Page 94 of Finding His Redemption

“Guys,” Boone said, tone flat. “Focus.”

“Right.” X finished his Coke and launched the can into the recycling bin. It rimmed the edge before going in. “Where were we? A lead. So… anyone here actuallyknowBailee Cooper?”

Nobody spoke.

“Knew her mom,” Boone said after a beat. “Shannon Cooper. She was a year ahead of me in school until she dropped out at 16 to have Bailee. She dragged the baby to a few parties until CPS stepped in and threatened to take the kid away.”

X raised a hand. “Whoa, back up. You, Boone Callahan, used to party?”

Boone’s face went granite. “The point is, the girl didn’t have a stable childhood.”

“Don’t dodge the question.” River leaned forward, eyes gleaming. “This is critical background information for the investigation. Young Boone, wild and free, keg stands and?—”

Boone gave them a flat stare that would have withered lesser men, but it didn’t faze River and X. They kept ribbing him as Jax felt the beginnings of a headache pound behind his eyes.

“Why are you all so willing to go to bat for me? We’re not friends.” He didn’t have friends anymore.

“Ouch,” River said. “Man, I thought we were besties.”

Anson set his boot down and met Jax’s gaze. “You’re one of us, and they fuck with one of us, they fuck with us all.”

“And wearefriends,” River added. “You don’t have to like it. Just accept it.”

Jax said nothing, his throat suddenly too tight to speak.

Boone crossed to the battered whiteboard they used for a chore chart. He wiped it clean, scrawled BAILEE COOPER in block letters at the top, and started a list of the facts they knew beneath.

River grinned and opened his mouth to say something, but Boone pointed the marker at him.

“This doesn’t mean you’re getting out of chores, Beckett.”

“I’ll print off the list and tape it to the fridge,” Jonah said. “Just until we get the whiteboard back.”

“Kiss ass,” River muttered and slumped back in his seat.

“Alright,” X said, “if we’re doing this, we’ll want a clean record of all our conversations. You know what that means…” He pulled out his phone and wiggled it in the air. “Group chat.”

“No,” Anson groaned.

Boone just pinched the bridge of his nose like he had a headache. “Last time you started one, Bear threatened to shove the phone up your ass.”

“Stomp the phone into his ass,” Bear corrected on a deep growl. “And the threat still stands.”

X was unfazed as he typed. “Extenuating circumstances,mis carnales.”

A second later, everyone’s phone pinged.

X had named the chat, “Justice League, But Less Lame,” and sent a gif of Superman punching through a wall, followed by the message:

Operation Save Thorne’s Ass is a go.

Jax almost smiled. Almost.

“Can we focus?” Boone’s marker squeaked against the whiteboard as he added another bullet point. “Anyone know if the girl had a boyfriend?”

“I can dig into Bailee’s online history,” Ghost said.

X looked up from his phone, his warm brown skin taking on an ashen hue. “Shit. You can do that?”