Chapter 19

All women want is everything from you at different moments but nothing at the same time.

-Tyler to one of his officers

Tyler

“I can’t take the dog to work with me,” I told her, vehemently against having that mutt anywhere near any of my shit that he hadn’t already ruined.

It’d been two weeks since the day Reagan was attacked and we had not seen Dusty once in town.

A lot of that, I was sure, had to do with the fact that every single police officer in town was now keeping an eye on him, not to mention every other person in town who knew what had happened.

Hell, even Rome came through every once in a while and when he did, it was no secret that he, too, was protective of Reagan.

Hell, even Reagan’s damn dog was protective of her.

Like right now.

He was leaning against her leg and Reagan had a foot braced behind her to stabilize herself against the sheer amount of weight Groot was forcing Reagan to hold up with one of her wimpy legs.

“You have to take him with you,” she ordered. “If you don’t, he’ll tear up something else. He just wants to be with us and you told me yourself that you didn’t have anything going on today.”

Those were the famous last words.

“Fine,” I muttered, looking down at the drooling mutt. “Let’s go.”

Groot’s ears perked up.

He’d grown substantially in the short amount of time that we’d had him and during that time, he’d grown into something that I honestly hadn’t expected.

He was still a puppy at this point—a large puppy. But when you say a puppy is large, most people wouldn’t think you were talking about a hundred and twenty pounds of large puppy. That wasn’t something you normally equated with a puppy who was six months old—give or take.

He was massive and he looked a little scary, if you didn’t know him that is.

Not to mention he was so protective of not just Reagan, but me as well, that I didn’t think Dusty would give him another chance to prove if he was or wasn’t.

He was that scary looking.

Which was why I’d wanted him with Reagan.

But, Reagan did have a point.

We’d taken the dog out a few weeks ago to the lake and he’d fallen in off the dock. Needless to say, both of us had waited for him to come up and we waited. And then we waited some more.

Finally, after it was apparent that not only was he not going to swim, but also that he didn’t even fuckin’ float, well, I had to go in after him.

Ever since, we’d been extremely careful about what he did and where he went—and today, since Reagan was going out on the boat with Theo—who was threatened with death if he let her out of his sight—Groot couldn’t go with her. We were just lucky that Groot had been able to just step out of the boat when Reagan was attacked, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to save her if he’d had to swim.

Dammit all to hell.

“Fuck me,” I groaned.

But suddenly, it didn’t matter that I had to have that dog with me all day, because Reagan was in my arms, pressing her head against my chest and letting me know without words that she loved me.

We’d said the words quite a few times since the incident and every single time, I felt more and more until I felt like I was going to explode.

“Nothing is going to happen to me,” she promised. “Don’t worry.”

I wanted to believe her.

Really, I did.

But, unless I was watching her, or a few of the other people—like her father, Theo, Rome, Parker, Coke, Johnny or Rafe, or any of her pseudo uncles who I’d yet to meet—I worried.

Dusty wasn’t gone.

I knew that for certain.

A man like that, one who was used to getting his way, wouldn’t just back down.

He’d wait, bide his time and when we least expected it, he’d strike.

Which was what I was waiting for.

Two weeks was a long time to stew in your anger and plot and plan how you were going to make what you wanted to happen come true.

The icing on the cake was when the restraining order we’d submitted was kicked back from a judge saying the grounds that Reagan had requested weren’t warranted.

After an appeal that was also shot down, I realized that the corruption that I’d worked so hard to fix in the police department was just the tip of the iceberg.

There was plenty more rot in the lines of justice and it wouldn’t be fixed in just a couple of days.

Bennett had said he had connections—connections that he hadn’t worked yet because he didn’t want to jeopardize everything that he’d worked so hard for before—and that he would pull those strings if I thought it was necessary.

And at this point, I wasn’t sure what was and wasn’t necessary.

Which was why I was contacting an old buddy that I’d met during a tour in Afghanistan. He wasn’t a great guy and honestly, I wasn’t even sure that he’d be willing to help me despite my saving his life, but I took that step two days ago in hopes that he would get back to me.

Then there was Rafe and Janie, the dynamic duo who were so stealthy and slippery that I hadn’t quite counted on their effectiveness.

