Page 64 of Declan's Dove

I make a silent vow to the both of us to find her fuckhead of a husband and send him straight to hell where he belongs. Violet deserves to be loved and feel the happiness she desires. Carter deserves to be a kid and live a life free from looking over his shoulder or worrying about keeping his mama safe.

It’s my privilege now to love and protect them both. And fuck anyone who thinks they can take them from me.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Declan

The sound of my phone ringing from downstairs wakes me up. The downside to a loft room is the way every sound in the space echoes without a door to close off the noise.

I’m heavily debating letting the phone go to voicemail. I’d rather miss the call than risk waking Violet while she seems so peaceful. The phone stops ringing, only to start up again. Which means whoever it is isn’t giving up.

I gently slide Violet off me and onto the mattress, tucking my pillow against her side, which she immediately cradles against herself, and I smile.

She’s a cuddler. Noted.

Reaching into the closet, I open my bag and grab out a pair of gray sweats and get them on. The phone stops ringing and restarts for a third time. I’m taking the stair two at a time, my gut twisting with anticipation for what this could be.

I shuffle through my jeans until I have the phone in my hand and answer, “Hello.”

“Fuck! Declan?” Hawk’s tension filled voice comes over the line.

“Hawk. What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

He lets out a long, frustrated sigh. “Thomas managed to leave his accommodations without anyone knowing.”

Thomas escaped the basement.

“How? When did he leave?” I play along with Hawk’s coded way of speaking, since we never know who’s listening. I certainly don’t need for my beauty in the bed upstairs to hear me say words like escaped his cell. She’d lose her fucking mind before she had any clue what we were talking about. After everything she’s been through, I have to be cautious about what she knows until she becomes more comfortable around both me and the club.

“Not sure.” Hawk growls. “The cameras went dark, but the system and the clubhouse never lost power. The alarm never sounded and my phone never went off.”

“How is that even possible?” The clubhouse has multiple systems in place in case of something like this happening. After the Devil’s Order killed Gabe’s wife and his uncle, Gabe and took out several additional security measures to ensure the safety of the club and their family members.

The cameras are all on one system and can be accessed by any club brother. The basement door has its own keypad entry code, which only a few of us have access to. Prospects and members who are not officers are not allowed in the basement without the express permission of the Pres. Fewer witnesses when there’s clean up involved.

The cell, when in use, is linked to Hawk’s computer and cell phone, as well as Gabe’s. It will also alert me or Mack if there’s a breach. As enforcers, it’s our job to keep our brothers safe. Prisoners being held in our basement, especially one who has a track record of being a traitor and killing two family members, definitely fall under our list of responsibilities.

The fact none of those systems alerted any of us means one of two things. One, someone from the inside helped him escape, which means we have another traitor on our hands. Or two, someone outside the club with a great set of hacking skills and the means to navigate our land is at fault. Either way, Thomas escaping is a huge fucking problem for the club. Especially for Gabe.

“I’m running diagnostics and asked Wyatt to go through all the camera footage up to the point it went out. It never came back on, so I doubt we will see where he went after he left.”

“Fuck.” I’m pacing the floor when I hear Violet moving around upstairs. “Do we have any leads? Anyone who would know we were housing him and would want him to … come home?”

Hawk doesn’t answer right away. I hear the clacking of keys through the phone. “I only know of two people as of late who can match my skill set. Sadie and that Trident fucker you’ve been working with.”

“Sadie wouldn’t want her dad to leave like this. Unless she planned to—” My words are cut off as Violet makes her way down the stairs in one of my button-down flannel shirts. The top three buttons are undone, giving me a glimpse of her cleavage, and her bare legs are on full display.

Focus, asshole.

“Sadie’s not capable of anything that drastic. Keyboard games and sarcasm are her level of expertise in this situation,” Hawk replies.

“Trident isn’t privy to club business. They wouldn’t have any way of knowing who our guests are or how long they’ve been accommodated.”

Hawk grunts. “Are you sure? Who else are they working with besides your woman and her doctor friend?” Hawks asks. I’m not shocked he knows about Emilia and Violet. He’s a tenacious little shit when he wants to find something, and I put him on the job of tracking Violet. I should’ve known when he cracked Kayce’s system to get a message to meet with me, he wouldn’t stop there. Hawk is nosy as fuck and when he gets into a system he finds interesting he's like a fucking kid in a candy store. He goes after it all.

“I’ll reach out, but it doesn’t seem like something he would be involved in.” Violet’s standing in front of me now, her brow furrowed as she listens to my side of the conversation.

“He works with Parisi. Didn’t Parisi say Thomas could be the key we need to bring down Cusenza and that bitch of a mother-in-law?” Hawk wonders out loud. “Maybe he helped Thomas find a new place to stay in case he needs his help.”

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