40. Paid job

The plan to go meet Carlos was ruined as I got a call from my mother. I had no option but to go back. Kay wanted to continue with the lead but I couldn't let her. It was something I had to do it on my own. So I decided that I would go meet him the next day after school. Sam easily agreed to that plan and decided that he would take me the next day.




I had no intention of involving Sam but he was the only one who knew about the address and could easily get me in Carlos house. There were jitters in my stomach at the thought of finding the real killer. After all, Damon could be free from his demons and his brother could come back to him. It made me feel like I did something right.




The article on my laptop was staring back at me. It felt therapeutic for me to write whatever I was feeling. I decided to go ahead and type everything that went on, since the moment we found out about the packhouse to Carlos. There was no way that I was handing it to Daniel but it was something I needed to do it on my own.




My phone rang with an unknown number after I was a few words into writing. It was strange.



"Hello?"



"Hi. It's Dean"



I sighed into the call, "Hi. What's up?"



"Did you find out about the tattoo?"



My eyes fell on the small clock on the wall. It had been several hours since I told him that I was going to look into the tattoos. How could I forget to call him about Carlos? Sometimes I was really scattered. I hummed into the call, hearing ragged breathing from the other side.




"Yeah. It's the logo of The Jacksons. Sam knows the guy so we're going to go and talk to him tomorrow"



Dean let out a breath, "That's great! Keep me updated on that thing."



"Sure will do. Are you still in the packhouse?"




"Yeah, I'm meeting my uncle today. He already knew about me. Can you believe that?"




I awkwardly chuckled because I kinda did. Mr Smith revealed that information in front of me. It completely slipped my mind to mention that to him while we were talking back in the woods. Besides he was already down about so many things.




"Yeah kinda. He opened up about when I was in the packhouse"




"Oh"



"I'm sorry" I clenched my eyes shut at his tone.



He cleared his throat, "Don't be. There's nothing you could have done. I'll talk to you later I guess"



"Yeah"



He hung up before I could say him goodbye. I sighed staring at the ceiling for a few seconds before my mother yelled from downstairs. It was dinner time.
***


The next day I was excited to see Damon. Ever since I found out through Dean that Damon loved me I wanted to confess as well. Maybe then he can give me a reasonable explanation for the stunt pulled back at the back house. Unfortunately, he was not at school. No one had seen him and he skipped the practice in the morning.




I didn't know how to feel about it. My stomach was filled with dread. Something felt off about the entire thing. Call it intuition or whatever but I had a feeling that something bad was happening. The thing is I had no idea whether it was about the sudden disappearance of Damon or the fact that we were meeting Carlos.





Before I could have the chance to think about it the school bell rang. Time to forget about everything and attend the lectures.
***

As soon as we were done with the lectures I tried to find Sam. He was going to be the one to take me to Carlos. We had a shared class but Sam was as always on the back seat so I had no chance to talk to him. Kay had cheerleading practice so she was back on the field.




I decided to wait in the hallway in case Sam exits from the boy's locker room. He can easily find me. In spite of that, I messaged him with the location.




Leaning against the wall I watched the students walk by, huge smiles on their faces. Just as I was about to look back on my phone I spotted Daniel. He waved at me from afar. My eyes widened and I pretended to not see him but he yelled my name and was rushing towards me. Great! He was the last person I wanted to see. What was I going to tell him if he asks about the case? Damn it!




My throat felt caught up as he neared me and I had no choice but to face him. He was holding a book in his hand and a huge smile on his face.




"Hey!"




"Oh hi, Daniel! What are you doing here?" I said in a fake surprised tone.




"In school?" He asked in an amused tone




"No duh. Here in the hallways. It's late" I looked around and noticed that it was almost empty with all the students filtered out.




"Guess?"



"Umm... I don't know" I lamely replied, shrugging my shoulders



"You're no fun" He shook his head and forwarded his book towards me. Scrunching my face I opened the book only to see a neat representation of the budget. My eyes widened when I spotted my name with the article mentioned next to it.





"What did you do?"




Daniel chuckled, not sensing the anger and shock in my voice, "I asked the principal to increase our magazine budget this year because of your story. At first, he seemed hesitant but then agreed. Isn't that great?"




"Daniel the story-"



He patted my shoulder, "I'm sure you'll do great. I cannot believe how huge this is going to be! All thanks to you"




I closed my mouth and hummed, "Yeah it's going to great"
***

Sam found me before I could say anything and we were at Carlos in less than twenty minutes. We weren't stopped at the security because of Sam.




"Hey, Sam! Is everything alright?" Carlos smiled as he invited us in. My eyes flickered towards his left arm and I slightly gasped. It was there. The tattoo. Still intact.




"Yeah. My friend wanted to meet you" Carlos stared at me and gave me a smile. He closed the door shut behind us. I looked around his house. It seemed expensive for someone who was an ex-member of the motorcycle club.




"Are you a fan?" Carlos questioned as we sat on the couch. I hummed.




Carlos chuckled, "Should've said a week earlier I cleared out all the stuff. Sam may help you get something if you want"




Sam shrugged and stared at me like he was willing to give all the three thousand stuff he bought from Carlos.




I shook my head, "I'm fine thank you. I wanted to talk to you instead"





"Okay." Carlos drawled settling comfortably on his seat. Sam squirmed as Carlos narrowed his eyes at my silence. I didn't know where to start.




"It's stupid to beat around the bush so I'm going to be straight forward with you"




Carlos chuckled, "What's going on kid?"



Taking a deep breath I blurted out, "Were you there with your leader on the night he died?"




"What?" Carlos screeched, his arms fell by his side and eyes widened. He stood up from his seat and pointed at the door.




"Get out now!"



"Please...just heart me out"




"Sam since I know you I'm asking you nicely just take her out" Carlos muttered, his jaw clenched. It was clear that I pushed his nerve with the way he was so pressed and on edge. He knew.




"I need to know Carlos. Were you with him?"




"What you need to know is the way out from there" He barked at me, his vein in forehead prominent and teeth gritted together.



Sam held my hand and pushed me back, "Let me talk"




"Carlos please just hear her out. I promise we won't ever bother you after this"




At his words, he slacked his shoulders and calmed down. Nodding his head he sat back down and I shot a smile in Sam's direction. Atleast I would be able to get the additional information. After I told Carlos about Damon and Dean and how they were struggling to find the real killers he was moved.




"I was there" He admitted after few seconds, guilt swimming in his eyes.




"Who hired you?"




"After Blake bloke made us famous no one wanted to associate with us because of the limelight. The motorcycle clubs don't get famous you know. We had no money and so many of them relied on us. Anthony got a call and the person said that they'll pay us as much as we demand. It was the offer we couldn't refuse you know"




He licked his lips, looking down at the floor, "Everything went down at that night. Anthony was pushed down and that kid ran away. It was so blurry after that. The police were already there so I had no choice but to run"




"Who was it? Who hired you?" I asked frantically but he shook his head. He stared at Sam and then finally met my eyes.




"You don't know what you are getting into kid. This is dangerous. I cannot reveal that information or I'll be dead. Just know that this is dangerous than you think."




"Please just give us the name" I pleaded but he shook his head.



"I'm sorry"
***