Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
AMbrOS
“Ambros, call for you,” Con calls out as I walk past reception.
I look over and frown before I remember I left my cell phone in the interview room. “Crap. They say who it is?”
“It’s Amity.”
I snatch the phone from him and put it to my ear, already on guard. “Amity? What’s wrong?”
“Get down to Star’s school, quick as you can.”
“Fuck. Is she okay?”
“Star’s fine, but Citi isn’t. She needs you, Ambros.”
“I’m on my way.”
I hang up and turn to Con. “You’re in charge. I’m heading to Star’s school.”
“Everything okay?”
“No. No, it’s not.”
I don’t bother wasting time explaining. I grab my keys and head out. I try to reassure myself that Star is fine, so whatever is going on with Citi is fixable. If anything happens to Star, though, there will be no pulling Citi back from the ledge.
Not sure what I’m walking into or if I’ll need back up, I call Havoc. The second my call connects, Havoc’s voice fills the Bluetooth speakers of my helmet.
“Ambros?”
“Amity called me. Something’s going down at Star’s school. Star’s fine, but Citi needs me. I don’t have any other information, and I didn’t want to pull Amity from Citi any longer than I needed to.”
“Shit, fuck. I’ll be right there.”
“Bring G. Amity’s tough, but she sounded spooked.”
“I’m on it. Ride safe.”
He hangs up as I continue to weave in and out of traffic, trying to get myself there in one piece because I won’t be doing anyone any favors if they have to scrape me off the road.
When I pull up, it’s still a little early for pick-up, but a few people have already arrived. I ignore them as I pull into the lot. I park in one of the reserved spots, not giving a damn, and turn off the engine. I leave my helmet on the bike before I jog to the reception area and buzz the door.
After a minute or so, a voice asks me to state my business in as few words as possible. “I’m here because there is an issue with Star and Citi Dillion?”
“And you are?” the voice asks sharply.
“Ambros Deveraux. Citi’s partner.”
“One moment.”
The buzzer noise sounds again before the door opens. I shove my way inside and see a tall, reed-thin woman in a dark skirt and jacket heading my way. “Are you here for Miss Dillion?”
I nod and hold out my hand to her. “Ambros Deveraux.”
She takes in my jeans and cut, but I don’t sense any judgment as she reaches out her hand and shakes it. “Maggie June, principal. They’re back this way.”
“Can you tell me what happened?”
“Honestly, I’m still not one hundred percent. There was an incident just after lunch, where a man tried to collect Star, saying he was her father.”
“What?” I ask sharply.
“Not all staff know Miss Dillion’s story, or if they do, they haven’t put a face to her yet.
That’s not an excuse, I know. But I’m just trying to explain that we have at least one non-custodial parent trying to collect their child from school every week who isn’t on the list. This incident was handled the same way it usually is.
They were denied access to the child, and a courtesy call was placed to the custodial parent. ”
“Okay, did you get the name of the person trying to collect her?”
“That’s where the disconnect came in. The man said his name was Jasper Markham.”
I suck in a sharp breath as she shakes her head.
“I know. As soon as I heard it, I rushed to the classroom. For all intents and purposes, Miss Dillion seemed fine when she got here. A little shook up, which was hardly surprising, but she was hanging in there. That’s when the second incident occurred. ”
She holds open another door for me before it closes behind her, and the lock clicks into place.
“What other incident?”
She blows out a worried breath. “We received some donations yesterday.”
“I imagine that’s not unusual, even in a prestigious school like this one.”
“It isn’t. We get books, laptops, and equipment, along with monetary donations, though those are rarely hand-delivered.
The items that arrived yesterday were brought in by UPS and signed for by reception on behalf of an anonymous donor.
The only stipulation to the donation was that certain classrooms and children received specific items. Again, that’s not unusual.
Parents want their children to have the best of the best.”
“What was the donation?”
“Outdoor wear for our forest school. We haven’t been able to use it much this month with all the rain we’ve had, so the children were beyond excited to use it today and get outside.
When Miss Dillion arrived, she was upset but holding it together, as I said.
When she asked if she could take Star early, we of course agreed.
I led her out to the forest school myself. That’s when she lost it.”
“Lost what?”
“Herself,” she explains as she leads me outside through a side door.
I follow behind her, confused, speeding up when I hear Amity’s voice.
I can’t make out her words, but her tone is a soothing one you’d use to calm a spooked animal.
We round the corner, and I see Amity leaning over someone.
I leave Maggie and hurry over, crouching when I realize it’s Citi with Star in her arms. Citi is rocking backward and forward, her eyes on a point somewhere in the distance.
“What happened?” I glance up at Amity, who looks pale and freaked out herself.
“I don’t know. One minute we were walking up here to collect Star, and the next minute Citi screamed, yanked Star into her arms, and well, this… It’s like she can’t hear a single word I’m saying.”
“Alright, Havoc and G are on their way. Talk to Maggie over here and let her know they’re coming and who they are. I’ve got Star and Citi.”
“You sure?”
I nod, turning my attention back to my girl.
“Alright. I’m sorry, Ambros.”
“None of this is your fault, Amity, so get that out of your head right now.”
“Okay,” I hear her murmur, but I can’t pay her any more attention. Not when my girls need me.
