Chapter Thirty
Derek
A shrill whistle pierced the air.
“Okay, everyone, listen up.” King took charge of the group that had gathered in the yard of the Orchard. “We have two missing kids. Frankie and Nox. They snuck out of the house last night while everyone was asleep. They are most likely on the property somewhere.”
He looked over at Maggie. “How many acres?”
“A hundred and eighty-six.”
“Jesus Christ,” King cursed.
“Do you know how long it will take to search that much land?” I asked. “We don’t have that much fucking time. It’s already cold; by nightfall it will be freezing.”
Kat had tears running down her face and I wasn’t trying to make shit worse, but my daughter was out there somewhere, hiding to force her mother and me to be together.
“We have a few ATVs,” Maggie offered. “Not enough for everyone, but...”
“We can use our bikes,” Jack said.
Maggie’s eyes widened in panic.
“We won’t tear up your land,” King promised.
Maggie closed her eyes and nodded, knowing we didn’t have a choice. Her little brother was out there too.
King pulled out his phone and started dividing people into groups. “The old ladies will stay here at the house with Maggie, Kat, and the kids in case Frankie and Nox come back on their own.”
Kat looked like she wanted to argue, but Sam put a hand on her shoulder. “We need someone here when they come back,” she said gently.
King continued barking orders, dividing up his men into quadrants. He looked at the others. “The rest of you, fan out on foot. Check every building, every shed, anywhere two kids might hide. Move out.”
“Come on, Derek, you’re with me,” Jack said, slapping a hand on my back.
Kat looked at me, panic showing in her eyes. “I’ll find her,” I promised, placing my hands on her shoulders. “I told you I’d burn the fucking world down for you both.” I kissed the top of her head and climbed into my truck with Jack in the passenger seat.
We headed toward the western tree line; the orchard stretched out in neat rows for what felt like miles. Beyond that was wild land, overgrown fields stretching flat and endless, places a couple of kids could hide for days if they wanted to.
We rode in silence for the first twenty minutes, scanning the landscape, calling out Frankie and Nox’s names.
Nothing.
“We need to talk,” Jack said, his voice cutting through the rumble of the engine as we drove across the flat landscape.
“We’re supposed to be looking for—”
“We can talk and look at the same time.” His jaw was set. “It’s time to come clean, Derek.”
I stared at him. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“You need to tell them who you are,” Jack said. “That you’re Frankie’s biological father.”
My chest tightened. “I didn’t think you knew,” I said defensively. “You didn’t say anything.”
“I knew the moment they stepped into the clubhouse with Slyce,” Jack admitted, his voice hard. “As soon as we found out Kat and Frankie were in hiding, Sam and I hired Slyce to find her.”
The truck swerved slightly as I jerked the wheel. “You what?”
“We hired Slyce to—”
“I fucking heard you!” My hands gripped the steering wheel so tight my knuckles went white. “You had no right. No fucking right to go behind my back like that.”
“You told me you didn’t want to know!” Jack shot back.
“So you just decided to—”
“Yeah, I fucking did. I want my fucking family, Derek; the one I was denied for thirty fucking years. That means you and your daughter.” Jack turned in his seat to face me fully.
“You think I didn’t see it? Every time someone mentioned kids, every time Charlie climbed up into your lap, every time you were reminded you had a kid out there, you think I didn’t see you flinch? ”
I said nothing, my jaw locked tight.
“You wanted to know,” Jack continued, his voice dropping but losing none of its intensity. “You were desperate to know. But you were too fucking scared to admit it, even to yourself. So you hid behind that ‘I don’t want to know’ bullshit and pretended it was noble.”
“I was protecting her.”
“From what? From you?” Jack shook his head. “You’re not him, Derek.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.” Jack’s voice was firm. “Because I know you. I’ve watched you fight like hell to be better, to control your anger. You’re not that guy anymore. You’ve changed.”
“Have I?” I looked down at my hands clutching the steering wheel, still bruised from beating Zero. “Because it doesn’t feel like it.”
“You think our father would’ve stopped?” Jack asked quietly. “You think he would’ve pulled back, gone to therapy, worked his ass off to be better?”
