We were going on the twenty-third hour in that jail, but my lawyer was negotiating with the police for our freedom. After a few more minutes of waiting in a cell alone, they finally brought us both together with my lawyer.

“Well, they’re trying to get you on neglect, but I don’t know if it will fly in court,” our lawyer said.

“Neglect? On what grounds?” Elliot said, teeth gnashing together.

Elliot was dirty and covered in sweat. His shirt was stained with mud, and fragments of the earth clung to the back of his hair. I didn’t give a fuck about going to jail, but I did care about people messing with my omega.

How could someone throw a pregnant omega into a prison cell? This was the moment when the fight became all too real for me.

My lawyer put his hands on the table and sighed. “Well, it doesn’t look great. They found a bucket of bullets, two AR-17’s and a bolt-action rifle. The rifle seems to be registered, but the rest…”

“The rest are not mine,” I said in my defense. “And it’s the same thing with those bullets. I never bought any ammunition, so that’s impossible. I only bought it because people were terrorizing my son.”

My lawyer stared at me frankly. “You’re telling me that the police planted the weapons in your home without your knowledge?”

“Those weapons are not mine. Ask my boy. He’ll tell you. Rowan was there when I bought the bolt-action rifle. I told him, ‘no bullets. Just for show.’ Those were our rules,” I said.

My heart was pounding. I had spent a whole day in jail, but that wasn’t the issue here. I kept repeating that dark image in my head. The child protective service agents swooping in on my boy like hawks made me sick.

That night was a nightmare. The red and blue lights encased my property. I pressed my forehead to the window, screaming, “Rowan!” I writhed against the old leather seats with sweat pouring down my face. Fear trickled in my bones. Then, the vehicle drove off. Rowan disappeared into the fray.

“Just get my boy back, dammit!” I screamed.

“Hey, it’s okay, Tate,” Elliot whispered. His hands caressed my back, soothing me. The department was hunting me down, but I knew had to keep running to get my boy back.

“We’ll get him back,” Elliot whispered, tears in his eyes.

I felt like I had to be strong. I didn’t want to shed any tears. But when I saw the hurt that Elliot felt, I thought about his father. What would happen to him? Would they take him away too?

Was there no empathy in this town?

“It’s all my fault, Elliot,” I whispered.

“Don’t say that. It’s not true,” Elliot said.

I sat back against the cold rigid chair inside of the interrogation room. The stale air conditioning blew against my face. The pit in my stomach seemed to grow. If I didn’t have our love to hold onto, I would have surely spiraled into an unfurling rage.

When my husband died those years ago, everyone told me that it wasn’t my fault. But I knew better. I was supposed to be the one in that car. I told my husband that I would pick up the movie and pizza.

But I was lazy and stupid. At the time, we were just a normal, happy family. I sat down on the couch and closed my eyes for a few moments. Next thing I knew, I was on the phone, listening to the police explain the details.

“I made a mistake by running for mayor,” I said. “I put my family under the spotlight. I am to blame for this.”

“No, dammit. Stop blaming yourself, Tate. We both know it was Daniel who planted those weapons,” Elliot said. “And you have the cameras set up on Wi-Fi, right?”

My lawyer was intrigued by this fact. He leaned forward and said, “You have video evidence of this?”

“We set those up after we found the boot prints,” I said. “We got some on Elliot’s old house too.”

My lawyer looked confused. “Boot prints? Tell me the whole story,” he said.

I told him about how officer Daniel Thornton’s boot prints were found on my property. We didn’t file any reports because that wouldn’t have done us any good. Instead, I set up the cameras in hopes that we’d find something later.

“We need to access those files,” Elliot said. “Maybe those cameras saw something.”

I was less optimistic, but when Elliot took my hand, I lowered my head onto his shoulder. “Trust him,” my intuition was telling me. And I did.

“I’ll filter through the videos as soon as I get home,” I said, shaking my lawyer’s hands.

As soon as we got home, the television was blaring with the news. “Rowan? Is that you?” I called out, running into the living room.

Rowan was sitting next to Elliot’s father, Lee. They were staring at the television screen together, silently.

“Dad!” Rowan jumped up.

“Oh, thank God! You’re okay!” I ran to my boy and threw my arms around him. Elliot did the same with his father.

