Page 42 of Skid
Chapter 15
Skid
Hearing her breathingeven out, I glanced down to see Grace snuggled into my chest with a peaceful expression on her beautiful face. I wanted her to have that same look all the time, and I hoped she heard my promise to avenge her. Without saying it, Grace confirmed my suspicions, and I was curious what Devlin needed to tell me.
Gunner hated that I still helped the Callahans from time to time, but I owed a lot to the men. They could have left me on the outside when the company sold the software I helped design, but they paid me more than my fair share, ensuring that my family, my club, and I would be taken care of for generations to come.
I also wasn’t going to turn my back on his supreme hacking skills. Devlin and James spent too many years documenting people’s lives and often saw invisible threads in people’s actions that others would miss. Working with them to identify the man who hurt Aubrey led me to Grace, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
I wished I could change what happened, but I couldn’t change the past. All I could do was give Grace a future and protect her from the nightmares when they plague her. My phone chimed from the table, and I reached over to pick it up, not wanting to wake Grace from her nap.
Devlin:We need to talk.
Me:Can you come to the house? Grace is asleep and I don’t want to disturb her.
Devlin:James and I will be there in thirty.
I glanced down, staring at Grace’s peaceful beauty. Not wanting Devlin and James to wake her, I shifted until she was lying down on the couch, and with slow movements, I picked her up and pulled her to my chest. She snuggled in and released a little snore. I smiled as I carried her into the bedroom and placed her on the bed.
Grabbing the remote, I closed the curtains, casting the room in dark shadows, before I pulled a soft blanket over her sleeping form. She snuggled into the covers, and I sat on the edge of the bed, gently stroking her hair as she slept. The sound of a car pulling into the driveway alerted me of the Callahans’ arrival, and reluctantly, I leaned over and placed a kiss on her forehead. Grace sighed and smiled in her sleep.
I walked to the door and looked at her once more before pulling the door closed behind me. Moving through the living room, I open the front door and usher Devlin and James inside. I shook each man’s hand and nodded toward the back deck, wanting to keep our conversation away from Grace.
Whatever they wanted to tell me had to be about her, and she didn’t ever need to find out how I found her. Not only would it cause her pain, but it would bring additional pain to Aubrey, James’s long-lost sister, and I would do anything to keep them away from the truth.
Sitting down at the table, I turned to two of my oldest friends and asked, “What did you find?”
James ran his hand through his hair and leaned back, shaking his head. I leaned forward and locked eyes with Devlin. From the look in his eyes, I wasn’t going to like what they found. Running my hands down my face, I exhaled and demanded, “Fucking tell me already.”
“What do you know about Grace’s time after she ran away?” Devlin asked, and I gave him a quizzical look.
“She ran away ten years ago, and a few months later, she showed up with Eddie and lived there ever since. Why?” I inquired.
“We found what we think is a connection between the two of them,” Devlin explained, and I rolled my hand, encouraging him to continue. “Eddie petitioned the state of Missouri for custody of a little girl about twenty years ago, a long-lost niece who had been in the system for two years and he’d just found out. Turns out Eddie is Grace’s uncle.” My eyes grew wide and my mouth fell open as he went on. “Well, half-uncle, to be exact. Grace’s father had a half-brother who was raised by a different mother, and they barely knew each other growing up. Eddie was on his third deployment when he received word his half-brother was dead. Coming home, he discovered the state had taken his niece into foster care and he tried to adopt her. They refused on the grounds of his military obligations, and she remained in the system.”
“Fucking assholes. She could have been out of the system when she was six or seven and spared the horrors of that fucking pervert. Aubrey may have been saved too, for all we know,” James grumbled.
“After they turned him down, the military shipped him all over the world, and it took years for him to make contact with Grace,” Devlin said, and I leaned back, needing to rethink what I’d learned. “How did they say they met?”
“Eddie said mutual friends, and Grace wouldn’t expound when I asked,” I said, and James shrugged. “From all indications, he never told her. I don’t know why,”