I kept my lips pressed together because we both knew the answer.
“You’re terrified of becoming him,” Jack continued. “I get it. But you’re not him, Derek. You never were.”
“You don’t understand.” My voice cracked. “You weren’t raised by him. You don’t know what it’s like to have that in your blood, to wonder if you’re just one bad day away from turning into—”
“You think you’re the only one with fucking demons?
I was left at a fucking fire station when I was a few days old,” Jack interrupted.
His voice was steady, but there was pain underneath.
“I spent years bouncing around homes believing no one wanted me. Not even my fucking mother. You don’t think that fucks you up?
Makes you think every person that comes into your life won’t leave? That you’re not worth staying for?”
I stared at him. “Jack—”
“We both have shit to work through,” he said, his voice rough. “Different shit, but it’s still there. You’re afraid of becoming our father. I’m afraid of being abandoned like our mother abandoned me. Neither of us had a normal childhood, and we’re both fucked up because of it.”
The silence stretched between us, heavy with years of unspoken pain.
“I don’t know how to fix it,” I admitted.
“Neither do I.” Jack met my eyes. “But we can’t keep running from it. We need to deal with this shit, Derek. Together.”
“Haizley,” I said quietly.
“Yeah.” Jack nodded. “We keep seeing Haizley. Both of us. We work through this crap so we don’t pass it on to our kids.”
Our kids. Charlie and Frankie. Two little girls who deserved better than the broken men we were.
“And what if she takes Frankie and runs?” My words betrayed my fears. “What if Kat finds out the truth and decides I’m exactly the kind of man she should keep her daughter away from?”
“Then you fight for them,” Jack stated. “The way our mother never fought for us. You fight, Derek. Because that’s what parents do.”
The silence lingered again, heavy with everything left unsaid.
“I’m terrified,” I finally admitted, my voice barely above a whisper.
“I know.” Jack’s hand gripped my shoulder. “I was too when I met Charlie the first time. But you’re not alone anymore. Neither of us are.”
“Okay,” I said.
“Okay?”
“Yeah.” I took a breath. “We’ll do it together.”
Jack gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “We’re brothers. We should’ve been doing this together from the start.”
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
Time passed quickly, but also too fucking slow. We covered miles of land, checking every cluster of trees, every abandoned structure, every possible hiding spot. Nothing.
My phone buzzed with updates from the other search teams. No sign of them. Still searching.
The fear was starting to claw at my throat. What if they’d left the property? What if something had happened? What if...
I pointed the truck to the left where a small shed sat in the distance. “Derek!” Jack’s voice cut through my spiraling thoughts.
I looked up and saw someone sprinting toward us across the open ground.
Nox.
I jerked the wheel and slammed on the brakes, practically falling out of the truck as it came to a stop. Jack was already moving, both of us running toward him.
“Nox!” I grabbed his shoulders. “Where’s Frankie?”
“She’s hurt,” he gasped, out of breath. “Her ankle. She can’t walk.”
“Show us.”
Nox didn’t hesitate. He bolted back toward the truck, Jack and I right behind him. We piled in, Nox in the middle, and I took off in the direction he pointed—toward the old shed I’d spotted on the eastern edge of the property, a good distance from where we started.
The truck bounced over uneven ground as I pushed it harder. My hands gripped the wheel tight, every second stretching like an eternity. When we finally pulled up to the shed, I killed the engine and we all got out.
Frankie was sitting on the ground inside the shed, her back against the wall. When she saw me, her eyes filled with tears.
“Derek,” she whispered.
I dropped to my knees beside her. “Where does it hurt?”
“My ankle.” She gestured to her left foot, which was already swelling. “I tripped and twisted it. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
“I know.” I gently examined her ankle, and she winced. “I don’t think it’s broken, but it’s a bad sprain.”
Jack pulled out his phone. “I’ll let everyone know we found them.” He looked at Nox. “Come on, kid. Let’s get you to the truck.”
Nox hesitated, looking at Frankie. Jack put a hand on Nox’s shoulder and guided him away, giving me and Frankie privacy.
