Page 86 of Betraying Bexley

Epilogue

Six months later...

Bex stepped out of the training room and began untapping her hands. Between the self-defense courses, modified for her prosthetic and the therapy sessions with Dr. Joiner, her confidence had been growing in leaps and bounds, but she really chalked it up to having Mateo and Noah in her life along with Bronx and Alé. She grabbed her water bottle off the bench and took a couple of swallows then continued on to the locker room.

Since she arrived six months ago, there had been small modifications around the base, specifically for her, including shower stalls she could use. Once she was undressed, she wrapped a towel around her and went into the shower to clean up. It was a little surreal still, being there, with all of them. Graduation would be coming soon for the high school. Because they didn’t send her the diploma when she checked out, the principal asked if she could pick it up in person with the other kids. Bex had been hesitant, then agreed. She knew it would be something Mateo and Noah might enjoy since they’d officially adopted her a month ago, making everything final.

When she was done showering, she got dressed and headed to the apartment. She had a few hours before she had a class with Noah. He’d taken her under his wing. He noticed she had a stillness about her and wanted to introduce her to his world. Of course, Mateo was against the idea in the beginning. A girl being a sniper. A girl who had a disability and wouldn’t be able to get out of a situation as quick as Noah could, worried her dad. But, after seeing her and Noah together on the range, and the training he’d put her through, there was no denying she enjoyed it. It centered her, as crazy as it sounded. Plus, it wasn’t like she was going to go out and kill people, she’d also learned non-lethal take downs too. The only time she’d find her perch was when they were on a mission and they needed a lookout. It kept her from being seen. As Asher put it, some might be able to recognize her.

She opened the door to her apartment and found Mateo and Noah mid make out session in the kitchen. She took a step back, ready to leave when Noah called out to her, stopping her. “Are you done with your MMA class?”

“S-Sorry,” she muttered, joining them in the kitchen. “C-Cockblocking.”

Noah chuckled. “Don’t worry, kid. I came home for some lunch. We have a meeting in an hour.”

“Oh.” She reached into the fridge for a tea. “W-What’s for lunch?”

“Sandwiches,” Mateo answered, rolling his eyes. “Before I was rudely interrupted.”

She laughed. “I’m starving.”

“You’re bulking up,” Noah said. “The more muscle you put on, the more you have to eat.”

Muscle? Was she? She glanced down at herself and noticed for the first time her abs and the muscles in her thigs and calf. “Oh.”

Noah scrubbed her head. “You look good, Bex. You should be proud of yourself. Training your body and mind will always give you an edge. Plus, it appears you didn’t even realize what you were doing while becoming a stronger version of yourself.”

“Bet Alé and Bronx like it.” Mateo handed her a plate with a turkey on rye and some chips.

Come to think of it, they had been complimenting her on her body, but they always had so it hadn’t clicked for her. “T-They do.” She joined Noah at the table. “Y-You going on a mission again?”

He shook his head. “I’m commanding a mission, but from here. You, on the other hand, are getting your marching orders.”

She placed her sandwich back on the plate. “M-Me?”

“Yep.” He opened the pocket of his uniform shirt and pulled out a set of dog tags. “You’re moving up in the world.”

Bex took the silver chain from him and peered at the tags. Each one had her name, her information and SRT pressed into them. She took a closer look at the bottom and gasped. Sniper-B. She stared back at Noah then Mateo. “These are mine?”

“Yep. Consider them your official seal of approval from Asher and the team.” Noah beamed with pride. “You’ve worked your ass off Bex. There’s no denying it. You’ve showed us, all of us, what being a part of R.O.O.T. and SRT means to you. You didn’t think we wouldn’t recognize it, did you?”

She stared at the metal in her hands, shocked and humbled. “I’m really going on a mission?”

“With your team? You bet,” Noah said. “AJ and Scotty will be with you while I am here watching your back. Are you ready?”

She nodded while donning the tags. “D-Definitely.”

Bex stepped into C&C for the first time as a member of R.O.O.T and SRT and sat at one of the open chairs around the conference table. Noah took his position next to Asher while the others filtered into the room. She hadn’t been able to stop looking at her tags since the minute Noah handed them to her. Belonging and pride filled her. It seemed like so long ago she’d been a simpering girl who kept getting knocked on her ass instead of standing up for herself.

Alé and Bronx joined her, taking her hands under the table. Later she’d show them the gift Noah had given her, but she was determined to learn everything she could about their new mission—technically her first. When AJ and Scotty joined them, Asher closed the door and turned down the lights. The projector whirled to life and the photo of a kid, no more than maybe fifteen or sixteen appeared on the screen. He had black hair streaked in purple, teal, and pink and sad, soulful blue eyes. He also had snake bite piercings and one in his brow along with 8-gauge piercings in his ears. He looked like a typical teenager, or what she’d consider a typical teenager, considering her knowledge of what could be considered normal was skewed thanks to Raul.

AJ handed her a folder then gave them out to the others. She opened it and started reading over the initial information for the case. The kid—Sergio Pershing, came from a well to do area. He had two sisters and an older brother in the military. Bex blinked. She knew his brother, Omar Pershing. He’d been one of the men who cared for her with Noelle. She set aside the knowledge and continued reading the information. Three weeks ago, his sister, Camilla, disappeared after attending a party not sanctioned by the high school they attended.

“Sergio Pershing is your target. He’s sixteen and a junior at Cascadia High School in West Hollywood. This school is high dollar. This place is like Beverly Hills High on a smaller scale, but just as rich,” Asher said, replacing the mark’s picture with one of the high school. “This is where you’ll be enrolling. Like with Bex, you’ll befriend Sergio, see what kind of information he can give you then work the case.”

“Do we have a contact inside the school?” Alé asked.

“You do. His name is Henry Appleton. He is the guidance counselor. You’ll also have a West Hollywood detective as your contact. His name is Gaspar Higgins. He’s been tracking the drug activity within the school for the last year.”

---