Chapter 19
1288 Words
Chapter 19
The Man in the Photograph
The words hung in the church like a warning.
He’s alive.
Jax stared at Sarah.
“You said my father was dead.”
“I said Daniel told us he was dead.”
Sarah’s voice trembled.
“I never saw his body.”
Daniel laughed from where Mason held him.
“You’re still protecting him.”
Sarah looked at him.
“I’m protecting my daughter.”
Jax stepped forward.
“Where is he?”
Sarah shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Jax’s jaw tightened.
“Mom.”
“I swear.”
She looked at him through tear-filled eyes.
“The last time I saw James, he was being taken away.”
“By Daniel?”
“Yes.”
Daniel said nothing.
Jax turned toward him.
“Where is my father?”
Daniel smiled.
“You’ll have to find him.”
⸻
The police arrived minutes later.
Daniel was taken into custody.
But before they led him away, he looked directly at Jax.
“You’re going to regret finding the truth.”
Jax didn’t blink.
“I already regret believing you.”
Daniel smiled.
“You haven’t seen anything yet.”
Then he was gone.
⸻
Back at the clubhouse, everyone gathered around the table.
Sarah sat beside me.
I couldn’t stop looking at her.
Twenty years of questions.
Twenty years of wondering why she left.
And now she was sitting beside me.
Alive.
I reached for her hand.
She squeezed mine.
“I wish I’d been there.”
I swallowed.
“So do I.”
“I thought about you every day.”
“Why didn’t you come back?”
“I tried.”
She looked toward the window.
“Every time I got close, someone stopped me.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
I froze.
“My father?”
Sarah nodded.
“James.”
She looked at Jax.
“He was trying to protect both of us.”
Jax sat across from her.
“What happened?”
Sarah took a deep breath.
“James discovered Daniel was using the club for more than money.”
“What else?”
“He was trafficking information.”
Mason frowned.
“What kind?”
“People.”
The room went silent.
Sarah continued.
“He had files on people who disappeared.”
Jax’s face hardened.
“Luke.”
“Yes.”
“Amara.”
“Yes.”
“Who else?”
Sarah looked down.
“Hundreds.”
⸻
Luke stood.
“So that’s why he kept records.”
Sarah nodded.
“He documented everything.”
Jax looked at the flash drive.
“Then there could be more files.”
“There are.”
“Where?”
Sarah hesitated.
“James kept a second archive.”
“Where?”
She looked at Jax.
“Under the old clubhouse.”
Jax immediately stood.
“The original clubhouse?”
“Yes.”
Luke looked at him.
“That’s been abandoned for years.”
“Then we go tonight.”
Sarah shook her head.
“No.”
Jax frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Daniel wasn’t the only person looking for it.”
A cold feeling settled over me.
“Who else?”
Sarah looked at me.
“The people who took James.”
⸻
That night, we returned to the original clubhouse.
The building stood deep in the woods.
The old Iron Vultures symbol was still carved above the door.
Jax stared at it.
“My father built this.”
Luke nodded.
“Before everything changed.”
Inside, dust covered the floor.
Old motorcycles sat beneath sheets.
Photographs covered the walls.
One showed Jax’s biological father, James.
Another showed Daniel.
And another showed Sarah.
Jax walked toward the photographs.
He stopped.
There was one he’d never seen.
James was holding a baby.
Jax.
Sarah stood beside him.
But there was another person in the picture.
A little girl.
Me.
Jax stared at the photograph.
“Bella…”
I stepped beside him.
“That’s me.”
Sarah nodded.
“You were both raised around each other.”
Jax looked at her.
“But I don’t remember her.”
“You were separated after the fire.”
I looked at the picture.
“Why were we together?”
Sarah’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because James wanted you to grow up knowing each other.”
Jax looked at me.
“Maybe that’s why I always felt like I knew you.”
My heart tightened.
“Maybe.”
⸻
Luke found a trapdoor beneath the old bar.
Jax opened it.
A staircase led underground.
We followed.
At the bottom was a steel door.
There was a keypad.
Mason examined it.
“Four digits.”
Jax looked at the photograph.
“What date was this taken?”
Sarah answered.
“August seventeenth.”
Jax entered 0817.
The door unlocked.
Inside was a room filled with boxes.
Files.
Photographs.
Hard drives.
And one large metal cabinet.
Jax opened it.
Inside were dozens of folders.
He pulled one out.
JAMES REED — PERSONAL FILE
His hands shook.
He opened it.
The first page was a letter.
To my son, Jax.
Jax stopped breathing.
Sarah covered her mouth.
He began reading.
“If you’re reading this, then I wasn’t able to tell you the truth myself.”
Jax’s eyes filled with tears.
“Your mother will tell you that I loved you.”
He stopped.
Looked at Sarah.
Then continued.
“But what she may not tell you is that I knew I was being watched.”
Jax’s breathing became unsteady.
“Daniel believes he controls everything.”
“He doesn’t.”
Jax looked up.
“What does that mean?”
Sarah shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Jax continued.
“There is someone above Daniel.”
The room went silent.
Mason stepped closer.
“Above him?”
Jax nodded.
“Someone who has been controlling the organization for years.”
The next line was underlined.
“And that person knows about Bella.”
My stomach dropped.
“Me?”
Jax kept reading.
“If anything happens to me, keep Bella away from them.”
“She carries something they need.”
I looked at Sarah.
“What do I carry?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Jax turned the page.
Then stopped.
His face went completely white.
“What?”
He handed me the paper.
There was one sentence.
Bella is the key.
⸻
A sound came from upstairs.
Footsteps.
Everyone froze.
Mason turned off the lights.
The footsteps became louder.
One person.
Then another.
Then several.
Luke whispered:
“They found us.”
Jax grabbed my hand.
“Back door?”
Mason shook his head.
“Only one entrance.”
Sarah looked toward the cabinet.
“There’s another way.”
She opened a hidden panel.
A narrow tunnel appeared.
Jax looked at her.
“How did you know?”
Sarah smiled sadly.
“James showed me.”
We hurried inside.
Before Jax entered, he looked back at the files.
“We can’t leave this.”
Mason grabbed the metal case.
“I’ve got them.”
We disappeared into the tunnel.
Behind us, the door to the archive opened.
A man’s voice echoed through the room.
“Find them.”
I stopped.
I knew that voice.
I turned toward Jax.
“That sounds familiar.”
Jax’s expression changed.
“Yeah.”
He looked terrified.
“I know that voice too.”
“Who is it?”
He shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Then the voice came again.
Closer.
“Bring me the girl.”
My heart stopped.
Because the voice belonged to someone I trusted.
End of Chapter 19
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