“Who is going, Mom?”
“Aubrey, Austin, Noah, Marcus, Chase, Nelson, Vincent, and Smoke.”
I looked up. “Smoke?”
“You want Smoke with you,” Noah said. “Trust me.”
“Smoke is the muscle,” Maddox said.
“Plane’s ready,” Chase called
“Limo is waiting downstairs,” Angela said.
“Your father is going to be there with the guns,” the other woman said. “You be careful and don’t do anything that Smoke doesn’t tell you to.” She walked over to me, and dropped an arm around me. “Welcome to the Gaggle, young man. I’m the assigned parent, Dawn.” She grabbed Aubrey’s hand and smiled at the two of us. “They’re going to get those kids and Uriah back. Just go with them, and listen.”
Aubrey burst into tears and Dawn pulled her in to a hug. “Aw, sweetie. You know they’re okay. You know they are. Once you get them back, my boys here will make sure you never lose them again.”
“Let’s go!” Chase said, walking to the door. “We’ve got a plane to catch!”
I wrapped my arm around Aubrey’s shoulders and smiled as best as I could. “I have no idea what’s going on here, but if they’re going to get the kids and Uri back, let’s just roll with it.”
She smeared her tears away and stood. “Okay, let’s do this.”
Aubrey and I started to come out of the fuzzy coma when we climbed the stairs of the plane waiting for us in Teterboro. Nelson was already seated, as was Vincent. They both nodded at me as I walked to the seats just behind them. They were huge, and plush and I realized that even as a mega star, I hadn’t really flown private like this before.
“Yours, Nelson?” I asked.
“Yup.” He nodded. “One of the ways I spoil myself.”
“I like when you spoiling yourself means that we get spoiled,” Aubrey said.
“What did Gadfeller say on the phone?”
“Jesus Christ!” Aubrey screamed launching out of her seat, clutching her chest.
There was a man standing next to her and neither of us had seen him come in, and certainly hadn’t noticed him sitting there if he had been. Dressed in black—tight jeans, a turtleneck, and blazer—he was casually cool leaning back in the chair with his arms folded.
“A tactleneck,” I mumbled.
His piercing green gaze turned to mine, and he chuckled. “I’d like to think that I’m just a little better at this game than Sterling Archer, thanks.” He plucked a hair off the sleeve of the blazer. “And this is my darker black.”
I bleated a laugh and slammed my hand over my mouth.
He stood smoothly and offered a hand to Aubrey. “Smoke Gillam. Pleased to meet you.”
She took his hand. “Aubrey Gad—uh, Lowell.”
“Wise choice.” He offered his hand to me and I shook it, introducing myself. “So, what can you tell us about Gerry Gadfeller?” He sat down in the chair again.
“Beside him being a complete homophobic, racist asshole?”
Smoke nodded. “Yeah, I think we can start a bit further than that.”
Aubrey took a deep breath, and a moment later the flight attendant handed her a glass of white wine. She studied it, took a sip, and then started.
With every word, I wished she hadn’t. She’d been manipulated from the first days she met Gerry. He’d turned her against me, against our father, against the whole family. I knew we had all suffered when our mom had died, but Brey had lost a friend, a person she was just starting to really like. It wasn’t fair—and Gerry exploited that sad, open space.
“One day, about eighteen months ago, he hit me,” she said, just loud enough to be heard over the whine of the jet engine. “He’d never done that before. I had quietly questioned him about something—totally inconsequential, mind you—and he got red hot pissed at me. I had questioned him, even mildly, in front of his council and friends.
