Anissa's POV
Chibs and I sat in silence in my living room, staring down at the 25 cameras that Chibs searched out this morning. Neither of us got any type of sleep, Chibs spending most of his time talking back and forward with Jax on the phone. "I don't even know what to say… how could this even happen?" I said, running my fingers through my hair nervously.
"I don't know how long these cameras have been in your house, but you have been with me the majority of the time the last few months. I will have the boys on the ground looking on our end, but that writing on the screen door was personal. Do you have any idea who could have done this?" Chibs questioned, dropping one of the cameras back onto the table.
I shook my head with annoyance. "The one person I could have named, my ex, is dead, so no. I have a couple of things I can check, one of those things is next door." I said, getting up from the couch.
Chibs frowned, getting up as well. "You think your neighbor is stalking you?" He asked.
"What? No, you dope! My neighbor is a Vietnam vet, along with three others, and he has security cameras installed on his property. I helped him set them up a few years ago. Look, head onto work. I have Kip here with me and Donna doing some work at the shop for me." I said. I sighed, scratching my head.
Chibs looked reluctant at the notion, but continued on. "Okay… Jax and Happy should be out here soon to reinforce the house, but I rather you stay with me indefinitely until we find whoever is behind this.
"Chibs, my home workstation is here and I'm working on my haircare line, it's not practical for me to stay at your place indefinitely." I countered, not to be argumentative but stating the facts of the situation.
"Okay, we'll talk about it later when I get off. And please take Kip with you everywhere. And where is your gun?" Chibs asked, turning into a mother hen.
"In my purse. Babe, I'm fine." I kissed his cheek, then walked with him to the door. I looked out to see that Kip was parked in the driveway with one of the loading vans from Teller-Morrow.
My phone started to vibrate, causing me to look down and see 'Dad' flashing across the screen. I sighed, answering the phone. "Hey Dad, give me one moment." I said on the phone, turning my attention back to Chibs. "Can you tell Kip that I will be headed to the shop to meet Donna in about twenty minutes. Like I said before, I want to check in with my neighbor." I said, before kissing his cheek.
"Sure lass. See ya tonight." Chibs said, sliding on his glasses.
"Yep, have a good day at work." I said, watching Chibs walking off up to Kip. I pressed the phone back to my face. "Sorry about that, Dad! How's it going?" I greeted, closing the front door.
"Everything is fine, princess. I was just calling to check up on you. Also, to see if you are still coming up to Dallas in a month and Ophelia wants to run some things by you for your visit, make sure you have everything you need at the house." Dad asked.
I quietly mumbled 'fuck' as I totally to forgot about that and its coming at the worst possible moment.
"Yeah Dad, I'm still coming, but I probably won't be staying at the house, because the twins want to hang out with me as well." I responded, putting the phone on speakerphone. I sat it on the living room table, before I went over and slid the hidden cameras into a shoe box from my closet. I shook my head in annoyance as this is the last thing I needed to worry about at all.
"Princess, the twins are more than welcome to stay here at the ranch. It's big enough to hold everyone and still have breathing room. Plus, we have the guest house out back that we can clean out." Dad replied.
I smirked with amusement. "Okay, big baller." I teased.
He snorts over the phone. "Oh, you know me." He chuckles.
"I'll let the twins know. I'm sure they will be ecstatic. Oh, tell Ophelia whatever she decides is fine by me." I said, shuffling around the house straightening up the best I could.
"Speaking of the twins, have you talked with Sandy?" Dad asked for the millionth time, causing me to roll my eyes in annoyance.
"Absolutely not. It's not like she makes the effort to talk to me, seeing I talk to the twins all the time." I replied, holding the attitude.
"Sure. So… who was the guy in the background?" Dad asked.
I rolled my eyes, trying to keep the smile off my face. "That was my pool boy." I teased, trying to hold in my laugh from his huff.
"For one, I know you don't have a pool, because I helped search the house with you. Second, you tell pool boys 'have a good day at work'? Come on, cough it up kid."He urged.
"Okay, I have a boyfriend. We've been dating close to six months now." I explained awkwardly. Wow, this was something new for me. I didn't think I would have someone I liked enough to tell my Dad about them. Hell, I didn't have a Dad up until a few years ago. God, I feel normal and domesticated.
"And will I be meeting him on this recent visit?" Dad asked.
I 'pssh', before I went on to say "Eh, no. I'm not ready for all that. When we reach our year mark, maybe, but not now." I said.
"Don't you think it's appropriate for a dad to meet their daughter's boyfriend?" Dad countered.
