Page 158 of Deacon

Deacon

Matty and I never made it to Harbor & Bean.

Church had just let out. I was already on my feet with my keys in one hand and that meeting in my head when the prospect by the door held out my phone. “It’s been ringin’ off the hook, brother.”

Lila’s name glowed across the screen, and the smile came before I could stop it. Automatic. “Hey, Princess.”

What answered me was pain. “Jackson.” Her voice broke around my name, and every part of me locked. Then she said the words that emptied the room around me. “Jade is missing.”

My hand tightened around the phone. “What?”

“She’s gone.” Lila dragged in a breath that shook all the way through the speaker. “Cage was outside the apartment banging on the door when I got home. They were supposed to meet up. She didn’t show, so he called her and she didn’t answer. He came over and could hear her phone ringing inside. He kept knocking. She never answered.” Her voice cracked again. “I got in the apartment, Jackson, and her phone is there, but she’s not. She’s gone.”

For one second I couldn’t feel my feet on the floor. Jade’s phone was in the apartment. Jade wasn’t.

“Lila.” I made myself breathe before I tried to make her do the same. “Listen to me. Try to calm down.”

A broken sound came through the phone. “Don’t tell me to calm down.”

“I know.” My pulse hammered so hard it blurred the edges of everything in front of me. “I know. I’m comin’. Your brother’s in town. We were just about to meet. When we hang up, you call him and get him over there right now. I’m goin’ back into Church, I’m tellin’ the club what’s happenin’, and then I’ll be at the apartment.”

Movement sounded behind her, then Cage’s voice, tight and scared, followed by Evan cutting through everything. “What do you mean my Gemstone is missing?”

Any other day, that would have sounded like Evan. Right then all I heard was proof Lila wasn’t alone. “We’ll find her,” I said, forcing every bit of certainty I had into the words. “You hear me? We will find her. I promise.”

Her breathing hitched. “Jackson...”

“I’m comin’, baby.” The endearment came out before I thought about it. “Call Matty. Stay there. Don’t go lookin’ on your own. Let Evan do whatever dramatic bullshit he’s gonna do if it keeps you from fallin’ apart till I get there.”

The breath she let out sounded almost like a sob and almost like a laugh. “I love you,” I said, then ended the call before I could wait to hear whether she said it back. If silence answered me, I would lose something I needed right now.

When I turned, Priest was already watching me. Every man still in Church was. “We need emergency Church,” I snapped.

Nobody wasted a second. Chairs scraped back. Ghost pulled his laptop toward him. Ink went still in that way that meant his head had already started working. Rook swore under his breath. I stayed on my feet and planted both hands on the table. “Lila just called. Jade’s missing.”

The room stopped, but I kept talking. “Cage was supposed to meet her. She never showed. He kept callin’. No answer. Went to the apartment, could hear her phone inside. Kept knockin’. No answer. Lila got home, got in there, and Jade was gone.” I swallowed against the image trying to form in my head. “Phone’s in her room. She is not.”

Ledger came forward so fast his chair scraped hard against the floor. “Cage must be beside himself.”

His face told me he already knew what his son would be doing to himself. “You asked him to keep an eye on her. And he’s got real feelings for that girl. He’s gonna take this like it’s on him.”

“It ain’t on him. I asked him to look out for her at school, make sure she was comfortable, make sure nobody gave her shit. I didn’t put my daughter’s life on a kid’s shoulders.”

Ledger’s voice dropped. “You know that,” He held my gaze. “He won’t.”

Cage wouldn’t. “We’ll clear that up when we find her,” I said. When was the only word I was willing to use.

Priest rose. “Alright. You get to your woman. I’ll handle the rest here.”

He was already looking toward Ghost and Rook, the club shifting with him before the orders even came. “We’ll get men on the streets,” he said. “Everybody we got. If you hear anything, anything at all, you contact me first.”

I nodded. “Got it. Thanks, brother.”

Priest came around the table and caught me in a rough one-armed hug. It lasted barely a second, but it almost broke me. “She’s family,” he said against the side of my head. “We’ll turn this town over lookin’ for her and burn any others down if we gotta. I’ll put as much into findin’ her as I would if it was Little Jax.”

I gripped him hard. “I know you will.”

I let go. Ghost was already on a call, Ink was moving, and Rook looked ready to tear through walls. Ledger had his phone out, his thumb hovering over Cage’s name. I ran.