37. Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Two

J esse walked into the security meeting with Cannon, which was being held in the MC clubhouse's council room. They'd brought the girls because everyone wanted to attend the meeting. Besides, Sarah had texted her that she had an update on Cannon's dad too. Jesse had debated how she was going to broach the subject, then decided to contact Cannon's therapist. He'd indicated he would be available if Cannon needed to talk and agreed that having his family around was a good time to listen to the news.

War plucked Ginny out of Cannon's arms before he'd barely got in the room and then Bear was heading toward her. She handed him Rissa and giggled as she took a seat.

War walked to the table and took a seat. She was positive the men weren't where they usually sat in council, but the room was full. A lot of the men were standing.

"Let's quiet down. We have a lot to go through today. Since Sarah, Scoop, and Remi have done a lot of the legwork on this investigation, I'll let them update everyone."

Scoop stepped forward. "I'll go first. We've been digging into Cannon's wreck since the investigation at the sheriff's office seems to have stalled. Last week, a black Ford F-350 with damage along the front was found abandoned down near the creek underneath the railroad tracks bridge. Inside of the cab had been torched. However, the rest of the vehicle didn't burn, so we were able to get a couple prints off of the gas cap. We ran them through the database and got a hit. Meet Corbin Smith, and yes, that is his real last name."

Scoop put a picture on the screen of the man they'd known as Deputy Kerwin.

"Say what? Deputy Kerwin wasn't really Kerwin?" Cannon's incredulous voice asked.

"No, in fact, he has a record, so how he was able to pass the background check for the sheriff's office we don't know. And we have no idea why he was in town or why his prints are in the vehicle that hit you. He's from the Dallas area. I wish we had more to go on, but we're going to keep digging. He has to be related to something," Sarah said.

"I felt bad that he had to leave his rental house so quickly and didn't clean up. I went and saw the landlord. I offered to clean out his stuff and was given permission. The only thing I found disturbing was a packet that was underneath a floorboard," Remi said, opening the packet and spreading out pictures of most of the MC members with names written underneath and a large number of the women.

Locks walked over and stood over War, glaring at him until he handed the baby to him. Then War stood up.

"What we know now is someone has targeted us. This guy is from Texas, so it's possible it could be related to what Scoop, Sarah, Rose, and Tasha were involved in, or it could be something else. They're still digging, but you all know it can take a while to piece the threads together if someone has hidden things well. Thoughts?" War said.

Scoop pulled up video from the compound showing the kids at the daycare. "I think we need to stay vigilant and keep the compound locked, except for the garage and the range. We have too much to lose to not take this seriously. I wish I could promise we'll figure out what's going on, but without any more leads, we're looking for a needle in a haystack. And we don't know which haystack to check. It could take a while and by a while, I mean months."

War nodded, and Jesse wondered why this was happening. She was fine with keeping things locked. She had two little ones that she wanted kept safe. If someone took or hurt her kids, she'd rain down the fires of hell on them.

War paused and looked to her, cocking his eyebrow. She nodded and stood.

Cannon watched Jesse stand beside him and wondered what was going on. She turned and smiled at him.

"We're around family today and I need to tell you something I did. When I listened to you talk about your father, it got my brain going. Even with the girls' birth, I couldn't get it out of my head. Where was your father and what was he doing? If he'd just been traveling around, then I wouldn't have ever said a word to you. But Sarah found something."

Cannon stared at Jesse. She was fierce and strong. He could see why she hadn't been able to let it go. She'd heard his stories and worried what if his dad was doing it to someone else. He reached for her hand.

"I love the heart you have for helping people. What do I need to know?"

Jesse sat down and motioned to Sarah.

"I tracked down your father despite him still living a nomad lifestyle. He had to have a valid address and a checking account to receive Social Security."

Cannon held up his hand. "How did he get Social Security? I didn't know he ever had a real job?"

"He worked at a casino after you graduated high school. He received benefits from there and didn't start traveling again until he was old enough to receive the benefits. I found his bank and then checked his transactions. And no, it wasn't legal, but I thought this warranted a little bending of the rules. There's no easy way to say this. Your dad got a woman pregnant. She gave birth and then died shortly after of an overdose. He has custody of your younger brother, Cannon. He's three years old."

Cannon felt like he couldn't breathe. A three-year-old with his father. Cannon couldn't allow that.

Jesse's hand on his chest and her voice calling his name had him taking a couple of deep breaths.

"It's going to be okay. We won't let your dad keep him," Jesse promised.

Cannon nodded, knowing she wouldn't lie to him. He didn't want to leave the girls, but he didn't want his brother being with his dad any longer than possible.

"What's the plan because I know you wouldn't have brought this up without some type of an idea?" Cannon asked.

"Well, we lucked out, and your dad's credit card was used at the gas station at a campground in Oklahoma. It's a couple hours from here. We contacted Bootstrap and Brew last night. They have a picture of your dad and are driving to the campground today looking for where he is parked. We thought some of us could head that way and persuade him to sign his rights away, naming you the boy's guardian if that's what you want," Remi replied.

Cannon stared at his family and the lengths they were going to help his younger brother. Please God, let his dad have not done things to his brother yet.

"Yes. I really want to go, but the girls are so young."

Jesse grasped his hand. "We'll go together. There are plenty of people to take care of the girls until we get back. I think Flick or Stella should go with us, just in case."

Cannon held it together but just barely. To think about needing Flick and Stella because of his little brother being hurt. And what was his father doing with a son that young anyway.