Crystal returned to the room and handed Cara and Sara a plate of food. She spotted my empty plate and grabbed it before returning to the kitchen.
Sara tapped away on her laptop and turned to Tech. “I just sent you the information.”
“Can I see?” I asked, trying my best to peek at his laptop.
Before he could answer, Cara grabbed her laptop and leaned toward me. “Here. Use mine.”
I grabbed it, propping it in my lap. Tech and I scrolled through the information. The first thing I saw was a news article from eight years ago. It was a cult being taken down by the Feds. There were many pictures of crying children and women. The men were cuffed while countless agents roamed the grounds. I turned to Tech because he was extremely quiet. His face was pale, as if he had seen a ghost.
“That’s them.” He swallowed and looked up at Cara. “What happened?”
“Based on the timeline that you gave us, it seems the Feds were tipped off about them six months after you left. Over fifty arrests between the women and men for child endangerment and neglect. A few of the men also went down for false imprisonment, including Sire.”
“What the fuck?” Tech whispered. “Who reported them?”
“I couldn’t find that out. Whoever did this wanted to ensure their safety.”
“I can’t blame them for that.” Tech sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. Suddenly, his head popped up, and he stared at Cara, confused. “Wait, so if Sire went to jail, he isn’t the one behind Will’s attack.”
Sara shook her head. “He got out six months ago, Tech.”
Tech and I groaned in harmony. “That isn’t a coincidence. He gets out six months ago, and Will gets attacked by a person saying the same bullshit he used to say to me.”
“I’m with you on that, Tech. Through the jail records, I was able to obtain his given name. Nehemiah Matthews. I don’t have anything on him so far. The man is living like a monk. No kind of paper trail whatsoever. He hasn’t been seen since his release.”
“This just keeps getting better and better,” Tech growled in frustration.
“I know, but give it time. He’s bound to make a slip and… Sssss,” Cara hissed, rubbing her stomach.
Everyone sat up in alert. “Are you okay, Cara? Do you need me to call Viper?” Tech whipped out his phone.
Sara set her plate down and sat up on the couch. “I told you, you need to go to the damn hospital.”
“Wait, what?” I asked, looking between them.
“She’s been having contractions all morning,” Sara told us, pointing at Cara.
She rolled her eyes, taking a bite of her fish uncaring. “I’ve been timing them.” Cara held up her wrist that had a watch on it.
“Your point?” Sara raised her brow.
“Like I said, I’m not new to this. My contractions have to be every three to five minutes to be in active labo?—”
The front door slammed open, cutting Cara off. Viper stood there, his chest heaving, looking like he was about to panic.
“Cara, why in the hell did you leave the house?”
Cara held up the fish, which was placed between two slices of white bread. “Mama made fish,” she replied before taking a bite.
Viper pinched the bridge of his nose, staring at the ceiling. Tech and I were trying our hardest not to laugh. Cara was always stressing this man out, but he loved her no less.
He took a seat next to Cara, palming her belly. Even from where I was sitting, I could see her stomach moving in all kinds of directions. It looked painful. She was truly a pro at this because she was eating her food completely unbothered.
“Whoa. Jasper is really moving around in there.”
“That’s because she’s borderline in labor,” Sara snitched.
“What?!” Viper shouted, looking at Sara and then Cara.
