A Vow of Silence

Chapter 8.

Jax

I decided to take heed and listen to Nicole's warning. I never knew someone who openly discussed their crimes, or even instructed someone to find them out. So, I told Bobby to find out anything he could about Nicole's story. I didn't know what I was expecting to find, but it certainly wasn't this.

"Did you find anything else in the report?" I asked Bobby as I held Nicole's record in my hand. She looked so dead in her mugshot like someone had sucked the life out of her prior to the photo. Her eyes were puffy and she looked disoriented.

"Yeah, my ex's new old man is a bounty hunter. He said that prior to Nicole being accused she had a huge case out on Pope's organization. She had more than enough to tear the whole thing down after her partner was mysteriously killed on the job."

"You think Pope killed her?"

"Nah, Pope didn't like to get his hands dirty. This level of brutality has Marks written all over it." Bobby paused and flipped over the pictures of Nicole's girls. "They were only two and three, killed in their own home. There were drugs found in Nicole's system but she said she woke up and just found them like that. It didn't bode over well because she had blood on her hands and the gun had her fingerprints."

"Sh*t," I said under my breath. I was trying to get rid of Marks and put Tyler in his place. Marks couldn't be trusted because he wanted to make Pope's ghost proud. However, after finding out what they did to Nicole, I wanted him to go out bloody. Just like he did with her daughters.

"She told you to look this up?" Bobby asked me sounding surprised.

"Yeah, she didn't want to take the job unless I knew."

"She didn't have to tell you, you know. She's exonerated, you can't even find this stuff on her record anymore."

"I know," I said, exhaling a breath. Nicole had definitely proved herself to be honest. She didn't have to tell me about this, but she went out of her way to do so. And that said a lot about her character. She could have easily kept this to herself, after all, she was innocent, but she wanted me to know. You couldn't buy that level of character, she just had it, and that made me feel like she would be just fine being around my kids. Even though my mom wasn't completely aware that I was in the process of hiring help, I wanted to at least do a trial run with Nicole. 

"I'm going to head out," I said patting Bobby's back before leaving the office. He nodded his head, not looking up at me, as he continued to go over Nicole's records. There was a lot to unpack in those records, but there was also so much missing.

Only Nicole knew what happened that day. She held the key to the mystery of it all. I mean, it was easy for the feds to pin it all on her, but now with her innocence, it had become a cold case. According to the report, she stopped talking after year 1. So, that means she hasn't spoken a word about it for the last two years. I'd ask her about it eventually, but it wasn't my place to pry. At least not right now.

Nicole's father's house wasn't too far away, and it took all but ten minutes to get there. When I arrived, an old man was sitting outside on a rocking chair. He didn't move a muscle when he saw me, and only looked confused when I approached him.

"Hi, is Nicole here?"

His brows furrowed, "who?"

My eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Nicole, your daughter, is she here?"

He looked confused for a bit until realization spread over his face. "Oh yes, Nicole! Nicole!" he said excitedly. He got up from the chair and trembled his way to the door. He shouted, "Nicky, Nicky!" until a woman wearing a nurse's uniform came out.

"Mr. Booker, Nicole went out, remember? She's coming back to see you during her lunch break." The nurse spoke softly to him as she redirected him back to his chair. He looked sad at the fact that Nicole wasn't the one inside.

When the nurse finally noticed me, she smiled at me kindly. "Sorry about that, his memory comes and goes. Can I help you find someone?"

"Um yeah," I said trying to regain my composure after witnessing the old man. "I'm looking for Nicole. Do you know where she is?"

"Oh yeah, she said she was heading out for an interview. She's looking to work up at the convenience store up the street. It's almost time for his lunch, so she should be heading back soon."

I nodded my head as I got on my bike. I took one last look at Nicole's dad and had flashbacks to my grandpa who was suffering from Alzheimer's as well. I was surprised that she'd already gone out to find other work, but given the circumstances, I completely understood her motive.

It didn't take long to find her though. She was walking on the sidewalk when I spotted her. Her head turned when she heard the sound of my bike, and I pulled up in front of her, sidewalk and all. "Hey, I didn't know this was a biking lane," she said sarcastically.

"Yeah, well, I would have thought you'd given me at least twenty-four hours before you found another job."

She smiled, "Yeah, well, time is money."

"So, they say," I shot her the famous Teller smile. "So, are we doing the interview here or..."

"You want to give me a job?" she looked confused by this.

"That's right." She opened her mouth to protest, but I stopped her. "You don't have to say anything, Nicole. I want you to watch my boys. We could do a trial run if you want, but I have no reservations about you."

Nicole remained quiet as she stared me in the eyes. She looked away when it got too intense for her, "you know it wasn't my fault." Her head was down as she said it, but I knew the sound of someone who was breaking apart.

"I know," I said softly. I forced her to look at me with my fingers on her chin. "They'll get everything that's coming to them, I promise."

Nicole smiled, "you always make these kinds of promises?"

"No, not everyone deserves them."

Nicole nodded her head in agreement and we stood there for a brief moment of silence. She shoved her hands in her back pockets and rocked back and forth on her heels. "Okay, trial run, we'll just take baby steps. See how it goes."

I grinned, "I can accept that, but I must warn you."

"About what?" she asked with a curious look in her eyes.

"I make pretty cute kids, I don't think you'll be able to resist them."

"Wow, what a burden."

"Yeah, it gets pretty hard sometimes," I said continuing our little charade.

Nicole just shook her head and laughed, "should I be worried?"

"About what?"

"Well, if your children's heads are as big as yours, I'm going to need to invest in a first aid kit." I rolled my eyes as Nicole doubled over with laughter. She was a real comedian. I just about forgot how to laugh and rolled my eyes at her instead. Which earned me a pat on the cheek as she tried to contain her laughter.