Andrew is everything old fashioned with a touch of modernity in his soul, which isn't a bad thing, but it can be frustrating with my free spirited personality sometimes. He doesn't really know the truth about my past, just that I was adopted and when I turned 18, I left home. That's it, that's all. Nothing too special about it. Everything about my past is for the mature audience and I didn't want to pile onto his guilt for not knowing in the first place.
"Yes, but I want to make sure he is the one, before I go around introducing him to the family." Another thing, Chibs don't exactly live on the right side of the law and my Dad does, so I'm definitely not trying to face that whole another situation.
"I guess… it's just that you live all the way out in California and I just feel a little disconnected. We just found each other not too long ago and I feel like I haven't done enough." Dad explained sadly.
"Dad, once again it is not your fault that you didn't know about me. I don't blame you for that. And you've done more than enough for me, especially Ophelia. Unfortunately, my roots are now in California and I just won't be able to see you guys physically all the time." I explained.
"I know. Well, let me get off the phone. I have to head into base to run some drills with new recruits." Dad said.
"Okay, I got to head into work myself. I'll let the twins know they are welcome to the ranch. Will Christian or Sage be making an appearance during my visit?" I asked, knowing damn well they owe me a rematch in Uno with their cheating ass.
"Sage might make an appearance, not sure about Christian, but they know you are coming down. Oh, I forgot to mention something!" Dad explained.
"What?" I asked, grabbing my keys on the table along with my purse.
"My mother will also be making a visit. She'll be flying down from Georgia. She's been really wanting to meet you and the last few visits she was out of town." Dad said.
"Should I be nervous?" I asked curiously as I was locking my door.
"No, if anything I should be worried about her being a bad influence on you. She still smokes the devil's grass." Dad joked.
I groaned with embarrassment. "Dad, please stop calling weed 'devil's grass'." I laughed. "Anyways, I look forward to meeting her. Okay Dad, let me get off this phone. Just send me the dates that you are getting the plane tickets for so I can make sure I plan my days accordingly." I said, stopping on the edge of my porch, holding the 'one second' finger to Kip, who was getting ready to start the car.
"Okay princess, I'll have Ophelia to call you when she sets the dates. I'll call you later this week to check up on you. Love you." Dad says.
"Love you too, bye." I said, before hanging up. I slid my phone in my back pocket, before looking back over to Kip. "Hey, I'm just running over to my neighbors' house right quick. I need to check on something, then I'll be ready to go." I said. Kip just nodded his head, before relaxing back in the seat.
I quickly ran over to Danny's house, seeing his pick up in the driveway. I rang the doorbell, looking around the block, before I heard footsteps heading to the door. I knew damn well it wasn't Danny, because his ass be taking forever to get to the door.
The door opened to see that it was Sam, basically Danny's spitting image a.k.a his son. Whew chile, he smelt good. "Long time no see stranger! How have you been Anissa?" Sam asked, moving out of the entrance to let me in. The draft of the A.C. engulfed me as I closed the door behind me.
"I've been doing good. I thought you moved out to Alaska with Maggie last time we talked." I asked, setting my purse down on a small table by the door.
He made an awkward face, rubbing his hand on the back of his head down to his chin. "Yeah, that lasted all of five seconds. She called off the engagement." Sam explained.
I winced as I gently patted his shoulder with sympathy. "Oh, I'm sorry Sam. I know how much you cared for her. So, are you planning to move to Cali to be near Danny?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'm looking for something small for now to rent. You wouldn't happen to know any available spaces? The old man being a hard ass, reminds me of the reason I left home at 18." Sam chuckled, both of us looking at Danny who was coming from the dining room.
"If you would have listened to me and not followed that trollop to Alaska, you wouldn't be here eating up my Raisinets and running up my light bill. Just like your mother, never want to listen." Danny grumbled, squinting his eyes at me as he fiddled with his glasses. Danny had on his typical Polo shirt with the three buttons and pants belted to his chest. His sparse grey hair peppered his head. He was a lovable, grouchy old man I just love.
"Really Dad, trollop? Are we in the 40s?" Sam said sarcastically, turning to look at his approaching father.
"Hey Danny, how was your trip to Florida?" I said, coming over to give him a hug.
"Hot and too many damn bugs." He grouched, patting me on the head.
"Hey Anissa, want anything to drink?" Sam offered walking towards the kitchen in the back of the house.
