Chapter 13
Nobody offers to show me a cool rock they found anymore. Adulthood is so dumb.
— Atlas to Pepper
ATLAS
Getting calls with children involved sucked.
Getting calls with babies involved were even worse.
“ Unit 1882,” the dispatcher said. “ Call came in at the Corner Store right next to you about a baby being left in the car.”
I looked over at the Corner Store .
It was a huge country store that was similar to a Tractor Supply , but on steroids. It also had two restaurants in it, as well as a gas station. It was a tourist trap and was supposed to be competition for Buc -ee’s on the corner of the interstate.
Usually , people spent an hour there or more.
“ Unit 1882 responding,” I said as I put the car in drive.
My stomach was somewhere in my throat as I made the mad dash across seven lanes of traffic to pull into the Corner Store .
I parked the car across four parking spots and ran toward the locked Suburban .
It looked familiar, but I didn’t give it any more thought than that before I reached the group of people.
“ It’s locked,” someone said as I arrived. “ We’ve tried all the doors and windows. You’re gonna have to break it.”
I didn’t waste time.
When it was August in the middle of Texas , you didn’t have much time to waste when it came to kids being trapped in hot cars.
“ The baby’s cries are weakening,” another good Samaritan said. “ I almost broke it myself when you came to a stop.”
I took my baton out of my belt and used the back handle to break the glass on the driver’s side.
The glass gave way with a satisfying pop, and I used the baton’s barrel to clear the glass away as I leaned into the vehicle.
It unlocked, and the man nearest me was already opening the baby’s door.
I pushed him out of the way, and immediately took the young boy out of the car seat.
He was flushed, lethargic, and crying so weakly that my heart started to pound in my throat.
Without much thought, I ran with him into the building, hoping that the cooler air would help while we waited for an ambulance.
The moment we were inside, I placed him flat against the front desk, and started to strip off his clothes, knocking a bucket of hat clips off right onto the floor in my haste.
“ Oh my God !”
“ My baby! Oh my God ! My baby!”
The mother came barreling toward me, but a man stopped her with a lethal, “ Stay the fuck back!”
“ That’s my child!” she cried.
The voice.
The voice was so fucking familiar.
I chanced a glance after I stripped the baby down to his diaper.
“ Water ,” I said as I looked around. “ I need water.”
That is when my world stopped.
Because the familiar voice of the woman trying to get to her child belonged to a woman I knew well.
Biblically .
Emory .
I turned back to the baby, and that’s when I saw the birthmark on his rib cage.
I had the same one on my own.
My stomach sank.
“ You aren’t getting anywhere close to him,” I heard another woman say. “ You made us think that you’d gotten him out of the car!”
An ice cold bottle of water was given to me, and I picked the baby up in my arms like he weighed nothing.
I gently tried to give him sips of water, not wanting to give him too much so he wouldn’t throw it all back up.
There was dried vomit on his face from where he’d likely already evacuated his belly once.
“ I was parked under a tree!”
A man said, “ It’s a hundred and fucking eleven degrees outside, you stupid cunt! Trees don’t matter in the middle of August !”
I agreed.
But my mouth wasn’t working.
My eyes were so focused on the child that I couldn’t think about the woman.
Another commotion.
I heard another officer respond, but I was too focused on the way my world was falling apart to notice who’d arrived on scene.
A child.
I had a child.
A two-year-old, who’d been left in a hot car while his mother fucked off in the air conditioning for who knew how long.
“ Do something!” Emory cried. “ He won’t give me my baby!”
“ Back the fuck off!” I heard the officer respond. “ Give us room!”
The medics came.
I tossed my keys to the cop I didn’t know, then got into the ambulance and rode to the hospital.
“ Sir ,” the doctor said. “ I need some space.”
I didn’t want to give him that space.
In fact, I wanted to give him less space than I was already giving him.
“ Come on,” a female nurse urged. “ Come on.”
“ Now , sir,” the social worker urged. “ Please ?”
It was only when I was kicked out of the room by the doctor and the social worker to perform a couple of exams when I saw them.
Emory was gesturing wildly with her hands to Sage , who was patting her comfortingly on the shoulder.
It was an intimate move.
Like they knew each other.
Got along.
Like they were friends.
And if they were friends, then they both knew who the other was.
A sick feeling started to form in my gut.
The door banged open, and I looked up to find Pepper barreling inside, a wild look in her eyes.
The moment she saw me, relief hit her features.
She rushed to me and said, “ I heard. I was the only one in town, so I came. Maven called me at the store and told me everything.”
