White Raven

Chapter Four: The Second Job

Luke was released from the hospital the next day and his truck mysteriously showed up at his house the day after that. There were still no leads about who attacked Luke and he claimed that the last thing he remembered was getting gas on his way out of Chicago. Lucky for Luke's story amnesia just happened to be a common side-effect for head injuries.

Maddie also headed back to school, but not before telling Juliana about her break-up with Beau. Juliana was more heartbroken than anyone and even tried to convince Maddie to take a few years off of school to start a family. Apparently, a woman could be considered a spinster if she made it to twenty-five without getting married. Who knew?

Ary took her mother's moment of depression to escape back to Chicago for a day. It had been nearly a week since Rave had accepted her offer and she wanted to make sure he had kept up on his side of the deal. Five days was plenty of time to get back in with the Bloodbaths, or at least make himself a target on their radar.

This time Ary came prepared. She was wearing baggy gym shorts and an oversized hoodie sweatshirt. Rave could mock her attire all he wanted, but there was no way he could find anything s****l about it. She also had a tazer hidden in the pouch of her hoodie, just in case.

Ary was going to head straight for the elevator when she noticed something at the back of the warehouse. A tarp was covering something that hadn't been there on her last visit. Curious by nature, Ary made a little detour on her way up to see Rave. As she got closer, it became obvious that the tarp was covering a car. So, Rave went out and got himself a new toy with the ten grand she gave him.

She was in the process of yanking the tarp off of the car when she heard the screech of the elevator moving. Panicked, she slid the tarp back into place and jumped behind one of the pallets of timber. It was a wonder she was so good at stealing and lying when she acted so jumpy all the time.

Standing on tip toes, she peered over the stack of wood and waited for whoever was on the elevator to get out. It seemed to take forever for the elevator doors to open, or maybe it just seemed that way because Ary was an impatient person.

Finally the doors opened and out stepped Rave. Ary couldn't help but to be a little disappointed. She was kind of hoping for some gangster badass to step out, but at least Rave was fully clothed this time. He was wearing dark wash jeans and a black t-shirt that clung to his defined muscles. He looked hot, and the dark stubble on his jaw just accentuated the mysterious stranger look he had going for him.

"Hey, Rave," Ary called, stepping out from her hiding spot.

Rave didn't seem startled to see her. Good. She didn't need him whipping out a gun and accidentally shooting her. His gaze studied her ridiculous attire before settling on her face and that's when she noticed he had a yellow and green bruise just beneath his left eye.

"How'd you get that?" Ary asked, nodding towards his fading bruise.

"The current leader of the Bloodbaths," Rave shrugged, playing it cool.

"Oh, good," Ary replied, happily. Rave frowned at her. "You deserve to be sucker punched every once in a while," she told him.

"I'm getting friendly with my gang again, what more do you want from me?" Rave snapped. He didn't seem too happy with her response.

"Actually, I have a few questions for you," Ary replied, grinning.

"I'm a little busy at the moment. How bout a rain check?" Rave smirked as he walked past her, towards the mystery car.

"No problem, I'll just tag along," Ary said, moving to follow him.

Rave spun around to glare at her. "You are not coming with me anywhere," he growled. Ary just raised an eyebrow in question, not at all afraid by his sudden outburst.

"Okay," Ary held up her hands in defeat and took a step backwards. "I'll just wait for you here, then."

"Do whatever you want," Rave snapped, turning away from her and going over to his car. He ripped the tarp off and Ary's mouth dropped open. He went out and got himself a brand new Chevy Camaro with a sleek coat of black paint and tinted windows, while she was stuck driving a car that looked like it came from the inside of someone's nose.

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Ary spent the next few hours searching through Rave's entire loft, looking for any incriminating evidence on him. Besides for a few skin mags and an unhealthy amount of weapons and ammunition there wasn't much she could go on. The place was void of any personal belongings and she had yet to find a hidden room anywhere so there wasn't much more she could do.

She decided to take a look at the nudey mags after she finished her survey of the area and she was still flipping through them when Rave got back half an hour later.

"Make yourself at home," Rave mumbled when he saw her sprawled out on his sofa, dirty magazine in hand.

"Oh don't worry, I did," Ary shot him a grin as she sat the magazine on the floor next to the couch. "Did you have a lovely afternoon out on the town?" She asked, sweetly.

"You know, it's not a very smart idea for a young woman like yourself to be alone with a man in his apartment, with no neighbors to hear you scream," Rave gave her a dark look as he slowly walked towards her.

