Jake’s Angel (King’s Of Fury MC #2)

Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

JAKE

Pop abruptly catches both women by the elbow and escorts them into the room. Avery reluctantly sits in the chair next to Gabe at the head of the table. She makes eye contact with Sadie, who has been strategically placed at the opposite end of the table next to Hawk. Sadie’s eyes are wide, resembling someone who’s sitting on a thumbtack.

Avery’s eyes become sharp and assessing. Her body tenses as she takes in the impenetrable expressions of the men who sit around the room watching her.

“This is not our usual way of doing church, but I thought it was best we have both of you here together while we dig for the truth.” Gabe’s eyes narrow suspiciously as they bounce between the two women. “Whatever is said here does not leave this room. Do you two ladies understand?” They both answer with resigned acceptance.

“Let’s start with the night you left Baron’s Edge. What made you leave the way you did, in secret? Were you in trouble?” Gabe hunches over, his arms resting on his thighs. If he’s trying to look less intimidating, he’s failing miserably.

Avery swallows hard, her eyes pleading with Sadie for help. Sadie gives a slight nod, urging her forward. Avery clears her throat, searching for a plausible explanation. Surprising us all, she asks a question instead.

“What is it you’d like to know, exactly?”

Smart girl. Never give up what isn’t specifically asked.

I glance over and catch the hint of pride and the shadow of a smirk on Sadie’s face. Caleb must share the same thoughts, judging by his look of approval and the subtle hint of a smile he’s now trying to hide.

“For starters, what are you running from?”

“Who says I’m running from anything? Maybe I was just tired of living in a town full of narcissistic assholes.” Avery’s answer elicits snickers and grunts around the room. Her seemingly playful eyes meet Gabe’s accusatory ones, which are now alight with amusement at her choice of words. He drops his head momentarily, shaking off his laughter.

“If that’s the case, then why sneak out?”

Avery squints at him like he’s the dumbest motherfucker she’s ever met.

“Well … when you don’t want people to know you’re leaving somewhere, you don’t let them see you do it. It’s called ‘sneaking out’ for a reason.” I drop my chin to hide my smirk. Gabe, however, has stopped trying to hide his.

“Okay, then. How about I tell you what I think happened?” He leans back, folding his arms over his chest, one hand rubbing his beard as he watches her contemplatively. “I think someone threatened you and you ran. My question is, who threatened you, and why? You think you can help me figure that out?”

She squirms slightly in her seat, her eyes darting around the room impassively as she says nothing.

“Alright, we’ll come back to that in a minute. How about you tell me how you and Sadie came up with this little escape plan of yours? Then maybe you both can explain how Sadie helped you get past the security system?” Avery’s head snaps to where Sadie is seated, her eyes full of trepidation. Sadie’s head lowers as she studies her own fidgeting hands. I’m certain she can feel the weight of everyone’s eyes on her, but Sadie doesn’t buckle. They know we’re onto them, but they’re still not quite ready to admit anything.

Avery waits for Sadie to meet her gaze, but Sadie doesn’t look up. It’s in this moment I realize it’s not just Sadie who is protective and loyal to those she cares about.

“Sadie didn’t come up with the plan. She just happened to find out about my wanting to leave and offered me a ride out of town.”

Well, I’ll be damned. She’s trying to cover for Sadie.

“You expect me to believe you hacked the security system, cut the power, and escaped with no help from anyone? That’s a pretty big accomplishment for someone who barely pulled a C in her computer class.” There’s a flicker of rage in Avery’s eyes, her chest rising with every defiant breath she takes. She’s preparing to argue with his accusations, but she’s cut off by the sound of Sadie’s angry voice from across the room.

“Is that really all that matters to you people? The fact I outsmarted Hawk’s precious security system?” Sadie’s outburst catches everyone off guard as we all turn our attention to her. “There’s a known mobster threatening Avery’s life, and one of your own guys ends up dead the same night she manages to escape her hell-hole of a home, but all you want to know is how I broke the fucking codes? ” Avery audibly gasps before covering her mouth with her hand as she searches Sadie's face.

She didn’t know.

Sadie realizes her mistake and rushes to Avery’s side. Hawk moves to stop her, but Gabe waves him off, allowing Sadie to reach Avery’s seat. She drops to her knees on the floor in front of her, placing her hands atop Avery’s knees, looking up into her tear-filled eyes.

“I wanted to tell you yesterday. I just didn’t know how. It’s why I didn’t want you to leave last night. The club can help you, Aves. They’ll protect you until we figure out what the hell is really going on.”

Lowering her hand in slow-motion, Avery is visibly taken aback by Sadie’s confession, but there’s more than confusion at play in her expression. She’s petrified. We all watch in silence as Sadie tries to comfort her friend without success.

“Who? W-Why?” Avery’s voice is but a whisper, shaky and full of fear. She turns her questioning eyes to Gabe. “Why is someone after me? What do they want with me?”

Gabe leans forward, attempting to place his hand on her shoulder, but she shrinks back away from his touch. He immediately pulls his hand back, scrutinizing the shadow of alarm crossing her face.

She’s afraid of him.

Images of her bruises flash through my mind, along with an overwhelming urge to hold her.

