Three #2
“I’m Griffin Duchesne’s guardian, and I’m here to pick him up.”
He only stared at me.
I could feel myself scowling. “Sir? Did you not hear me?”
Standing abruptly, he came around his desk and was quickly at the counter. His nametag read Benning. “Chief Wilson left orders that until Luke Duchesne showed up, Griffin wasn’t supposed to go anywhere.”
I nodded. “Well, I’m the kid’s guardian—my colleague forwarded you the legal documentation—so if you don’t produce Griffin right now, I will be calling the FBI and the state police and report you for kidnapping.”
“I—”
“Now,” I said, using my master sergeant tone that was low and guttural and even Jared Colter told me was a bit scary and could I please not.
Benning left, rushing down the hall, and moments later another officer—Daniels—came into the room.
“Are you Nash Miller from Torus Intercession?”
“I am. I have ID, and so you know, I’m carrying because I have a license to do so. If you’d like to come check my credentials, I can pull them for you.”
“Yes, please,” Daniels replied, moving to reach me. He had a copy of the information Shaw sent, and he matched what I handed him to what had been emailed over. It took longer than I would have liked, but he was being thorough.
When he smiled and left, I leaned on the counter, waiting, and after about five minutes, out walked a bloodied Griffin Duchesne.
His sweater was covered in dirt, grass, and traces of blood, and his nose might have been broken.
There was a cut over his right eye that I suspected—along with his nose—was responsible for most of the blood.
As soon as he was close, I lifted my phone and took several pictures of him.
When Daniels opened the pass-through for him, they stopped him so they could take off the handcuffs.
I got shots of that before they were removed.
“Cuffs? You don’t think that’s overkill?” I asked, not expecting an answer, taking hold of Griffin’s arm and easing him toward me.
“Wait, we need you to sign?—”
“I’m not signing anything,” I stated, making a call. “And you will be hearing from the chief of police in Newcastle, as well as my lawyer. I hope you all enjoyed being law enforcement officers, because you can’t hurt a child and get away with it.”
Did I think they hurt him? I had no idea. The point was to get a reaction.
“No,” Daniels rushed out. “Neither me nor Benning touched?—”
“Who did?” I roared at him, and he took several steps back.
“Chief Wilson. He said that Griffin and his daughter?—”
“That’s enough,” I muttered, walking out the door with Griffin in tow.
Once we were outside, in the sun, I saw him shiver.
“Who’re you?” Griffin asked softly, nearly pitching forward.
I caught him easily, scooped him up, and carried him to the Jeep. Darwin had vacated the front seat when he saw us coming, and Tatum started crying when she spotted her oldest brother.
Once Griffin was seated, I belted him in and then darted around the Jeep and slid behind the wheel. I called Shaw first.
“We’re talking a lot today,” he informed me snidely.
“I need a lawyer for the kid. They beat him up in custody.”
“Fuck all,” he groaned.
“I need to see them today at the house no later than five.”
“Got it. I’ll text you a name as soon as they’re on the way.”
“I appreciate it,” I said and hung up. I then made my second call.
“Hello, you’ve reached the Newcastle Police Department, is this an emergency?”
When I explained that I had a kid that had been battered in police custody in Eena, she asked me to hold a moment, and in seconds, I was talking to their chief of police.
Diana Higheagle was horrified to hear what happened to Griffin, but at the same time not surprised.
Once she gave me her email, I sent her pictures, explained to her how ready Daniels was to tell me the whole story, and conveyed that I needed to take Griffin to the hospital.
I also sent over my credentials and the overview of my file Owen had prepared years ago for each fixer.
This was the brief that was sent out to law enforcement.
It was more detailed than what Shaw had forwarded to the Eena PD.
“Okay,” she said with a sigh. “Mr. Miller, please take Griffin to Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue—that’s the closest, and we have a good working relationship with them. I’ll get all the reports I need.”
“Thank you.”
“I will have detectives at the Eena police station there in under fifteen minutes. They’re on their way now.”
“I appreciate the urgency and you ,” I stressed, realizing how relieved I was. “I was thinking I’d have to take these kids and go.”
“Oh no, Mr. Miller, I appreciate you, and I’ll have my officers do regular check-ins at the Duchesne residence for the next week to make certain Chief Wilson is not as stupid as I’ve always found him to be.”
She was talking to me like we were friends simply because a quick glance at my file told her who I was, and she knew she didn’t need to sugarcoat or not get directly to the point.
