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6

HAWK

A few hours later, the paramedics have taken Nate’s body to the morgue and the sheriff told Gabe they’d be in touch once they had the coroner’s full report. It appears Nate died naturally. There were no major wounds outside of the bullet hole in his leg, which we said he arrived at the clubhouse with. It’s the truth. We just left out the part where I put the bullet hole in him before we brought him here.

I’ll hack the system and get the real report in a day or so.

We take our places in the sanctuary. Gabe, Eli, and all the other guys are already in the room waiting. Austin runs in handing me my laptop at Pres’ orders. As soon as I close the door, I get my laptop opened and Gabe slams the gavel down cutting right to it.

“Hawk, pull up the cameras and check the system. I looked at it myself, but maybe I missed something.” Gabe barks. I raise my hand, and he tips his chin. “What is it?”

“I’ve already checked the cameras. They don’t show everything from last night, but I received the missing footage.” I say to the room.

“What do you mean, you received it?” Gabe asks, his arms now crossed over his chest. He’s an intimidating fucker on a good day.

“Let me show you.” I open my email and put it up on the flatscreens for everyone to see. The video plays, the audio is muffled but we can see everyone clearly.

“What the hell is Sadie doing down there?” Gabe shouts.

“With Thomas. Fuck.” Caleb chimes in.

We all watch as Sadie and Thomas sneak through the clubhouse and enter the basement. Thomas and Nate exchange some heated words, and then the same happens between Nate and Sadie as he explains the original plan for Maggie and Avery. Jake lets out a low growl beside me when he hears how they were supposed to take Avery back to the clubhouse. We all know they would’ve done one of two things form there; either sold her to the highest bidder or turned her into a club whore. Neither option sits well with any of us.

“It almost makes you think she got lucky living with that bitch of a grandmother, doesn’t it?” Ethan whispers.

“ No.” Jake says harshly. “But at least she came out of that situation alive. The old bitch is still due.”

I nod in complete agreement.

I listen closely to this next part. I’ve watched it twice already in my room. It guts me every time.

“And now? What are you doing here after all these years. What the fuck could you possibly want with the Kings? I know it’s not to make amends with your son because that will never fucking happen. So, tell me, Nate. What is it you came here looking to do?”

I watch in awe at how fierce my Sapphire is when she speaks about me. She’s angry at him, on my behalf. There’s a burning feeling in my chest, as I sit here and watch her.

“I did come here to see my son, but…”

“He’s not your son. You lost the right to call him that when you left him to take care of his mother and pick up the broken pieces you left behind after you beat the shit out of her and ran off .”

“Because of your bullshit, he grew up without a father. I grew up without both of my parents. Avery was raised in a cell by a witch. Gabe lost the love of his life, and you two got to fuck off and do whatever the hell it is you two have been doing all this time!”

Sadie stands firm in front of the cell, chewing Nate’s ass and something akin to pride wells up inside me. But it doesn’t matter. She betrayed the club. Bringing a traitor into the clubhouse. Bypassing the security system. Sneaking him out again. She’s out of her damn mind and out of control.

Not to mention the dead body that left the clubhouse this morning after her little stunt.

It’s this last part that has my fists balled and my temper flared to life. This son of a bitch has a daughter, and he fucking lost her to his club. They stole her to pay his debt.

“I was hoping Hawk would be willing to help find my daughter.”

We watch the rest of the video and when it’s done the room falls silent.

Gabe leans forward, his elbows on the table as he rubs both hands down his face. “Where did you get the missing video feed?”

“Trident sent it to me through Garrison Security emails.” I tell him. “Which means either they’re in on it, or they were in our system keeping an eye on Nate.”

“But why?” The question is directed at Declan from Pres. Trident’s leader, Kayce used to be in the military with Declan. They had a hand in helping us bring Violet and Carter home, along with Vincenzo Parisi.

“I can ask Kayce, but he may not tell me the answer. They take on jobs that are highly confidential. If they were willing to break into our system to keep an eye on him, Nate was connected to one of their clients.”

“Or he was their intended target.” Eli suggests. Declan nods.

“What about the daughter?” Jameson asks. “Do we believe Nate’s pleas, or do we think it’s another trap?”

Walker shrugs. “Could be a trap. Send us on a goose chase for some girl who’s allegedly trapped and possibly being used by the club, only to ambush us.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time someone’s tried that shit.” Mack adds. “But something about it doesn’t sit right with me.”

“What do you mean?” Gabe looks to Mack. They have a long history of friendship. If Gabe trusts anyone’s instincts, it’s Mack.

“Nate said they took her because he lost a shipment of women, and the truck never showed up.” Mack starts. There’s a collective nod around the room. “What if it was one of the shipments intercepted by Trident or Vincenzo?”

Gabe grunts. Declan scrubs his chin in thought.

“Trident did intercept a shipment not too long ago. Violet’s doctor friend was attacked by the Devils’ not too long after when they found out she was patching the women up and helping find their families. Maybe it was the same shipment.” Declan pulls his phone out typing out a message to someone. “I’ll ask Kacey. See what he’ll tell me.”

“Now, how the hell did Sadie get brought into this?” Gabe turns his hostile gaze to me.