However, short of doing it the illegal way—which was the way they were doing it—I had my hands tied.

If this was to be legal, I’d have to make sure that I didn’t cross any immoral lines.

I did not want to be the person who stooped to that level…unless I had to.

The moment another hair was touched on Reagan’s head, my morals would be put aside and I’d do what I had to do.

But I was hoping that it wouldn’t come to that.

I was hoping, probably naively, that Dusty would see the error in his ways and give up.

Then again, after Reagan reported the attempted rape, Dusty would have some legal troubles headed his way—if we could find the bastard.

On my agenda today was to go talk to the man who had filed the trespassing charges on Reagan and hope that he saw the error of his ways too.

Because if he didn’t, he’d go down right along with Dusty once I got things taken care of on my end.

“You’re being awfully quiet,” she murmured against my chest, pressing a single kiss to the muscle of my pec.

I squeezed her tighter. “I’m thinking.”

“What are you thinking about?” she asked hopefully.

I didn’t want to bother her with my worries since I knew that she was well past worried herself, so I lied.

“I’m thinking about whether or not I’ll be able to eat lunch and leave Groot in the car,” I admitted. “And if I do, if he’ll eat my car seat cushions.”

He’d already eaten my couch, two walls, and the bathroom sink—literally. He’d chewed off one corner of the vanity that held the sink itself up. I didn’t trust him in my truck, nor did I trust him outside unsupervised since I’d seen him sink instead of swim.

Which meant he’d have to come with us everywhere.

“Why didn’t we crate train him again?” I asked curiously.

“Because when you put him in the crate, he broke it.” She repeated the same thing she always repeated, a smile on her face.

I groaned.

“What time do you have to leave?” I asked, hoping we had a few more minutes together.

But before I could finish looking down into her face and asking my question, the doorbell rang, followed by two knocks in quick succession.

“Shit,” I groaned, letting her go reluctantly.

It wasn’t easy letting her go, that was for sure.

But I did, because I couldn’t suffocate her or stuff her in a tiny little box to keep her safe. She had to be able to live her life and she was drawing strength from me and my will of iron.

Letting her go reluctantly, I walked to the door, checked the peephole and then yanked it open with surprise.

“What are y’all doing here?” I asked my sisters.

Rhys was with them, as were their thirty-two children. Alana had Autumn on one hip and a massive beach bag hanging from the opposite arm. Henley had another beach bag, along with two diaper bags. Then there was my mother, bringing up the rear, with Rhys’ and Henley’s youngest.

“We’re here to have a lake day,” Alana pushed through.

The moment she saw Reagan standing there, she walked over to her and offered her a kiss on the cheek.

Henley followed suit, but she dropped all of her personal belongings—likely half her closet—and wrapped Reagan up in a hug.

“How’re you holding up?” Henley asked.

Reagan wrapped her arms around Henley and I felt something in my chest tighten at seeing my family get along so well with my girl.

“I’m better. I promise,” Reagan promised.

Rhys put the two car seats down farther out of the way of the door, then offered me his hand.

I took it and shook hands with him before dropping it.

Mom scooted past and walked up to the semi-circle of women, allowing Rhys to speak to me privately.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

I hadn’t planned on telling my family anything. However, thanks to Rome now being back in my life, I’d had to share everything with them. And when Reagan had come up, one thing led to another and then every dirty secret had been aired—by Reagan, surprisingly.

She hadn’t wanted any secrets that we had to keep from our families, though she hadn’t told her siblings just yet.

That would come tomorrow, though.

We were set to go over there for dinner and I’d finally meet Reagan’s step-mother and her brother and sister.

“I haven’t made any progress,” I admitted. “But, I guess no news is good news at this point. He can’t stay hidden forever and with the number of people looking for him in the East Texas area? Yeah, he won’t be able to keep himself under wraps. When he does come out, they’re going to arrest him.”

“The 9-1-1 recording?” he asked.

I nodded. “It’s obvious that something happened. What isn’t obvious was who did the hurting. It’s a ‘he said, she said’ sort of thing at this point and until they can get the other side of the story, it’s going nowhere. I’m going today to talk to a potential witness.”

