Saving You (Destined Love #2)

1. Caleb

CHAPTER 1

Caleb

F uck!

My radio continues to squawk as dispatch relays more information about the domestic violence call I’m being routed to. These are my least favourite calls. Not that any are really my favourite.

My knuckles turn white as my grip on the steering wheel tightens. I wind my way through the streets of Vancouver’s west side, lights flashing and siren blaring. Dispatch reports that a child made a call saying her daddy is hitting her mommy. Anger radiates through me. Hitting a woman makes you the lowest of low, but to do it in front of children, especially your own, makes it so much worse.

I’ve barely thrown my car into park before I jump out and rush up the front steps. With one hand on top of my gun, I bang on the door hard enough I feel the vibration up my arm.

“Vancouver Police,” I yell.

Raised voices on the other side of the door come through unintelligibly. No one answers.

Again, I bang my fist. “Vancouver Police, answer the door. ”

The raised voices quiet, and heavy footsteps make their way to the front door. The door is thrown open forcefully, and an angry-looking man stands on the other side.

He’s got nothing on my six-foot-three frame, but he puffs out his chest, making himself appear as big as possible before saying, “Can I help you, officer?”

“Good evening, my name is Officer Sutton. We got a call about some yelling at this location. Can you please step outside with me?”

The guy looks me up and down, assessing me, before he nods, stepping outside and closing the door. I lead him into the front yard.

“What’s your name?” I ask, grabbing my notepad out of my belt.

“Derek,” he says.

I look up from my writing and stare at him. “Got a last name, Derek?”

“Porter.”

“Okay, can you tell me what’s going on?”

“My ex-wife and I just got into a little disagreement. Everything’s okay.”

The sirens of my backup are getting closer, and the sound causes Derek to look over his shoulder. He stiffens slightly. It’s small enough that if you aren’t trained, you may not notice it.

“Man, is this all really necessary? It was just a small argument between me and my ex. Everything’s all good,” Derek pushes.

“Well, I have to check on all the occupants of the house. You’ll need to stay here with Officer Collins and Officer Macky while I go inside.” I step around him as Collins makes it to my side.

I cautiously swing open the front door, calling, “This is Officer Sutton of the Vancouver Police Department. I’m coming in.”

Silence greets me on the other side. I methodically make my way through the rooms on the first floor. Once they’re all cleared, I slowly make my way up the staircase, taking in the family photos that line the wall. The photos all seem to be of a stunning blonde and a little girl who has the same blonde hair and freckles. I assume it must be mother and daughter and they’re the ones that reside in the house.

When I get to the top of the stairs, I still, and my body goes tight as the sound of muffled crying reaches my ears. I deliberately make my way down the hall, following the crying. As I do, I check the rooms to ensure they’re empty. I stop when I’m at the last door on my right. As soon as I start to open the door, I hear a scream—the scream of a child.

When the door is fully open, my heart is ripped from my chest. The blonde woman, from the photos, sits on the floor in the corner, holding her daughter to her chest as she rocks and soothes her. The woman’s face is covered in red spots I know will be severely bruised by tomorrow. She has a split lip and a cut above her left eye. She sits there stoically, not a single tear running down her face as she holds her daughter’s small frame like her life depends on it. She continues to coo to her, telling her, “Mommy’s okay.” The little girl can’t be any older than five.

The girl spots me and wipes at her tears as she slowly takes me in.

I click my radio and say into it, “I’ve got the mom and daughter in the daughter’s room on the second floor. Last door on the right. Hold the father outside.”

Collins acknowledges my instructions, and I turn down the volume of the radio and crouch, wanting to get closer to their level.

“My name’s Officer Sutton, you guys are safe now.”

“Thank you,” the mom says.

“You must be the brave little girl who called 911? ”

Her blonde hair bobs as she nods.

“Do you think that you can come with me so we can have some people look at your mommy and make sure she’s okay?”

The little girl nods and gets up from her mother’s lap. I make my way over to where they are and offer my hand to the mother. She doesn’t take it, choosing to get up on her own. The two of them hold hands as I lead them towards the front door.

Outside, the father has been put in the back of a cruiser, and an ambulance is sitting on the curb. I lead them over to the back of the rig, and the paramedics get to work right away.

I go to step away to check in with Collins when a little hand wraps around mine. Looking down, I see the girl looking at me, tears still in her eyes. It guts me to see her like this. I duck down and ask her, “What’s your name?”