I sat back on my heels, looking at my daughter. She was shivering, her jacket too thin for the cold morning. I shrugged off my leather jacket and draped it over her shoulders.
“You scared the hell out of me,” I said quietly.
“I know.” Her voice was small. “I just wanted you and Mom in the same place. To work together. I thought it would show you how much you’re meant to be together.”
“That was a dangerous plan, Frankie.”
“I know.” Tears spilled down her cheeks. “I’m sorry.”
I reached out and wiped her tears with my thumb. “Why did you leave the bunny behind?”
She looked down at her hands. “Because I wanted you to know. That I remember.”
My chest tightened. “Remember what?”
“You.” She met my eyes. “I remember you giving it to me. I was really little, but I remember.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“When you came to fix the sink that day,” Frankie continued, “I just knew. Your voice was familiar, and when I saw you... I don’t know how to explain it. But I knew.”
“Frankie—”
“I knew you were my dad,” she said. “I’ve known the whole time.”
Her words hit me like a freight train. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because I wanted you to tell me.” Her voice broke. “I wanted you to want to be my dad.”
I pulled her into my arms, holding her tight. She buried her face in my chest and sobbed.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered into her hair. “I’m so fucking sorry, Curly Sue.”
“Why did you leave?” she asked, her voice muffled. “Why didn’t you want me?”
I pulled back just enough to look at her. “Baby, of course I wanted you, but I was so afraid that I would turn into him, that I would hurt you. I thought the best thing I could do was stay away.”
“But you’re not like him,” Frankie said fiercely. “You’re not.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.” She gripped my shirt. “You came looking for me even though I did something stupid. That’s what a good dad does.”
I cupped her face in my hands. “I’ve done terrible things, Frankie. Things I’m not proud of.”
“You’re not bad.” She gripped my shirt tighter. “Bad people hurt people ’cause they’re mean. You’re not mean.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Yes, it is.” She leaned her forehead against mine. “You’re my dad. And I want you to be my dad. I don’t care what you did before. I care about who you are now.”
The tears I’d been holding back finally broke free. I pulled her close again, holding her like I should’ve held her years ago.
“I love you,” I said, my voice raw. “I’ve loved you since the moment I met you. I just didn’t think I deserved to be in your life.”
“You do,” she whispered.
I kissed the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her hair. “Let’s get you home. Your mom is losing her mind.”
Frankie winced. “Is she really mad?”
“She’s terrified. There’s a difference.” I stood and scooped her up in my arms, careful of her injured ankle. “But yeah, you’re probably grounded for life.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck. “Will you still come see me even if I’m grounded?”
“Every single day,” I promised. “If your mom will let me.”
“She will.” Frankie rested her head on my shoulder. “She loves you too. She’s just scared.”
“I know.”
“Are you going to tell her? About being my dad?”
I looked down at her. “Do you want me to?”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “I want everyone to know.”
“Then I’ll tell her.” I adjusted my grip on her.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
I carried her back toward the truck, where Nox was already settled in the back seat. Jack had radioed everyone that we’d found them, and I could hear the relief in his voice as he talked to Sam. When he saw us, he ended the call and walked over. “She okay?”
“Sprained ankle. She’ll be fine.” I looked at Frankie. “Won’t you?”
“Yeah.” She smiled up at me. “I’ll be fine, Uncle Jack.” She grinned at Jack and he shook his head.
Jack met my eyes, and I saw understanding there. He knew what had just happened between me and Frankie. He knew everything had changed.
“Let’s get you home.” Jack patted Frankie’s head, then turned to me and said, “Kat’s waiting.”
I nodded, my heart pounding. It was time to stop running. Time to stop hiding.
Time to tell Kat the truth.
I settled Frankie into the back seat of the truck next to Nox, then climbed in behind the wheel with Jack beside me. Together, we headed back toward the house, toward Kat, toward whatever came next.
I didn’t know if she’d forgive me. I didn’t know if she’d let me be part of Frankie’s life.
But I was done being afraid.
I was done letting my past control my future.
It was time to fight for my family.