Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Carson drove as fast as he dared toward Beverly Hills while Cresley vibrated with tension in the passenger seat. He reached for her hand and held on tightly, wishing there was more he could do to comfort her. “They won’t let him near Ty,” he said after a long silence.
“I know, but the fact that he’s there and trying… What if there was someone new working in the office who didn’t know…”
“They don’t put new people in charge of things like that. They know who he is, and they know he doesn’t have permission to take Ty.”
“What is he hoping to achieve by coming to the house, hitting us and going after Ty?”
“He’s trying to terrorize you into giving him what he wants.”
“It’s working.”
“I know it’s super unsettling, but we have to give the police time to find him. He’s committed actual crimes in the last two days, and when they find him, they’ll charge him.”
“He’ll make bail and be right back to his old tricks within twenty-four hours of being arrested, and you know that’s true.”
“We might be able to get a judge to order him held without bail since intentionally smashing into another vehicle can be considered attempted vehicular homicide, which is a felony.”
“Is he thinking if he kills me, he’ll get Ty and all the money? Because that won’t happen. Ty is going to Marlene if anything happens to me, and every dime I have will be in a trust for him. Marlon won’t get anything.”
“Who knows what he’s thinking? But his goal is to get you to capitulate, and you can’t do that. If you do, he’ll never leave you alone.”
“I’m keeping Ty home from school until they find Marlon and arrest him.”
“Hopefully, that’ll happen quickly, and they’ll hold him without bail.”
She cradled his hand between both of hers. “I’m so glad you’re here to talk me off the cliff, but I’m so sorry your gorgeous Range Rover got damaged.”
“Don’t worry about that. All that matters is that you’re safe.”
“I will worry about it. This happened because of me.”
“Cars can be fixed. It’s all good.”
“No, it’s not all good. This is a nightmare.”
They arrived at the school to see a massive police presence, which made Cresley gasp when she saw the cars and flashing lights along with a swarm of terrified parents.
The second Carson brought the SUV to a stop, she was out the door and running.
He double-parked and ran after her, following her to the courtyard outside the building, where two officers were taking a statement from the rattled school employee who’d turned Marlon away.
“We know Ms. Dane has full custody, and he’s not on the pickup list, so I told him he needed to leave. We talked to her, and she told us he’d rammed his car into her and her friend and said we should call the police.”
“Thank you so much for protecting my son,” Cresley said as she hugged the woman.
“He’s perfectly fine in art class,” the woman assured her.
“I’d like to take him home, please.”
“Of course. We’ll get him signed out.”
While Cresley went with the woman to get Ty, Carson turned to the officer who’d taken the statement and gave him the same info he’d given the officer at the scene of the crash.
“Thank you for that additional information. I’ll pass it along to Patrol to be on the lookout for him.”
“He’s driving a black Honda Ridgeline truck with the front end smashed in.” Carson had called up his notes on Marlon on his phone and recited the license plate number he’d taken from the truck weeks ago.
“This is very helpful. Are you a cop?”
“Nope. An investigator for a law firm.”
“Ah, I see. Well, I’ll go call in the info. Thanks again.”
“Please find him. He’s terrorizing the mother of his child in a shakedown for money. He needs to be stopped before he succeeds in killing her or someone else.”
The thought of her being harmed struck fear in Carson’s heart. He wouldn’t let that happen. With protecting her foremost in his mind, he sent a text to his father, brothers and the other partners at the firm.
I need to take an immediate leave of absence to tend to a personal matter. I’ll put Anthony in charge of reporting on all ongoing investigations and will be back to work as soon as I can.
He wasn’t leaving Cresley’s side until Marlon Beckett was in police custody.
Cresley did her best to dial back her anxiety so she wouldn’t terrify Ty, who would immediately know something was wrong. She rarely picked him up early unless he had an appointment that he would’ve known about ahead of time.
Carson had gone back outside to wait for them by the SUV. She’d felt that having them both there would alert Ty to something big going on, and she wanted to keep the more disturbing details from him.
Ty came bouncing into the office, carrying his backpack and lunch bag. He rushed to hug her as if he hadn’t seen her in weeks rather than hours. He was always so happy to see her after any time spent apart.
She exhaled a deep sigh of relief when he was back in her arms where he belonged.
“What’s going on? How come I’m going home early?”
“Mr. Carson and I were in a little car accident, and we have to do some stuff to get his SUV fixed, so I needed to get you early.”
“Are you guys okay?”
