by Addison Jane
“When I took pictures of the DNA tests, I noticed that it was confirmed that he was Jay’s dad, but that it wasn’t his DNA used in the test,” Skins offered, reaching over and flicking to the next picture on his cell. “It looks like it was a sibling test.”
I narrowed my eyes on the screen. “So he has other kids, kids who know about Jay?” I read the name listed on the donor information, Amber Dean.
“It could be worth talking to them, see what kind of interactions they’ve had with Jayla’s grandparents,” Op suggested.
I raised my eyebrow. “You think they knew?”
He shrugged. “With this clusterfuck, I’m not ruling anything out. Maybe she didn’t tell them and they really are just assholes.”
“Or maybe she did tell them and they didn’t believe her,” Skins added.
“Jesus Christ. This shit is a mess,” I groaned before turning to Skins. “Get me an address.”
Skins nodded and headed out of the room. He still had contacts in the force, which at this stage, was going to work to my advantage in trying to track down Amber with Wrench still absent.
“We done?” Op asked, as he stood and stretched his body.
“Yeah, go back to your woman.”
He nodded, turning to walk away. Stopping at the foot of the staircase, he looked at me over his shoulder. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. And keep me informed.”
“So be a pussy-whipped bitch,” I countered with a smirk.
“Mother-fucker,” he grumbled as he moved up the staircase, leaving me alone in the dimly lit room.
The pretty young receptionist jumped as I slammed my palms down on her desk. She looked up and offered me a shaky smile. “C-can I help you?”
I grinned back. “I’m here to see Amber Dean.”
“Do you have an appointment?” she asked as her eyes moved to the computer.
“Nope. But if you could point me in the direction of her office, that would be great,” I replied smoothly.
Her hands shook as she reached for the phone on her desk. “I’m sorry, I’m going to call security if you don’t leave right now.”
Skins moved quickly, grabbing the chord of the phone and tugging it forcefully, so it pulled right out of the wall. He shrugged. “Oops.”
I chuckled. “Stay here. Don’t let anyone in, I’ll try to make this quick.”
He flashed a cheeky smirk at the sweating receptionist as he moved to the office door and flicked the lock. “No problem, we’ll get acquainted.” I saw her shudder, but with the way her eyes watched him I could tell she wasn’t entirely scared.
I headed down the hallway, it was only small and each office space had a name on the door. It didn’t take me long to find the right one. I turned the handle and pushed the door, which swung open with force, slamming back against the wall. A dark haired woman looked up at me beneath her lashes as she held a phone to her ear. Her white collared shirt was all business with a feminine flair, hugging her upper body and accentuating her breasts. Her hair fell in waves around her shoulders, and what little makeup she had on wasn’t overdone. She was beautiful but professional.
“I’ll call you back,” she murmured into the receiver before placing it down. Leaning back in her chair, seeming rather relaxed despite my dramatic intrusion she said, “Can I help you?”
I shut the door behind me before I answered, “I’m hoping you can,” I stated, walking forward and bracing my hands on the back of a large armchair. “You’re Edward Dean’s daughter?”
Her lips pursed tightly and she pushed to her feet. “Yeah,” she answered, pulling her shoulders back as if she was expecting a fight. “And if you’re here about him then you might as well turn and walk your cute ass back out again because I couldn’t give a crap what you have to say about him.”
I raised my eyebrows, surprised by her tone and the strength behind her words. “You’re the one who took the DNA test.”
Her eyes widened momentarily, and the harsh tension in her body seemed to fade. “And you are?”
“The man who has temporary custody of your little sister, and would like to keep it that way. But I’m having a few problems with that,” I explained vaguely.
I didn’t expect the laughter that chimed from her as she fell back into her large office chair.
She held out her hand, gesturing to the seat I was gripping tightly in my fists. “Please, sit down. I’m guessing this has something to do with Mary and Allen Sanders?”
My brow creased as I eased my way around the chair and lowered myself into it. “You know them?”
She huffed out an amused breath. “Unfortunately, yes.”
I knew this wasn’t good. “Tell me,” I demanded, leaning forward and bracing my elbows on my knees. She eyed me warily and I clasped my hands together, trying to calm my agitation and frustration. I wanted information and I wanted it now, but bullying it out of Amber wasn’t going to get me anywhere. She obviously was a strong woman, young but hard, and I knew the second I began demanding shit from her that she would protect herself and possibly force me out. I needed to be on her side.
I sighed. “Look, I love Jayla. As far as I’m concerned, she’s mine. She has a home and a family with us, and the last thing we want is to lose her. Especially if that means possibly putting her at risk. So I need to know what you know, I need to protect her.”
It took a few moments but Amber seemed to warm to my presence. I could see her mind working, the cogs turning. When she finally opened her mouth to speak, she took me by surprise.
“My dad was an asshole,” she said simply with a shrug of her shoulders as if those words were fact and she’d come to simply accept them. “Nothing he did ever surprised me. He hated people and people hated him. But what he did love was money, and he made a lot of it in his time.”
“How?”