Rhys’ eyes darkened. “If you need help, you know where to find me.”

I didn’t bother asking him how he planned to help. He was a professional baseball player. What, exactly, was he able to do that I wasn’t?

But then again, there were aspects of Rhys’ life that I tried very hard to stay away from and I would continue to do so because I wanted my sister to be happy.

If I knew the things that he was keeping hidden, I might be forced to act and I didn’t want to do that.

“Thanks,” I sighed. “Y’all do know that I’m not going to be here and neither is Reagan?”

“We know that you have to come back eventually. You can’t stay at work all day,” my mother informed me. “And when you get home, we’ll cook dinner. Reagan just said that she can be back mid-afternoon and despite what you think your presence is not mandatory for us to have a good time.”

My sisters, along with Reagan, snickered.

I sighed. “Whatever.”

Another knock on the now open door had me turning to survey Theo, who looked amused.

“I keep telling him that he’s a stick in the mud, but it’s nice to have the confirmation from his own family,” Theo drawled.

I flipped him off.

“I gotta go, or I’m going to be late,” I murmured to them all. My eyes turned to Alana. “Don’t allow that brat to break my house.”

Autumn’s eyes lit on me and the smile she aimed in my direction was pure Alana.

“Autumn would never…”

I snorted and walked to the door. “Come on, Groot.”

Groot trotted to my side and Theo cursed. “Good god, man. Is that the same dog that you just got?”

“It’s been more than a few weeks,” I told Theo. “But yeah, this is him.”

“He’s enormous. I didn’t think they grew that fast,” he admitted.

I looked down at the beast whose back was up to mid-thigh on me now. “And he isn’t done.”

“You can leave him here,” my mother offered.

I laughed and shouldered past Theo. “That’s a big hell no.”

Before my mom could ask why, I tossed a wink at Reagan over my shoulder and headed on my way.

First stop, police station. Second stop, kick some ass—at least hypothetically, anyway.

My day didn’t go as planned, however.

Three-quarters of the way into the station, I had to pull over to help somebody with a flat tire.

Once I’d changed the flat tire, I’d then had to pull three people over for speeding in a school zone.

Once I’d finished with that, I’d then had to go to a robbery, which was where I found myself presently.

“Ma’am,” I said with barely concealed patience. “I know that you stole something. It was plain as day on the security cameras. Would you like to review it with me?”

The woman, a little, old Vietnamese lady who spoke English, but tried to make it seem like she didn’t, stared stubbornly silent at me.

I sighed.

My eyes turned to the other officer on scene, Beverly Rios. “Would you like to do the honors?”

I’d learned better than to put my hands on a woman unless it was absolutely necessary, in this day and age, it was almost a given that a woman would scream rape if she thought it would get her out of the predicament she found herself in—which was a pity.

That was also why all the female officers couldn’t do the same for males, too.

When people found themselves backed into corners, they did stupid things.

And I wasn’t fuckin’ stupid.

I didn’t get to be my age and do the things I did, by not using the brain that God gave me.

“Sure, Chief.” Beverly sighed. “Ma’am, I’m going to search you now.”

Beverly moved forward and the little old lady went a little wild, screaming and carrying on.

What she also did was loosen the stranglehold that she had on the items she’d stolen and the stashed items started falling out. I stood there observing this with my mouth hanging open.

I’d seen her steal the small fitness band and the computer cable. What I had not seen was the three toasters, two egg cookers, a box of pens, letter opener, two shirts or the value-sized bag of M&Ms.

I had to swallow my laughter, as did Beverly.

“Anything else?” I asked, trying to find any more suspicious bulges.

I had to give the woman credit.

The way that she packed all that shit into her jacket, it made her look like she was just fat, not stealing something.

Now she was significantly smaller but still had some bulges.

Beverly sighed and started to reach for the bulge that was around the woman’s back, only for the woman to cry out in anger the moment that Beverly tried to remove it without actually lifting her shirt.

That was when that particular bulge fell into place beside another very similar bulge at about diaphragm level, indicating that those bulges actually belonged to the woman and were actually breasts.

I had to grit my teeth to keep the laughter from pouring out of me.

Beverly’s eyes met mine over the top of the old woman’s head and what I saw had my belly clenching in laughter.

