Page 7

CHAPTER SIX

Declan

I pull into my garage and cut the engine to my bike. Ethan pulls into the driveway, with Skyler pulling in next to him in her truck. Ethan asked her to meet us at Violet’s apartment. We figured it was safer for Carter to ride in a cage with all his shit than try to maneuver it all on the bikes. The kid was disappointed, but I promised to buy him a proper helmet so he could ride with me and his mama won’t complain. Right. It made the kid happy, and now here we are.

I dismount and head toward the truck to get the kid and carry his shit into the house. He slings the door open before I can reach him and jumps down. “This is your house, Mr. Declan?”

“Stop with all the Mister shit. How many times do I need to tell you to call me Declan?”

“Mama says I need to address adults as Mr. or Miss. It’s polite and respectful.” Carter replies.

I lean down until I’m at his level and quietly tell him, “But your mama ain’t here. Bro code, right?” His face splits with the biggest grin.

“Hell yeah.”

Skyler’s head spins on both of us. Ethan must’ve helped her out of the truck because I didn’t see her standing there and she’s not thrilled with Carter’s response. She points her finger at me, glaring. I stand to my full height, my arms crossed over my chest, fighting like hell not to smile.

“If his mother asks me where he learned to talk like that, I am going to …”

“Do absolutely nothing, Sunshine.” Ethan says, grabbing her around her waist from behind. “You know why?”

“Because snitches get stitches, right Uncle Ethan?” Carter chimes in and giggles when Skyler’s mouth drops open.

“You guys are teaching him terrible things.”

“Actually, I heard you tell that to Cash when you were working with Mama at th?—”

Skyler jumps out of Ethan’s arms, and slaps her hand over Carter’s mouth, chuckling.

“Kids.” She shrugs. “They have wild imaginations. Who knows where they pick this shit up. I won’t tell and neither will you.” She says the last part pointedly to Carter. He nods his head.

“Ew!” Skyler shouts. “You licked me. You little shit.” Carter is laughing while back pedaling out of Skyler’s reach. Ethan grabs her around her belly, gently pulling her back into his front.

“You never complain when I lick you, Sunshine.” Ethan says, making Skyler blush.

“Now who’s teaching him bad words?” I tease.

“Come on, baby. Let’s get you home and fed. Clearly, you’re hungry because you’re getting extra feisty with the boy.” She rolls her eyes, and Ethan leans in, placing his cheek close to hers as he says, “I’ve got something I think will fill you up nicely. I might even let you get away with keeping your little secret between you and Carter if you play your cards right.”

“We have no secrets. Right, Carter?” Skyler gives the kid that deadly mom-glare all women seem to be born knowing how to do.

“We don’t have any secrets,” Carter says, tossing two fingers back and forth between himself and Skyler. “But I can’t speak for you and Uncle Ethan.” The boy shrugs.

He is a shrewd little shit. I like it.

Skyler points a finger at him, still holding her mom-glare firmly in place. “You let me worry about Uncle Ethan. Just remember, I know the little girl you’ve been crushing on. You spill mine and I spill yours. Got me?”

Carter’s eyes grow wide. “Okay. Okay. I got you. Sheesh.”

I scruff his hair. “Seems you’re full of secrets, Little Man.”

Carter steps back, his face suddenly full of concern. “I-I don’t keep secrets. Mama says secrets are bad.” Carter looks between the three of us, suddenly seeming uncomfortable. I don’t know why he reacts the way he does, but suddenly I’m thinking I need to dig a little deeper. “We just don’t tell everybody everything because people aren’t always who they seem to be. Some people are up to no good, even when they say they want to help.”

My brow furrows. His words setting alarm bells off in my head. Ethan must sense the same thing because his face matches my thoughts.

“Well,” Skyler clears her throat. “We should get going so you two can start dinner and get Carter’s homework done. Don’t forget to get a shower and clean up your mess, okay?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Skyler turns, giving Ethan a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you at home.” She pulls out of his arms and gets into the truck. He follows her, giving her a quick kiss before closing the door. The truck starts up. She backs out, and Skyler takes off down the road, leaving us to sort shit out.

