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“Yo,” he said. I listened as he spoke a few more times and noted Angel monitored Drake for any move Angel might consider threatening.
“Shit, how the fuck did that happen? Yeah… I’ll deal with that motherfucker… no, I got her. Work with Rage? Your call,” Angel muttered. He snapped out a goodbye and turned to Julie.
“Simone said you can trust Rage, which I gotta agree with. But Simone also made it clear this is your decision if you want to share your story. If not, I’m to take you and Faelea to a house right now,” Angel announced gently.
I watched as Julie peered up at him with trust and then gazed around at us.
Amberlea
“Simone says they’re honestly trustworthy?” I asked.
Fear still had a hold of me, as did shock. I’d no idea how Arlo and Jax had found me, but the urge to run like a scared rabbit was fading since Angel had arrived. I’d tensed up when Angel threw the blatant challenge at Drake, knowing the MC president wouldn’t ignore it. Right now, the atmosphere appeared more curious than threatening. But that could change in an instant.
“My name is Amberlea Folkes. I’m twenty-seven years old and spent the last ten in prison for a crime I didn’t commit. Simone and Butch are out finding evidence to prove my innocence and send the real culprit down,” I said, clinging to Angel.
A brawny, muscled arm wrapped around me and offered me silent strength. For all Angel could be terrifying; right now, he was my comfort blanket.
“Lot can be taken out of that statement, Amberlea. Why don’t you start from the beginning?” Drake spoke after a few long moments.
“I lived in Nebraska since birth. My parents were born there, and my grandparents also lived there. When I was about eight, I lost my parental grandparents in a car accident and then my mother and father when I was thirteen. My maternal grandparents brought me up. I grew up with a girl called Abigail Cask. Abbi was a month older, and her brother was two years older. Arlo Cask.
“Arlo’s best friend was Jax Myers. They are the same age and cousins but more like brothers. When I turned thirteen, and I kinda fell into a relationship. Nothing hinky, but it was clear we were together. My grandparents approved because Jax offered me the stability I needed. Abbi and I were as close as sisters, and the four of us were always together. But there was another girl in our year, Cordelia Wellspring. Her family was super rich, and Cordelia set her sights on Jax. At fourteen, she was already sexually active, whereas I remained a virgin.” I took a deep breath as I remembered Cordelia’s efforts to split Jax and me up.
“Carry on,” Gauntlet urged, his eyes on me.
“Jax knocked Cordelia back repeatedly. He simply wasn’t interested, and he stayed faithful to me. We loved each other, as stupid as it might sound. We became… sexually active… when I turned sixteen.” A blush hit my cheeks, and I powered on through. “And that cemented us as a couple. Jax asked me to marry him, and we were engaged soon after my birthday. Cordelia never stopped chasing Jax; she even tried getting with Arlo at one point, but he didn’t entertain her.” I paused as I thought of what was coming next. Despite how hard I tried to brace for the pain, I knew it would come.
“Just before Abbi’s seventeenth, we attended a party. Everyone was older and drinking, and Cordelia was there. Abbi drank too much while I didn’t. I didn’t like the taste. Cordelia somehow joined us but claimed she was sober. Abbi was so sick I said I had to take her home, and Cordelia offered to take us. I said no, but Abbi went and climbed in her car, so I chased after them. Abbi laid down in the back seat, so I climbed in the front with Cordelia.”
I stopped to swallow tears.
“Cordelia crashed the car,” Gauntlet added, and I nodded.
“Cordelia was over the limit. The bitch was speeding and drunk. Somehow Cordelia kept consciousness when we crashed, and she shoved me into the driver’s seat. I was arrested on the spot for vehicular manslaughter and taken away. When I arrived at the hospital, my injuries were briefly noted and photographed, and then I was thrown in jail. My medical care had been so lax I ended up in the prison hospital for several weeks. All my injuries proved I’d been a passenger. My lawyer said the bruising alone showed that.
“When it came to trial, though, everything disappeared. The lawyer made no mention of them, and basically, I was sent down for Cordelia’s crime. What nobody realised was that I was pregnant. By the time I was sentenced, I was showing and six months pregnant. Jax immediately filed for custody, but I had a friend in there. Seraphine arranged for me to be taken to a hospital. And one of her contacts planned to take Faelea the moment she was born. I held Faelea for a minute, and the matron said she was taking Faelea for tests; that was the last time I saw her for ten years.
“Jax and Mr Cask arrived to get custody and discovered Faelea had been kidnapped. They both tried to attack me. See, Cordelia was so believable, and I had been found in the driver’s seat, so they believed her story over mine. Jax and Arlo, who’d always offered love, now hated the sight of me. They were chased away, and five hours after I’d given birth, I was back in my cell. That’s how shit I was treated because Cordelia’s father had money to make it happen. Abbi’s murderer is still walking free, and worse, she married Jax three years after I was jailed.
“They tried having people beat me in prison, but nobody wanted to go against Seraphine, who’d somehow realised my innocence. A couple of months ago, I was taken to the warden’s office and told I was being released early. He gave me a file with the pictures the prison had taken of my injuries, and they proved I was the passenger. Warden Mackles said he’d known I was innocent, and when the chance of release came up, he’d taken it for me. He told me to find other evidence and send the guilty to jail.
“Warden Mackles told me to trust Seraphine and let her help. I’d already known that, but his confirmation helped a little. When I was released, somehow, Jax and Arlo had discovered the time despite being told a different one, and they were waiting for me. Simone and Butch arrived, and I jumped in their car, and they’ve been hiding and helping me ever since,” I explained.
“You said you hadn’t kidnapped Faelea,” Gauntlet said.
“I didn’t. That was the truth. Someone else did, and they ensured Faelea was raised with love and the truth. Faelea knows everything you do. Her mom was innocent, and the guilty culprit is walking free.”
“Not for long. Simone got the confession she needed,” Angel interrupted.
“Simone did?” I asked with hope on my face.
“Asshole took a five-million-dollar bribe to hide your evidence and send you down,” Angel confirmed.
“This is crazy!” Gauntlet snapped.
“This shit is my life!” I yelled. “You think this is fun? Hiding who I am, knowing I did ten years for something I didn’t do. That the guy I thought was a brother would see me dead, and the man I loved hates the fact I breathe air still? That the bitch who was so jealous of me, she set me up and is married to the father of my child who was denied both her parents? Think this is bullshit, Gauntlet? You couldn’t make this up!”
“Who were you running from?” Drake questioned.
