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CHAPTER TEN

Declan

“Okay. Hawk,” Gabe says, “I want you to start searching WITSEC, see what you can find. Let’s rule out that possibility first. Last thing we need is the fucking Feds at our door.”

“On it,” Hawk replies.

“Declan, you keep trying with the kid. Maybe he knows more about this friend. Where she lives. What kind of car she drives. What hospital she’s working for. He’s a smart kid. He pays attention. You’ve just got to get him to trust you enough to open up.”

I nod. It’s not like I wasn’t already planning to ply the kid with junk food and get him talking.

“Until then, we have little else to go on.” Gabe looks at Caleb and says, “You think you and Ma can help with Carter? Keep him at the farm while Declan works, and we look into this shit?”

“I’m keeping him with me,” I state, not willing to pass him off to anyone until I know good and goddamn well that he and his mama are not in some kind of crazy ass trouble. “Violet entrusted Carter to me. I’ve got this.”

“And I agree, and you’ll have him with you at night and on your time off. However, you still have a job to do and a woman to find. Let him stay on the farm while you handle your day-to-day shit while he’s out of school. Ma will be happy to have him, and they’ll run him until he’s tired, doing chores and shit to keep him busy.”

“It’s fine, Dec. Liz would be more than happy to have a youngin’ to look after and keep distracted. Hell, it might keep her from moping around the house and giving us shit about Thomas being locked up downstairs,” Caleb grumbles.

It has to be hard knowing your son is locked in a basement cell at the clubhouse, mostly because no one knows what else to do with him. Gabe’s torn between killing the fucker for his betrayal and keeping him alive to help us nail Marco Cusenza. The problem is, we don’t know if we can trust the son of a bitch because he’s been playing double agent for fucking years.

We all know he played a part in the death of Gabe’s wife, but new information was brought to light about her own fucking mother actually being the one behind the hit that was ordered. Thomas thought he was just supposed to scare Maggie, but the Devil’s Order and Nate, Hawk’s dad, had other plans which led to Maggie’s death.

The fact Thomas recently saved Avery’s life is the main reason Gabe has kept him alive. That, and Vincenzo Parisi told us all, “Thomas may be the link that we need to bring Eleanor and Cusenza down together.” And Pres wants Eleanor to suffer for everything she’s put his wife and daughter through. It’s that need for revenge—to make things right. It’s the real reason Thomas is still breathing.

“I’ll talk to the kid about it,” I tell them. “His mama left him with me, and if he’s not comfortable leaving my side, then I’ll take him to work with me or whatever the fuck I need to do to work it out.”

“Look at you, sounding like a proud daddy,” Hawk teases. I flip him the bird.

“All right. If there’s nothing else.”

“Actually, Pres.” Jake says, raising his hand. “It’s a little off topic, but I want to sponsor Trevor as a prospect. He’s a good kid. He works hard for us at the auto body shop. Recently, he came in for a tattoo and we discussed it. He asked me if I’d be willing to bring it to the table and vouch for him.”

Gabe looks up, leans back with a smirk on his face as he rubs his beard. “Linzie is going to be pissed. She doesn’t want him to be a part of the club. She’s made it clear to me on several occasions.”

“With all due respect, Pres, he’s a grown man. It’s Trevor’s decision if he wants to become a brother. The boy’s twenty-one years old. And Jake’s right,” Jameson says. “Trevor’s a hard worker and a good kid. He’d make a damn good brother.”

Gabe nods. “All right. Take it to a vote. All who agree say aye.”

The entire room erupts in a unanimous, “Aye!”

Gabe slams the gavel on the table. “All right, assholes. We’re adjourned for now.”

“Hey, Pres,” Hawk calls out. Gabe turns to meet his gaze. “You know Linzie’s going to hand you your ass over this, right?”

Gabe smiles. “She can try.”

We all make our way out into the common area, where a not-so-happy looking Sadie stands by the bar talking with Blake. He nudges his head in our direction, and Sadie heads straight for us.

“Gabe. I, uh, I want a few minutes to talk to my—Thomas.”