I rolled my eyes affectionately at his grouchiness. "Well, I'm glad you are back and I've missed you." I looked up to Sam. "Nah, I'm good." I said. Sam disappeared in the kitchen as I turned my attention back to Danny.
"I'm sure your boy toy been keeping you occupied. Really, a motorcycle gang?" He said with a hint of disdain.
"Nothing gets past these old eyes, does it? And it's NOT a gang, old man!" I said, fluffing down his wispy hair. It was definitely a gang, but that wasn't neither here nor there.
"What's wrong? you're more fussy than usual." Danny asked, taking a seat on his favorite recliner, nodding at me to sit down. He grabbed his newspaper, then his white coffee cup, before looking over at me with his glasses at the bridge of his nose.
I sat down on the comfy love seat, angling my body towards Danny. "I have to ask… have you noticed anyone coming in and out of my house before going to Florida? Someone unfamiliar?" I asked.
Danny frowned, more than the usual serious face, looking thoughtful. "Can't say that I have. Is your ex harassing you again? Need me to shoot him again?" Danny asked, his right eyebrow raised with a devious glint in his eye.
I laughed, shaking my head. "No, not him, but there is someone stalking me. My boyfriend just found a few cameras in my house this morning." I explained.
Danny huffed with the shake of his head. "Kid, you have the worst luck."
I rolled my eyes. "Tell me about it. Do you think later on I can come by and look into your Icloud for video surveillance?" I asked.
Danny's face expression turned bewildered. "What the hell is an Icloud, kid?"
I laughed as once again I have to explain what an Icloud is. "Danny, Icloud is a digital storage that is connected to your Apple desktop. I also linked your video surveillance to it, so it can store video feeds." I explained.
"You kids and your fancy gadgets these days." He rolled his eyes, causing me to laugh again.
I just shook my head, before getting up from the couch. "I promise I won't come around too late. I have a big shipment to Chicago that I need to get done, so I'm headed to work early."
"Don't worry about it kid. Sam is usually up late, so he can let you in if you're running late." Danny explained, following me to the door. He picked up my purse to hand to me. "And I'll keep an eye out on your house." Danny said.
"Thanks Danny. Dinner on me next time." I said, winking at him.
He just grumply waved me off, taking a seat on his porch. "Whatever you say kid."
"AJ?" I snapped out of my daydreaming to see that Donna was standing over with a concerned look on her face.
"Yeah?" I asked, sitting upright in my chair.
"Are you okay? You've been coloring the same patch of hair for the last ten minutes." She said, pointing down to the mannequin head. I looked to see that she was right, causing huff with frustrations. "Shit, I'm sorry. My mind is all over the place today." I explained as I parted a new section of hair to move on. "At this rate, I won't be getting these packages out by five." I complained.
"We only have twenty more bundles to go, so we're pretty much ahead of schedule." Donna said, causing a shock look to spread across my face.
"20? How the hell is that possible?" I asked, looking over to the packaging station to see that Kip was helping Donna wrapping and packaging the lace wigs.
"Well, I overheard Opie, Jax, and Chibs talking this morning about what happened, so I came in early to get ahead on the bundles for you." Donna explained, handing me a bottle of water.
"Damn Donna, thanks. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here." I said, patting her hand.
"Yeah, no problem. If you need to take a break, I can finish up. I'm already caught up with my homework and the kids are with Piney." Donna offered, taking a seat at the counter.
"I'm okay… It won't take me long to finish up. Go ahead and grab yourself and Kip something to eat. I'll be fine." I said, turning to look at Kip. "Kip, can you start loading those boxes in the van while Donna gets food?" I asked, watching Kip pop his head up, sandy curls wild from the industrial fan that was blowing from the corner.
"Yeah, no problem." Kip said.
Andrew's POV
I listened until Anissa hung up the phone, before settling my phone on the granite counter. I looked up when I heard the clicking of my wife's heels before she rounded the corner with a radiant smile. "Was that AJ on the phone?" She asked as walked to the refrigerator to grab sparkling water.
"Yes, she is still on for the summer visit. She says whatever you come up with she is fine with it. Also, the twins will be joining her, so I'm thinking of hiring a crew to clean up the guest house for them.
"Oh that's wonderful, honey. I can't wait to have another girl in the house. AJ is just the sweetest." Ophelia said, eyes squinted with happiness. God, she's just too beautiful to look at.
Her smile slipped from her face as she looked at me.
"What's wrong?" I asked, standing up from leaning on the counter.
"You have that look on your face. What's going on?" Ophelia asked, placing her soft hand on my cheek, her thumb brushing under my eye.