“They can’t take me,” Rowan said, proudly.

“What happened? What did they ask you?” I asked him, palms shaking as I felt his cheeks. “Oh, son. I was beyond worried. I thought they were going to take you away from us.”

I couldn’t hold back my tears. I had so much ripped from my hands during this life. If Rowan had been taken too, I would have lost everything.

“It was just like on TV,” Rowan said. “They took me into a white room. They asked me a thousand questions. They said you had guns or something, but I’ve never seen any of them before.”

“They’re trying to set him up,” Elliot said.

“I know,” Rowan said. “Look. They’re talking about you on the news.”

On the screen was a video of Tate at his first press rally, when he announced his mayoral campaign. The headline ran: Tate Highland’s Parenting Methods Called into Question.

Elliot sat down, shaking in disbelief. I grabbed the controller and turned off the television screen. Elliot’s father smiled at me and whispered, “It’s okay. Bullies always lose.”

It was a simple reply, and maybe Lee couldn’t understand the gravity of the situation, but he was pointed enough with his response that it made me feel hopeful. “You’re right, Lee,” I said, sitting down next to him. “We have to be on the right side of this.”

“They aren’t going to split us up,” Elliot said. “They’re doing this for the ratings. The votes. This won’t go to court.”

“They can have the votes. I think I’m done with this whole mayor race,” I said.

“Dad, you can’t give up,” Rowan said. Elliot was right there alongside him, but I couldn’t muster up the energy to continue, not at the expense of my family.

“I don’t know, guys. I love you all too much. It’s like…” I paused and sighed, shaking my head while staring at the old carpet. The tears just wouldn’t stop.

“I just found happiness again. I don’t want to lose it all because of some petty, small town drama,” I said.

Elliot didn’t look too happy with my decision, and Rowan didn’t either. Lee was even sensing that he should distance himself from me. Suddenly, I was an outcast in my own home.

“Is everyone angry at me now?” I asked, throwing my hands into the air.

“You don’t give up when the going gets tough, dad,” Rowan said. “Rule number one: if you fall off the horse, what do you do?”

I sighed. My own son was schooling me with lessons I learned in grade school. “You get back on the horse,” I mumbled.

Rowan smiled and leaned forward. “You what? I can’t hear you,” he said.

“You get back on the horse,” I said, this time a little bit louder.

“Dang right,” Rowan said. “You get back on that horse, and you give it your all. Now’s your time, cowboy.”

I laughed, feeling bashful. My boy knew the truth. If I gave up fighting, I would disappoint the whole family.

I ran into the study and grabbed my laptop. I scrolled through the various security footage videos. “Shit,” I sighed. There were so many that it felt like a daunting task.

I phoned Sergi because I knew he had experience with this type of thing, and he was aligned with us in his distaste for Sid and his father, Mayor Sasha Carwell.

“What’s up, man? You’re all over the news. Are you okay?” Sergi asked.

“Yeah. We’re holding up, but it was a rough night. I know you’re too smart to believe any of those lies,” I said.

“I’m on your side, Tate. You know that. Now, what’s going on? What do you need help with?” Sergi asked.

I smiled, happy to have a friend on my side. “I have months of security video footage. Don’t you have that friend at the old video store, thirty miles south of here?” I asked.

“Franklin? Sure do,” Sergi said.

“Does he need some extra cash?” I asked.

Sergi laughed. “Tate Highland. You’re gearing up for a political battle, aren’t you?”

“If he needs some extra money, tell him to meet me at my house in an hour. I need all the help I can get,” I said.

* * *

Sergi walked up the stairs of my porch, holding a bottle of bourbon in his hand. “Hey, buddy. I thought you two could use a drink while we comb through the footage,” Sergi said. He then caught a glimpse of Elliot’s pregnant belly. “Oh, shit. Sorry, Elliot. I always forget that you can’t drink.”

Elliot frowned and pouted out his lips. “Right now, I could use a drink,” Elliot said. “But then my parenting methods would be called into question, and the cops would be back here pointing their pistols at us.”

Sergi hugged both of us. “I’m so sorry, you guys. What those cops did to you two is utterly disgusting,” he said. “Everybody’s talking about it. They can’t believe they went that far.”

“Well, I hope we find something,” I said. “If not, I think I’m going to back out of the race.”