She came.
She came .
I felt my throat thicken, and a feeling of almost desperation rolled through me as I said, “ I have a son.”
My croak had her moving forward, her hand on my arm now. “ I heard.”
“ He was locked in a hot car for twenty-seven minutes,” I whispered brokenly. “ They don’t know that he’ll…”
“ He will be fine,” she whispered, her hand going to my gut. “ Carters are fighters.”
I closed my eyes as I prayed her words were true.
“ You !”
We both turned to see Sage barreling toward us.
“ Stop ,” I snarled.
Sage stopped, blinking in surprise.
“ Not here, and not now,” I barked.
Sage shook her head, her mouth opening and closing.
“ I …” she started, but a couple of officers rolled through the doors of the ER , heading right for Emory , who was standing back, but still close enough to hear every word.
“ Emory Cline ?” an officer I recognized, but couldn’t quite place, said.
Emory turned toward them.
“ Yes ?” she asked nervously.
“ You’re under arrest for child endangerment,” the first officer said.
The second one came over to me, a look of anger in his eyes. “ Do you mind stepping into the hallway with me?”
I don’t know why I did it, but I caught Pepper’s hand in mine and dragged her with me.
The officer, who had a badge with the last name ‘ Aguilar ,’ held his hand up to Sage when she tried to follow. “ Just us.”
Sage’s ire was palpable as she stayed behind.
We didn’t go far.
Just far enough that we weren’t near the nurses’ station, but close enough that I could still see the room with my child in it.
My child.
Holy fuck.
“ Went to the store and asked some questions,” he said without preamble. “ It was brought to her attention that she’d left the child in the car. Twice .”
Anger started to boil low in my belly, making me clench.
“ A couple saw them pull in. She reached into her purse and produced a sippy cup and handed it back to the child before she got out. But since she ‘parked under a shaded spot’ she thought it would be fine while she ran in for a quick bite to eat with her brother,” he said.
“ Her brother?” I stiffened.
I knew from when we’d briefly dated that her brother had been in prison for child molestation.
She’d had this defense of him every time she talked about him that had my hackles rising and was one of the reasons I’d decided that I couldn’t stay with her.
“ She later stated to her brother, that the table beside her overheard, that the reason the baby was still in the car was because he was a registered sex offender, and that he could be put in jail again if he was caught near a child,” Officer Aguilar continued.
That anger boiling in my gut turned to full blown rage.
I could barely hold it in.
“ The second time she was told, the police were called.” He looked sick to be saying the words. “ She made it look like she’d gone out there to get him. And then no one had paid her any more attention until a person had walked by Emory’s vehicle and heard the baby crying.”
I wanted to cry myself. To throw up. To rage.
“ And she still didn’t go out,” I guessed, voice icily calm.
“ Fucking monster,” Pepper whispered.
“ No ,” he said. “ She went out to smoke.”
To smoke.
Another reason I’d broken up with her.
She didn’t have any issue smoking around people who didn’t want to be smoked around. Nor did she care that my apartment was a no smoking area, both by my apartment complex and me.
She’d just light up anywhere she wanted and didn’t care who she offended.
I wondered how much secondhand smoke the kid had to deal with on a daily basis.
“ Forest …”
My fucking heart.
It was going to explode in my chest.
I closed my eyes and counted to ten.
Forest .
She’d named him Forest .
About two weeks before I’d broken up with her, she’d laughed at some video she was watching, and had then asked me what I would name my son or daughter if and when I’d ever had kids.
Since it wasn’t something I’d ever thought about, I’d taken my time, thinking of what I would name a child. I’d come up with the name Forest for a boy. I’d joked that I’d call him For for short, which would eventually get nicknamed even further to Quad , like my grandfather had gone by in his days as a police officer.
Though , she’d only listened for the first half of my explanation. Hadn’t cared to hear about anything to do with my grandfather, his nickname, or why I’d call him that.
I guess I should be lucky she named him Forest .
At this point, with the name, the birthmark, and the way the kid had my hair… there was little doubt who he belonged to.
“ That’s a cute name,” Pepper murmured quietly.
The officer flashed her a grin.
“ Was in the car for twenty-seven minutes according to the cameras,” he said. “ Social worker was contacted. She should be here…”
“ She’s here,” I croaked. “ In with him now.”
“ Good ,” Officer Augilar said.
“ Thank you for looking into it,” I offered him my hand.
“ Wish I didn’t have to, bruh,” he admitted. “ Kids are the worst calls.”
I agreed.
I fucking agreed.