“Let’s get your stuff in the house, kid.” Carter grabs his backpack. I grab the other two bags that Ethan helped him pack up. I don’t know why he brought the extra shit when all the kid needs is his clothes, toiletries, and his shit for school. But Ethan thought he should bring a couple books and his video game station and some games to play with it.

Not that I mind the kid staying and hanging out for a while. I told Violet I’d watch him from time to time and help her out if she wanted to go back to school. This could be a good opportunity to show her the kid and I can be left unsupervised for a while. Though, she must already believe that if she named me his guardian. The thought fills me with a sense of pride. It’s also very telling in the way she feels about me.

Violet has been pushing back every time I try to convince her to give us a chance. She won’t tell me what haunts her or what demons her past holds, but I recognize the signs. Shying back from loud sounds and shouting voices. Trying to make herself small and invisible in crowds. Flinching when someone moves too quickly around her, especially men. I had my hunches, but the Trident Elite Forces business card I found in her room tells me my gut was right on the money.

Someone abused her.

Kayce Eaton and I served together. The missions we took were not all on the books and most of them dealt with missing people, human trafficking scumbags, and eliminating problems under the radar and completely off-the-record.

I reach for my keys and unlock the door to the house, ushering Carter in and pushing the button to close the garage door.

“Put your stuff in the first bedroom on the right. I’m going to put the game console and shit out here in the living room.”

“Okay.” Carter answers, making his way down the hall.

“After you get everything put away, get yourself a shower. I’ll order us some pizza for dinner. It’ll be here by the time you get done.” I holler from the kitchen.

“Pizza? Yes!”

“I think he just fist pumped on his way into the room.” Ethan laughs. “Fair warning, the kid has a hollow leg. He can eat nearly an entire medium pizza by himself. I’ve seen him do it at my house. The girls call it his superpower.”

“I bet he only does it to impress Laylah.”

“Yeah, probably. But she’s not interested in boys,” Ethan states firmly. I give him a look that says I’m calling bullshit. “No. No, man. She’s not allowed to like boys yet. I have a kid on the way. I can’t be going to jail for killing some hormonal teenage boy who thinks with his dick.”

“You realize that the only two words in that sentence that separate our brothers from the boys you’re talking about are teenage boy, right?”

Ethan blows out a long breath. “Then you see why I would push the ‘no boys til you’re thirty’ rule so hard.” I laugh but nod my agreement while I finish up ordering our dinner on my phone.

“You think Skyler knows something about what’s going on?” I ask Ethan, changing the subject.

He’s rubbing the scruff on his chin. “She may know something, but I don’t think it has anything to do with what’s going on today. I know they were close even before Sky came back to town. Carter called her Auntie Sky in the gym the first time I caught her working out with Kieran, so there’s definitely some history there. I figured they knew each other from Mountain Heights, since Violet seemed pretty comfortable around Cash too.”

I grunt, not liking that Ethan’s right. When Cash came into town with Skyler, he had a way of putting Violet at ease and making her smile. I didn’t like it. Especially since she would shy away from me. She slowly started coming around when she saw me interacting with Carter. When we gave him his hoodie and a cell phone with all the guys’ numbers programmed in, she melted a little more. The boy calls or texts me at least twice a day and I check to see if he’s done his homework and helping his mama around the house.

I probably should’ve taken things more seriously when he told me she was acting weird. Crying herself to sleep at night. Checking every room when she gets home before she would let Carter go any further than the front door.

I assumed she was working through her fear after being stabbed, but just to be safe, I asked Wyatt to look into it and had him check the building’s security cameras. Everything seemed to be on the up and up. Since Carter hasn’t said anything else about it, I let it go.

Wrong move, asshole.

“See what you can find out from Sky tonight, would ya? I’m going to see if I can get the kid to open up to me a little about his non-secrets and the good people doing bad shit, too.”