"I know you told me not to-" But I didn't get to finish my sentence before Ophelia sighed with exasperation.
"Andy! If Anissa wants to tell you about her past, you should let her tell you on her own time. And from the troubling look on your face, I can say it's not going to be good." Ophelia exclaimed, urging me to take a seat.
"I couldn't help it, Phee! You know curiosity was never my thing." I tried to defend myself lamely, but she just gave the 'look', causing me to just zip before I could get myself in any more hot water.
"And I can tell that AJ doesn't like prying and that needs to be respected." Ophelia argued.
"She lied." I said simply, leaning my head against my fist as I looked at my wife.
Ophelia went quiet, looking torn to continue this conversation, but she was as nosey as me. She gave in, taking a seat on the stool, crossing her legs at the hip. "About what?" She finally said.
"She said that she was adopted and left home at 18. But my connections told me that AJ was moved into 3 different foster homes and it was noted that she ran away from her last home at the age of 13 and there was no trace of her until she was 21 where she registered for college. Where was she in those eight years? No type of school transcripts prior to college, no job, no medical history in those missing years. Nothing." I said, closing my eyes out of frustration.
"Okay, who was her original guardian and why was she taken out of her original home?" Ophelia asked, cracking open her sparkling water.
"AJ was in Sandy's mom's care until she was taken out of the home.?" I said.
"And the reason?" Ophelia asked, nudging my knee with hers.
"Her records were sealed." I mumbled, letting the words fall into silence. Ophelia didn't say anything, just watching me for a moment.
"Honey, I'm not sure this is the rabbit hole you want to go down in. There are a few major reasons why a child would be taken out of custody and not given back to the blood family. If you continue to pursue this, at least have a conversation with her instead of breaking laws to access information." Ophelia advised, standing up and snuggling between my legs .
I looked up as she grabbed my face between her hands. "She's my baby, Phee. I just want to get to know her and be there for whatever that may be." I said, framing her waist with hands.
She shook my head from side to side fondly a few times. "And she knows that, Andy. Let her come to you in her own time and deal with whatever is to come." Ophelia kissed my forehead, before pulling away.
"Okay, okay. No more playing detective." I said lightheartedly, tugging her back in reach, causing a smile to break out. "You know…" Kissing the crook of her neck. "I have about an hour until work." I teased with a flirty smile on my face.
She twirled out of my reach before I could comprehend what happened. "Un uh, I didn't get my hair silk pressed and spent thirty minutes in the mirror to get my makeup right for you to mess it up. You're on your own buddy." She blew a kiss to me, before walking away in her form fitting black dress.
"I paid for it, I can mess it up." I mumbled, picking up the sparkling water.
"You want to sleep on the couch tonight?" She yelled from down the hall.
I laughed, shaking my head at her bat ears.
Shila's POV
I looked over to Dad over my dinner as I rolled my eyes for the hundredth time in a span of minutes as I listened to Ma and Archie talk about shit that was absolutely boring. Dad just smiled at me teasingly as he cutted into his medium steak. Moving quickly, I speared the cut piece of steak, but Dad wrestled me down with his own fork, causing me to giggle at his silliness.
"Shila, really?" Ma asked, sliding her eyes over to me briefly. Dad relented on the piece steak to keep the peace between the two of us.
Before I could say anything, Shiloh poked my side to get my attention. "What?" I said, but he just pushed his phone in my face.
I winced from the bright light as I took the phone from him. It was a text from AJ read:
'Andrew said it's okay for you guys to stay at the house for vacation. Better be on your best behavior!'
"Yes! Can finally get out of this house for a couple of weeks!" I said to Shiloh, who just nodded his head in agreement.
"And I want my Uno rematch. The two of you cheated!" Shiloh exclaimed.
"It's not our fault you didn't catch us saying 'Uno' down to our last card. You snooze, you lose." I retorted.
"What in the world are you grunts talking about now?" Ari asked, sitting down her glass of red wine. She fluffed her hair, making sure not a hair was out of place. She was playing the dutiful, docile wife. Makes me want to barf.
"You don't have to act prim and proper anymore, Ari. You already tricked Archie into marrying you." I retaliated, taking prisoners alive. Shiloh just snorted, sinking down in his seat to avoid the verbal cannon fodder. Ari's cheeks reddened as she glared back at me.
Ma's eyes widened in horror as her eyes flitted back to Archie, who was just amused by the situation. "Shila, you hush that mouth of yours! Of all things you could get from your father, you get that mouth of his." Ma chastised.