Gabe narrows his eyes. His playful demeanor from a moment ago is gone. “What the fuck for?”

“Well, for starters, he’s my piece of shit father. I think I should be allowed to tell him my thoughts. Second, I have some questions I want answers to,” Sadie says, her arms crossed over her body defensively. “He owes me that much.”

“You aren’t going down there alone,” Gabe demands. “Declan, Mack, Hawk, with me. And you,” He points at Sadie, “You have ten minutes. Not a minute more. It’s going to take everything I have not to kill the motherfucker as it is. It’s why I haven’t been down there.”

Mack steps up, placing his hand on Gabe’s chest. “Why don’t you sit this one out, Pres? We got this.”

Caleb steps forward, standing toe to toe with his son. “Gabriel, let me go down with them. You’re still too raw, son. You can’t kill him, yet. And not just because it would break your mother.” Gabe flinches back at Caleb’s words. It hasn’t been easy for any of us, but Liz has taken her son’s imprisonment the hardest. “We may need him. Stay up here. Have a beer. I’ll go with the boys and watch over Shortcake.”

Gabe grumbles, then lets out a quiet curse. “Fine.” He scrubs a hand through his hair. “Ten minutes Sadie Jay.”

Sadie hugs Gabe. “Thank you,” she whispers softly.

The four of us surround Sadie as we walk down to the basement. Thomas isn’t a threat to her, not physically. He’s behind bars in one of the cells the club had built years ago.

There’s a low-level light on inside the cell. Thomas sits on an old foam mattress on the ground. His hair is long and disheveled. His beard matted and bushy. He’s wearing a clean white t-shirt and gray sweatpants. It’s one of the few things Liz was able to get Gabe to agree to. She’s allowed to bring Thomas clean clothes every other day when we let him bathe inside the cell, and she cooks all his meals for him every day. But she’s never allowed down here alone for fear Thomas may turn on her or convince her to turn on the club.

I can’t see Liz turning on her family, but I’ve seen people lose their shit over their kid. It can’t be easy being stuck like she is between her husband and two sons. Though Caleb seems to be more sensitive to his wife than Gabe is being toward her, but I can’t imagine how else he could act. I’d have killed the son of a bitch on sight if he was involved in my woman’s death and the cause of my daughter being raised by someone else.

With the betrayal of Thomas to Caleb and the part he played in the death of Caleb’s brother Jonah, Jameson’s father, Liz is already fighting a losing battle. Thomas may be her son, but Liz is loyal to Caleb to her core. If it came down to it, I believe she would choose Caleb.

Then the part Thomas played in Maggie’s death—everyone loved Maggie—even if Thomas was tricked as he says, his actions still resulted in her death. It just added fuel to the fire for his unforgiveable offenses.

I’m curious to see what Sadie wants with Thomas. The fucker left her behind with her mother, who is certifiably insane and nearly killed Sadie as a baby. If anyone was going to be the wild card and kill the bastard without remorse, my money would be on Sadie.

When we enter the room, we split off and allow Sadie to walk further inside. She glances around at the meat hooks in the ceiling and the table of tools at the far end of the room. We don’t usually allow the women down here. The less they know about what goes on in the basement, the better.

When Liz came in here, she was curious, but also seemed nervous. I guess it makes sense when you see all the tools we have to choose from to torture her son. But Sadie looks around the room with genuine interest, taking in each nook and cranny of the space, as if she’s taking mental notes. When she smirks, I feel my body give a slight shudder.

I love the girl, but I’m not so sure she didn’t get a little bit of her mama’s crazy streak.

Hawk grabs a chair and pulls it to sit in front of the cell where Thomas is now standing, looking both surprised and uncertain. Sadie takes the offered chair and sits down. Caleb turns on the overhead light, causing Thomas to squint. It’s the light we use when we clean up unwanted evidence.

“Sadie,” Thomas says hesitantly. “I-it’s good to see you.”

“Not sure I can say the same,” Sadie replies. “You look like shit.”

Thomas chuckles, tugging on the hem of his t-shirt. “It’s not so bad. At least they’re clean and smell like Ma’s house.”

