Chapter 12
Twelve
Carver sat watching the boy for longer than he should have. He was lost as to what to do with the young man. There were too many variables for his brain to work through.
While he could bundle the boy up and take him to his office without seeing anyone, how could he prevent any of the women from stopping by? Their appearance would surely scare the boy again. He had no doubt of it after his reaction in the main room.
Fury left at one point, only to return with a full plate of breakfast food for Carver and a small bowl for the boy. “Figured he might want to eat after smelling yours,” he told the prez.
Carver dug into his meal with gusto. He hadn’t considered his own hunger in hours. Every ounce of his attention went to the boy and his needs. The urge to care for him overrode all the basic self-care principles.
The boy never asked for the food despite the delicious aroma. His soft snores alerted the two men to him falling asleep again, which actually helped Carver relax a bit. He left the bowl of food near the closet door, then motioned to Fury to exit the room.
Slash, Slayer, and Hex were waiting in the hall when they stepped out. Each nodded in greeting while they remained silent. Carver closed the door, then pointed to Hex.
“Stay here in case he wakes up. If he tries to leave or freaks out again, call me. Don’t hesitate.”
“Understood, Boss,” Hex replied with a stern expression. It was an odd look for him to wear. He was usually all charming and calm. Carver figured it was probably in response to what had to be his no-nonsense mood.
A lack of sleep, an inordinate amount of worry, and feeling a bit helpless had the normally headstrong president uneasy. What was Carver supposed to do next? How could he keep the boy and not make him another prisoner?
And most of all, why did he want to keep him?
“My office,” Carver instructed to the others.
The four of them — Slash, Slayer, Fury, and Carver — took off for the private meeting space. As they passed the others, nearly double what had been awake before, they studiously ignored them all. There was no time to talk or explain what was happening.
Trix was the only person Carver sought to acknowledge in the mix. Even then, he only nodded to the man, which was plenty enough signal to tell him to follow the group.
When they reached the office, Carver dropped behind his desk as the rest crowded into the space. It wasn’t a large room. With all the extra bodies, it felt even smaller.
“What’s up, Boss?” Trix asked first. It made sense he would be the most curious. His need to know all the details was what made his skill with technology so great. He never let a system beat him. If anything, he’d take it apart and put it back together again ten times better than the original.
Carver rubbed his jaw. “What all did you find out about the boy? Do we have a name yet?”
“I’ve been working on it all night. The records I could find based on the time period he was likely sold aren’t the best. There are a fuckton of missing kids reported each year. I’ve got my system working to age up their faces to see if we get a match.”
“That’s good,” Carver encouraged. “Once we know, I’ll feel better about what comes next.”
Slash cleared his throat. “And what might that be? You want to fill the rest of us in?”
“If I had answers, you’d already know them. I’m still figuring it out.”
“May I make a suggestion?” Slayer asked.
Carver could tell they were doing that fucking weird twin thing where they finished each other’s thoughts and sentences. He wanted to grumble at them like usual, however, he needed their help now more than ever.
“Lay it on me.”
Slayer nodded. “I think even if we find out who he is, it won’t matter.
What he’s been through is horrendous. I doubt his family will be equipped to handle it.
My vote would be to help the guy however we can.
We’ve got the resources to help him acclimate.
Royce probably has a contact with trauma therapy skills, right?
Why don’t we connect them? Then when he’s more stable, we can set him up with a new identity and put him on his way. ”
A growl tore from Carver’s throat at the suggestion. The three men had varying reactions, though all were shocked.
Slayer raised his hands as he took a step back. “Just a suggestion. Ignore me then.”
Carver shook his head and sighed. “I don’t know what the fuck that was.”
“I think you actually do though,” Slash said.
Trix jumped in, his analytical brain putting the pieces together as well. “You have an urge to protect and keep him. This is more than you wanting to save him though, isn’t it?”
“Like I said, I don’t know. My head is all mixed up. Part of me wants to bundle him up to keep him close and the other part wants to send him away, so he’s not subjected to my overbearing ways.”
“Maybe he needs it,” Slayer said cautiously.
“What do you mean?”
Slayer put his hands on his hips. “Look at it this way… You’re never going to hurt him.
It’s not in you. If anything, you’ll make sure he’s safer than ever.
It might do him well to see what having a caring person around is like.
Plus, you know none of us would go against you on this.
We trust you to know what’s best for everyone. ”
“But that’s just it.” Carver groaned. He let his guard down with the other men for a moment as he admitted, “My chest hurts when I think about what he’s been through. I want to bring every one of those fuckers back from the dead so I can torture them.”