“Hey, princess, you doing okay?” I ask Star, who is peering up at me from Citi’s lap.
She nods, her thumb slipping into her mouth. She isn’t crying, and she doesn’t look scared, but I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to try and gauge how well she’s coping, given all she’s been exposed to.
“Citi honey, can you hear me?”
I reach for her, but my hand hovers in mid-air, worried about making things worse. Right now, Citi is trapped somewhere, and she’s protecting her kid the only way she knows how. That means everyone around her is a threat. Fuck.
“Baby, come back to me. I won’t let anyone hurt you or Star, I swear it on my fucking life. They’d have to go through me and a whole MC first.”
She twitches, her eyes flickering for a moment before her gaze lands on mine. Confused, she opens her mouth and closes it again before looking around. “Ambros?”
“I’m right here, Angel. I’m not going anywhere.”
I hear voices approaching from behind us, but I keep my eyes on Citi. “Can I hold you?”
She whimpers but leans toward me. I take that as permission and drag them both into my lap. I wrap my hands around them and hold them tightly as I feel a presence step up beside me.
I look up and see Havoc. “Is she good?”
“No. But she will be.”
“Here, let me take Star.”
I’m reluctant to hand her over, but it might be easier for me to get Citi to talk to me alone.
“Hey angel, can we let Havoc have a cuddle with Star? He missed her today.”
She doesn’t say anything, doesn’t move or even appear to breathe for the longest time, but eventually she nods and loosens her grip.
Havoc bends down and kisses Citi’s head and scoops up Star. “I’ve got her mama, I promise.” Nevaeh steps up to stand beside him. I smile gratefully. I should have thought about asking her to come, but—
I blink when I see the color drain from Neveah’s face. She whimpers, her hand moving to cover her mouth.
“Havoc,” I warn him when she sways. He takes one look at her and curses. “Amity!” he calls out.
Amity rushes over with G. She tugs Neveah into her arms, but she can’t tear her eyes away from Star or her growing horror.
“What is it?” Havoc looks over Star from head to toe, much like I am, half expecting a gaping wound from their reactions. It’s G who puts it together first.
“Oh fuck.” He hurries over to Star, offering her a smile. “Can we take your raincoat off? It’s not even raining anymore, silly,” he teases, making her smile back. As soon as he mentions the raincoat, the pieces click together.
When Citi was abducted, she was wearing a pink raincoat and boots.
My eyes fly to Havoc’s. Coincidence or a direct hit?
“The principal said she got a donation yesterday. She was asked to give some of the children specific items.”
Havoc’s eyes narrow.
“I’ll go talk to her,” Amity offers, letting go of Nevaeh, who has calmed down now.
“I wanna drive them home. Amity, you good to switch and take my bike?”
“You got it.” She walks over and hands me the keys as G slips the boots off Star’s feet and hands them to Amity. “Might as well return them. Tell her what’s going on.”
“No problem.” She nods, holding out her hand to me. I toss her the keys, which she catches before heading off.
“I can’t believe someone did this on purpose. What the hell for?” Nevaeh hisses.
I pull back and look down at Citi, who looks up at me with big, wounded eyes.
“Let’s get you home.”
She slides her arm around my neck and buries her head under my jaw, crying softly. I get to my feet with her in my arms, gritting my teeth so hard, I’m surprised I don’t grind them to dust.
Havoc nods before following me with Star in his arms and Nevaeh at his side.
I don’t see G, so I assume he followed Amity.
I make my way back the same way I came. Nobody who passes us says anything, which I’m grateful for, but I have no doubt that it will be the talk of the fucking school tomorrow.
Once we get to the parking lot, I can see the pick-up line has started to fill up.
I’m thankful that we’re far enough away that most people won’t know what’s happening.
“Over there, Ambros,” I look to where Nevaeh is pointing and spot Amity’s new truck. I carry Citi over and unlock the vehicle. I walk around to the passenger side, and Nevaeh hurries around to open it.
“Thanks,” I murmur before setting Citi into the seat and strapping her in. “Hold on for a little while longer, angel, okay?”
“Okay,” she whispers.
Neveah reaches over and squeezes her shoulder. “We’ve got the car seat in the truck. We’ll ride over with Star. We’ll be right behind you, okay?”
Citi looks up at her and nods, her head turning so she can see Havoc standing near the hood with Star still in his arms. “Is she okay?”
“She’s absolutely fine. I wouldn’t lie to you about that, I promise.”
She nods as Nevaeh moves back and closes the door. She gives me a quick hug before hurrying over to Star and Havoc.
“Your place or the clubhouse?” He calls out as I round the truck.
“My place. I want her to be able to relax.”
“Alright, see you there. Come on, princess, let’s get you strapped in.”
I step out of my cut and put it in the back seat before climbing in the driver’s side and turning the music on low so the silence doesn’t seem quite so oppressive.
I don’t try to make small talk, even though I’d rather she focus on me than the dark thoughts I’m sure are swirling around inside her brain.
I don’t think she’s with me enough to focus.
I let her sit in the quiet while I drive, but I reach over and place my hand on her thigh so she knows she’s not alone.
If I get my way, she’ll never be alone again.