The Secret Angel Book 4
Автор
Melanie Gomez
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Chapter 1
MARCELO
Today marks the end of our senior year, and we’re buzzing with anticipation. Jace found his goddess during his senior year, and we’re hoping for the same. We’ve heard that our goddesses have moved back, but they’re being homeschooled this year.
We’ve been keeping an eye on them, and they seem content whenever they’re spotted. Our informant, Ryan, has noticed something strange about the girls’ relationship with their father. It’s been this way for years, he says.
Ryan has been tracking them for us. Even when they’re not around, he’s noticed something off about their relationship. It started when they were young, and as they grew older, it became more physical.
Their father would wrap his arms around them. Their mother was often drunk or absent, so they’d all huddle together on the couch under a blanket. He’d nuzzle their necks as they sat on his lap.
Ryan has tried to report it anonymously several times, but nothing ever comes of it. So, we’ve stayed out of it, just watching. That doesn’t mean we’re not concerned.
We get a call that their parents are leaving for the weekend and will be back the next day. We continue to monitor them, going about our days while Ryan checks in on them over the weekends. They seem fine.
We know they turned eighteen a few months ago. We’d hoped to bring them home by now, but we’re waiting for the right moment. We can only hope they’ll want to come with us.
Our sisters accompany us to school. Usually, Tank and Frankie would take the kids, but eight years ago, our bastard of a father ambushed them and killed them. We live with that guilt every day.
We know we didn’t cause it, but our sisters feel even worse. As our father always says, what’s done is done. So, the responsibility of chaperoning has fallen to Niko and Tony.
They’ve done a great job, especially considering they had to transport four of us to high school this past year. We were seniors, Autumn was a sophomore, and Kassie was a freshman. We know who our girls are, and our sisters have been eyeing some of the newer, younger guards.
Dad and everyone else are all against it! Nate and Jessie find it amusing, though. It’s like déjà vu for them. We rush into school for the last day, laughing as the latest generation of Maxwells has taken over and dominated the school this year.
The elementary school was relieved to see us go, and the middle school kept quiet. When we started high school, I swear the principal would shut his door and start taking shots. After our freshman year, he retired.
Can you blame him, though? After dealing with twenty years of Maxwells, when do you say enough is enough? When the car pulls up, we all jump out and scatter to our last classes.
We’re eager to finish up so we can get home and get to work.
***
School was as dull as ever. When we get home, our dad meets us in the front room. He looks troubled, and we know something serious is going on.
“Boys, I think there’s more happening than we realize. The mother leaves on Friday and has been coming back late on Sunday. The father leaves on Saturday night and returns early Sunday.
“Ryan filed another report, but they ignored him again. They claim they’ve spoken to the girls, and they say everything is fine.”
We know it’s bullshit.
We’ve been there full time lately, and they never showed up. Now we’ll have to handle this ourselves. Dad wants us to go over and give them our numbers.
But what if they don’t want to leave? We’ve known they were ours since we started elementary school. When they moved away, we were heartbroken!
Dad kept tabs on them, and he also thought something was off. We kept our distance, but our concern grew with each passing year. Now that we’re done with school, we’ll start working for Dad full time.
This weekend, we’ll take some guys and go see what’s happening. They should be done with school by now, too. So, it’s settled.
This weekend, we’ll pay them a visit and hopefully bring our girls home. But for now, work calls. There’s never any downtime in this family.
We contact the social worker and ask for all the documentation from his visits. If anything is amiss, there will be problems. We sit in our office, sifting through papers and bouncing ideas off each other when our sisters come in, laughing.
“Do you realize it’s six o’clock? Are you coming to dinner, or should we bring it to you?” We all laugh at Autumn’s sassiness and head to the dining area.
As we approach, we can hear everyone in the house gathered in one room. It’s loud. We quickly grab our food, sit down, and join the conversation.
We’ve made it a rule not to talk about work at the table. After dinner, we head upstairs to our rooms. When I enter mine, I can’t help but think of my goddess, Angelia.
I sit on the edge of the bed, looking out the window, wondering what she’s doing right now. I check my email on my phone and see that the social worker has sent the dates of his visits.
I guess we’ll see what happens this weekend. What if they don’t want to come with us? What do we do then?
We can’t force them. There’s a knock on my door, and Anthony comes in. He’s asking the same questions I’ve been asking myself.
What will we do? How will we handle this? We discuss the situation and decide to make sure we’re on the same page every evening.
By Friday, we’ll be ready.
