A Vow of Silence

Chapter 26.

Jax

I stood in front of Unser as he went over his continuous complaints about the club. He helped us out a lot today with taking care of Leland, one of the scumbags that only shook hands with people no darker than a vanilla wafer. I tried to justify it to him, but Unser wasn't a killer. During his time as a Sherriff, he had never taken a life, so this was a lot to take for him.

"Thank you. I owe you," I said sincerely. Unser just grunted and walked away solemnly. I could tell that he still wasn't okay with it, so I knew I'd have to ask my mom to visit him today to keep him company.

"Jackie," Chibs said, grabbing my attention. "Wendy said they need you at Abel's school."

"What now?" I groaned. Trying to think about all the possible things that could've gone wrong.

"She doesn't know."

"Well, have her send Gemma, hell, send Nicole down there."

"Child services were called. They need the father." My mouth fell slightly agape as my heart sank to the pit of my stomach. I said no words as I raced out of the hospital at the thought of something being wrong with my son. I couldn't keep count of how many cars or streetlights I passed trying to get to Abel's school.

Once I arrived, I saw my mom's SUV parked out front, but I didn't spot Nicole's. I was slightly agitated about that considering that she should have been here. So, I planned in my head to have a talk with her about it when we got home.

When I walked into the school, I was directed into a small room that Gemma was in. She was standing there with a man and a woman that I didn't recognize.

"What the hell is going on?" I questioned my mother.

"I don't know they won't tell me anything," she said, glaring at the woman and man.

"Are you Mr. Teller?" the woman asked from behind my back.

"Yeah," I said, shaking her extended hand.

"I'm the assistant principal, Mildred Treal. And this is investigator Syeed from Child Services."

"Where's my kid? Is he okay?"

"Yeah," Ms. Treal said nodding her head nervously. "Please just have a seat."

The investigator volunteered to go get Abel and left us with the principal. "Is Ms. Booker going to join us as well?" Ms. Treal asked, "I noticed that she was removed from Abel's emergency contact list."

I was taken aback at the mention of Nicole's last name. "I thought you needed his father, not his babysitter," my mother said, her tone full of agitation.

"Yes, well, Ms. Booker and I have been going over Abel's behaviors and his progress in school, and she's been communicating effectively with Abel's teacher. I just wasn't aware of she was still employed with your family."

"Did you take Nicky off his forms?" I looked at my mother, who didn't answer in front of the principal. I tried to hide my irritation, but I was really annoyed that my mom would take Nicky off of Abel's contact list. It explained why she wasn't here though; she couldn't have possibly known anything when she couldn't be contacted.

"Can you at least tell us why child services are here?" I asked the principal, trying to switch my attention to the problem at hand.

"We'll explain everything," she said, still avoiding the question.

Shortly after, Abel's teacher walked in with Abel and the agent. I didn't miss the look of horror that was on her face when she laid eyes on my mother. "Hey buddy, what's going on?" I asked Abel, leaving my chair to kneel in front of my child.