Slayer grinned and Trix tilted his head. It reminded him of the boy’s movements, which only furthered the ache inside him.
Slash was the one to speak up. “It sounds like the decision to keep him here is already made. I think there is more at play here than any of us understand.”
“What do you mean? What else could there be?” Carver felt frantic. His mind and body weren’t acting right. It was beyond frustrating.
He hated not being in control.
“I think he’s trying to say there might be other emotions involved,” Fury said, speaking up for the first time.
“We aren’t going to try to make sense of it right now.
The only thing we need to worry about is whether or not he has everything he needs.
Physical needs like food, clothing, and shelter.
Once he has that, we work on the emotions. ”
Carver sighed. “Ok. I can do that.”
Having a plan soothed him. Fury knew him well enough to understand this. Carver was thankful he’d stepped in. He’d been seconds away from flipping his desk with the way his turbulent emotions were.
“Let’s go over club business now. I think we’ve covered everything we can about our newest guest,” Carver announced.
Trix settled into one of the chairs across from the desk as Fury moved to the door. “Should I go relieve Hex so he can be here?”
“That would be great, yes.”
At Carver’s instruction, the other man left the office. Slash and Slayer posted up on the walls, arms crossed, and shoulders pressed into the sheetrock. They were twin images across the space from each other. It made Carver crack a genuine smile at the group.
“First things first, Royce reported things are good with everyone we sent. I got a text from them last night with further confirmation all was well. Now we need to decide what comes after this. We’d been researching that operation for a long ass time. I don’t know what else is in the pipeline.”
Carver looked to Trix for the answer to his question.
As the tech guru, he kept his ear to the ground on any and all problematic people.
If they were close enough for the Angels to handle, they did so.
If it was a bigger issue outside of their territory, then they gathered the evidence and sent it to some friends.
On rare occasions, they’d build a case and drop the files to someone in law enforcement.
Trix leaned back in the chair in the way that said only two of the legs remained on the ground.
He smirked and shook his head. “There’s nothing in the pipeline, Boss.
It’s all quiet right now. Since the Gilded Ones incident took priority, I handed off all other projects. For the first time we’re all clear.”
Slayer chuckled at the news. “Except for the fact that we have a new visitor and probies to keep track of. What the hell will everyone do without a project to keep up with?”
“I think Trix means there isn’t anything involving violence. We can always volunteer and shit. We can offer protection to people who can’t afford it and even do those visits to nursing homes like we used to. That shit was fun as hell.”
Slash’s suggestion reminded Carver of the last time they all took a trip to the local care facility nearby. The staff was hesitant at first, but Hex charmed them as usual. By the time they left, it was to a happy group asking when they’d be back.
How long had that been? Since Carver couldn’t answer off the top of his head, he knew the answer was far too long for his liking.
“Good idea, Slash. Let’s get a list together of places to hit up. Trix can create a schedule and signup sheet or some shit. Whatever it takes to give the men something to work on.”
“A few of them have businesses to check on too,” Slayer added. “Like construction and automotive stuff. I know they have managers handling it all, but maybe it would be good to let some of them go work on that too.”
Carver waved his hand around. “I agree. Give them the green light to move around on a regular zero-threat level. We don’t let people on the grounds, yet we’re not saying Angels aren’t free to come and go as they like.”
Hex slipped into the room as Carver spoke the words. His brows rose. “Sounds like I missed a lot. Sorry it took so long. Fury wanted to talk for a second.”
“What did he want to talk about? Did something happen? Dammit, you were supposed to call me!”
“Easy, Boss. It wasn’t like that,” Hex replied, his tone soft. “Fury wanted to make sure I wasn’t too flirty with him or anything. He said we shouldn’t be mean or anything, but to not be the complete opposite either. We need to make him comfortable with a baseline rather than swinging to extremes.”
Carver settled back in his chair as he forced himself to calm down. He’d gotten far too worked up over an assumption. What the fuck was wrong with him?
Hex’s snort made him realize he’d asked the last bit out loud. “I think maybe you’ll figure it out with time, yeah? Now then, can someone tell me what decisions were made.”
Slash and Trix shared the details with Hex as Carver tried to shake off the last of his anger. He didn’t even realize Slayer was staring at him until he looked up. The other man was watching him with an expression Carver didn’t like.
It was as if he knew Carver better than he knew himself. Like he understood why Carver was acting differently.
While Carver suspected the reasons as well, he couldn’t let himself think like that. Not now. Maybe not ever.