Son of a bitch.

Nothing would surprise me anymore.

Nothing.

***

It took me more than three hours to get all my paperwork done and to delegate some of my responsibilities to other officers before I could finally make my way out to the man’s house who had pressed charges against Reagan for trespassing.

When I arrived, it was to find him standing on his porch, glaring at me.

“Mr. Stoll,” I said carefully as I closed the door to my cruiser. Not just because it was starting to rain lightly, but because Groot had proved quite the escape artist since this day had begun.

I would not be bringing him on any more police encounters until I had proof that I could contain him.

Not only had he gotten out during the first two traffic stops I’d made, but he’d also gotten out while at the station and had waltzed his happy ass straight inside, delighting almost every single one of my officers and staff. All of them but one, the older man who had been there since I first started there.

He was the man in control of the booking process and the only man who had been there before me that had actually kept his job.

I fired every single other person but him.

No, ol’ Rubio Huss hadn’t liked Groot and Groot hadn’t liked him.

Neither one of them hid that fact, either.

“Can I help you, officer?” Arden Stoll asked.

I took a few careful steps away from where I’d been leaning against the cruiser and allowed Arden to see me fully.

“I wanted to play something back for you,” I said softly. Menacingly. “Let you listen to it before I get your final answer.”

Arden narrowed his eyes.

I pulled out my phone and then hit play on the recording that I had saved.

I’d listened to it seventy or eighty times now, maybe even more if you counted all the rewinding I’d done to see if I could hear anything name-wise in what Reagan screamed.

But, this time wasn’t any easier than the first time.

Her words, her pleas, still got to me.

Anger boiled up in my body, threatening to choke off my ability to think. But I shoved it down.

I needed to be able to think rationally and not kill anybody if I could manage it.

Watching Arden listen to the words, I studied his every move.

Each word that came out of Reagan’s mouth, he became stiffer and stiffer until finally, the recording ended.

“I’m not a bad person,” he whispered.

I put my phone back into my pocket.

“You’re not?” I asked.

But what I thought was, could’ve fooled me.

The screen door of the small trailer Arden had previously been standing by banged open then and I turned to find a little girl about the age of Autumn standing there.

She was a cutie.

Dressed in nothing but a white diaper and a t-shirt that came just low enough to cover half her little booty, she stared at me.

Her thumb went to her mouth and the little teddy bear she’d been holding by one ear got tucked in close to her chest as she peered at me through baby blue eyes.

Soft ringlets fell around her face and they reminded me of Reagan’s hair, making a pang of wanting shiver through me so fast and hard that I barely had any time to process it.

I wanted children with Reagan.

I wanted a baby to come outside to meet me after a long day at work, with Reagan hot on her heels.

“No, I’m not,” Arden said as he walked to the porch and leaned over the steps to pick up the little girl, tucking her close to his chest.

I watched the move.

“Doesn’t seem like that from where I’m standing,” I pointed out.

Arden swallowed.

“I don’t have the money to pay the fines,” he said, looking down at his daughter. “And my daughter has medical bills that are piling up.”

I didn’t see where he was going with this.

“I was just supposed to look the other way.”

And that’s when I understood.

“He paid your fines,” I guessed.

Arden nodded once. “Yeah.”

“In exchange for what?” I asked carefully, trying to contain my anger.

“It was stupid. I honestly didn’t think it’d work, or I would’ve never done it,” he admitted. “I reported hydrilla taking over the lake in front of my house. He said he just wanted to talk…”

That’s when I knew that the man had been fucked over just like I was sure many others had in Dusty’s reign of terror.

That didn’t make it right, though.

“You need to come to the station,” I ordered.

Arden looked down at the little girl in his arms.

“I don’t have anyone to watch her,” he admitted.

I gestured toward his house. “Go get her things. We can watch her until you find someone to come get her.”

That was when Arden knew that he’d be arrested.

I could see the lines of strain around his mouth lessen.

“It’s been killing me,” he murmured, looking down at his girl. “I would’ve eventually caved.”

Maybe, maybe not.

That wasn’t for me to decide anymore.

This man had done wrong and he needed to know that.

Some mistakes you just had to pay penance for before you could be forgiven.