Chapter 37
I spend the next hour crying in a jail cell.
There are a couple of other women in the cell with me, none of whom are dressed for a children’s birthday party. But because I’m sobbing, they leave me alone. Nobody wants to deal with a woman crying, even if you’re in jail and have nothing to do.
I screwed up. I screwed up really badly. The one thing I had over Jeremy and Veronica is that I was an upstanding citizen. And now I suddenly have an arrest record. Will there be a trial? I don’t even know. I assume Ezra will fill me in when he gets me out of here.
If he gets me out of here.
About four hours have passed when an officer peeks his head into the jail cell. I try not to get my hopes up, but then he calls out, “Roth?”
I scramble to my feet. “Yes, that’s me.”
“You’re free to go,” he grunts.
Oh, thank God. Ezra is a genius.
But it’s not a quick process. I have to sign a bunch of paperwork so I can get all my belongings returned to me and go home.
It’s another half hour before I’m done. I thought I’d have to call for a taxi, since my car is back at Jeremy’s house, but when I get into the waiting area of the police station, Ezra is waiting for me, wearing a rumpled suit with no tie, with his jaw unshaven. He’s not smiling.
He gets to his feet when he sees me. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here.”
I don’t even feel self-conscious about my swollen eyes as I follow him out to his Ford, because nothing looks as bad as that beat-up car.
He also has a bunch of papers stacked in the passenger seat, which he has to move to the back.
I finally climb into the seat beside him, clutching my purse on my lap.
Ezra sticks his key in the engine and turns it, but the engine just sputters. Great. My luck keeps getting better and better.
“Is the engine dead?” I ask him.
“No. It usually takes a few tries. It’s fine.”
“Maybe you should get a new car?”
“It’s fine.”
On the third try, the engine roars to life, and we make our way out of the parking lot of the police station.
“Thank you for getting me out of there,” I say after a beat of silence. “You’re a miracle worker.”
“You might feel differently when you hear what I have to tell you next.”
I frown. “What is it?”
“Your ex filed a temporary order of protection against you,” he says. “That means you can’t contact him or Teddy or even go near either of them except under special circumstances.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry, Naomi.” He glances over at me as he slows at a red light. “But you were forcibly escorted from a party by a police officer. Jeremy has expressed concerns in the past, and now he’s got evidence to back him up.”
My breaths are coming quicker. I think I’m starting to hyperventilate. “So I can’t go near my own son?”
“I’m really sorry. You…you should not have gone to that party.”
My head is buzzing. “So how long does this last for?”
“There will be a hearing in a few weeks.”
A few weeks? I’ve never gone that long without seeing Teddy in his whole life!
I’ve finally recovered from my crying session in the jail cell, and now I feel it starting all over again.
“Are you serious? I can’t see Teddy for a few weeks?
That can’t be right! It’s not like I did anything to hurt him!
It was just a stupid party!” My fingers are starting to tingle. “This is so unfair!”
Ezra glances over at me again. At the next corner, he pulls off the road onto a side street. He throws the car into park and turns to look at me.
“Naomi.” He reaches for my hand—his is warm and dry. “I need you to take a few deep breaths. Do it with me.”
He said this to me once before, and I was outraged, but this time, I don’t have it in me to protest. He does it with me as promised, sucking in air through his nose and blowing it out slowly through his lips. After five of these, I feel…
Well, not better. But less like I’m going to pass out.
He levels his gaze at me. “Look, I’m not going to lie to you. This is not great, and I understand why you’re upset. But if you stay out of trouble for a few weeks, I’m sure I can get the order dropped. I’ve seen stuff like this many times before, and I promise I can get it to go away.”
The panic rises in my chest again. “A few weeks?”
“Naomi.” His voice is suddenly stern. “You got arrested, okay? What did you expect?”
His jaw is twitching slightly. Despite the fact that I feel very sorry for myself right now, I recognize that this isn’t any picnic for him either.
I dragged him to the police station on a Sunday afternoon, and now he’s going to have to work all that much harder to help me win shared custody of my child.
Not to mention the fact that I can’t really afford to pay him, aside from the one retainer check I managed.
“I’m sorry,” I say in a small voice.
“Don’t be sorry.” He touches his temple with his right hand. “Just please, don’t do anything foolish for the next few weeks. And for God’s sake, don’t get arrested again.”
“But, Ezra…” I chew on my lower lip. “I’m worried about Teddy’s safety. I mean, around Veronica.”
He shakes his head. “What are you talking about?”
“There’s something I need to tell you…”
All the stuff I’ve been keeping from telling him comes out in a bit of a confused jumble. The trip to Veronica’s former residence. The poisoned kombucha. My concerns that Veronica might harm Teddy to get him out of the way. As I speak, the color drains slowly out of Ezra’s already pale face.
When I’m done speaking, he pulls off his glasses, squeezes his eyes shut, and rubs them with the tips of his fingers.
“What you’re saying,” he says, “is…”
I wait for him to acknowledge that this is a very serious charge and that we should march right back into the police station to tell them everything. Because Teddy isn’t safe in that house.
“It’s crazy,” he finishes.
I jerk my head back like he just slapped me. “But—”
“You don’t really believe all that, do you?”
He is studying my face with concern in his eyes.
Not concern because he thinks Veronica is going to kill me but because he’s suddenly worried that he’s backed the wrong horse in this custody battle.
Jeremy has been looking at me like that a lot recently, and I can’t bear to see it in Ezra’s eyes too.
“I…” I swallow down a lump in my throat. “I just feel like…it’s a lot of scary coincidences, you know? You can’t blame me for being a little freaked out…”
“Yes…”
“And I just want to see Teddy again so badly…”
After a beat or two, his face relaxes. “Look, I know you’ve had a stressful time recently, but you can’t let it get to you. This is going to be a harder battle than we thought, but I still feel confident that it’s going to work out in the end.”
I nod wordlessly, knowing that if I try to speak, I’ll burst into tears.
He drives me home, even though when we get there, I remember my car is actually back at Jeremy’s house. I kind of want to ask him to drive me there instead, but he looks like he’s had enough of me for the day. I’ll take an Uber over to get my car tomorrow.
When he parks in front of my house, he turns to look at me one last time. “It’s going to be okay, Naomi. I promise I can fix this.”
“Your road to glory will be paved in jagged stones,” I say, remembering the fortune cookie from the other day.
He manages a tiny smile. “Yeah, something like that. And then when it’s all over, we’ll go to a karaoke party together.”
“Deal,” I say.
I try to return his smile, but it’s not easy. I have screwed up in a big way, and now I won’t be able to see my baby for a few weeks, until we have this hearing. The thought is almost too much to bear.
I hope Ezra can fix this. Because if he can’t, I don’t know what I’m going to do.