His lips go down in thought. “Shit, do you think she’s using?”
“You know her better than me,” I grab a glass and fill it with water.
“I mean,” he slides onto a stool and looks at his hands. “She’s been a little distant lately, but I didn’t think it was down to that.”
“She has not ignored him this long before.” I look in on Oscar playing with his puppy.
“You think she’s in trouble?” His head comes up fast. “With everything going on?”
“Don’t jump to conclusions,” I reassure him. “No one knows about her ties to me. Try to get hold of her. If you know where she’s gone head there.”
“What about watching out for Oscar?”
“I’ll get another brother here.”
“You’ll have to tell them about him,” he looks at my son again.
I’ve already thought about that. Jesse spends that much time with him, and at my place, no one would think he wasn’t his father. The thought of that makes my heart pound, but it’s for his safety. I can’t lose sight of that.
Speedway agrees to go check on his sister and I call Rebel about getting someone else over here, then I fire off a text to let Jesse know. I watch Oscar playing and wonder what it must be like, to be able to take your child out, something as simple as getting ice cream.
I never would have chosen to bring a kid into the world, my world, if I could have helped it. My thoughts turn to Taylor. If I’m going to keep fucking her, I need to make sure she’s on the pill. Condoms break. Making that mistake again isn’t an option. Nor is putting Taylor in danger.
Another few days pass with us getting nowhere on finding Storm. The guy Juice followed after their attempted mass execution of my men, has vanished too. I’ve no idea how long he is going to stay underground or what he will plan next.
It’s fucking pissing me off.
After putting Oscar to bed and sending Jesse home, I sit down with a beer and look around my house. This place cost me a fortune, it’s in a good neighborhood and Oscar is safe here. I’ve done everything I can to make sure nothing can happen to my family in this house.
The second beer is going down nicely when I get a text telling me to check the link. I open it up and read through how the police have found and arrested six students from one of the most prestigious universities in the state. They’re under suspicion of being those responsible for the motorcycle attacks.
I call Blaze when I’m done.
“The news is a little behind, two of them were released on bail this morning. He wasn’t picked up. Lots of texts back and forth since. Its pretty fucked up, but it worked.”
He’s keeping things as cryptic as possible over the phone. “Keep an eye on it. I don’t want them taking what I’m owed.”
“The two that got out concern me, I’ve got Ronin on them.”
“Okay, give it a couple more days, then we do it.”
I set the phone down, but it rings before I have a chance to think.
It’s Taylor, for a second I pause, I haven’t contacted her since the night everything went down with Chains. It felt wrong to go to her after that. She’ll be calling because she’s seen the news. The idea of her thanking me when she has no clue what my next steps are isn’t sitting right.
Blowing out a heavy breath I hover my finger over decline, then slide it the other way, cursing myself for wanting a bit of her light in the darkness that is creeping over me lately.
“Hey,” I answer, leaning back on the couch and picking up my beer.
“Hi. I wasn’t sure whether to call.”
“You can call me, Cherry. I might not always answer but I’ll call you back.” I mean that too, this isn’t a lie. “It’s been busy the last few days, but you caught me at home for once.”
“I was calling about the news today. About the biker gang who attacked me. Was that you?”
“Don’t sound so surprised, I told you I’d deal with it,” I close my eyes.
“It did surprise me. I was expecting something else.”
