Chapter 12

Chapter

Twelve

DIGG

I softly pull the door shut behind me, not wanting to disturb Frankie just after she's fallen asleep. I'm a bit worried how much of an ordeal a simple doctor appointment seems to have been for her. Now that I've been present for one and seen Lughan's odd behavior, I get it. I'm definitely unhappy about it, but I get it.

"Need the number to that doctor you brought around for Blu and Gray," I tell Konrad when he meets me at the top of the stairs. Together, we head toward the locked conference room we call the chapel. The rest of the guy might already be there, although it's a tossup whether Jax will tear himself away from Blakely to be on time.

"Charm? Why? What's the problem?" Konrad asks, even as he pulls out his phone and messages me Dr. Vincent Charmden's contact information.

"Something's weird about that baby doctor Francesca's been seeing. Need to run things by Charm to see if I'm being paranoid," I grunt. I hate having to explain myself, but considering my brothers are still plenty pissed off at me for going rogue and getting locked up, I know it's necessary.

Shaw's organized ass already has a white board on wheels at one end of the room and looks like a tatted-up high school teacher. Under other circumstances, the irony would be amusing, considering none of us save for Cameron were worth a shit in school.

"This list of names you brought back. It's more than just guards. There are inmates on it, too?" Shaw asks.

"Yeah. I listened. Heard shit."

"Shocker. That's all you do. Listen to everyone else like a creep," Ace sneers at me. His cold fury sours my stomach even as heat rises over my cheeks at being called out for my auditory voyeurism.

"Can it, Ace." Jax glares at me, despite his defense.

"COs talk. Brag. You know." I nod to Jax, and he nods back. He knows I'm right. Correction officers gossip and titter like middle schoolers. Bully like that way, too, but that's neither here nor there.

"The guards on the list are ones living above their means. Money gotta come from somewhere. They brag about who flags the best fresh meat for market day." Just thinking about the smug bastards has my fists clenching. I wish I could hit something. Someone.

I know any of my brothers would jump at the chance to knuckle up. This isn't the time, so I push words past the rock lodged in my throat.

"The inmate names are guys who were in for stupid shit most anyone else could have raised enough bond to get out on. Trespasses. Pissing in public. Sleeping in bus shelters. Stuff a person does when they're unhoused. And they're all young."

"How young?" Konrad demands, and I know how hard this is for him. The man's in love with a pair he rescued from what we suspect is this same group of trafficking assholes. They're both in their early twenties, but Grey was just a kid when he was stolen and turned into a sadistic fuck's pet. Blu was older, in her late teens, but still too young to wind up caged and used the way she had been.

"I don't know, man. Shit. Young. Old enough to be at the jail instead of the youth detention center, but still young. Maybe, the guards at the youth lockup are in on it, too. I don't know." For the most part, guards had dedicated shifts and stations within the jail. If the COs at the youth detention place were involved, I wouldn't have known.

"This gets deeper and deeper. First, we find out cops are dirty. Now, we add in department of corrections workers? What next? The damn politicians?" Shaw grumbles.

"Actually…" I only know what my gut's telling me, but the vibes I got from Frankie's doctor today definitely have me thinking there's a connection there, too.

"Spit it out, dickhead. No more secrets," Cameron says.

"There's something weird about that doctor. The baby one. Francesca told me he talks to that prick Benson about her being breedable. I'm positive Benson's involved. He's a cop from a family full of them."

No matter what, I'd have brought Frankie here to keep her safe because of my promise to her brother. Still, everything points to her being tangled up in this shit, and it makes me even more convinced she needs me. My brothers may be pissed at me for going rogue, but I know they'll protect her just as surely as I will. It's what we do in this club.

I listen to the plans and conversations happening around the table. There's no surprise that everyone's divided about looping in Anatoly Balakin. He's proved himself an ally several times over, and with his daughter under our protection, I don't think he's going to fuck us over. It's hard trusting anyone outside this room though, especially a vicious Russian pakhan. The power that guy wields is scary, and I'm not too arrogant to admit it.

I've missed enough of what's gone on day to day over the last half year though, so I keep my mouth shut and let my brothers decide. So long as Frankie's safe, I don't much care what plans are made. It still feels strange to care so much about a female, but the responses she brings out of me are impossible to ignore.

When I figure out what to do with the feelings she's got me having, things might make more sense. For now, I'm just keeping her safe, cared for, and happy. And if I steal a little pleasure from making her do what I tell her to and listening while she does it? Well, the law says I'm a criminal now, so nobody should be surprised.