“We believe his intention was to use you as leverage against Russ. Marco Cusenza, the man who is trying to find you, wants Russ’s freight company to help him expand his business ventures. When Russ refused to sell to him—he threatened you .” At the rough, steely edge of his voice, she leans into Sadie and listens, appearing uncertain if she should believe him or not. She looks back to Sadie, who nods her agreement to what’s been said.

Gabe goes on to inquire, “The night you snuck out with Sadie, one of our men who works security there was shot and killed. Do you know how that might’ve happened?”

Her eyebrows shoot up in surprise, her green eyes are wide. “Who?” She turns her question to Pop, who’s been quietly watching and listening, measuring her reactions.

“Chuck was shot in the chest at close range just outside the storm cellar door.” She visibly shutters at the mention of his name. At first glance, there’s a mixture of fear and rage in her expression, but almost as quickly as the emotions appear, they’re gone and replaced with a small sigh.

“He’s dead.” Her voice is whisper soft, but the relief she feels is clear.

The nagging pain in my chest has returned along with a rise in my body temperature as I realize my intuition was right. He’s the one who put his hands on her. But the question remains, is she the one who shot him? The better question I’m asking myself is— would I care ? An odd feeling settles in my gut when I answer within myself a resounding hell no !

“You think I shot him?” It’s Pop that she directs her question to.

He shrugs when answering her. “We aren’t sure, Avery. You have to admit, it looks suspicious. You being here with Sadie after she illegally broke into the security system and doctored the time stamps, so we can’t see what happened before or after Chuck was shot. But the hardest pill to swallow is you showing up here in town, having left without warning, and completely severing all ties to your grandfather. It’s not like you, sweetheart. You and Russ have always been close. Why would you leave and not tell him why or where you were going?”

My eyes are locked onto Avery’s.

She’s shrunk back into her chair, looking lost and helpless.

Defeated.

I don’t like it.

“Hold on a second. I have a thought.” Hawk leans into the table, raising his hand to be heard. Gabe gives a chin dip, letting him have the floor. “Is it possible we’re looking at the wrong person here?”

“What do you mean?” Pres asks.

“Well, Avery here, is Russell’s granddaughter, right?” Hawk says, looking to Pop, who shrugs, unsure of where Hawk’s going. I don’t think anyone else is, either. “Is it possible Cusenza isn’t trying to use her against Russell, but maybe he’s looking to settle a debt made by her parents?”

“What?” Gabe barks. “The fuck are you talking about?”

“Bear with me for a second. I’m just trying to connect the dots, Pres.” Hawk looks around the room at each one of us, making sure we’re all paying attention to what he has to say. “If she’s not Russ’s daughter, then who is her father?” Avery’s eyes lift, but she doesn’t speak. “It makes sense when you think about it. Russell is the one with the money, but maybe he’s not the one with a debt.”

“Hawk.” Pop tries to get his attention, but Hawk is too deep into what he’s saying.

“Maybe her parents owe a debt to the bastard, and he’s trying to leverage Russ to pay it off. I mean, why did he adopt her in the first place? Did she have shitty parents?” He shrugs, his fingers moving swiftly across his keyboard. His monitor isn’t linked to the flatscreen on the wall, so we can’t see what he’s looking at. “We don’t know, but I can find out. Just give me?—”

“Hawk!” The muscle in Gabe’s jaw tenses as he glares at Hawk, motioning for him to shut up.

Unfortunately, Hawk doesn’t take the visual clues as well as some of the rest of us, and he pushes forward, still clicking away at his laptop.

Avery watches the exchange taking place, looking to Pop for clarification as to what the hell is going on. I must admit, I’m as confused as she is. Sadie too looks completely baffled. Gabe stands to his feet, slamming his chair back.

“I said drop it!” Gabe’s outburst causes everyone in the room to jump, but especially Avery.

Hawk must’ve hit a nerve, or maybe there’s something in Russell’s file the club isn’t meant to be privy to. It makes sense. Russell is a Garrison Security client. Gabe has access to all those files, same as Pop does. But if he’s asking the club to protect Avery, we have a right to know what’s going on, and who exactly we’re protecting.

There’s a thickness to the air, but it’s Avery’s small voice that cuts through all the confusion when she answers the lingering question.

“My mother is dead. As for my father, your guess is as good as mine.” She says it so matter-of-factly, it’s as if she’s repeated the same story a thousand times. “My grandparents adopted me after she died.”

All the air feels like it’s just been sucked out of my lungs. Waves of dizziness wash over me, causing my head to spin.

“How’d she die?” I shouldn’t ask. Everything inside of me is telling me not to ask, but there’s a small piece of me that needs to know.

“She died in a car accident when I was two years old. I’ve lived with my grandparents ever since.”

Memories flood my mind, and my heart feels like it’s kicking the inside of my rib cage. The whooshing sound of my pulse is pounding in my ears.

The little girl with bright green eyes, long wavy blonde hair. It can’t be, can it?

“What the hell?” Gabe grumbles. We’re all staring at him in expectant anticipation. We all share the same sentiment. No one saying anything. Waiting for our president to tell us what he knows.

Everyone except me, who feels like there’s a three hundred pound weight crushing my chest—and Avery who has no idea of the bomb she’s dropped.

Gabe’s shoulders slouch, moving to smooth his brow with both hands as he drags them down the front of his face. Caleb and Pop exchange a concerned glance while the rest of us try to figure out what-the-actual-fuck is going on?