39. Chapter Thirty Eight

Chapter Thirty Eight

Ronan

M y feet freeze as I blink several times, trying to make sense of what I just witnessed. Asher lifts his arm for Liam and he takes the offer easily, cuddling into his chest before Skyla does the same thing. They all look so peaceful.

I wonder how long this has been going on.

Not knowing if I should make myself known or slip out of the house, I go for the latter. I quietly sneak out the way I came before getting into my car, calling Wesley as I head out on the road.

"Hey, I'm almost there," he answers.

"Meet me at my place instead. They are…busy," I say.

"Busy like….busyyy?" he drawls out.

I grunt in response, which causes him to stay silent for a moment.

"So, why don't you join?"

I go to tell him that I think tonight is very much about the three of them, but I don't know if they'd want people to know, at least not yet. So, I keep it vague.

"We have work to do. Skyla is safe. So meet me at my place."

With that, I hang up the phone as I weave my way home. When I get there, surprisingly, Wesley is already waiting for me by the front door. Stepping out of my car and locking it behind me, I nod my head in greeting before unlocking the door.

Once we are inside with the door locked, it's like we both blow out a breath of relief and begin speaking freely.

"So, what? Didn't feel like getting laid tonight?" Wesley asks.

I smack the back of his head, shooting him a disgusted look as I shrug my jacket off my shoulders.

"Don't fucking talk about her like that."

Wesley's brows furrow like he's confused.

"I wasn't talking about her like anything. I'm just confused why you'd rather spend a night with me than her?"

The way he says it is laced with jealousy. I've noticed it pretty much from the start, but it's becoming more and more prominent. If he's not already in love with her, he's well on his way. There's no doubt about that.

"Careful, brother. You almost sound envious of my position," I warn.

His mouth opens to speak when he pauses before shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders.

"If your position is with me instead of her, then I'm not envious at all. Just thinking about how stupid you are."

I lift a brow in question as I move to my office, Wesley trailing after me as I fire up my computer.

"If you would rather spend time with her, then go. You know where she is."

Wesley makes a scoffing sound under his breath but doesn't say a word. I've already made several calls to Hutchinson, he's dodged all of my attempts swiftly, which only ratchets my suspicion. With Andrew disappearing into thin air and his father keeping him hidden, it's clear they are aware of something, if not responsible for the whole fuckin thing. If that little shit is the one who has been terrorizing Skyla since she arrived, I'll gut him like the pig he is.

I click on the app on my computer, pulling up the school's surveillance cameras. Over the next hour, Wesley and I pour over the footage, watching each angle, each wing, desperate to trace where the fuck Andrew has gone. Conveniently, the feed in Skyla's history class, Andrew's dorm and the parking lot were all cut today. How the fuck was no one notified about this sooner? Oh, yeah. Because Hutchinson is in charge of all surveillance and both him and his son are unreachable. How convenient.

"Fuck!" I snap, as I slam my fists against the keyboard.

Wesley shakes his head in frustration as he pulls out his phone, his fingers flying across the keys.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Well, we can't get a hold of them, right? Can't track them down on surveillance footage?"

I nod my head in agreement.

"Well, then we are gonna go to them."

"If you think I haven't already been to their house—"

"What about their safe house?" Wesley asks.

I frown at that. "What do you mean?"

"C'mon, like a tech security god/borderline doomsday prepper like Hutchinson isn't going to have an undocumented safe house should anything go wrong with the Brethren, the world or his son?" Wesley challenges.

I think on it for a second. Makes sense, pretty fitting to his character, with the little I know about him actually.

"How are you going to find something like that?" I ask.

Welsey continues typing on his phone as he speaks.

"I have made alliances with some of the most skilled hackers in the world over the last decade. What good would those relationships be if I couldn't utilize them from time to time?"

He finishes whatever he was doing on his phone before he pockets it and nods.

"And now?" I guess.

"We wait."

I curse under my breath as I shake my head.

"For how fucking long?"

Wesley gives me a flat look. "As long as it takes. My guys work fast, faster than you, me or any of those kids would."

Biting the inside of my cheek, I shake my head before begrudgingly nodding. It's not the answer I wanted to hear. It's not an answer any of them want to hear. If Wesley's contacts take more than a few days, I have no doubt Griggs will have already burnt the world down. For everyone's sake, I hope they are faster than that.