“Lighthouse.”
Another voice comes on the phone, “What do you mean the Lighthouse?” It’s Jackson.
“Easy, it’s nothing to do with your ol’ lady. More like involving one of the departments.”
“Either get to the point, or you’ll be getting a raging VP there in five seconds.” Rawlings commands.
I slump over, it is never easy to say to anyone that children are involved with situations like this. Looking away from Charlotte’s office, I don’t need her snooping around. My head is already pounding.
“The student that went missing last week is here, in pretty bad shape, pretty banged up. Looks like the Falcons are back recruiting the teenagers again. And unfortunately, he was one of them.” I can imagine the anger that’s brewing through Rawlings right now.
When the Falcons tagged team with Jackson’s old lady and caused some trouble and even a funeral, the sound of war was sounded.
There is a brief silence before Rawlings comes back on. “I had a feeling the damn fuckers wouldn’t stay hidden or down for too long.”
“What do you need me to do?” I ask, before realizing that there were two sets of eyes on me. I turn to find Charlotte and Tessa behind me.
“We’ll call church tomorrow. Take care of the kid, keep a low profile. And for shits sake, don’t raise an alarm to Tessa.” Jackson commands out.
I feel the burning stare from Charlotte and the nervous energy of Tessa. They stand there waiting for me to say something, something of reassurance.
I turn back and speak into the phone, “I think that might be a little too late boss man.”
“Please tell me that she doesn’t know.” A slight groan escapes from Jackson. I laugh nervously, “News travels faster than we thought.”
“Tell her I’ll be there soon.” The phone hung up. I pop it back in my pocket. I turn back around to face the vultures. Tessa steps closer to me. Her eyes are about to fill with tears. I can only imagine the worst thoughts running through her head. The nightmares that she tries to suppress coming into the light and even coming closer to home.
“He’ll be here in a little bit. You know he’ll want to see you and talk with you.” She nods, turning to focus on Charlotte. Her dark green eyes seeped into my soul. She is unlike anyone I have ever met, there is a pull, and pushing and testing the waters with her is something that I want to do.
“Lottie, there might be some extra eyes and protection the next couple of weeks I can imagine.” She tries to reassure her.
“Someone wanna clue me in on what is actually going on?”
“You remember the problem we had a while back that went quiet, obviously they’re back.” She keeps it blunt but somewhat honest. I don’t blame her for being cautious. Charlotte doesn’t need to come into this world. Not with her nephew. Keeping her close but at arms length is the best solution until we and possibly Tessa can figure out what needs to happen.
“I can tell by this one’s facial expressions and body language that you are hiding something. Tessa, don’t hide anything from me.” She points at me. I roll my eyes.
“Lottie. It’s not” Tessa starts,
“No ma’am. You and I have worked too hard and too close to each other to not rope me in here.” She took Tessa by the shoulders, looking at her in the eyes. This woman is not backing down. She is relentless, assertive. And something is stirring inside.Calm the fuck down.
“You don’t need to get your pretty self involved with drugs and those students.” You’d think that I just said something about being close to a raging fire.
I see the fire starting to fume in her head, she is ready to charge. And I was about to be dragged to hell by this angel disguised in fury.
“I’d run if I were you Keola.” Tessa warns me. Charlotte takes a step forward as Tessa backs up. I thought Tessa was scary when she was challenging Jackson. “I know that 5-0 over here is not telling me to basically mind my own business when it comes to my students.”
“Lottie... Go easy on him.” Tessa says softly.
“I will not. Listen here. These are my kids.” She pokes at my chest, I stare down at her, matching her domineer. “These students are here to be at a safe place and for me to do my job effectively is to know what exactly is going on. So either you and Teresa tell me or I will find my own answers.” She turns her head toward Tessa and then snaps her head back at me.
I look to Tessa for answers. It is not my full call, this is Tessa’s foundation and the boss right now. If I had my way, I would say not to involve her, we saw last time what happened when we involved someone close to this and the end result. Unfortunately, that was just a battle and not the war.
Tessa sighs, “Lottie, when we have the answers,” she pauses, choosing her next words carefully, “I’ll have a sit down with you. For now, focus on our students and we’ll have extra protection around the center. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go prepare for a huge ass viking to come storming in here.” She turns back to me, raising an eyebrow, “and you better be lucky if I save your ass from whatever stupidity came out of your mouth.”
“I’m sure it’s your ass he’s after,” I roll my eyes as she walks away, I tend to stay away from whatever is about to happen between them two.
Charlotte huffs and walks away from me.