I look at Caleb, who doesn’t show any emotion as he leans by the main entrance with his arms over his chest, twirling his wedding band around his finger.

Hawk has taken up residence beside Mack’s table of tools. I have no doubt he’s picked out the smallest, lightest weapon should he need to throw something at the bastard in the cell.

Mack is seated beside his table with his legs extended, crossed at the ankles, his arms folded over his chest with his pistol in his hand. His expression clearly says, “I wish you would.”

“What brings you down here, sweetheart?” Thomas asks, and Sadie bristles.

“Don’t,” she says. “You don’t have a right to use endearments with me. I’m Sadie. You’re Thomas. That’s all we are right now. You don’t know me well enough to call me anything other than my name. And, well, I only know you as the traitorous asshole who abandoned me and my mother after fucking over the rest of our family for reasons I don’t think I’ll ever understand.”

“I suppose I deserve that.”

“What you deserve is a slow and painful death,” Sadie snaps. “But it would seem there are people in this world who find value in you. So, I’ve been overruled.”

Thomas squints his eyes, studying Sadie.

“She’s right,” Hawk pipes up. “If it were up to us, you’d be dead already. It’s the reason Pres didn’t come to see you himself.” Hawk chuckles humorlessly. “He didn’t think he could be trusted not to shoot you in the head and call justice served.”

“Why are you here, Sadie?” Thomas asks, ignoring Hawk completely.

She shrugs. “I guess I wanted to ask you why? Why did you abandon us?”

Thomas sighs. Gripping the cell bars with his hands, he leans his forehead against the metal. “I was stupid. I was addicted to drugs and believed we would have a better life if I went along with the Devil’s Order.”

“You would’ve had a better life,” Sadie snarls out. “I would’ve been raised by two fucked up crackheads and probably would’ve been passed around by the rest of those assholes for whatever purpose they thought I could serve.”

A loud rumble sounds from behind Sadie where both Hawk and Mack have leaned forward, pissed as fuck.

Thomas sighs. “I never would’ve let that happen to you.”

“And I’m a gullible little girl who believes your bullshit.” Sadie’s words drip with sarcasm.

“Look, I was lied to and manipulated. The Devils used me to get to the club, and in my moment of shame—when I realized I helped them take Maggie from Gabe—I panicked. So, I left.” Thomas shrugs. “I didn’t know what else to do. If the club didn’t kill me for what happened to Maggie, the Devil’s would because they see me as a traitor to them too since I shot back when they came after her. Either way, I thought I was dead. So, I ran. I knew the club, my family, would take care of you both. My mistakes were mine. Gabe would never punish a child for my mistakes.”

“No. Your wife did that. And everyone else in this town who knew what a piece of shit my father is,” Sadie says, her voice cracking just slightly, but she keeps control of her emotions. “Do you know how hard it is growing up in a small town where everyone knows your father is a traitor and your mother is a certified psychopath? She tried to kill me because of you.”

“Sadie, I didn’t know she was sick. She was depressed after you were born, but the doctor said it would go away.”

“But it didn’t, and you got her hooked on your habits. Drugs were keeping her demons at bay. But then you left, and so did her daily supply of pills.” Sadie’s eyes are narrowed, but in this light, I see the glassiness. She’s fighting like hell not to let him see her break. “Why didn’t the Devil’s kill you?” Sadie’s voice is terse. “I mean you fucked everyone over. How the hell did you survive all this time?”

“I can’t tell you that.” Thomas looks at his feet, then back up at Sadie. “I made deals with people who are far worse than the two MCs. I’m still bound to a contract. Even as I sit here, I’m paying my debt.”

Sadie sits up straight, her eyes narrowed, studying Thomas. Whatever she’s thinking has her body shaking enough that I can visibly see it from where I’m standing.

“Sadie?” I call out. “You good girl?”

“I’m … fine.”

The fuck she is.