“He’s not going to back out,” Elliot corrected me. “He’s staying in until the votes are recorded. Tate’s going to win too.”

I kissed Elliot and suddenly felt incredible lucky. “Thank you, darling. You whip my ass into shape,” I said.

“Somebody has to,” Sergi muttered.

Another pair of headlights shined brightly in my dirt driveway. Franklin, the man from the video store, stepped out of the car with four laptops bundled in his hands, a set of cables, and large desktop screen. Perched around his ears was a set of headphones.

“I’m here!” Franklin called out. He ran forward and stumbled against a rock. Luckily, he regained his balance without dropping anything.

“Take your time,” I called out. “We don’t need to rush this.”

In the blink of an eye, I witnessed a miracle. A tremendous line of headlights came from both directions. An endless row of cars parked in my driveway.

“Who are they, dad?” Rowan asked.

“I don’t know, son,” I said.

Elliot stepped forward and held my waist. “It’s a miracle, Tate. They’re all coming to help us,” Elliot whispered.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Sergi said with a knowing smile.

I recognized a lot of those faces. Brett, my old neighbor waved his hand. “Hey, Tate,” he said. In his hand was a basket of food. “Thought you might need some southern comfort to get you through this.”

I waved, but I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t believe my eyes. “Sergi, what’s going on?” I whispered.

“Okay. I’ll admit it. I made a few calls,” Sergi said. “When you phoned me earlier, you sounded troubled. I thought you could use some extra support.”

As the people filtered through my house, I realized something incredible. We had a chance of stealing this election. People came out merely to show their support.

I heard countless stories from the town residents who had been harassed by Sheriff Blake’s men. We weren’t the only ones. Those who hadn’t been subjugated to the harassment heard stories from friends and family members. Everyone knew what was going on.

Sergi and Franklin worked on filtering through each video, but nothing out of the ordinary was seen. As they painstakingly scrolled through everything, I addressed the incredible people that had come into my home that night.

“Uh, hello, everyone. I’m not much of a politician, as you already know. I didn’t grow up making speeches, going to fundraisers, or asking donors for money. I’m just not that kind of guy,” I said.

A man in a baseball cap stood up and clapped. “Damn right you’re not!” he exclaimed. Everyone clapped with him.

I tried to continue, but I kept getting emotional. It was such a beautiful thing to see everyone in my home like that. “I’m sorry for tearing up. I just have so much respect for all of you. I love this town, even in its darkest moments. I may have left the city, but I never left the town itself,” I said. “After my first husband and Rowan’s father died in an unsolved hit and run, I couldn’t stand by their incompetency. However, I quickly learned that no matter how hard I pressed the issue, more elected officials would stand in my way.”

“They covered it up,” another person said. “We all know it, Tate!” The crowd agreed.

“Maybe you’re right. I’ll probably never know the whole truth, but I’ve put enough of the pieces together to know that this department is not our friend. They want us to be complacent, but the sentiment travels deeper than that. They don’t want us seeing what they really do. Now, I know I might be going too far with this, but I have suspected a long time that they aren’t playing a fair game,” I said.

At this point, I glanced over to Elliot for assistance. I was running for office, but Elliot had given me the courage to go through with the decision in the first place. He was just as much a part of this campaign as I was.

I continued, taking my omega’s hand into mine. “I want you to look into the facts yourself. Right now, we have a team of guys looking over my security footage. My son filmed the whole incident that happened last night. We’ll be putting up an unedited version on the website tomorrow. If it comes out that the department put those guns and ammunition in my closet, then I hope you can support our efforts to be the next mayor of Watson County,” I said.

Everyone clapped, but I wasn’t finished. “Wait!” I called out over the crowd. “We’re going to hang out all night here. You’re welcome to leave whenever you’re feeling too tired.”

“We’re not leaving!” another crowd-member yelled with a supportive smile on their face.

“Well, you better leave at some point!” I joked. “No, I’m only kidding. Before we mingle around, I want to introduce you to my new fiancé. I proposed to him the night we were taken into jail. He is five months pregnant, and he deserves the freakin’ world. I love you, Elliot!”

“Oh, I love you too, mayor.” Elliot threw his arms around me. Our lips crushed together with absolute passion. We were a team.

He was my rock, my anchor. And he was everything I had been waiting for.