Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
“I’m not sure exactly.”
“What was all that just now?”
“There’s this girl, you see… And she’s unlike any other girl I’ve ever met, and… It’s the worst-possible time for her, but she’s not pushing me away, and well… It’s amazing, actually.”
“Didn’t you recently tell me I didn’t know you at all when I said you ought to make a play for the supermodel?”
“She’s not my type.”
“Since when do you have a type?”
“It’s a recent development.”
“People were talking about you going missing yesterday.”
“I heard.”
“Where’d you take off to?”
“I took my friend and her kids to Ojai for the afternoon.”
“You took her… and her kids… to Ojai.”
“That’s what I said,” Julian replied, amused by the gobsmacked expression on Ernie’s face in the mirror.
“You bailed out of work to be with a woman who has kids.”
“Yep. Little kids. They’re three and one, and they loved the gochas and the horsies and doggies.”
“What the hell is a gocha?”
“It’s a goat. Duh.”
“Are you feeling all right, man?”
“I’m feeling better than I ever have before.”
“What. Is. Happening?”
Julian bit back a laugh. “No idea, but whatever it is, I want as much of it as I can get.”
“Are you the same guy who was about to call the exterminator to get rid of smokeshow Stacey a week ago?”
“Yeah, that was me.”
“And now…”
“And now everything is different. Can’t really explain it. Just is.”
They pulled up to the Stanley Mosk Courthouse ten minutes before Rachel McDavid’s arraignment.
“I’ll text you when I’m done.”
“Julian…”
“Everything’s fine, Ernie. Don’t worry.”
“Right. What do I have to worry about when my friend is going off the deep end over a woman for the first time ever?”
“Nothing to see here.”
“Whatever you say, Counselor.”
Julian got out of the car, looked both ways and dashed across the street and up the stairs to the courthouse that was his home away from home. He greeted the security officers by name and thanked them for ushering him through the metal detector with their usual respect for the time of busy people.
He entered the courtroom in time to see Rachel, wearing an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs, being led into the room. The cuffs were removed before she sat at the defense table.
Julian sat behind her. “Rachel.”
The woman who turned toward him bore almost no resemblance to the woman he’d last seen a week ago. “Julian, you have to find my kids! They took them… They should be with my sister. She can’t get anyone to tell her where they are.”
“I’ll find them and do everything I can to reunite them with your sister. What else can I do for you?”
“I… I don’t know. I did what I had to. He… he was going to kill us. He had a hunting knife.”
“That’ll matter to the judge.”
The courtroom was called to order for the arraignment of Rachel McDavid in the matter of the fatal shooting of her ex-husband.
“How does your client plead?” the judge asked the defense attorney.
“Your Honor, my client pleads not guilty due to self-defense. She was under the protection of a domestic violence restraining order when her ex-husband broke into the home where she and her children were staying. Police found a hunting knife on his person. We believe he intended to kill her and the children after losing custody of them in a recent family court matter. Mrs. McDavid defended herself and her children and likely saved their lives. We ask that she be released on bond while this matter is adjudicated.”
The judge turned to the district attorney at the other table. “We have no objection as long as she remains local.”
Julian stood. “Your Honor, Julian Remington, Mrs. McDavid’s divorce attorney. May I please address the Court?” After the judge gestured to give him permission, Julian said, “Her minor children were taken into emergency custody, and we’d request that they be returned to her as quickly as possible.”
“Are there other firearms in the home?” the judge asked.
Rachel shook her head.
“No, Your Honor,” the defense attorney said.
To the DA, he said, “Please see to the return of the children by the end of the day. I’ll set a hearing in this case for one month from today. What’s next?”
As the judge and his clerk turned to the next case, Julian leaned in to speak to Rachel. “I’ll wait for you to be released and drive you home.”
“Thank you,” she said tearfully as she was led away by the sheriff’s deputy.
While he waited for Rachel, Julian texted Mattie to let her know he’d be at the office as soon as he got Rachel settled at home.
Glad to hear they’re letting her out.
Me, too. Were you able to push my morning meetings?
All set for this afternoon.
Great, thanks.
He and Jackson had blocked out three hours later in the afternoon to do Smithson trial prep, and he had two other client meetings, as well as a partner meeting at lunch. After all that, maybe he’d get to see Isla again.
