“I’m out of here, assholes.” I head over to Delphi and Theo. “I’m heading out. I need to touch base with Havoc and swing by and see Nathan. Either of you need anything before I go?”
“No, I’m good,” Delph answers, as I dip down and kiss her.
“I’m good too,” Theo pipes up.
“Alright. You wanna come to work with me tomorrow? Give you a change of scenery while Delphi has the girls over here.”
“Um…” he frowns, unsure, which makes me chuckle. I’m not dumb. I was a teenager once, too, and I’m not blind. I know exactly what the old ladies look like.
“You ever want to prospect, best not get caught ogling the president’s or VP’s old ladies.”
“I’ll come with you,” he answers in a rush.
“I knew you were a smart kid.” I slap him on the shoulder, careful to pull my weight so it doesn’t hurt him, then head out.
I sigh, wishing I had my bike, but shit happens. I slip off my cut and lay it on the passenger seat before climbing in and heading to the clubhouse. When I get there, I find Havoc and G talking at the bar.
“Hey, you guys got a minute?”
G looks at his watch. “Not meeting Amity for an hour, so I’m good for a bit.”
“This about Theo? He good?”
“He’s bouncing back faster than I thought he would.”
“He’s surrounded by people who care about him. It’s a fuck of a lot easier to bounce back when you know there are people to catch you if you stumble,” Havoc points out.
“True. And on that note, please tell me you have some good news to tell me.”
“Well, as Josh is Theo’s stepfather, you don’t actually need him to give up his rights to the kid because he never had any rights to begin with. He never adopted Theo. If he did, it would be different. But in this case, it doesn’t apply. They don’t even share the same last name. Throw in the assault, and he’s fucked in the head if he thinks CPS will put Theo back in that environment.” G crosses his arms.
“They did before. There have been multiple reports to child services from teachers, coaches, and even neighbors, which is a miracle in that neighborhood, but the kid is well-liked. Every time the allegations were investigated, they were dismissed. I passed the info on to the woman on Theo’s case—Greer, right?”
When I nod, he continues. “Yeah, she’s pissed and looking into it, but I’m still digging to see if it’s purposeful—as in theytook a bribe. Or it’s just another case of being overworked and overwhelmed.”
I rub my hands over my face and sigh. “Everything feels like it’s taking forever. I know that’s not your fault. I just don’t like how easy it would be right now for Diane to swoop in and take Theo back.”
“Diane’s being watched for now. The second she steps out of line, we’ll have her. Besides, I’m not sure that kid would go anywhere if it meant leaving you guys behind, especially Delphi.”
I nod. He’s right, but I’m not sure I’ll relax until he’s legally ours. “Alright, anything else I need to know about? Circus and Capone are with Delphi and Theo, so I was going to head into the office for a while. I have a couple of leads I need to follow up on regarding Lil.”
“What kind of leads?” G asks, leaning closer.
“The kind I need to verify first because almost everything I’ve had so far has been bogus.”
“How is that possible? Between you, G—” Havoc starts before G jumps in.
“I had Byte look into her as well.”
“Right, so you, G, and Byte—three of the best at what you do—and none of you can find a trace of her?”
“Lilian Watkins is a fake name. So is the history she gave us. We were already starting with a disadvantage.”
Havoc rubs his hand over his face. “Lil’s a smart cookie, no matter how much she downplayed it. But I didn’t think she was particularly tech savvy, so how the fuck is she evading us?”
“Either she downplayed that part too, or she’s got someone helping her.” G shakes his head.
“Or she’s not tech savvy at all, but she knows we are, so she’s gone off the grid.”
