Chapter 38 Trent
When I wasn’t on shift, I was at the guy's house or in class. I had the most classes with Jade, so I’d been tasked with keeping an eye on her.
Sometimes the others took shifts when they could, but they were using everything they could get their hands on to figure out how to keep Jade away from Randall.
Being in Vengeance gave them connections I didn’t have, a reach in this city that I couldn’t touch because I was on the opposite side by being in law enforcement.
For the first time in my life, I wonder if being a cop was the wrong call.
I’d never wanted to be a part of Vengeance after what happened to my dad.
I wanted to keep my family and friends safe.
I wanted to make sure I made a difference.
Now I’m stuck with no power. I’m useless in this, and I find myself questioning who the bad guys really are.
Being in a gang doesn’t make you bad. Jade showed me that, even though it’s something I should’ve already known.
The guys had been my friends for so long.
They’d always been there when I needed them, and while I know they’ll do everything they can for Jade, it’s killing me that I can’t help.
Not them or her. If my father hadn’t been murdered, I’d probably be right there with them, but I can’t change my choices, and honestly, I’m not sure I’d want to.
All of this led us to her, and as crazy as it is, I’m fine with how it’s all turned out so far.
I might not be able to help handle Randall or the gala, but I can help Jade.
I work another night shift on Thursday, but it’s a lot of the same, and I begrudgingly realize it will get me nowhere.
On Friday, Zander and Jade share a class, so I head into the station when I know the chief will be in and ask if I can take the week off.
He seems taken aback by my request, but when I explain that I’ve been taking nights to give me more free time to help the guys with Jade and catch her up, he quickly agrees.
I see the pride in his eyes at my mention of us helping her.
James and Clair are some of the best people in this damn city.
I really wish James would have listened to my dad and run for mayor years ago.
Maybe then Randall wouldn’t be such a fucking problem now.
Not to mention, James actually cares about people, not just what they can do for him.
The best part is it’s not a lie exactly. I’ve been spending a lot of time helping Jade with school. Between Leo, Hazel, me, and even Kai, we have a pretty good hold on anything she really needs extra help with. Hell, the guys help where they can, too, even Spencer.
Once I’m done at the station, I head back to the guy's house. Roderick gave me a permanent code to the gate yesterday before I left with Jade. But only after explaining how badly he would fuck me up if something happened to her. If we were younger, I would’ve laughed, and if this were six months ago, I would’ve been pissed, but now I understand.
He cares about her. I knew it even before he admitted to sleeping with her, and he would do anything he could to keep her safe, the same as the rest of us.
When I make it into the living room, I find Kratos, Spencer, and Rick all in different stages of investigation.
There are papers everywhere. Some are pinned to boards, some have colored circles, and there are piles and piles laid on the table.
Spencer has a small space carved out for his laptop, a few scattered cups of coffee, and Kratos is going through boxes of files not far from him.
Not one of them so much as looks up when I enter the room.
I thought about it all the way here, and I think I finally found a way to help, even though I can’t help with this side of it.
I clear my throat, hoping to get their attention, but it’s like I’m invisible.
I look at the clock and see that I still have a few hours before Zan will be back with Jade and Hazel. No rush. Walking around the table, I plop down on the couch next to where Spencer sits cross-legged on the floor.
“What are we looking for?” I ask.
Spencer hardly glances at me before he turns back to face the screen, but it’s enough to see the dark bags under his eyes. I wonder when the last time he got real sleep was. For someone who claims to hate Jade, he’s awfully invested in all of this.
The thought that he’s doing this just because she’s Froggie pops up in my mind, but I quickly shut it down.
I’m not sure what his problem is, but I know Spencer cares, even if he’d never admit it.
I’ve seen it when they argue, and even now, Spencer wouldn’t let himself in this deep if it weren’t important to him in some way.
If he didn’t care, he simply wouldn’t. That's just who he’s always been.
“We're trying to find a connection to Randall and the rings,” Spencer says, and I nod because that makes sense, but also kind of explains nothing at the same time.
Rick turns to look at me as if he didn’t even realize I was there.
He doesn’t look much better than Spencer does, honestly.
His typical pressed button-down is unbuttoned at the top, his sleeves pushed up instead of rolled, and his watch isn’t on his wrist. All of that might be pretty normal, given the stress for anyone else, but Rick is usually well put together, no matter what.
Seeing him like this reminds me a lot of when we were younger, before we had our shit together.
“Everything Jade has told us checks out. The girl...” he trails off, snapping his fingers as he fumbles for her name.
“Brittany,” Kratos offers without taking his eyes off the papers in his hand.
Rick nods. “Yes, Brittany, they never found her killer. Randall has huge bills for penthouses, but those are all incurred during times when he travels for work. Shit, even the day Jake was sick, and he picked him up matches, but there’s fucking nothing that puts him anywhere near Jade or the rings.
It’s like he has someone cleaning up after him,” he bites out bitterly, tossing the paper he was just analyzing down on the table.
“Maybe that’s not all that crazy?” I ask, and this gets their attention. All three of them turn to face me as if I’ve just said something crazy, like the sky's on fire.
I hold my hands up passively. “Just hear me out. What if he had a connection like Sin or some other gang?” I’m not even entirely sure what I’m getting at here, but I remember thinking about it when Jade was telling us about Randall.
I’d meant to ask more about it later, but things had been so crazy lately that it slipped my mind.
“Jade had mentioned someone wanting to know who was killing clientele. It would make sense that they sent him to figure it out, and if he was there for someone else, it would also make sense that they would keep his movement hidden. He wouldn’t make a very good runner if he got caught.