Ethan heads out just as our pizza arrives. Carter comes strolling down the hall wearing Batman pajamas. I smile to myself at the little man. Sometimes I forget he’s only ten. The kid takes his role as man of the house seriously, and sometimes seems too mature to be ten.

“You got two pizzas? But there’s only two of us,” he says, confused.

“Well, a little birdie told me you can eat almost a whole medium pizza by yourself, and I know I can. So rather than both of us going to bed unsatisfied, I got two. You good with having your own pie?”

“Hell yeah.”

I chuckle at his enthusiasm. I’m going to get a verbal beat down from his mama for his language.

“Take the boxes to the coffee table in the living room, would ya? I’ll get us some napkins and drinks. You want a soda or water? I don’t have juice or anything, but I might have some milk,” I offer.

“Mama doesn’t like me to have soda before bed on a school night. She says it’s too much sugar or something.”

“Well, she’s not here, and I don’t have much in the way of options, kid.”

His smile is wide, and his eyes are full of excitement. “Soda please.”

I chuckle to myself and grab two sodas from the fridge, then take a seat on the couch next to him. He’s already got the tv remote in his hand, passing it over to me.

“So, what do we want to watch? Sports? Cartoons? A movie?”

“You watch cartoons?” he asks skeptically.

“No. But I’m not opposed to it if it’s superheroes or something cool.” It really doesn’t matter to me what we watch, but if cartoons will get him to relax, it might give me the opening I need to start this conversation.

“Do you have Netflix?”

“Yeah. Here, kid.” I hand him the remote. “Pick something out.” I open the lid to my box, grab a piece, and take a bite. He searches out some Batman cartoon and starts it from the beginning.

“I’ve seen it already, but you should watch it from the beginning so you can understand what’s going on,” Carter says, setting the remote on the table before opening his box and biting into his own piece of pepperoni pizza.

We watch his show for a few minutes, enjoying our meal. Carter fills me in on what’s happening and which characters to pay close attention to. He’s so engrossed in the storyline, now feels like the perfect time to ask him questions about his mother.

“You said your mama told you I might pick you up today after school. Did she tell you where she was going? Or how long she might be?”

Carter sits back with his piece of pizza in his hand, half watching me, half watching the tv. “No, sir. She just told me you might get me and to be good. Listen to what you say. The usual mom speech she gives when she drops me off with someone.”

“Do you have any idea where she might’ve gone? Does she leave town without you often?”

“You think she left town?” His eyes are wide, and his piece of pizza laid down in the box.

“I don’t know if she’s left town or not. I was just asking questions, seeing if you might know,” I explain. “Why did you get so nervous when I suggested her leaving town? Is she not supposed to?”

“No. It’s just that, um, we don’t spend time away from each other like that. What I mean is, she doesn’t leave town except for the one night she went with you to Uncle Ethan’s fight.”

Now I get it.

“You’re worried if she left town something bad might have happened to her.” He nods his head.

“Mama doesn’t always take good care of herself. It’s like you once said. She needs someone strong and brave to watch over her. To keep her safe.”

I reach over and grip his shoulder with my hand, giving him a little squeeze of reassurance. “I was talking about you. You’re the strong and brave person who’s supposed to look out for your mother. Do things to help her out so she can rest and not worry. Those things are ways she can take care of herself better.”

“Yeah, I know. But sometimes it feels like I’m not doing a very good job.” Carter says, picking at a nonexistent piece of lint from his pajama pants.

“Why do you say that, kid? Have you been getting in trouble at school?” I give him a stern look.

“No, sir.”

“Are you keeping up with your chores and your homework?” He nods again.

“Then I don’t understand what makes you think you’re not doing a good job taking care of her?”

Carter picks at his thumbnail. “Sometimes at night, she still cries in her sleep. She doesn’t like it when I ask her about it, so I pretend I don’t hear her. She has nightmares,” he says the words so quietly, as if he’s the one afraid of her nightmares.

“Do you know what the nightmares are about?”

He glances up at me, then back at his hands, shaking his head. I know he’s lying. I can see it on his face.

