Page 32 of Declan's Dove

Hawk stands up and we follow Blake out to the sanctuary. He checks with Gabe to see if Pres needs anything else before being dismissed to leave the room, closing the door behind him. Everyone takes their seats. I take the seat closest to Ethan and nudge his arm.

“Did you find anything out from Sky? Did she tell you whatever Carter’s slip was about?” The gavel bangs against the table, calling church to order before Ethan can answer.

“What’s the word, Dec?” Gabe cuts right to the chase.

“FUBAR, Pres.” I tell him, scrubbing the back of my neck, trying to loosen some of the tension gathering there.

“Well, what do we know?” Gabe leans back in his chair, his arms crossed, waiting.

“Violet took Carter to school yesterday and told him she had something to do, and I would be picking him up,” I answer.

“Did she tell you where she was going or when she’d be back?” Caleb asks.

“She didn’t tell him shit,” Hawk says, smirking. “Declan here is playing daddy to the little man until Violet gets back. If she comes back.”

“She’s coming back, asshole.” Jake slaps Hawk upside the head for me from the other side.

“Did the kid have any ideas about where she went?” Jameson chimes in from his chair across the table.

“He mentioned her having a friend named Emilia. Mili for short,” I tell the room. “Carter says she’s a doctor and she’s moving to Oakridge. But he didn’t give me much more to go on than that. He seems reluctant to share information.”

Hawk starts tapping away on his laptop.

“Has the doctor moved yet?” Mack asks. “Maybe Violet went to help her get moved in?”

“And leave her son, without warning, with Declan?” Jake looks at Mack as if his father has lost his mind. “You’d think if she was helping someone move, she’d have told Carter, let alone the babysitter,” he says, throwing his arms out in my direction. “What I don’t understand is why wouldn’t she leave him with Skyler and Ethan? They’re parents and babysit the kid all the time. Unless you two have finally figured your shit out and you’ve claimed her?”

All eyes snap to me.

“I’ve told her we’re moving forward with our relationship, but I haven’t made a formal claim … yet. Violet’s mine. She just hasn’t accepted it yet.”

“Well, she’s accepted something because she left you in charge of her son. If nothing else, I’d take that as a win. That’s a big fucking deal for a single mom to entrust you with her entire world.” Jake’s brow raises as he looks pointedly at me.

“Jake’s got a point,” Hawk says. “She could’ve left him with Skyler and Ethan. Hell, she could’ve given him to Caleb and Liz. The kid would be happy as shit on the farm with all the animals.”

“It’s not lost on me that Violet’s trusting me with Carter. What I don’t understand is what kind of trouble she’s in that she thought to entrust him to me. I’m not the obvious choice, as you’ve both pointed out. And as far as she’s concerned we’re not together.”

“She’s shut you down publicly more than once,” Hawk adds, earning him a glare from me. “So, maybe that’s the point.”

“What are you talking about, Hawk?” Pres asks, leaning on the table.

“If Violet is concerned someone may come looking for the kid, she wouldn’t leave him with Skyler or Ethan. Violet wouldn’t want to put Lilah or Sky in danger. It would make more sense to leave him with Declan, because no one in town would consider him an option,” Hawk says.

“But wouldn’t anyone who came looking think to look to the club?” Jameson asks, playing with his pocketknife in his hands. “Ethan is a King. She works for him.”

“But Violet isn’t claimed,” Hawk starts, and I growl. “She works for the gym, and she’s friends with Skyler, but other than that, there’s nothing tying her or Carter to the club. But leaving the boy with Declan now puts him under the protection of the club.”

“So, you think she left Carter with Dec because she knows someone may come looking for him? That’s what you’re saying,” Jameson says, nodding. “It’s a smart move on her part.”

“Okay, so now that we know why she left the boy with Declan, there are two questions we don’t have answers to,” Gabe addresses the room. “Where is Violet and who does she fear is coming for the boy?”

“And here’s where we’re having trouble,” I tell them. “Hawk’s been looking into Violet and Carter, and it seems every time he thinks he finds something, someone cuts him off the trail.”

“What’s happening?” Ghost finally joins the conversation. He’s another techy person who loves computers and can fuck your shit up with a keyboard. He’s the one who helped keep all the original member’s secrets hidden, like keeping Hawk from finding Skyler or Avery all these years.

Hawk casts his screen onto the large flat screen on the wall so the entire room can see what he’s talking about. Just like in his office, he pulls up a website with Violet Dupree’s birth certificate and the edges appear to burn and then the fucking ducks and the laughing dog pop up on the screen. He tries pulling up Carter’s information, hacking into the school records and the same shit happens, only it’s not the dog that shows up. This time it’s Jack Nicholson dressed as the Joker, laughing like a loon on the screen.

“Someone’s trying to shut you down remotely, or they’ve infected your shit with a virus,” Ghost suggests.

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