Chapter 158: Unexpected Discoveries

Bri

The next morning, when I ended up downstairs, I was surprised to find Nicole looking rather forlorn on my couch. I immediately went to her and just sat beside her. I wasn’t sure if she wanted to talk about what was wrong, but I wanted her to know I was here. It took her a few moments, but she turned to me with a mixture of sorrow and anger on her face.

“Not too long after you rescued me, Bishop had tried to figure out if there had ever been a missing person’s report issued on me.” I nodded, having been told of this already.

“Well, I never really wanted to follow up with anything. I figured if they couldn’t be bothered to worry about what happened to me, why the fuck would I care what was happening to them? Well, that changed today because I just needed closure, I guess. Finding out about being pregnant made me want to have more information. Besides, if I ever wanted anything of my dad’s, I’d have to figure out how to get it.” I nodded again, just letting her pace herself on telling me what was going on.

“There are several things we discovered. First off, Jackie remarried, and I have a feeling she got rid of all of my dad’s stuff so I’ll never be able to get any of his things, and no doubt the things I did have back at my apartment with Chris got thrown out when I never came back. I saw some things on Facebook, and it appears that Chris and Sharron are engaged. So, basically all of their lives have been going on like I never existed in the first place. It just hit me wrong, I guess. I mean, it doesn’t honestly surprise me that they would decide to throw me away like garbage, but they never even bothered to look for me. Not even Chris, who was my boyfriend and lived with me.” She shrugged, but I knew it was hurting her.

I side hugged her and whispered, “They are fucking ass holes, and I could go and kill them if you wanted me to.” She burst out laughing, which had been my goal.

“Thanks, but both Bishop and Sean already offered.” She ended up handing me the paper she had.

It was printed sheets off of Facebook. I looked at them, and then I froze. “Nicole, who are these men to you?”

“Well, one of them is Chris; he’s the one who’s younger in that polo shirt and standing next to the blond. The other one is apparently Chris’s stepfather, who I don’t actually remember meeting, and he is the one who married my stepmother, as weird as that actually all is.” She shrugged.

“Where’s Bishop?” She looked at me funny, and I could see her from the corner of my eye, but I was riveted on the papers in my hand.

I nodded and got up as quickly as my pregnant belly would allow me to. I went and retrieved my cell phone from the charger where I had plugged it in before I headed downstairs. I called Derek to find out where they all were.

“Hello, dear, is everything alright?” He said by way of answering his cell phone.

“Hey Dad, are my mates there with you by chance?” I heard him call their names.

Then Armond was on the phone, “Hi, sweetheart, is everything okay? Do we need to come home? We’re just over at the control center going over some things with Bishop.” I nodded, though he couldn’t see me.

“I need you and Allan to come here as well as Bishop and Sean. I have something I need to show you and speak to you about, and I have a feeling Nicole is going to need them with her, because this pertains to her as well.” I heard a bunch of shuffling.

“We’ll be there in just a few moments, sweetheart.” I let out the breath I didn’t even realize I was holding.

“Okay, I’ll see you in a few minutes." With that, I hung up and went to go and sit with Nicole until they arrived.

“I have all of our mates coming because there are some things we need to talk about. You and I have talked about the day you caught your boyfriend and step sister in bed together. You explained to me about the history with Sharron. How long had you known Chris before you started dating or moved in together?”

She thought about that, “I was waitressing, and he came in with some buddies. They were all college kids; I had wanted to attend classes and was saving money to pay for tuition, so we sparked up a conversation. I met him about a month before we went out, and we dated for about four months before we moved in together, and he asked me to marry him two months after that. It was about three months later that I found him fucking Sharron. So altogether I knew him for ten months, I guess.” I nodded.

“In all of that time did it ever seem that perhaps there was another side to him that you didn’t know about but just got glimpses of every now and then?” She looked at me with huge eyes.

“There was only twice that I can think of that he was angry when we had a fight, and for about five minutes I was worried that he might become someone I didn’t recognize and become a threat. However, he reeled it in quickly, and that was it.” I nodded.

When the guys got here, Bishop and Sean rushed to Nicole the same way my mates rushed to me. They hugged us and checked us over, and I patted both of them on the chest reassuringly. Bishop then turned to me.

“What’s going on, Bri?” I took a deep breath and let it out.

I took the papers Nicole had given to me. “This is who Nicole said is Chris her ex now; the older one is supposedly his stepdad. I know both of these men because they were with Dekon where I was being held. I think Chris was in cahoots with this, and he found Nicole and then told them how to get her. I have no idea if her stepfamily was involved or not, but this picture leads me to think they are.” I heard Nicole gasp, and everyone else froze, absorbing what I had just revealed.