“Charlotte.” Her voice is soft and tentative.

“My name is Caleb. Would you like to sit with me while these people help your mommy?”

Her nod is small.

I lead us to the sidewalk, taking a seat, and she sits beside me. I pull my phone out and open a video of cats jumping when they see a cucumber I had come across earlier.

“Do you want to see a funny video, Charlotte?”

She looks up at me, her face so innocent and sweet, and nods.

I spin my phone, allowing the video to take up the entire screen, and hold it for her. A small smile spreads across her face when it starts, and by the end, she is laughing this beautiful child’s laugh. I relax slightly at the sound of it, knowing this is providing her with some slight relief after she has just experienced something no one should ever have to, let alone someone her age.

A shadow looms over us just as the video finishes. Looking up, I’m met with the most beautiful set of blue eyes I’ve ever seen. My breath catches in my lungs. Now, in the light, I take in all of her features, her full lips and long lashes, the curves of her hips, and her full chest. Her tits are the perfect size, just over a handful. I shake my head and clear my throat. I need to be in work mode, not lusting over a victim, I chastise myself.

She looks down at me. “Thank you for staying with my daughter, Officer Sutton.”

“Of course. I do need to get a statement from both of you before we leave. Would you like to go inside for that?”

She nods and I get up, offering my hand to Charlotte once I’m standing. I try to let go so she can hold her mom’s, but she doesn’t let go, so I hold on. We make our way into the house, and Charlotte’s mom leads us into the kitchen. Charlotte takes a seat in front of a drawing she must have been working on earlier.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“Water is fine, thank you.” I take a seat at the table.

Handing me a glass of water, she takes a seat across from me with a cup of tea settled between her hands.

I pull my notepad out again and open it to the same page as before. “Can I get your name?”

“Bailey Emerson.”

“Okay. Do you mind if I call you Bailey?”

“Sure.”

“Can you please tell me what happened today?”

She looks over at Charlotte and then back at me, nodding. “Derek was over for his visitation with Charlie. They were in the kitchen. I was in the living room cleaning when he came out. He wanted to talk about getting back together. I told him he was here to spend time with Charlie and it wasn’t an appropriate time to have that conversation. He kept pushing and when I continued to refuse, he slapped me across the face.”

Her hand absently moves up to her face, brushing over a pink spot. She notices, and her hand instantly drops back into her lap.

“When I backed away, he gripped the top of my arm and said, ‘You’re mine Bailey, you’ll do what I say.’ I tried to pull out of his grasp, and he slapped me again. I heard Charlie scream and run upstairs. He yelled in my face for a couple of minutes before he hit me again, but that time I was able to get out of his grip. I was running upstairs when I heard someone knocking on the front door.”

I’m so fucking happy I was only two blocks away when the call came over the radio. I don’t want to know what would have happened if it had taken me longer to make it here. “Bailey, I need to ask Charlotte some questions. Do you mind if I do that right now?”

“No, of course not.”

I twist my chair and face the beautiful little girl who is drawing silently beside me. “Charlotte, can you tell me why you called 911?”

“Daddy was yelling at Mommy. She said ‘ow’ and Daddy kept yelling. He hit her. Mommy says we aren’t supposed to hit, we are supposed to use our words. Mommy was hurt. She needed help.”

“That was very good, Charlotte. You were very brave and smart to do that.” I look back at Bailey and give her a soft smile. “You have an amazing little girl here.”

She smiles back at me. Reaching out, she runs a hand over her daughter’s hair. “Yeah, I do.”

I pull one of my cards out of the breast pocket of my vest and hand it to Bailey. “This is my card. I want you to call me if you have any more issues. He’s going to be booked today, so he shouldn’t be a problem.” I turn to Charlotte again. “Charlotte, you did so well helping your mommy. It was nice to meet you.”

I slip out of my seat and stand. “Have a nice evening. ”

Before I can turn for the front door, Charlotte is off her chair with her arms wrapped around my legs.

“Thank you for helping Mommy, Caleb.”

I look down at her and run my hand over the top of her hair. “You’re welcome, Charlotte.”

She unwraps her arms from around my legs, and I make my way to my cruiser and head to the station. The entire drive back, I have a niggling feeling in my gut like I left something back inside that house.