Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 118332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
She squeaked and whacked his arm. “No, don’t you dare. I’m going through these now.”
He tipped his head again. “Okay then, now I’m gonna say it… Hurry.”
She smiled at his impatience and began to sort through the photos again, taking her time to look at each one, but not recognizing anyone in the remaining photos.
The more she searched for proof of her father, the more glum she became when she realized she may never find out what happened to him. Where he went. Why he simply disappeared.
All without a word or even a trace left behind.
Maybe this was a sign she needed to give up and leave it as a mystery unsolved. But, for goodness’ sake, she had hoped…
As she picked up the last photo—not a Polaroid, but an actual four-by-six print that had been developed from a roll of film—the hair on the back of her neck stood and ice skittered down her spine.
She brought it closer to her face to make sure she was seeing the person in the photo clearly. To make sure she was really seeing what she was.
Maybe she just wanted to see it so badly, she was imagining it.
Was she?
It was a photo of three men, all wearing what she now easily recognized as Fury cuts and all standing in front of Harleys.
Her eyes flicked from the MC member standing with his legs apart to the bike behind him.
She knew both the man and the motorcycle.
Very well.
Her chest tightened and her throat began to close.
How was it possible?
She looked in the very corner of the photo and read the date. It wasn’t taken before she was born, but after. It was actually not long before he disappeared.
Not long at all.
My God… “I don’t understand,” she whispered, running her thumb over the picture she held in her lap.
“What?”
She lifted her gaze and met his. His gray eyes were narrowed on her and they dropped to the photo in her hand.
“What?” he asked again, more forcefully the second time. “Shay…”
He ripped the photo from her fingers and stared at it.
“Do you remember them?” Her whispered question had a shake to it.
“Yeah,” he murmured, wearing a similar frown like the one he wore in the picture. “Remember all three.”
She leaned her shoulder into his and pointed at her father. “Him. That’s him.”
Ozzy’s shoulder tensed against hers as he stared at the man she pointed at.
“He was one of your brothers. He was an Original. I had a gut feeling, but that was all I had. Until now. Until this. Holy smokes…” She slapped a hand over her forehead. How could it be?
“You’re talkin’ about this one.” He pointed at the picture. “This one right here?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
Ozzy squeezed his eyes shut and his fingers tightened on the photo. So much so that she thought he would tear it.
“Be careful. I want to keep that if Dutch will let me,” she said quickly and tried to pry it from his fingers. He wouldn’t release it.
When he opened his eyes again, she put out her hand for the photo. After a long pause, he reluctantly gave it to her.
“You sure it’s him?”
She nodded. “Of course. I remember what my father looked like. That’s definitely him.” Her heart thumped in her chest. “That means… That means he must have gotten caught up in whatever happened with the club at that time. Whatever went down. Right? That would explain his disappearance but… But…” She closed her own eyes this time and tried to put the brakes on her spinning thoughts. “That means he didn’t desert us, right? He… Something else happened to him to keep him from coming home to me and my mom. Right?” When he didn’t answer, she grabbed the T-shirt he still wore. “Right? He got caught up in the violence that was going on? The fighting within the club?”
Ozzy raised his gray eyes from the photo in her lap to her. “Yeah. He musta got caught up with the shit goin’ down back then.”
Tears burned her eyes. “Why wasn’t his body found? Maybe he isn’t dead. Maybe he disappeared to protect us. To keep us safe from whatever went down with the club.” She wanted desperately to cling to this hope.
But why wouldn’t he have reached out to her mother once the turmoil with the club died down and things became safe again? Why wouldn’t he want them to join him later?
Or at least send a message to his mother telling her to sell the house and come to him wherever he was. To make their family whole again.
“Do you think he’s still alive? Is he out there somewhere?” She twisted her head to look at him.
All she wanted was a sliver of hope. Just one damn sliver.
But simply looking at Ozzy’s expression shattered that sliver into tiny fragments.