“He made the right investments at the right times and he was a defense attorney, one of the best in the state. But it wasn’t because he was a convincing man or because he worked hard…” she let the words hang in the air and I knew exactly what she was getting at.
He was dirty.
He didn’t play by the rules.
He bent the rules to fit his client’s needs.
“His clients pay him big dollars to get them off?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
Amber nodded. “And he did whatever he had to in order to do just that.”
I shook my head. The club wasn’t exactly above the bar. Matthew, our lawyer, was good at what he did, but he never touched anything dirty with his own hands. He also never took on clients who had done things that he considered morally wrong, like hurting children or raping women. He protected us, but he also made sure we knew that if we’d done something fucked up and were caught, that he would do his best, but we could expect to face the consequences of our actions.
I shook the anger from my head, anger toward a man who was dead but had left such a disgusting legacy for his daughter to have the burden to carry.
“You get a lot of people coming in here demanding shit from you because of him?” I asked, watching her carefully.
“Not so much anymore. But because I’m a lawyer, they expect I followed in my father’s footsteps.” She snorted. “Which I did not.”
I nodded. “Good.”
She shifted uncomfortably. “What is it that you need?”
“I want to know about your history with Mary and Allen. Have you met them before? Have they approached you?” Anything she could give me with relation to them was going to be a benefit.
Amber laughed. “Are you kidding?”
My brow creased in confusion. “Do I look like I’m kidding?”
“Wow! You really don’t know.” She tilted her head to the side. “Allen Sanders was my father’s best friend.”
My gut dropped and my shoulders tightened. “Excuse me?”
Her head bobbed up and down. “They were like poker buddies. Used to go out every weekend, often mix with some of my fat
her clients. It was common for him to be invited to join large card games or exclusive parties when he got a client off charges. It was their way of thanking him, and also that’s when he would be paid. So it wasn’t obvious that they were putting in extra for him to do the dirty.”
My head swirled with all this new information. Allen knew the man who took advantage of his daughter. They were friends. Hayley would have met him—maybe at family dinners, parties, or holidays.
“This is fucked up,” I marveled as my brain tried to take in this information.
Amber brushed her hair back from her face. “Allen came to my dad, asking him for money. I was working in his office at the time, trying to get some experience for my college classes. I overheard Allen saying that Hayley was pregnant. At first, I was sad for her, I liked Hayley. I didn’t see her often because I lived with my mom, but she was a sweet kid.”
“Allen knew it was Edwards’?”
She nodded but hung her head as though she felt the shame on her shoulders, shame for what her dad had done to that poor young girl. “Allen asked him if it was true. If the baby was his—”
“Hayley told her dad the baby was his best friend’s?” I gasped, a shudder running through me.
“Yeah, and then he asked for one hundred thousand dollars or else he would go to the authorities,” she confirmed.
I felt like my mind had exploded.
Hayley’s parents knew what Edward had done.
They’d blackmailed him in order to keep it quiet. However, I guarantee Hayley never saw any of that money. Jayla and Hayley had lived hard, with Hayley fighting to keep their heads above ground. She’d taken the job at X-Rated while she studied to get her high school diploma, and lived in a one bedroom apartment on the wrong side of the tracks.
I grabbed a metal ornament off the top of Amber’s desk and threw it against the wall, screaming in a fury. Amber sat back, watching me cautiously but she wasn’t afraid.
The door flew open behind me and Skins appeared, his eyes scanning the room, wide and alert. “What’s going on?” he huffed.
“I’m going to kill that motherfucker, that’s what,” I spat.
Easing in deep breaths, I attempted to calm my raging emotions as flashes of Hayley flew through my head. Her crying because she thought we were going to fire her. The smile on her face when she realized we were giving her a chance to make her life better for her and Jayla. And then the darkness, the void expression on her face as she lay outside next to a dumpster, a knife pierced through her heart.
She’d fought so hard.
She’d done it alone.
All because she wanted to give Jayla a better life.
I was going to honor that. I would give Jayla the life I knew Hayley would want for her and I would keep her safe, just like she had tried to do.
When the ache in my heart had eased, I looked up at Amber. “I’m going to need a statement.”
She studied me. “You care about that little girl.”
“She’s special. We’ve got a weird connection,” I croaked, trying to keep my wild emotions in check. “Hayley raised her the best she could, but it’s obvious Jay has seen some things a child her age never should have seen. She needs people who are going to love her, and support her, and help her grow. Hayley was a part of our family, and our family always comes first.”
I saw a glistening in Amber’s eyes like she understood. “Just let me know what you need and I’ll supply whatever I can to help.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat and nodded sharply. “Appreciate it. I’ll have my lawyer get in touch with you.”
Doors slammed down the hallway and the loud pounding of feet resonated toward us.
I looked to Skins and rolled my eyes. “Security is here, asshole.”
He smirked. “Hey, I heard banging and smashing, for all I knew she was kicking your ass and I needed to come save it.”
Two large men crowded the doorway, glaring at each of us, amped for a fight.
“It’s okay, guys.” Amber laughed as she walked around her desk and ushered them out of the room. “They’re fine, just a misunderstanding.”