“We’re fine, but the car isn’t so great.”
“That’s a fly Range Rover. He must be bummed.”
In addition to Ty’s tremendous love of all sports, he was also fascinated by cars and knew more about them at seven than she did at thirty.
With Ty’s hand tucked into hers, Cresley walked him out of the school. “He’s glad no one was hurt, and he said cars can be fixed.”
“What’s up with all the cops?” Ty asked, taking a wary look at the action outside the school.
“They’re doing a routine security check.”
“Oh.”
She hated lying to him, but she didn’t want him as terrified about his father’s actions as she was. One of them on edge was enough.
“Oh crap,” he said when he saw the damage to Carson’s SUV.
“There’s more in the back.”
“Both ends? How’d that happen?”
“We got hit from behind and pushed into oncoming traffic.”
“Whoa, that could’ve been bad.”
“Thankfully, we’re both fine, and the car can be repaired.”
“Sorry about the Range Rover,” Ty said to Carson, who leaned against the passenger door.
“It’s okay, buddy. Nothing that can’t be fixed.”
“Are you sure you guys are okay?”
“Yep.” Carson held the door for Ty to get into the back seat. “We’re fine and happy to see you.”
“Sounds like it was pretty scary.”
“Just for a second, and then it was over and done with. Nothing to worry about, pal.” When they were on the way home, Carson said, “Who wants ice cream?”
“I do!” Ty said.
Cresley gave him a grateful smile for coming up with something fun to break the tension. She’d rather go straight home and activate the security system until the police located Marlon, but a quick stop wouldn’t hurt anything. Or so she hoped.
How long would it take for her nervous system to calm down and her hands to quit shaking? That Marlon had had the gall to smash into them and then show up at Ty’s school and try to sign him out…
He knew exactly what would send her panic into the red zone and had succeeded in terrifying her. How could someone as perfect as Ty have come from such a man? That was a question she’d asked herself more than once over the last seven years.
Her contact at D&G texted to ask if she’d forgotten the fitting.
Shit, she’d failed to tell them she wouldn’t be able to make it.
I’m sorry. I have to reschedule. Was in a car accident earlier and am dealing with that right now.
Oh no! Hope you’re okay. Will check in later to reschedule.
I’m okay, but the car isn’t. Thank you for rescheduling.
“Everything all right?” Carson asked.
“I forgot to notify D&G that I wasn’t coming, and they were looking for me. We’re rescheduling the fitting.”
“Mom, what kind of ice cream are you going to get? She can never make up her mind.”
“Maybe coffee Heath bar crunch today.”
Ty laughed. “You always get that because you can’t decide on something else.”
“It’s my old standby.”
“I get something different every time. That’s how you figure out your favorite.”
His delightful commentary was exactly what she needed after a stressful hour.
“He has quite the system,” Carson said. “He shook them down for ten different samples the last time.”
“That’s how you get the most ice cream.”
“He’s too smart for my own good,” Cresley said.
“You like that I’m smart. You always say that.”
“I do like that, except when you use your smarts to scam free ice cream.”
She noticed that Carson was watching their surroundings like a hawk focused on its next meal.
His eyes darted from the rearview mirror to each side of the car and back to the front on a regular rotation.
He parked in a garage and walked them to the ice cream shop with careful attention to every detail, which made her feel safe and protected.
When they were safely in the shop that Ty adored, she relaxed ever so slightly, thankful for Carson’s competent presence in the midst of the ongoing nightmare.
He was right. If she paid off Marlon, he’d be back for more even if she made him sign something to acknowledge he knew that was all he’d ever get. It would never be enough for him.
“Mom, did you hear me?”
“I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“I told you she was spacing out.”
Carson’s hand on her back provided just the right kind of support when she needed it most, reminding her she wasn’t alone in this hellish situation. His steady presence made all the difference.
“I asked if you wanted to try the s’mores flavor because you love s’mores so much.”
“I’d love a taste of that.”
The young girl working behind the counter did a double take when she recognized Cresley. “I’m such a fan,” she said with a shy smile.
“That’s so nice to hear. Thank you.” She took the s’mores sample from her. “Mmm, that is good. I think I’ll have one scoop of that on a sugar cone, please.”
“I knew you’d like it,” Ty said with a smile. “Carson likes boring old coffee crunch.”
“Mr. Carson,” Cresley said.
“You can drop the mister with me. Carson is just fine. And I like coffee crunch.”
“Mom is going to give you a talking-to about that later.”