Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“Oh, my God,” I said, nerves jangling. “What happened? What’s going on?” I asked, not sure who to look to at that moment.
There was a movement at the corner of my vision, making me turn to see a woman with black shoulder-length hair, rich umber skin, and deep green lipstick standing there.
“How about I hang with Daphne for a couple minutes so you two can talk?” she suggested, but stayed in the doorway in case I told her to fuck off.
“This is Cali,” Callow introduced her.
My gaze slid to his, seeing something heavy in his light blue eyes.
When I looked over at Daphne, she gave me a slight nod for her consent.
“Okay,” I agreed, nodding at Cali. “Thank you,” I added.
Callow moved away from the counter then moved out of the kitchen after Cali moved in, leaving me to follow him as I heard my daughter greet the woman.
I followed Callow into the common room, out the back door, around an in-ground swimming pool, then over toward a set of picnic tables.
Callow sat on top of one, his arm hanging over the side, so the blood could drop onto the ground instead of the wood.
“Callow, what the hell is going on?” I asked, belly sloshing around, making me regret those peanut butter cups I’d eaten.
“Some of my brothers and I were… heading to work,” he said, watching my face.
“Work,” I repeated. “Arms dealing,” I said, watching his brows go up ever so slightly.
“Yes," he confirmed.
“Okay,” I agreed, deciding I was just going to have to wrap my head around that whole thing later. “How is my daughter involved in that?”
“Daphne cut class today and was hanging out at the ice cream place,” he told me, and I had to pretend it didn’t make me queasy that he knew more about my kid’s whereabouts than I did right then. “I don’t know if she was alone or not. But she saw me driving past, then followed me across the highway.”
“Jesus,” I hissed, deciding I needed to go over my list of therapists again and just pick one already.
“The problem was she interrupted a… deal,” Callow told me.
An arms deal.
My daughter got in the middle of an actual crime.
“I put her in the back of the SUV. But just a few minutes later, the whole situation went sideways. There was shooting,” he said, making my gaze go back to his arm.
“You were shot?”
“I went back to the car to get Daphne out so we could shelter somewhere safer,” he told me. “A bullet ripped through the glass and grazed me. It’s nothing. But Daphne was understandably hysterical as we ducked behind the engine block, waiting for it to be over.”
“You’re sure she’s okay?” I asked, glancing back at the clubhouse.
“She wasn’t shot. She’s, physically, okay. But when it was over, she had to get back in the car with me and one of our other brothers who was shot several times. So she’s… been through a lot of shit today.”
My legs felt a little shaky.
I moved toward him, this man who I maybe should have been pissed at since his violent lifestyle had put Daphne in danger. But the fact of the matter was, my kid should have been in school. She shouldn’t have been following around a full-grown man. And when things did happen, he’d jumped into action to protect her.
I climbed up on the picnic table, exhaling hard, trying to grab hold of a singular thought instead of getting dizzy from the hurricane of them.
“Wait… why am I not talking to the police right now?” I asked. But when I glanced over at Callow, his brow was raised in a way that said You know the answer to that. “Right,” I said, nodding.
“I can’t stop you from going to the police,” he said.
“Then why did you even tell me?”
“Gonna be honest, Daphne tried to get me not to bring you into the loop,” he said, making me sigh.
Of course she did.
What was going on with my daughter?
“But this isn’t some stupid teenage shit. She’s… been through some shit. You needed to know about it.”
“Thank you for not taking her up on that. I’m sure that would have been easier for you. I, ah, I’m not going to call the police,” I said.
I mean, I wasn’t going to lie. It would probably reflect badly on me. Not only was my kid hanging out with outlaw bikers, but she was skipping school, and who-knew what else.
Calling them was, objectively, the “right” thing to do. But that didn’t mean it was the right thing to do for us.
“You alright?” Callow asked as I sat there for a long few moments, just lost in my own thoughts.
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
“Want to talk about it?” he asked.
God, I did.
And this wasn’t exactly something I felt like I could talk about to Britney. I knew she would insist I go to the cops.