They huffed and puffed as we edged our way out of her room and headed outside. Skins winked at the blushed receptionist as we passed by and I laughed.
“I think she likes me.”
I laughed as we stepped into the elevator and shook my head with a smile. “You know what? I’m beginning to think you’ll fit in here just fine.”
“Hello?” I placed my cell to my ear, shushing the noise of the brothers around me with my finger to my lips.
“Rose, it’s Lila here from Scott Street Day Care,” the voice said, with a noticeable waver.
I pushed out of my chair and moved away from the boys who were currently gagging on my latest attempt at feeding them something healthy that catered to the food intolerances I was back studying at the local college. “Hi Lila, is something wrong? Is Jayla okay?” I asked worried, causing Optimus’ ears to perk up.
“Jayla is okay, but there’s a man here trying to get in to see her.” A sickening feeling struck me immediately. “He doesn’t have authorization but he’s saying he’s Jayla’s grandfather. He’s becoming quite agitated and Penny is trying to calm him down.”
“Don’t let him in! Don’t let him anywhere near her,” I ordered sternly. “Call the police, I’m on my way.”
“Absolutely,” Lila answered instantly and we both hung up the phone.
Spinning around I noticed all eyes were on me, and Optimus had his phone to his ear whispering quietly. A rush of adrenaline suddenly hit me and I dashed forward, grabbing my bag from the floor. “I need to go,” I fretted, turning to head for the door before a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop.
I looked back to see Camo. “Just wait. Op is talking to Blizzard.”
“I need to get to Jay,” I pleaded, but he didn’t let me go until Op had tucked his cell back in his pocket.
“Let’s go. I’ll drive,” was all he said as he hurried past me. I jogged to keep up, throwing myself in the passenger’s seat of his truck just before he turned the engine over, the tires skidding on the gravel as he pulled out of the clubhouse lot.
Two bikes roared to life behind us, overtaking the truck as we pulled onto the main road into town.
“Blizzard is over half an hour away. The boys will get there in less than five. Don’t worry,” Optimus tried to reassure me as we cruised down the road.
My heart raced as I watched them speed off into the distance.
I knew that Camo and Ham could make it there in half the time we could as they could go a lot faster, and it was easier for them to slip through traffic. I knew that when they got there, that they would do anything they could to keep that man away from Jay, even if it meant putting themselves on the line.
It was what the club did. They protected their own. They protected each other and their brother’s families with their lives. Knowing that they would be there soon and that Lila was calling the police, the pounding in my chest began to ease and anger flourished.
“Who the fuck does he think he is? He can’t just show up at her day care and think that he can see her.”
“No, he can’t. And the fact that he did makes me a little more concerned about his mental state,” Op pondered. “He knows you have a court date coming up in a few days. I’m wondering why he chose to make a mistake like this so close to him possibly winning custody.”
“Maybe he knows we’re going to win,” I answered hopefully, looking over at Op whose eyes stayed focused on the road, but I could see in the harshness of his face that he wasn’t convinced of my reasoning.
“Or maybe he needs her for another reason.”
I grabbed the edge of my seat. “Please don’t tell me you think he’s going to do something horrible with her.”
He shook his head. “He’s not going to get her. So that doesn’t matter.” His answer was sharp and final as if he had decided that there was
no way Allen and Mary would be taking Jayla from our lives.
Some might think he just knew that we had a strong case against them, but I knew better.
I knew the club.
If Optimus says they aren’t going to get her, Allen better be well prepared for the repercussions if he tries.
It should be strange and unnerving to find reassurance in thoughts that were so dark. Knowing that they could make these people disappear without a trace, didn’t make me feel any guilt or apprehension. It made me feel secure. Because I knew in my heart and in my bones that they didn’t want custody of Jayla for the right reasons. I knew that they weren’t trying to do what was best for her and I was scared, scared that she would be taken and lost in a place so dark, that we may never get her back.
I knew that their intentions for her weren’t honest.
I could feel it.
It was like a knife being pushed through my heart, inch by inch.
Flashing red and blue lights up ahead drew my attention, and I took in the scene. Camo and Ham stood in front of the doors to the building, arms folded across their chests like two large bouncers outside a club.
I could hear the screaming before we even pulled into the small parking lot where Allen was fighting against Deacon, the local head of the police department and another of his colleagues. I could tell Deacon was trying to reason with him, but if he kept acting like an idiot I knew he was going to be arrested.
Deacon was level-headed, but he also didn’t put up with bullshit.
Optimus parked and I climbed out of the car, heading straight for the front doors where Penny, the day care manager, stood watching the scene in front of her with wide eyes.
“Is Jayla all right?” I asked as I jogged over to her.
She turned to me, a look of relief on her face. “We’ve got the kids out in the back room, so she wouldn’t have heard or seen anything.”
I inhaled a deep breath. “Good.”
We’d chosen this day care specifically because of its awareness over the protection of the children in their care. It was a peace of mind for parents going through custody battles, and also for children who needed to feel secure and safe. Parents had to carry key cards to get them through the doors into the different rooms where the children were located, and they were very strict on people who they didn’t know coming inside.