Page 80 of Fletch

“Gem, wait,” I mutter.

She pulls the door open, and Ruby’s still waiting. “Are you okay?” she asks, but Gemma passes her without a word.

“Gemma, please,” I call after her.

I watch her leave, then I turn back to Axel. “Why did you tell her?”

“Because she needed to know.”

“I should go after her,” says Ruby.

“No,” I say firmly. The last thing I need is Gemma taking Ruby away, and while she’s this upset, who knows what she’s capable of.

My mobile rings, and I answer. “I have the papers. I’ll text you a place to meet,” Mark says then disconnects.

I turn to Axel. “He has the paperwork to make me and Gemma legal guardians of Ruby,” I whisper. “Can you keep an eye on her while I go and get it?” He gives a nod. “I’ll find Gemma after.”

Mark chooses to meet in a busy restaurant. I sit opposite him, and he slides an envelope towards me. “How is Ruby?” he asks, his eyes fixed on the window beside us.

“She’s fine.”

“I’m moving away,” he tells me. “There’s an account set up in Ruby’s name. Only she can access it when she turns twenty-one.” He slides another envelope towards me. “I know you think what I did was wrong, but I wanted what was best for Gemma and Ruby.”

“What was best was to leave them with me in the first place.”

“So you could break them both?” he sneers. “You were never good enough for Gemma, and you still aren’t.”

“You don’t even know me,” I spit. “You have no idea who I am.”

He smirks. “I know a lot more than you think, Cameron Fletcher.” He pushes to stand. “I can only hope Gemma and Ruby wake up before it’s too late.”

I head back to the clubhouse, stopping at the office. Axel looks up and asks, “You get it?” I nod, holding up the envelope. “Good. Lexi set up a room on your floor for Ruby. She’s gone for a lie-down.”

I thank him and head upstairs. I sit on my bed and open the envelopes. The first is a birth certificate for Ruby, with mine and Gemma’s names as parents. The second is the bank details for Ruby. I reach under my bed and retrieve the file I took from Gemma’s. I open it and lay it on the bed, staring at the picture of myself as a child. I was a scrawny kid who needed a haircut and a good bath. I smile sadly at the picture before turning it over and picking up the social services report.

I scan the document, the worst bits standing out. Malnourished. Scared. Unkempt. Cameron’s mother explicitly asked for us to remove him from her care as she no longer feels she can give him the care he needs. When removing Cameron from the property, she made no move to say goodbye or to console him. I shake my head. What kind of woman ignores her child when he’s screaming for her because he’s terrified? I slam the folder closed. I don’t need to read it because I’ve read it a hundred times or more and the memories haunt me still.

There’s a light knock on the door. “Come in,” I mutter.

Ruby pokes her head in. “Did you find Gemma?”

“I haven’t been out to look yet. Are you comfortable staying here tonight?”

She smiles. “Yes. I love it here.” She sighs. “When you find her, please work things out. I really want you to get along.” I give a slight nod. “She’s not a bad person.”

“I know,” I say.

“She’s still the girl you loved back when you were both young.”

“Nah,” I say, standing, “she isn’t. And neither am I. But that’s okay because we’re older and wiser.” I place an arm around her and lead her back to her room. “Stop worrying, I’ll make everything right.”

“If she’s not at home, I know where she might be.”

Gemma

I stare out at the fast-flowing water. It’s been a while since I felt the need to sit here and enjoy the peace. I stumbled across this part of the docks when I first moved here. I was checking out a tip that led to nothing, but I noticed this abandoned barge floating here and took an hour to sit and think over my life. I’ve come back several times since, just to get my head straight.

I thought moving here would be better for me, but seeing how messed-up Sarah was and how neglected Ruby felt just made me feel guilty. And my father proved pretty quickly that he hadn’t changed. But Peter seemed so set on staying here. He said it was perfect for his career. Now, Sarah’s left, my father texted me to say he was leaving too, and Peter has moved out. Everything just fell to shit, and it started when I decided to go after that damn biker club.

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