Ernie was probably still trying to figure out when Julian had been abducted by aliens, which was amusing to him. Julian from a week ago wouldn’t recognize the version of him that was counting the hours until he could see a woman.
But she wasn’t just any woman. She’d touched him in ways that no one else ever had, even Aimee, and she’d done it in a matter of minutes.
That was the part that was still unbelievable to him, too.
After spending a lifetime avoiding the very thing she represented, he’d been sucked into her silken web so quickly he’d already been trapped before he’d even realized he’d been captured.
He scrolled through his texts while he waited for Rachel and read one from Griffin to their sibling group chat.
Kids, I have shocking news. I recently heard from an ex that I am the father of her daughter.
I took a paternity test that came back positive, and, well…
meet Hadley Jane. I’m already in love. Her mom, McKenna, is a great person, and if this had to happen with anyone, I’d pick her. So… other than that… LOL
He’d included gorgeous photos of the baby and one of him holding her, looking stunned but elated, too.
The holy shit, bro responses from their siblings were amusing and heartfelt.
I’m an auntie, Jordan said. She’s gorgeous! When can we meet her?
Have you told Mom that she’s a grandmother? Ethan asked. If not, can we be there when you do?
What he said, Roman replied with an emoji arrow pointing to Ethan’s text as the others chimed in with congrats and questions and compliments on the beautiful baby girl who’d made them aunts and uncles for the first time.
Haven’t told the folks yet, Griffin said. Will get to that. Eventually. Will arrange a sibling meeting soon.
She’s wicked cute, despite having your DNA, Jackson said. Congrats, bro.
So happy for you, Griff, Julian wrote. She’s a stunner.
Oh, look who it is, Carson said. Our fearless leader is back on the grid after a quick trip to somewhere he said he never wanted to go… Are you back to stay, Jules, or will you be entering temporary insanity once again?
Julian didn’t want to be pissed at Carson’s snarky text, but it stung nonetheless, coming from the brother he’d always been the closest to.
He chose not to dignify Carson’s comment with a response and stuffed the phone in his suit coat pocket so he wouldn’t have to see what the rest of them had to say about his recent departure from normal.
He got it. If one of them had acted the way he had in recent days, he’d be worried, too. He’d probably be planning an intervention, which was no doubt happening in a separate group text that didn’t include him.
He thought of Isla and how she’d looked after the third time they’d made love the night before and had to quickly think of something else to avoid an embarrassing and obvious reaction to some of the sweetest memories he’d ever made with anyone.
Was he out on a limb in this situation? Absolutely. They’d made their vow to one another for damned good reasons, and he’d fully intended to honor that commitment—until he’d met someone who made him want more.
Would he marry her? No. He’d never marry anyone, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have a meaningful life with her and her kids if that’s what she wanted, too, and he wouldn’t justify himself to anyone, even the siblings who’d sustained him during their darkest times.
He loved them more than anything, but they weren’t going to tell him how to live his life.
His phone rang with a call from Rachel. “Hey.”
She told him where she was, and he walked to meet her while holding the phone to his ear. “I’m coming.”
He texted Ernie to make sure he was ready to pick them up at the curb.
On the way.
Rachel emerged through a door, wearing her own clothes and carrying a plastic bag. She looked ragged and terrified. “Have you heard anything about the kids?”
“Not yet, but I’ll check on that when we’re in the car. Let’s get you out of here.”
They emerged into bright sunshine and a crush of bottom-feeding “reporters” who tended to show up for only the most salacious cases shouting questions at Rachel about why she’d shot and killed her ex-husband and how she’d managed to get released when she’d murdered someone.
Julian put an arm around her and led her through the scrum, keeping his gaze locked on Ernie, who stood outside the SUV with the back door open for them. “Keep your head down and just keep moving,” he said to Rachel, who shook with silent sobs.
“Did your kids see you shoot their father?”
“Had he threatened you before?”
“How long did you have the gun?”
Ernie met him about twenty feet from the car and helped to form a barrier around Rachel. They had her in the car and speeding away from the courthouse in a matter of minutes while she silently wept.
“S-so it’s blown up into a b-big story while I was locked up,” she said.
“They’re always tuned in to the salacious stuff, but they’ll lose interest as soon as the facts become clear,” Julian said.
“By then, my name and my kids’ names will be forever tied to this.”