I squeeze his shoulder once more, which gains me another look at those hazel eyes that match his mama’s.

“If you need to talk about something, and you don’t want anyone else to know, you can tell me, and I’ll keep it between us.” There’s a hint of hope, or maybe relief in his eyes, but it’s gone in a blink. His shoulders sag and he shakes his head.

“Mama says we don’t tell everybody everything.”

“Because people aren’t always who they seem to be. Some people are up to no good, even when they say they want to help,” I finish repeating his words from earlier. “Yeah, you said that before. But I’m not everybody. I’m your friend and soon I’ll be Violet’s man.”

His eyes get big, and I can tell he’s fighting to hide a smile. He likes the idea of me being in their lives, which will go a long way to help me convince Violet. But for now, I need to focus on him and what he’s struggling to keep hidden.

“What do you mean when you say people are up to no good? Who?”

Carter shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know.”

“Did someone who was supposed to be your mom’s friend hurt her or you somehow?”

“No. She didn’t have friends until we moved here.” I find it hard to believe since everyone who knows Violet here in town adores her. “Well, except Mili, but she’s moving here now too.”

Mili? I make a mental note to find out who this Mili person is.

“Is your mama close friends with Mili? Did they used to work together where you used to live?”

“Um, I don’t know. She talked to Mili a lot. When we moved, Mama talked to her every day. But they didn’t go out or anything. Not like Mama and Auntie Skyler do. I don’t know how girl code works, but doesn’t it include things like shopping and girl’s night out? I think that’s what Auntie Sky calls it.”

I laugh at his description. “I suppose if they were close, she would spend more time doing things like that with Mili. Do you know Mili’s last name?”

Carter looks suspiciously at me. The kid’s too fucking smart for my own good. I turn back to my dinner and scoop up another slice and take a huge bite. I’ve lost my appetite completely, but it distracts him enough he keeps talking.

“She’s a doctor. I don’t know her last name. I only know her as Miss Emilia, but Mama calls her Mili for short.” He shrugs. “It’s not polite for me to use her nickname without her permission.”

“Good point.” It’s coming up on nine thirty and the kid’s eyes are getting heavy. “Why don’t you take your pizza and put it in the fridge, then go get ready for bed.”

“Can I take my leftovers for lunch tomorrow?” he asks, looking hopeful.

“You can’t heat it up. Are you going to be all right eating cold pizza for lunch?”

He gives me an incredulous look and huffs, “Hell yeah. I love cold pizza. I’d eat it for breakfast if Mama would allow it, but she always tells me pizza isn’t a breakfast food.” He makes his voice sound high-pitched, imitating his mother’s and I laugh.

“She doesn’t know what she’s missing. Cold pizza is the shit for any meal.”

“Right?” Carter agrees.

“All right. You can take the cold pizza for lunch. What time do I need to wake you up for breakfast and to get ready for school?”

“Um, seven thirty. I don’t need anything fancy for breakfast. And it only takes me ten minutes to get dressed and brush my teeth.”

“Perfect. Go on now. I’ll see you in the morning.” I get up to put my own dinner in the fridge and grab a beer.

“Good night, Mister … I mean Declan. Thanks for letting me sleep over.”

“Good night, kid. You’re welcome to stay anytime.”

Carter gets his teeth brushed and does his business in the bathroom. I lock up the house and wait until I hear the guest room door close before going into my bedroom. I close my door behind me, pull out my phone and set the house alarm. Then I set an alarm to wake the kid. I’m sure I’ll be up long before him anyway, but better to be safe. As soon as that’s complete, I make a call to the only person I know can help me get to the bottom of things.

He picks up after two rings.

“What’s up, Dec?”

“Hawk, I need a favor. An off-the-record, don’t-get-your-ass-caught kind of favor.”

I hear rustling around on the other end of the phone, then the sound of a keyboard clicking in the background.

“What do you have for me? What am I looking for?”

“A doctor named Emilia and I need everything you can find on Trident Elite Forces.”