Chapter 26 Laura
TWENTY-SIX
LAURA
I took the floor because Callie was currently pregnant, and I wasn’t about to steal Natty’s bed.
It was nearly seven thirty in the morning, and the November sun was nearly nonexistent as gray seemed to replace any natural light in the room.
I stood, stretching my arms above my head, trying not to wake anyone.
I snagged my phone off the charger and began to scroll through my notifications.
Killian had texted at three in the morning.
Killian: You better be sleeping. Just letting you know I won’t be back for a while. We’re held up in one of our safe houses, and tomorrow I have some meetings. I’m sorry I was an asshole. You’re my favorite thing about breathing. Please let me kiss you tomorrow.
I smiled at his text and let out a relieved sigh.
Another notification caught my attention, which had me walking out in the hall and padding down to the kitchen, so I could make a call without waking anyone up.
The room was warm because Red had already started baking bread.
I tucked away near the desk at the back and pressed the contact’s name and waited.
“Laura?”
“Mom?”
She’d texted me something cryptic and I’d just called her, my name showing up on the caller ID.
“Yes, thank you for calling me.”
I heard people talking in the background and knew she was in business mode.
“What can I do for you?”
It would waste my time and hers if I acted hurt or tried to talk to her like a daughter would. When she was focused in this way, she was the senator’s wife, not my mother.
“Your father is coming into town today, a very impromptu trip, but he’d like to see you.”
I sat up a little straighter as confusion whirled inside me.
“Dad’s in Rose Ridge?”
“That is where you’re located at the moment, right?” Her tone was bland, but it screamed disapproval.
“Yes.”
“Then yes, he was meeting with a local club out there…” She paused, then quietly added, “I hope you haven’t had any run-ins with them…I understand they’re rather dangerous.”
What was she talking about?
I blinked. “Mom, you’re not making any sense. Why would Dad…”
“Honey, you’re breaking up. Can you meet him for lunch?”
I had my father’s personal cell phone number and couldn’t fathom why I couldn’t just call him myself. Unless…he didn’t take it, which would mean he was doing something he didn’t want monitored.
“Is Dad in business with this club?” My mind raced back to those files…the ones I was abruptly removed from.
“Laura you aren’t associated with them, right?” her voice became terse, as if she were worried.
“Mom…just tell me what you know about dad coming here.”
There was more talking. “I’m going to have to nail down a solid time with you later, I’m getting called away, but sweetheart… please be careful.”
The line went dead.
I lowered my phone and sat there processing for a second.
My gut told me my father was here meeting with the Stone Riders, which meant he was meeting with Killian. But…it just didn’t make sense. Had Killian reached out to him, knowing my dad would step in and help if it involved his daughter? Or was there something I was missing?
I bit my nail, peering over my shoulder to where Red’s large purse sat. Her keys were right on top.
She was in the pantry, gathering more flour…If I was going to take them…now was the time.
I jumped up and quickly swept her keys into my hand, letting the sleeve of my hoodie drop so they were hidden. I just needed to get into the office and get that file cabinet open. I needed to know if there was a file on my dad, and if so, then I needed to know why Killian was keeping it from me.
I was wrong. I had to be, but…still, I had to be sure.
Bypassing the pantry, and avoiding the main room, I slipped into the hall and then the office and gently shut the door. No one else was up yet, so there wasn’t anyone who would be wandering around the club.
I briskly crossed the office floor and navigated to the right key, then slid it into the cabinet. The drawer opened easily, revealing the remaining files. I thumbed through the last names starting with S, then T, until I was nearing W.
Then my hand stilled.
Witt.
No.
My eyes winded with fear as I tentatively tugged the file out.
No x marked on his file, which meant they were still working with him.
With shaking fingers, I stuffed it under my shirt, and then locked the cabinet back up.
Back in the apartment, I sat on Killian’s bed cross-legged and stared at the folder.
Then I went back through the timeline in my head.
He’d pulled me off the files over two weeks ago. It was out of the blue…after that meeting with the Chaos Kings.
Had one of them recognized me and outed me? Why did he act like he didn’t know when I told him?
I had to know what was in the file.
I delicately flipped it open. The first thing I saw was a piece of paper with the state seal on it.
I read over the paper. It was a way for Simon Stone to bypass certain legal loopholes in obtaining the acres of property that bordered his land.
The signature was from over ten years ago, back when my dad was just the mayor of Richland.
Dad shouldn’t have had the clearance to offer Simon that sort of deal.
Setting that aside, there was another paper, more legal info about certain products that were pushed through state lines with dad’s approval during his time as governor.
There were several sheets where my father signed off on properties, naming their adjacent businesses as nonprofits, and other highly illegal things.
Then there were images.
A political rally where the Stone Riders were surrounding a group of protestors. My dad was on stage, speaking. One image had someone’s face down on the concrete while my dad spoke in the background.
More images came up. These ones were of him with…
Fuck.
A stripper. She had her back to the camera, but he was half-dressed, and you could see my dad clearly about to enjoy whatever she was about to do to him.
Another image was of him in a sexually compromised position with three women in bed.
This was blackmail.
Mutually assured destruction. I flipped through a few more pages when suddenly I stopped.
It was a picture of someone shaking my father’s hand while my father was just the mayor, which meant the photo was from fourteen years ago. I could see my dad’s face, but the man’s back was to the camera, the only way to identify who he was, was by his cut.
My eyes widened as I traced the image of the howling wolf, and then the name etched into the back.
Killian Quinn.
Oh god.
My stomach churned.
He didn’t just know of my father; he had worked with him. He’d likely ran up several of the raids my father put his seal of approval on.
Now they were meeting after those activists attacked us. It was too conveniently timed.
I got up, got dressed and slid my cut on over my hoodie. Tying my hair back, I left the apartment with the file in my purse.