Page 31 of Ethan's Sky

“She’s not wrong!” Jake snaps. “Those Baron’s Edge bastards should be tracking down the killer not looking for George’s misuse of a fucking blinker! They shot him execution style for shit’s sake! That’s not road rage, that’s someone who wanted him dead for a reason and wanted to send a very specific message.”

“Sadie’s right to question the cops. Look what happened to the girl from her school. They still haven’t done shit to find the guy responsible.” Jameson mutters.

Mack’s face turns menacingly cold. “Even we can’t find the bastard if we don’t have anything to go on.”

“Can we get back to business now ladies?” Gabe growls, rubbing his temples. “Can we get the dashcam footage of the other two high jacking attempts?” Gabe asks, giving a pointed look at Hawk who nods.

“I’ve got the phone records from all three drivers, including George’s. I’m sorting through them now. It’ll take some time to get into the cloud for the dash cam files and sort those. But I can get it.” Hawk affirms.“According to the records, the other two drivers made calls to Garrison Security, and one made a call to his wife not long before the trucks went off the road. George made three phone calls and sent off one large group text all within an hour and twenty minutes prior to contacting the police.”

“He didn’t call Garrison?” Jameson asks.

“No.”

“He knew something was up.” Gabe suggests, giving Ghost a knowing look.

“Wait. You think George knew who was coming for him?” It’s more of a statement than a question, this time from Eli.

“Who’d he call?” I ask, struggling to believe George would knowingly accept someone was coming to kill him. Surely, he would’ve called the club for help, not the fucking cops.

“Based on the calls he made, it makes sense he knew something and didn’t want us involved.” Mack nods.

“But West Enterprises is Garrison’s client. George knew the protocol. He should’ve called Declan first.”

Especially if he thought he was going to die. West Enterprises is Mack’s sole responsibility and Garrison’s largest client. There’s no way Mack would’ve sat on this and let it happen.

“Who did he call?” I’m getting impatient.

“He sent out a group text first to Pres, Ghost, Eli, and a burner phone. It was one word.Skyfall.”Hawk looks up from his laptop for a split second, seemingly confused making eye contact with Gabe.

“Go on.” Gabe instructs.

“He called the burner phone, Ghost…and Vincenzo Parisi.” Hawk says, glancing up from his laptop sounding just as shocked as the rest of us.

“What did he say when he called you Ghost?” Eli asks.

Ghost lays his head in his hands, releasing a long, deep breath. When he lifts his head, there’s an almost hollowness to his eyes. “He said he didn’t have time to explain, then told me he needed me to keep my promise to him and Becca and take care of Skyler. She was going to be coming home and would need me and the club more than ever. Then he hung up.” He takes a deep breath. “I tried to call him back, but it kept going to voice mail.”

“What the hell doesSkyfallmean? Why would he send it in a text to all of you and not the rest of the club? Can someone explain to the rest of the class?” I snap.

“Ethan. Watch yourself.” Gabe growls.

“It’s a code word. It means get Sky to safety.” He scrubs the back of his neck. “We made it up years ago to only be used in extreme emergencies.”

“It means get Skyler’s ass home and under the protection of the club.” Eli adds.

“The fuck?” My words are quietly spoken but everyone hears them. Based on all similar look of confusion on most of my brother’s faces, they’re just as confused as I am.

“I’m her family. It’s my job to take care of her now. We made a code after Becca died. With all the shit the club was dealing with back then, George wanted something no one else would understand. At first it was Chicken Little, because it was Skyler’s favorite book as a girl. But it was later changed toSkyfallbecause it was one of his and Skyler’s favorite movies and easier to type in a hurry.” He shrugs.

I remember Skyler telling me about how much her dad loved James Bond movies. She didn’t really like them, but tolerated watching them whenever he found one on because he believed it was a bond they shared over cheesy action movies.

“I went along with whatever George wanted when it came to our girls especially when it came to keeping them safe.”

“Okay, so what about the burner phone? Do we know who he was calling? Can you track it?” Jameson looks to Hawk for answers.

“You don’t have to. It’s Skyler’s phone. I gave it to her not long ago when she left Mountain Heights.” Eli responds.

My chair scrapes the floor and flies back toward the wall when I stand to my feet, shouting, “What the fuck?”

---