Page 79 of Jackass

“Prez called. I have to get back,” he said. “I’ll see you later.”

He strolled through the door without another word.

Mimic was one of the newer brothers that joined the club after we set up in Diamond Creek. During his time as a prospect, many of us were doubtful he would make it. But he did.

Barely.

Mimic had secrets. We knew a few. He thought he kept them hidden from us. We knew he was only nineteen. He was sixteen when he prospected, though he providedproofhe was eighteen. His paperwork was good, but not good enough to deceive Nav.

King let him prospect anyway. He said he saw something in the kid that would be useful one day. None of the rest of us saw what King did.

We had the sheriff run his prints, but nothing came back. All that proved was he didn’t have a record. We patched him in two years ago. Despite having a rough time prospecting, which weattributed to his age, he had been stellar in his representation of the club and the cut he wore.

King let him have his secrets for now, as long as it didn’t cause an issue for the club. If or when it did, we’d deal with it.

“Well, ladies, should we head home?” I stood, holding my hand out to Sammy. She took my hand and smiled.

I noticed right away it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Charlie, you want to ride with me or Mommy?” I asked my daughter. She looked between Sammy and I, unsure which one she should pick. So I made another suggestion. “How about if Mommy leaves her car here and we all ride together?”

“Yes, Daddy,” Charlie said, her curls bouncing as she nodded.

“Jack, I need my car to get to work in the morning.”

“Charlie and I can drop you off. Your car will be here for you to drive home tomorrow,” I informed her.

Sammy was hesitant, but she conceded.

I didn’t want to question her motives. I wanted to trust her completely. She just wasn’t making it easy.

The next few days were much the same. Sammy went to work. Brothers slipped in and out of The Diner, keeping an eye out for Carrie and for Derek. Neither of them had made an appearance anywhere around town.

Every evening, the officers met in church for a quick rundown from Jingles. So far, nothing had been amiss. Sammy drove right to work in the morning, and then straight home in the evening.

I wanted to be happy. Something felt off, though. Something wasn’t adding up. Nav had filed the divorce papers, and there was no response from Derek. We could only assume he either hadn’t gotten them yet because he was here and not in Arkansas, or he was on his way here.

King had assigned two prospects to watch Carrie’s house.They would each do a twelve-hour shift and wouldn’t leave until the other got there. We didn’t want to miss her coming or going during the shift change. She never went back there after the party over the weekend.

After the fourth day, Billy was told to break in and look around. He took pictures of everything. The house didn’t look any different from when I had been there. A faded couch, a table with chairs. Charlie’s bed was still there. But it was empty, the same as when Charlie and Sammy lived there.

I understood living minimally when you had to move a lot. Growing up in foster care, I had a duffle bag. Everything I owned fit in that duffle bag. If it didn’t fit, it got left behind.

A shrink would say that was why, when I took Sammy and Charlie away from that house, I went and bought them a ton of shit they didn’t need. Maybe they would be right.

All I knew was, I didn’t want my daughter growing up with nothing, like I did. Sammy deserved everything for the sacrifices she made to keep Charlie safe.

When we got to the pictures of Carrie’s room, I exploded. That bitch’s room looked like something out of a magazine. She had everything, while Sammy and Charlie had nothing.

“I don’t understand. Did she get rid of everything Sam and Charlie had when they moved out?” Gunner asked.

“No, they had nothing. Sammy had one bag of clothes. Charlie had a small tote with clothes and one fucking doll. That was it. What you see in those pictures is exactly how the place looked when I was there,” I told them.

“Sam didn’t care that Carrie had all this stuff?” Colt asked.

“I don’t think Sammy knew. Sammy slept on the couch. She was probably never in Carrie’s room.” I snarled.

“How the hell did she get all this stuff in there without Samantha noticing?” King asked.