Page 29 of Unbreakable
"Yeah man, that's me," I reply offering my hand.
"I'm Chief Sims. I wanted to come introduce myself and catch you up on the situation," He tells me shaking my hand.
"I want to start by saying I appreciate the hard work you and your men did to try and save my garage."
"You're welcome, Mr. Delane. We're just doing our job. I'm sorry we couldn't save the place."
"Any idea what caused the fire?" Reid cuts in.
He shakes his head. "It's hard to say without further investigation. Officer Carver said the alarm company was alerted to a possible break-in. With that being said, we can't rule out arson. I'll be heading the investigation and will get back with you and Polson P.D."
At the mention of arson, my body tenses and I see my brothers have the same reaction. "You sayin' someone purposely burned my garage down?"
"Yes sir, that's what I suspect. I'll know more by the end of the day tomorrow. Unless you gentlemen have any more questions for me, I need to get back to work."
"No, Chief, no more questions. Thanks again."
With that, he goes back to help his men deal with the massive fuckin' mess at hand. A few seconds later I realize Grace has gone quiet and I also recognize the death grip she has on my hand. Looking at her, I see she has lost all color in her face.
"Baby, what's wrong?" I asked pulling her into me. When she doesn't answer and continues to stare at me like she's not even seeing me, I give her shoulder a slight shake.
"Little Bird, talk to me."
Moments later she comes back to me and chokes out, "It was him."
"What?" I ask, but have a feeling I already know the answer.
"It's Ronan. He found me, and he's here. This is him letting me know." Grace sobs with tears running down her face.
"Baby, we can't know for sure this was him. The club has had eyes on him. Ronan is in Chicago." I try to reassure her, but Grace shakes her head frantically back and forth. "No, Jake. It's him. You always tell people to trust their gut instinct. Well, I'm telling you my gut and everything that is in me says he did this."
This time Grace's look is one of pleading. She needs for me to believe her; I do. When I turn my attention back to my brothers, I see they overheard what Grace said, and they too believe her. Without wasting time, I begin barking orders. "Logan, Gabriel, and Reid, you three haul ass home. Pack up your woman and kids and get your asses back to the clubhouse, we're on lockdown. Quinn, you get on the phone and have Blake go to Sam and Leah's apartment, I want them at the clubhouse as well. Then have Austin find out if Emerson is at home or work, tell him to escort her to the clubhouse. This motherfucker has no problem going after anyone associated with the club or us, so that means I want your parents and sister on lockdown too. We're not taken any chances. I'm going to call Bennett and Lisa, have them bring Remi in while Grace and I ride out to my folk's place. On the way there, I'll call O'Rourke and find out what the hell is going on with De Burca. I expect to see all of you back at the compound within an hour."
With the last of my orders handed out, my boys give me a chorus of, "Yes sir." Before they walk off, we are interrupted by O'Rourke's car flying into the garage parking lot. He barely gets the vehicle in park before he jumps out of the driver side with his phone to his ear and he's making a beeline for Grace.
"It's Glory. She's in the hospital."
16
Grace
Ihave to grab hold of Jake's forearm the moment Finn says Glory's name. The look on his face telling me all I need to know that something is wrong. The knot in the pit of my stomach starts to grow heavier with each breath I take as I wait for Finn to get off the phone.
"That was her father," Finn says on an exhale, as he puts his phone away. "She's in the hospital. Shit, Grace, she's been attacked and it's pretty bad," his eyes darted from mine to Jake, then back to me again.
"It was Ronan wasn’t it?" I ask, already knowing the answer.
"We don’t know anything…" he tries to say, but I cut him off.
"Bullshit. You and I both know who did this." I wave my hands towards the licking flames from Jake's garage. "That is their work, and it's too much of a coincidence that my best friend is in the hospital too," I proclaim.
With all the chaos around us, I take a deep breath. I'm no good to anyone if I lose my shit. Remi is safe for now. There is nothing that can be done that the fire department isn’t already doing at this moment. I make my mind up. I know it’s a risk, but I have to go to Glory. She put herself in harm's way for me, and now it's my turn to be by her side. "Someone needs to take me to North Dakota," I demand.
"Dammit, Grace, if this is Ronan's handy work he'll be waiting for you to make a move." Finn does his best to explain, but I'm not having any of it. I'm fed up.
Grabbing my shoulders, Jake coaxes me to turn and face him. "Babe, I can't risk letting you go after all this."
"I'm not asking for yours or Finn's permission, Jake. I'm going." I defend my decision and stand my ground. His expression softens with my determination.