“My mother is sick. She’s not going to live much longer. She’s been having seizures. They had to induce a coma to stop them. I thought you’d want to know. Not that you ever fucking cared about either of us, but there you have it,” she says, standing and moving toward the cell. Hawk and Mack are moving toward her, but she puts her hand up to stop them. “I’m fine. He won’t hurt me. If he does, Uncle Mack—shoot him.” Thomas’s eyes widen at her command.

Sadie moves closer, gripping Thomas’s wrist through the bars, pulling. The clank of his chest hitting the bars rings throughout the room. Thomas grunts at his discomfort but makes no move to retaliate.

He grips the bars with his other hand to steady himself. Sadie grips the pocket of his t-shirt with her other hand, holding him in place. We all watch on, not sure what’s about to happen, but not wanting to startle her either. Sadie is on the edge. It’s obvious. Her cold demeanor, the darkness and pain in her eyes, is very concerning.

She leans in closer, gritting her teeth, and she says something to Thomas I can’t hear. His eyes widen as her grip on his shirt appears to get tighter. She releases his wrist, then shoves his chest, causing him to stumble back a step. He rubs his wrist, holding it to his chest. They lock eyes for a moment, a single tear finally falling from her eye.

“I’m sorry, baby girl,” Thomas whispers. Sadie turns on her heels and heads for the door. Caleb opens his arms, and Sadie walks straight into his hold, then he leads her out of the room.

“Jesus. The grip on that girl,” Thomas whines.

“You’re lucky that’s all she did,” Hawk says, his tone cold. “She’s been training for years. Girl could kill you if she wanted to before any of us could get to her, not that we would stop her.” He shrugs. “I’m sure Pres would understand if she lost her shit and slit your throat. After all, you did abandon her and leave her to deal with your shit. Your bitch of a wife abusing her. The stigma that comes with having a crazy mom and a fucked up deadbeat dad,” Hawk says through gritted teeth. “Hell, maybe we should let Sapphire get her pound of flesh. It’s the least we could do for all the shit you two put that beautiful girl through.”

“I’ll take whatever she wants to dish out. I deserve it,” Thomas says resigned. “I can’t make up for what’s happened. But believe it or not, I did take care of my daughter. Maybe not the way I should’ve, but I did what I could,” Thomas says, sitting on the mattress, gripping both hands in his hair. When he looks up, his eyes are red-rimmed and glassy. “The best thing I did for that girl was leave. They would’ve come for her if I hadn’t.”

Hawk glares at the idiot behind bars.

“The only reason the Devils have kept their distance is because of the deal I made to keep her fucking safe.” Thomas stands again, pacing the cell.

“What deal? Who’d you sell your soul to that would have that type of leverage?” I ask, my curiosity piqued. Thomas’s eyes snap to mine, but he says nothing, only shakes his head.

More secrets. Fucking great!

Mack holds the pistol to Thomas’s head through the bars. Thomas doesn’t step back. “What you deserve is a cold fucking grave. I’m pretty sure if we gave her the gun, Sadie would pull the fucking trigger. Our girl is a hell of a shot.”

Thomas smirks.

Fucking dumbass.

“Good.” He says, staring straight into Mack’s wild eyes. “I’m glad you all taught her to be strong and how to take care of herself. It’s what I always wanted for her. To be happy, independent, and not have to rely on anyone else for any of those things. It’s what her mother always wanted for her, too.” He sighs. “At least I know my leaving did some good for her. Thank you.”

“Fuck you.” Mack spits at Thomas’s feet, his finger visibly twitching on the trigger. “Your approval means shit,” he grinds out.

“Times up!” I yell to my brothers. I need to get them out of here before shit goes sideways and I have to tell Pres why Hawk and Mack went rogue and killed the fucker after Caleb gave him a speech about why he couldn’t do that very thing.

Mack releases Thomas and storms out of the door, gun still in his hand.

“I need a fucking drink.” I sigh.

“You have to go pick up your girl’s kid,” Hawk says sarcastically. “No beer for you, Daddy Declan.” How he switches from mad as hell to the playful little fuck we all know him to be, I have no fucking clue.

He’s not fast enough this time, and I catch him with a hard slap to the back of his head.

“Ow!”

“Fucker.”