Page 19
Flash
W aking up with Jake’s arms around me, wrapping me tight in his embrace, feels so right. Knowing this is about to become a regular occurrence definitely puts a smile on my face, a smile I wish could have lasted longer, but my phone ringing and Shadow’s name on the caller ID tells me it’s time to get back to reality. I can’t imagine him calling me this early unless there was a problem. What the hell could have happened now?
“Morning, VP. What’s the news?” I ask as I answer the call.
“Micah’s mother showed up here with the police, demanding we hand him over. The word hostage was thrown around too. I don’t know what the hell she is playing at, but she’s clearly got something up her sleeve with getting the police involved.” Shadow says, cutting straight to the chase.
“Fucking hell. Seriously. I’m sorry you had to deal with that shit. After what she did to him, I never thought she’d even contemplate going to the police.”
“We don’t care about dealing with those idiots. It was more amusing than anything watching that utter shitshow go down. It was like watching a train wreck happen in slow motion. We’re more worried about her getting her hands back on Micah with the police being involved now. Especially when Detective Dickface is one of them.”
“Not a chance in hell is that happening. The Knightlye brothers are on the case. She won’t be touching one hair on my brother’s head ever again. Even if they weren’t handling it, though, I’d never let her get her grubby hands anywhere near him again. I don’t care who she’s gone running to. Over my dead fucking body is she ever getting near to him again.”
“Of course Wrath was right. He thought Jake might get his brothers involved. Does my twin have some fucking superpower I don’t know about? Don’t answer that. I know he doesn’t. It just annoys the crap out of me that he always knows shit before he should.”
“Yeah, he did, and I’m fucking glad he did go to them to help with making it all legal and binding, especially if I have this shit to deal with now. I’m going to let you go and tell Wrath he was right. Again. I have Knightlye’s to hunt down and tell about what’s happened this morning.”
“Alright, man. Keep us updated, even if it’s just a text. You know we’ve all got your back.”
“I know. Thanks. If you see Piston, tell him to get his ass over here if he wants to be involved in dealing with the trash.”
“Of course. You might have more than Piston show up, though.”
“No. Get everyone else in on planning how to deal with Cam’s situation. That’s a priority too.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’ll let you know if I need backup.”
“Okay. I’ll hold you to that. Later, Flash.”
“Later, Shadow.”
I hang up and throw my phone down towards the bottom of the bed. More than a little annoyed at the nerve of Trish Williams. How fucking dare she go to the police and try to act like we’ve done something wrong when she’s the one who hurt Micah? Fucking stupid bitch.
“Babe.” Jake says, voice gravelly from sleep. “What happened?”
“Fucking Trish Williams showed up at The Compound with the police, accusing us of holding Micah against his will or some shit. I’m ready to go over to her house and tear her a fucking new one. What the fuck does she think she’s playing at?”
“Come on. Get dressed, and let’s go find my brothers. If they’ve sorted the paperwork out, all it’s going to take is a phone call to the police department and sending some copies of the paperwork to get it all handled.”
I’d really rather stay in bed with him, but I know he’s right. I need to get moving and get a handle on this shit before things get more complicated. Like them getting a warrant to search The Compound for Micah or something else just as ridiculous. I can imagine that’s exactly what Detective Dickface, as Shadow called him, plans on doing; he’s got a slight grudge against Devil’s Inferno, seeing as we keep showing him up and cleaning up the mess he leaves behind. He’ll look for any excuse to try and screw us, and I need to make sure I do everything in my power to nip that in the bud now.
It doesn’t take long for both Jake and I to get dressed and head off to find Rex, Austin, and Seth. I do pop my head inside the room Micah was given last night as we pass, and surprisingly Micah is still dead to the world. He doesn’t even stir at the sound of me opening his door. I can’t help but smile at that. Clearly he feels safe here with me and Jake; he would have woken up at the smallest sound if he didn’t. I’m going to take that as a win, even if it’s only a small win. At the end of the day, a win is a fucking win.
“Come on. Let the boy sleep. Hopefully we’ll have everything dealt with by the time he wakes up.” Jake says as he tugs on my hand and pulls me towards the stairs.
“Maybe not everything, but the legal shit would be a good start. Then I can focus on dealing with Trish and Raymond.”
I refuse to call him Dad anymore, even in my own head. He doesn’t fucking deserve that title anymore after what he’s done. I can’t wait to expose all his fucking lies and destroy his world. He doesn’t fucking deserve to carry on living his life all happy and shit with my mother after what he’s spent years doing behind her back. Also, I owe him for keeping Micah away from me and treating him like shit. His world as he knows it ends today.
* * *
Finding Rex, Austin, and Seth is easy. They are all gathered in the house’s main kitchen, sitting at the counter, sipping coffee with massive smiles on their faces. The only reason they’d be sitting here looking so happy and relaxed is if they’d achieved what they set out to. Getting me legal guardianship of Micah or whatever it’s called. Honestly, I couldn’t care less about the proper terminology as long as nobody can take my brother away from me and hand him back over to that fucking bitch.
“I take it from the looks on all your faces that all the legal shit is dealt with? Because if it’s not, I’m going to knock all three of your heads together. Flash already got a call this morning that Miss Williams showed up at The Compound with the police, demanding they hand over Micah.”
“What do you take us for, little bro?” Austin says, eyes gleaming with mischief. “Of course it’s all sorted.”
“Don’t start. This is serious. She clearly wants Micah back for some reason that I can’t even begin to understand after what she did to him and how little care she’s clearly shown him throughout his life.”
“Oh, I may have the answer to that one. I did some digging. Micah and Megan both have, or in Megan’s case, had, trust funds set up by Raymond. Megan has pretty much blown through the entirety of hers living a life of luxury with Trish, but Micah’s is sitting there untouched. Trish Williams needs the money in Micah’s trust fund if she wants to carry on living the life she’s accustomed to.”
“Of course it’s all about fucking money. I fucking hate people sometimes. At least Raymond did something by setting Micah up a trust fund. It’s the least he should have done. Though I’m almost certain Micah would have much preferred him to actually care and show a goddamn interest in him the same way he did Megan.”
“Do you want us to get in contact with the police to stop anything they have planned while you deal with Micah’s parents?” Austin asks.
“If you don’t mind. I want all this over with today so Micah can put it all behind him and move on. Hell, I want to put it all behind me and move on from it all.”
“You know it might not be that easy; if he’s been neglected the way I think he has, it’s going to be a major adjustment for him.” Rex says, speaking up for the first time.
“I know things might get hard. I saw the effect Cam’s upbringing had when he first arrived. I’ll do whatever I need to in order to help Micah adapt, cope, and heal.”
“As long as you’re aware, that’s all that matters. Leave dealing with the police to us. You have bigger fish to fry.” Rex says.
“Thank you all for everything you’ve done. Just a heads up though, Detective Moore is the one handling Trish’s case.”
“No thanks needed, Flash. This is what we do, but even without that, we can tell you mean something to Jakey over there. Thanks for the heads-up about Moore; we’ll go down to the station and deal with this in person knowing he’s got his fingers all over this.” Seth says, voice full of mirth to start with, before turning more serious as he acknowledges the significance of having Moore involved. His terrible reputation precedes him.
“Oh, fuck you, Sethy. Don’t start this game; you know I always win.” Jake says with resolve in both his voice and eyes.
Everyone in the room bursts out laughing, and I can honestly say I feel lighter. I don’t know if that was Seth’s plan, but if it was, it was genius. I needed to release some of the tension that had been building and building since that phone call with Shadow this morning.