"That's my girl! Old chip of the block!" Dad said, fake winking at me.
"Dad! That's not funny!" Ari exclaimed angrily, pinching his shoulder.
Dad raised his hands placatingly. "Okay, I'm sorry. I'm sure Shi didn't mean it." Dad said on my behalf.
"I meant it." I said at the same time as Shiloh said, "She meant it." We looked at each other and laughed stupidly.
"Come on, kid. Spare me your mother's wrath." Dad whispered loudly to me. "Anyways, who was on the phone, Shiloh?" Dad asked to change the subject. The man was the king of avoidance.
"It was AJ. She was telling us we were still on for Dallas. We're staying at Andrew's house." Shiloh explained.
The rest of the table went quiet as Dad smiled softly. "That's good. We'll she be coming over at any time while she's down here?" Dad asked.
"Umm, I'm not sure. She didn't mention anything." Shiloh said.
"Hold on, when was it decided that you guys were going to Dallas?" Ma asked, setting down her silverware to look between Shiloh, Dad, and I.
"Since we asked Dad at the beginning of the year."I said, squinting my eyes trying to see through the bullshit she was about to spew.
"AJ? The woman that was claiming to be Mom's daughter. She's still around?" Ari asked in a huff, before sipping on wine.
"Not 'claimed', DNA proven." Shiloh said, looking Ari down with annoyance.
"Dad, I can't believe you would let the twins just go off with practically a stranger. Who knows what she's after." Ari said, taking a dig.
"Girl, we ain't taking advice from a person who married a man three times her age. I bet he likes you calling him 'daddy'."I retaliated, causing Shiloh to follow up with shade, "And WE all know what you're after. Big bank take little bank."
"I'm only 52." Archie mumbled over his glass of wine.
"Ah, shit." Dad mumbles, grabbing the nearest wine bottle. "I'm going to need a little more of this." He said, bypassing the wine glass and sipping straight from the bottle.
Ari scoffed with a roll of her eyes. "Rather than ending up alone and bitter. Does that boy that you like even know you exist? Not only did you get your smart mouth from Dad, you got his body build. And always wondered if Shiloh was more interested in boys than girls." Ari snapped back.
"OOOOooo! Gay shaming! So 2002!" I rolled my eyes while Shiloh just shrugged nonchalantly. "Trust and believe if I was older, I could take any man that you dreamt of." I dug right back.
Our nitpicking came to an end when Ma slammed her hand against the table, shaking the dinnerware from the force. "Enough! If there's another word out of any of you, I swear to God…" Ma said, causing the three of us to shut the fuck up. I didn't want to get popped in the mouth.
But Dad didn't get the memo. "Listen, I just want to say… Shiloh and Shila, if either of you are gay, that's okay. Ma and I love you unconditionally." Dad looked between the two of us causing me to snort and Shiloh to look at Dad like he had too much to drink.
"Okay Dad…" Shiloh said.
"Really, it's okay. If you're experimenting… hey, hey! I'm just saying, I did it in college. No shame here." Dad nodded.
"Ew!" Shiloh and I said simultaneously. "We didn't need to know that, Dad." I said.
"Yeah, no more drinky drinky for you." Shiloh said, moving the wine bottle out of his reach.
Ma just sighed, before getting up and leaving the table. Her heels echoed as she got further away. "I guess I'm sleeping in the guest room tonight." Dad said, before nibbling on the last of his steak.
"Seems so, Dad. Don't worry, we can watch the new Conjuring. Just like old times." I said.
"Okay Shi! I'll go get the movie started and grab the snacks. You guys help Maria collect the dishes to take to the kitchen.
"Archie, let's retire to bed." Ari said, getting up to storm off, but Dad called to her.
"I said help Maria straighten up the table. This wasn't a request." Dad said, ignoring Ari's pout. He just kissed her forehead, then pinched her cheeks before leaving the living room, I'm assuming after Ma.
An idea shot in my head, causing me to deviously smile as I turned to Shiloh who was stacking plates on the kitchen cart as he talked to Maria, who just smiled fondly at him. "Shiloh, come here!" I whispered yelled, causing him to jerk in surprise, before scrambling over.
"Why are you whispering?" Shiloh asked, coming over to me.
"I need you to get Andrew's number from AJ." I said, my plan formulating by the second.
Shiloh looked confused while taking out his phone. "Why?"
"Trust me, I have an idea."I mumbled.
"That's never a good idea." Shiloh mocked while typing on his phone.
"Shut up!" I said, thinking of all the ways this was about to go wrong.