” The more I say, the more it makes sense, and when I look around at the guys, I know they see the possibility as well.
“That would explain why everything’s so neat,” Spencer says, more to himself than to us, but Rick nods anyway.
“But it doesn’t explain why Randall would still be interested,” Kratos says, setting his own pile of papers down and sitting back on the couch, looking deep in thought.
“No, it doesn’t. But it might mean he’s not working for them anymore?” Rick offers, and it's his turn to get confused looks.
“If he were still working for that person, it would make sense that he would have been after her to kill her; taking her out would take care of the problem.” He reasons as he begins pacing again.
“But he didn’t. He actually told Jade he was going to get her out.
Randall could’ve found her in another ring, but what if he couldn’t go back?
He’d burned that bridge or, at the very least, didn’t want to finish the job, so he stayed away.
But our taking her out of the rings gave him the chance to get to her again, without having to worry about the threat she was to the rings.
” He trails off but doesn’t stop pacing as he continues to try to work it out in his mind.
“Are you trying to say he cared, so he didn’t hurt her?” Spencer asks, disgust at the mere suggestion clear in his voice.
“Obsession's a dangerous drug,” Kratos says, his tone dark as if he understands, and I guess with his father's history, he might.
We sit in silence for a few minutes. Everyone’s stuck in whatever thought they have as we try and riddle all of this shit out. It feels like we might be onto something here, but it doesn’t do any good if we can't connect that back to something tangible.
My phone vibrates, pulling me from my thoughts, and I fish it out of my pocket to see that Jade finally answered my text from earlier.
Shit, I forgot the whole reason I was here.
“Hey, I was hoping to talk to you guys about something while Jade’s gone,” I announce, pulling their attention back to me much quicker this time with just the mention of her name.
“I know I can’t really do much with the Vengeance side of this shit. My reach is limited, and Rick probably has access to anything I do.” I push on because, as annoying as it is, I think this will help, even if it’s not in the same way.
“I was thinking I’ll spend the next week or so keeping Jade occupied,” I say, watching as both Kratos and Rick’s eyes widen at my words.
I shoot them both a glare because I know what they just made that sound like in their minds, and they know damn well that’s not at all what I was suggesting.
“That’s not what I meant,” I tell them both, and to my surprise, it’s Spencer who replies.
“But you wouldn’t be opposed,” he grumbles under his breath. I ignore him, and so do the others.
“We’ve all been trying to get as much information as possible, which is great, but I’m not really helping with that.
I can take her to class, help her with her studies, take her and Charlotte to see the horses, or even just take her and Hazel to the mall.
I really don’t care what it is. But this way, we're keeping her busy without looking like we're trying to keep her out of it purposefully. I can also make sure she’s taking care of herself, so we don’t have any repeats of last week,” I explain, half expecting them to turn me down or tell me it’s a dumb idea.
Kratos seems to think the opposite, though. “I think that would be a great idea, honestly.”
“You do?” I can’t help asking, and he chuckles, shaking his head.
“Yeah. There’s no way she’s just going to sit around and look through papers.
And I can't think of a better way to keep her busy than with school, Charlotte, and Hazel. With them, she’ll be busy, but more importantly, she’ll be safe.
Let her have a little bit of normal before shit hits the fan,” he says, and his serious expression is the only thing that stops me from thinking he’s being sarcastic.
“You trust Trent, the one who left her, to keep her safe?” Spencer snaps, and I don’t even get a chance to defend myself before Kratos jumps in for me.
“Yes! The same way I trust you with her. You know, the one who knocked her out and took her captive?” He shoots back without missing a beat, but Spencer just narrows his eyes.
“That wasn’t–”
“It doesn’t matter what it was. Jade was hurt worse on your watch than on Trent’s.
But Jade trusts all of you, and she’s more than capable of handling your asses if you're out of line. If she’s willing to spend the week with Trent doing normal shit so we can handle this, you should be grateful.
At least she won't be here in your hair,” Kratos says, arching a brow as if daring him to argue with him.
He doesn’t, instead turning his attention back to his computer with a humph of annoyance.
“She stabbed her damn self,” Spencer grumbles under his breath, and I have to look away, so I don’t bust out laughing.
“Good idea, Trent,” Rick says. “If you need anything, let us know. We can still help with extra homework. We’ll change out who's available as needed for her classes, but I want her here for studying and dinner, and she sleeps here.” He tells me with a pointed look, accepting this much easier than I thought he would.
I nod along with his list of demands because they aren’t unreasonable, and while I would’ve argued a few weeks ago that I could keep her safe at my house, I don’t now.
Their house is the safest place we have, which is why they’ve opened it up to us to keep her here as often as possible, which is huge for them.
Before Jade, I’d never even been past the gate.
I pull my phone back out and shoot off a response to Jade now that I’ve talked to the guys.
Originally, I’d asked her if she had any plans this weekend, hoping to have her and Charlotte come out to see the horses, but I didn’t want to say shit until I knew it was okay.
I didn’t want to disappoint either of them.
Standing, I head toward the kitchen to grab a water bottle and a snack while I wait for Jade to get here.
“Trent,” Rick calls before I get too far, and I turn back to find him watching me.
“If you or Hazel want to stick around for a while, we have more than enough rooms. Just let me know which one you pick and make sure it’s not the same one Kratos called dibs on,” he says before he turns back to the table to go through more papers as if he didn’t just give me the olive branch of all olive branches.
Rick and I used to be really close, but that was a long time ago. Some days, I swear we're not even those same people anymore, but maybe that's not true, and maybe, just maybe, we can find common ground again.