatbelt as well.

"I am not going to sit here and wait for this kid. I'm just going in to get him," I said, annoyed while opening the car door.

"Wait! You can't just go in there with all black on and guns and knives obviously showing. Do you want to get arrested?" Joey asked, giving me a crazy look.

"Don't give me that look. I am not some crazy lady and I'm not stupid, Joseph. I was gonna change," I said, rolling my eyes, and this time, it was his turn to scowl.

"Stop calling me Joseph!" he said and it was my turn to smile innocently. I shut the car door and went to the trunk to grab some extra clothes. I grabbed my only normal outfit, which was a knee-length, blue jean skirt, a black long-sleeved shirt, which I tucked in, and a pair of gray heels that were only half an inch. I slid in the back seat of the car and with only little struggle, I managed to change. I got out of the car after a few minutes and Joey staring at me with a look I couldn't understand.

"What?" I asked, feeling a little insecure.

“Uh, nothing," he said nervously. "I just can't believe you changed in the parking lot.” He said.

"It was in the car and we're the only two people out here right now. It’s not a big deal. Now hurry up and change."

He quickly changed his shirt so he was only in a white regular t- shirt and black jeans. He removed all his weapons and gadgets and put them in the bag.

While he worked on that, I grabbed my phone and sent Sarah a quick text from the number given to me and informed her we were taking her son out of school. After that was done, I looked up the school number before calling the attendance office to pull him out of school.

"Done," Joey said, smiling brightly. I held up a finger, signaling him to wait. After the conversation was finished with the woman on the phone, I hung up and we gave it about five minutes before we decided to move in.

"Okay, let's go," I said, nodding toward the door. He slammed the trunk and we started to walk toward the door.

"Wait!" Joey said for about the millionth time today, causing me to let out a long, annoyed groan.

"What?" I snapped.

He held up his hands in surrender. "Nothing.”

"I’m hoping I look a bit older. Like I’m in my twenties, at least," I said, applying dark red lipstick. "I am going to pretend to be his aunt."

“You’ll pass.”

"Hello, what can I do for you?" the secretary asked, smiling brightly once we were inside after they buzzed us in.

"Hi, I'm here to pick up my sister’s son for a doctor’s appointment, Calum Kayto," I said.

She smiled brightly. "Oh, right. That was quick. She just called. He is in room 236 with Mr. Reagan. I'll get one of my assistants to go get him."

"Oh, no, it's fine. I can go get him. I’m an alumni here, I definitely know my way around.” I lied. “I'll make sure I bring him back to sign out," I said giving her a friendly smile.

"I guess that's okay, but make sure to bring him back." She said warily.

"Do you want me to come with you, honey?" Joey asked, and I stifled a laugh when he said honey.

"No, it's okay, darling, I'll be back with Calum in a few minutes," I said and he just rolled his eyes.

"Okay, only if you're sure, cupcake."

I gave him a glare, but I made sure it was replaced by a smile before the secretary noticed. I walked out of the office and started looking for room 236. Beforehand, while waiting in the car, we were able to get access to the building layout. It was one of the perks we got as agents, we have access to any house and any buildings structure plan. I quickly found it about six rooms down. I knocked on the door and a man who seemed to be in his thirties with a little bit of gray hair came to the door.

"Hello, are you Mr. Reagan?" I asked and soon everyone in the classroom had their eyes on me. I mentally rolled my eyes as a few guys whistled. I notice Calum was one of them.

"Yes, yes, I am, and you are?" he asked.

"I'm April Waters," I said, using my fake name. "I'm here to get Calum Kayto."

Calum's eyes widened before going back to unemotional. He grabbed all his stuff and started heading over.

"Would you like the work you're gonna miss, Mr. Kayto?" Mr. Reagan asked him.

Calum just laughed sarcastically. "Hell, no."

"He used to be such a great kid," Mr. Reagan mumbled to himself as Calum left the room.

"I'll take his work and I'll make sure to give it to him," I said.

"No, you won't," Calum yelled from halfway down the hall. I held back a glare and gave Mr. Reagan a fake smile.

"Oh, thank you, Ms. Waters. Have a lovely day," Mr. Reagan said, handing me the papers.

"Thanks, you, too," I said before walking off.

As soon as he shut the door to his classroom, a scowl replaced the fake smile on my face as I stalked over to where Calum was waiting.

"So, who are you and what do you want?" he asked, not even looking at me.

I clenched my jaw, annoyed for too many reasons to count. "For now, you will know me as your aunt who is here to pick you up for a doctor’s appointment," I said sternly.

He rolled his eyes before starting to head to the office. We walked in and Joey raised his eyebrow as if asking what was wrong as he noticed my clenched jaw and my glare.

I just shook my head.

"I hope you all have a lovely day. Have fun at your appointment, Calum," the receptionist said sweetly.

"I won't," he said shortly, and I'm pretty sure steam was almost coming out of my ears.

As soon as we were out of the school, I went off on him. "First of all, you have no respect for anyone older than you, which you definitely should and second of all, I could have been a complete creeper wanting to kidnap you, yet you just came with me without any worry in the world."

He just rolled his eyes at me.

"That's it!" I snapped, about to attack the kid, but Joey quickly grabbed my arms and held them behind my back, which did nothing as I flipped him over my head so he landed on the ground.

"Joseph, you think you would learn by now,” I sighed dramatically, and he just got up with a huff.

"Which car is yours?" Calum asked, and I just glared at him.

"This way," Joey said, leading the way and I scoffed at this.

"So, April, you're looking hot," Calum said and this time Joey glared at him. We all got in the car, and I closed my eyes and counted to ten before I said anything to him.

"Okay, Calum, I'm going to explain this once and only once. I'm Riley Scott and this is Joey Maxwell. We are agents your mother has hired to get you out of this gang business," I said and hope flashed through his eyes for a second, but it quickly disappeared and the blank look reappeared.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, shrugging.

"This is gonna take a while," Joey said, running his hands down his face with a sigh.

I nodded in agreement; a long while.