"Are we really gonna do this again?" Ary inquired, raising her chin in defiance.

"You're pretty good, I'll give you that, but I think we both know who's going to win this fight," Rave stopped when he was just mere inches away from her and she had to tilt her head back to look him in the eye, "You have a pretty decent face, Arabella," he murmured, raising his hand to cup her cheek.

Ary smiled up at Rave and she knew he took it as an invitation because he smiled in triumph and slowly lowered his mouth to hers. His lips hovered above hers and she could feel his warm breath on her face, and for the briefest moment she wanted to let him kiss her, but then reality came crashing back and she remembered exactly who the man in front of her was.

Ary grabbed Rave by the wrist and spun him around, holding his arm behind his back. Then she used all of her strength and shoved him to the ground, face down. When he was lying fully on the ground she straddled his waist, keeping a firm hand pressed into his lower back while she used her free hand to pull out the tazer.

"You need an itch scratched, then you go out and find yourself a w***e because I'm not playing your games," Ary hissed into his ear. She held the tazer close to the skin on the back of his neck and turned it on. She knew he felt the electricity because his body jerked beneath her.

"Sooner or later you'll be begging me to f**k you," Rave growled, his body growing tense.

"Maybe, maybe not," she shrugged, coolly. "But for now I need your help and I'd appreciate it if you could try and keep our relationship strictly professional," Ary said, digging the palm of her hand into his lower back.

"Damn it!" he groaned out in pain. "Get the f**k off me!" he shouted.

"Okay," Ary hopped off his back and took a couple big steps away from the fuming Rave.

"You-" Rave took a threatening step towards her.

"Hey now," Ary flashed the tazer in front of his face. He stopped in his tracks. "We're gonna play nice from now on, alright?" She gave him a stern look.

"You're playing with fire here, little girl," Rave said through gritted teeth.

"I know," Ary agreed, dropping the cocky attitude. "But you're the only one who can help me, so I'm stuck fighting through the flames," she sighed.

Rave's anger quickly dissipated as he studied the woman in front of him. She looked tired and worn out and he felt a slight pang of guilt for his actions. It wasn't enough to make him apologize, but it was enough for him to get irritated by the feeling.

"What did you want to talk about?" Rave asked, scratching his chin. His voice was gruff and he avoided looking her in the eye.

"Now that you're back in with the Bloodbaths, I need you to get in close with this guy," Ary pulled out her phone and showed Rave a picture of a man in his early twenties with curly brown and bright green eyes.

"Who is he?" Rave asked, giving her a curious look.

"Just a guy," Ary shrugged. Rave raised an eyebrow in question. "He's just a guy that you need to become best friends with. His name is Lucas Lawson and he was just recently initiated into the gang."

"Is this your boyfriend I'm spying on?" Rave asked.

"No!" Ary objected quickly. That didn't seem to convince Rave. "Damn it man, can't you get off my s*x life for just one minute!?" she exclaimed.

"So, he's just a guy you're sleeping with?" Rave pressed.

"I'm about to give you another black eye, Colt!" Ary threatened. It was the first time she called him by his last name, which is what everyone called him. No one actually knew his fist name, except for Ary and he still had no idea how she found that one out.

"Whatever. I don't care if you have a boyfriend or not as long as it's my bed you're ending up in," he shrugged, casually. Ary just stared open mouthed at him. "So, how much am I getting paid for this?"

Ary stared at him for another minute before she snapped back to reality. Glaring at Rave she reached into the pocket of her gym shorts and pulled out another wad of cash, just like the others that Rave had gotten. She tossed it at him. He caught it easily.

"I really hope this guy is worth all the money you're dishing out," Rave smirked at her.

"He's not my boyfriend, and if you don't shut up, I'm going to taze you just for the fun of it," Ary snapped, brandishing her tazer again.

"You wouldn't dare," Rave narrowed his eyes, studying her.

"Try me," she said, giving him a cocky grin.

Rave wanted so badly to keep teasing her, but he knew she wouldn't hesitate to use that on him. She wasn't the type to kill someone unless absolutely necessary, but she was the type who enjoyed watching a man squirm. He'd had enough shock for one day.

"Good-bye, Arabella," Rave said, stepping out of her way.

"Good-bye, Raven," Ary smiled as she headed towards the elevator. "As always, it was a pleasure doing business with you," she added on her way out.

Rave watched as Ary disappeared into the elevator, a genuine smile plastered on his face. She might be a constant torment in his dreams, but she always left him feeling a little more human every time he saw her.