“Thank you again.”
Once we hung up, I refocused on Griffin.
“I had Tatum check first, and since you had clothes in the dryer, no one had to go in your room to grab you a clean T-shirt and a hoodie. I know you don’t like people in there, and I’m glad I didn’t have to violate your privacy, but I would’ve if I had to.
I’ve picked up a lot of guys from police custody over the years, and a change of clothes is always helpful. ”
He was quiet a moment. “Who are you?” he asked me again, his voice nasal, sounding like he was about to cry.
“He’s a fixer,” Tatum disclosed to him, sniffling. “He’s here to take care of us.”
“Okay,” he rasped, looking at me with sad eyes. “I don’t know what that is.”
“I’m here to help, that’s all.”
“Thanks for getting me out of there. I was really cold. It’s nice in here.”
The heater was on, but I also suspected he was responding to having his siblings there. Familiarity helped in times of crisis.
I gently put my hand on his cheek for a moment before turning to Darwin and Tatum in the back seat. “Okay, people, your brother has to go to the hospital. I can’t take you home because I can’t watch you if you’re not with me, so?—”
“It’s okay,” Darwin assured me. “We both want to go with Griff.”
“We do,” Tatum squeaked out.
Darwin reached out and gently put a hand on Griffin’s shoulder. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”
Bloody tears started to roll down Griffin’s cheeks.
“Okay, we’re outta here,” I announced and put the Jeep in gear. “Who’s navigating?”
“Me,” Darwin declared, and I passed him my phone. “Okay, kid, get me to the Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue.”
“Yessir,” he said, smiling. “I’m so glad you’re here, Nash.”
“Me too,” I assured him, and I was. I always liked to be the person who handled the crisis. It was how I’d always been.
We didn’t have to wait. As they were unsure what damage had been done, and as Griffin was a minor and had been in police custody when the injuries occurred, they took us right back. He had X-rays, and we all went with him, which the nurse was surprised about. The head nurse was not.
“Parents always go with their kids,” she informed her. “That’s how it’s done.”
I explained to Griffin about his uncle Abel’s concern and why I was there, and how he and I were going to be cleaning his room tomorrow since it was a teacher-in-service day and there was no school. “You might need to stay home Tuesday as well, depending on how bad it is.”
“I can’t stay home Tuesday,” Darwin told me. “I have a test.”
“Yes, I know.” I smiled at him.
“I will remain home in solidarity,” Tatum offered.
“That’s very kind of you,” I teased her.
“Thank you,” she said with a tip of her head, like she was a queen and I was her lowly servant. At least she acknowledged me. She cracked me up.
When Dr. Chavez came in to look at Griffin, she was very nice, very gentle, and said that the cut above his right eyebrow could no longer be stitched and would need to close on its own.
The good news was, it would have probably required only two or three stitches to begin with.
She would clean it and give us everything needed for wound care at home, including ibuprofen for the pain.
She was happy to report his nose was not broken, just bruised, but he would have two black eyes, and had blood in his left one.
“That’s what happens when a grown man beats on you,” I divulged.
Dr. Chavez was both horrified and angry, I saw it on her face.
“The Newcastle police chief will be in touch,” I told her, signing the waiver for everything to be shared with the police department.
“I will be sure to get Chief Higheagle everything she needs.”
“Thank you.”
I sent Tatum and Darwin down the hall with money for the machine and asked them for whatever was in there with caffeine.
Once they were gone, I walked over to Griffin. “I wanna hug you, but is that all right?”
“Yeah,” he said quickly.
Slowly, gently, I eased him forward into my arms and wrapped him up tight.
The crying was no surprise. Sixteen, six, or twenty-six, boys needed love.
I had given out many hugs, along with orders, when I was in the Army, and had comforted many a small child as a homicide detective.
I tucked his head under my chin and held on.
When he was ready, I let him go.
“So, Griffin, where are these grandparents of yours?”
“Call me Griff, all right?”
“Okay. And you call me Nash.”
He nodded and then explained that his grandparents lived in Bangor, Maine, where his father was from.
“Now talk to me about Shelly.”
“She’s nice. But her mother’s been sick, and I think when Dad asked her to check in on us, he didn’t remember that.”
“So she wasn’t supposed to stay, just stop by.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s what Tatum said, but I wanted to be sure.”
“He figures I’m here, so we don’t need anyone else,” he said miserably, and his eyes filled quickly.