Page 107 of Redemption

“Please,” Elijah says. “I tried that, and he looked at me like I had two heads.”

I burst out laughing. “Yeah, that sounds about right. Don’t worry, we’ve got this.” Something occurs to me, and I add, “Shit, can you take Shadow with you guys on this job?”

He nods. “Yeah, we’re integrating into the community and going undercover, but fortunately that means that this time we’re doing the whole suburbia thing, and having a dog actually fits in very well.”

“Good. Pete would really miss Shadow if he couldn’t come,” I say, trying not to get sad about the fact that Pete’s going and Shadow is too. I mean, of course he is, it just hadn’t occurred to me. “You’ll call us if shit starts to get a little shady. I mean, more so than it already is?”

Elijah nods, “Of course, just like always.”

“Call us too,” Jynx says seriously. “You know how well connected I am. Just say the word, and I’ll have someone to you within twenty minutes half hour maximum. We can deal with the consequences of me helping out after. We’re family, and you’re effectively disappearing for probably a year or more. So if you need backup fast, you fucking call me, got it?”

Elijah smiles and pulls her in for a hug. “I’ve got it, and I will. I’m not taking any unnecessary risks. Thanks, Jynx.”

“Of course,” she replies. “Now go and escape before it’s too late.”

We’re silent for a moment as we watch him leave.

“I really hope he calls you if they need backup quickly,” I say quietly. I always worry about any of them when they go on a job, but this is the longest time that they’re going to be away for, and they’ll be in danger the whole time. I really don’t like it.

And Pete’s going with them.

“He will. I told Pete the same thing yesterday,” Jynx replies. “If one of them doesn’t, the other one will. Plus, I know the guys have told Callan, Marty and Noel the same thing, so one of them should.”

I chuckle, “Yeah, you’re right. Hopefully they won’t need to though.”

“Fingers crossed,” Jynx replies. “Alright, let’s go and see what kind of state our bestie has gotten himself into.”

We turn and head into the house and message the guys to give them a heads-up that Elijah and Shadow are on the way up and why.

They all wish us luck.

I would laugh, but we’re probably going to need it.

“Oh my god,” Jynx says as soon as we walk in and see stuff thrown around the living room. “There are piles of things everywhere. It looks like they’ve been robbed.”

“That’s rude,” Pete says indignantly as he comes down the stairs.

“Pete, honey, do me a favor, pull yourself out of your panic for just a moment and look at the state of your living room,” I say, making Zemi smirk as she waves in greeting.

Pete scowls at me and then looks at the front room, his eyes widening. “Oh shit, you’re right. We’re leaving early in the morning, and it’s already one, and we’ve got to be up at yours soon, and I don’t want to leave the house a mess.”

“Whoa,” Zemi says loudly, “Calm down. We’ve got this, there are four of us here. This really isn’t a big deal.”

“Zemi’s right,” Jynx says. “We can help you finish packing, load your bags in the car, and then we can come back and sort this out so you’re coming back to a nice clean home and not this mess.”

Pete takes a deep breath. “Okay, thank you, guys.”

We spend the rest of the afternoon doing exactly that, as well as reminiscing, laughing, and crying. There is lots of crying, both with laughter and with sadness. It genuinely feels like the end of an era, but then again, I suppose that’s because it is.

We do manage to convince Pete to unpack one bag that was just full of shoes, considering he already had one that was full of shoes. He eventually agreed that taking two bags of shoes with him really did seem unnecessary.

It took so long to convince him though, that we drew the line at that and didn’t bother to try to get him to unpack anything else, it all fit into the car, and we all considered that a win.

“I can’t believe we’re going to be late for my own going away party,” Pete says, sounding more amused than annoyed as we pull up to the house.

“Well, someone,” Jynx says, giving Pete a look. “Shouldn’t have practically destroyed his whole house packing.”

“Rude,” Pete teases. He glances around at all the cars, “Looks like everyone is here.”