“So you all turn a blind eye to the less criminal smuggling,” she tries to summarize it.
I nod, something like that. “The club owns businesses, like the restaurant, a couple auto shops, and the coffee shop downtown, the one you stop at frequently.”
Her eyes grow bigger. “Unfortunately, there are clubs that play by their rules and don’t fucking care who gets hurt in the process.” Her eyes soften as her mind connects the dots.
“So there’s a club, not a gang that is recruiting teens to run drugs, pulling them from their life, threatening them,” she says like a protective mother, her heart aching with the truth.
I nod my head, “More specifically, angel, the Falcons.” Her heart starts to break before my eyes. I’d do anything to stop that aching, that break. Instead of tears or true sadness, she’s numb, the truth not shocking her like I thought.
People have broken her heart before this, she’s so much stronger than I thought.
“So when Cedric mentioned in his writing about all the bird metaphors, that was his hint that he was being forced to work with the Falcons.”
I nod again, confirming her thought, but knowing that she’s missing the next part. “Angel, this is where it gets more tangled than I think it’s laid out.” I pull over the shipments and photos of Bobby’s storefront.
Her eyes search over the photos and evidence. It’s time to finally lay everything out. “What doesthishave to do with Cedric?” She references the papers in front of her.
“One of the patrons that the Wolves did business with his shipping, we believe that his storefront was the middle piece. His storefront was one of the pick ups for the runners to get it, keeping the Falcons away from this. My theory is that Bobby has ties with the Falcons,” I start to explain the final piece of it. “After talking with someone we trusted, they confirmed that this isn’t the first time and there might be someone else that rounded up the runners as another middle man, someone the teens could trust after the Falcons found them.”
“Cedric,” her voice is soft, not wanting to believe that Cedric was the middle man or the fall man in the worst case.
“Unfortunately,” I say, reaching to pull her into my lap, trying to give her some comfort. “We think that Bobby used our shipping containers as a ploy to make it look like we were dealing. Again, leaving no trace of the Falcons, which is where we come into the mix because of the business we did with him.”
“So this involves all of us, now.” she thumbs through the photos. I nod, letting everything sink in.
Her eyebrows furrow, “You said,did.”
“Did what?”
“You said there was a patron youdidbusiness with. What happened?” she asks.
“Falcons took care of him and defaced his business, almost setting up a trap for us when we found him.”
“What,” she starts to ask, “Why aren’t the police involved?”
Okay, so she doesn’t know everything.
“We have a friend on the force and maybe a clean up crew.”
“Fucking hell,” she whispers.
I grip her chin, bringing her to my attention. “Charlotte, something you need to know. You will always have the full force of the club behind you.”
Her eyes grew in concern, like her mind told her something that she almost forgot, “Shit. Finn is going to be in the line of fire. Keola! I can’t. Wait,” her voice hitches, almost turning into an anxiety attack. Her hand on her chest, soothing it. Her pulse quickens. I reach for her hands, helping to ground her.
“Finn is under our protection. Your aunt, hell even your friend Brayden,” her breathing staggers, looking at me as I give her my words, my promises. “I won’t let anything happen to you or the people you love.”
She loses her voice, no words coming out.
I cradle her in my arms. “In the next couple of days, you’ll come with me to church. You won’t be left out. Bring Finn with you, bring your aunt if you want.”
She nods, which won’t do. “Words. Don’t hide your thoughts from me.”
She starts to chew on her bottom lip before she speaks. “It’s a lot to take in.”
“I know,” I say, “But I didn’t want to let us go on when I couldn’t say anything that you deserve to know.”
“Us?” she chuckles, “That is something I need to get used to.”