I sigh and shrug, knowing my answer isn’t going to be what he wants to hear. “I think she’s looking to redeem Thomas and get him back into the club’s good graces somehow.”

“Fuuuuck.” Jameson shouts. “He killed my dad and Maggie! How the fuck can she possibly think there’s any kind of redemption to be made for that?”

“Calm down, VP.” Gabe grunts. “We all know what he did. Do we know if Sadie helped Thomas get out of the basement and off the property last night?”

“She was at Skyler’s party.” Cash says.

“But she left early.” Ethan adds. “She told Skyler she had a headache and went home.”

Ah shit. This is not going to go over well.

I clear my throat and raise my finger. When Pres acknowledges me, I lean forward a little uncomfortable in my seat. “Sadie went home after she hugged Sky last night. She was there all night until Avery text her to come to the clubhouse this morning.”

Mack’s eyes home in on me. “How can you be so sure?”

I shrug again. “I tracked her, then I went to see her at her place.”

“Oooohh.” Cash coos from the corner. “Did you two have a sleepover and braid each other’s hair?” He bats his eyelashes, and I want to punch the motherfucker in the junk.

Ethan leans over and whispers, “Annoying as fuck, isn’t it?”

“So, what did you two do all night?” Cash asks, his voice sing-songy and annoying. Asshole.

“What did you see on the cameras that made you go over there?” Mack asks. “I assume if you tracked her, you hacked her cameras too.” He knows me too fucking well.

“She was upset. The headache was an excuse. I went to talk to her. Find out what was wrong.”

“And what did she tell you?” Gabe growls. “Now maybe she was feeling guilty for how she snuck her deadbeat dickhead of a dad into my clubhouse and murdered someone under my fucking roof!” He shouts.

“No.” I put my hand out in an attempt to calm Pres. “She never mentioned Thomas or Nate. She said she was thinking about leaving Oakridge.”

But I guess guilt could have been the reason she was so upset.

“What?” Mack, Caleb, Pres, and Jake all shout at the same time.

“She said Mack’s getting what he wants. We all are. She was talking some bullshit about being the club’s obligation and going somewhere to build a life away from the club.”

“Where is she now?” Gabe asks.

“I sent her home.” Jake looks at me like I’m a fucking idiot. And maybe I am.

“You sent her home after she just told you she wanted to leave town?” Jake shakes his head.

“Not happening. She’s not going anywhere.” Gabe orders. “Go get her. Bring her ass back to the clubhouse and put her on lockdown. She’s with a brother at all times, or a prospect will be on her ass. But make sure it’s someone she can’t outsmart.”

Caleb scoffs. Jake smirks, his pride evident. Outsmarting Sadie is a full-time job, and not many have pulled it off.

“All right. Jake, you and Hawk go get her. Once we get her back here, I’ll talk to her. See what I can find out and we’ll reconvene in church tomorrow morning.” Gabe orders. “Eli, you and the boys want to hang around another night or two while we get shit figured out? You’re more than welcome and truth be told, we could probably use the extra hands until we know what we’re dealing with.”

“We’re here as long as you need us, brother.”

Gabe slams the gavel calling and end to church. I don’t fuck around with the rest of them. Instead, I head to my room with Jake not far behind me. Once there, I pull up Loretta’s tracker.

“She’s home.” I call over my shoulder, knowing Jake’s behind me. Something tells me to check her cameras. Chances are she locked me out again, but I only need a few minutes to get through them again if she did. But to my surprise the system pulls up without issue. The garage camera shows Loretta right where the tracker says she should be. The outside perimeter is quiet. No movement.

When I get to the interior cameras, something seems off. I start moving from room to room and find the house is empty. I’m scowling at the screen and pull out my phone as I drop my ass onto the foot of the bed.

“What’s wrong?” Jake asks watching over my shoulder. “You’re tracking her phone? But didn’t you already say her car was home?”

“Yeah, but there’s no movement in the house. Her phone will be wherever Sadie is. The girl is practically glued to the damn thing.”

Her phone shows she’s home.

The fuck?

Back to my laptop, I start zooming in on each camera, looking for signs of life in the house.

“Maybe she’s in the shower.” I say to no one in particular.

“Shit.” Jake points to the screen. “Zoom in.” I do as he asks and that’s when I see it.

Sadie’s phone and her keys are on the island, where they should be if she’s home. But as I look further, I see what he’s looking at. Her desk is empty. All of her monitors, laptops, electronics she had on her make-shift office space, are gone. All the ways I use to track her are sitting in her home, without her . The only other option I have left that might give me some answers is to check her camera system from the time I sent her away.

Guilt settles in the pit of my stomach.

I told her to fucking leave.

But I didn’t mean for real! I meant for her to go home and wait.

You think she’s going to wait there for someone who thinks she’s a traitor?

Shit.

We need to get to her house. Maybe I’ll find something there to give me a clue as to what she’s up to.”

Grabbing my keys, I lock up my room and head out to my bike. When I pick up my helmet, a yellow folded piece of paper falls out.

Nathaniel,

You don’t know the half of it. But when you figure it out,

I hope you’ll forgive me and understand. I had no other choice.

Yours Always,

Sapphire