Chapter 17
Oz had no idea what time it was. All he knew was that he was beyond tired. He felt as if he’d been awake for days.
After Bria had been examined in the hospital—and found to be dehydrated, suffering from bruises all over her body, and severely underweight—a nurse had taken her to get clean.
Then they’d changed into the new clothes Riley had brought and been driven to the Department of Child Protective Services headquarters downtown.
Oz had only had a minute or two with Riley, but he’d needed that short amount of time. She kept him grounded. Kept him from leaving the hospital to break into the jail and kill Seth and Vanessa.
The couple had been arrested for child abuse. Drug and gun charges were pending, based on a much more thorough search the cops were conducting on their house. And he hoped first-degree murder charges weren’t far behind.
Oz knew Grover had driven Riley to the CPS building, but he had no idea where she was now, or if she was even still there. Bria had fallen asleep on the way to the building, and Oz had insisted the counselors let her sleep. She’d woken up a few hours later and eaten another meal with her brother.
Miraculously, the little girl seemed to be mostly all right.
As long as her brother was near, she smiled and laughed, and had no problem talking with strangers.
But one counselor had made the mistake of asking Logan to leave, and Bria lost it.
She began to cry and shake, and only Logan sitting on the floor and pulling her onto his lap made her calm down.
Oz had to watch it all go down from behind a one-way glass, and it made his anxiety spike. He needed to hold that little girl. Needed to make everything better, and he couldn’t.
Once Logan was allowed to stay, Bria had opened up to the counselor. The woman was skilled, making it seem as if they were having a casual conversation, not recounting all the abuse the little girl had suffered since being placed in her father’s custody.
She’d told the woman, and her brother, that she’d been living inside that dog crate for a “long time.” She hadn’t been back to school.
And Vanessa and her dad hadn’t let her eat much.
She was allowed out of the cage once a day to use the bathroom, but sometimes she couldn’t hold it and had to clean up her own urine and sometimes poop when she had an accident.
It was all completely horrifying, and Oz couldn’t understand why they’d done it. Apparently the counselor had the same question, and she asked Bria why her dad and Vanessa would do that.
“Because they wanted me to tell them what I saw the day Mommy was killed,” Bria said, sniffling a little.
“And did you?”
Bria shook her head. “No. I was scared to tell them. They got mad when I wouldn’t tell.”
“Tell them what?”
Bria had looked at Logan, and he’d squeezed her hand. “It’s okay. I’m here now. You’re safe.”
And that was apparently all Bria needed to hear before telling the counselor everything she’d heard that fateful day.
She’d heard her dad pounding on the door, and her mom had told her to hide.
So she’d gotten behind the couch like her brother had taught her, and then she heard her dad yelling at her mom some more.
She’d heard fighting. Heard him tell Vanessa to grab a cord.
She’d heard her mom begging for her life… and then her mom stopped talking.
Then her dad and Vanessa had gone through the house, looking for something, and they’d left without knowing she was there the whole time.
Oz had walked away briefly at that point. He’d gone outside, and luckily Doc had been there. He’d prevented Oz from getting into his car and doing something stupid. The thought of his fragile niece hearing her own father kill her mother was overwhelming.
After more time talking with the counselor, with her brother by her side, Bria seemed to be doing all right. Oz figured he’d need to keep a close eye on her and have her continue to see a therapist for a while, just to make sure.
Oz also learned after talking to the detective who’d interviewed Seth and Vanessa that after discovering Bria hadn’t been at school the day her mom was killed, they’d been scared she would tell someone that she saw or heard them kill her mom, so they’d locked her up in their small house to make sure that didn’t happen.
It was essentially a confession and Oz was hopeful the two would spend the rest of their lives in prison.
The fact that Bria was doing as well as she seemed to be after her ordeal was a miracle. It also sucked…because it probably meant her life before her mom had been killed wasn’t exactly ideal. Oz had heard enough from Logan to figure out that much.
Logan’s confession that Bree had been in the house the day her mom was killed had been passed on to the detective who was investigating Becky’s death, and he’d come to CPS headquarters to listen to the counselor’s conversation with Bria.
He had more questions, which the counselor had to ask.
The back and forth was done in a gentle way, so as not to traumatize either Logan or Bria any more than they already were.
Then Oz had to meet with more CPS officials to get approval and permission to take Bria home to Killeen.
They had to get in touch with his commander and get a reference.
He’d also learned from the detectives that Seth and Vanessa had pawned everything they’d been able to get their hands on from Becky’s apartment.
It made him sad that he wouldn’t be able to get any mementoes of their mom for Bria and Logan, but he’d do anything possible to make sure they never forgot her.
Becky wasn’t the greatest mother, but she’d done her best, and it seemed as if she’d been doing what she could to clean herself up in the last few years. Oz had to respect that.
Oz had been dealing with the aftermath of what had happened to his niece and his sister for hours by now, and finally, just five minutes ago, he’d been given the green light to take Bria home. It was dark outside, and Bria was barely awake as he picked her up.
“We’re going home,” he told both her and Logan.
“Both of us?” Logan asked.
“Yeah, Slugger. Both of you.”
“You promised,” Bree said.
“I did,” Oz agreed.
“Riley too?” Logan asked. Then he turned to his sister. “You’re gonna like her. I told you all about her, and she’s amazing. She smells like flowers.”
Bria smiled weakly at her brother. It was clear she wasn’t completely sold, but Oz knew she’d come around. How could she not? Riley was awesome.
“I’m not sure,” he told Logan. “It’s late, and we’ve been here a long time. Riley has probably gone back to Killeen by now.”
He finished his sentence just as they walked into the large waiting room at the front of the building. Oz stopped in his tracks and stared at what he saw.
The waiting area was full of people. Not only were Grover, Lefty, and Doc still there, they’d been joined by the rest of the team. Trigger, Brain, and Lucky stood as they entered the room.
Gillian was there too. As was Kinley, Aspen, and Devyn.
Aspen put her finger to her lips and said quietly, “She finally fell asleep.”
Oz looked to where she’d indicated with a nod of her head, and saw Riley slumped in a chair. Her head was resting against the wall and she was sound asleep.
“Hang out here with your sister for a second, Slugger?” Oz asked Logan as he put Bria down.
“Okay.”
Oz walked toward Riley, stopping to hug each and every one of his friends along the way. He was feeling extremely emotional after the long day, and seeing the support he and his family had was almost overwhelming.
But seeing Riley there, exhausted from running around making sure he, Bria, and Logan had what they needed, made him want to bawl his eyes out. He hadn’t felt this off kilter in a very long time, if ever.
His friends talked quietly behind him, but Oz only had eyes for the woman who owned his heart.
He knelt in front of her, and he almost smiled thinking about how often he’d been getting on his knees lately. Being tall was a pain in the ass when you had to get eye-to-eye with kids to reassure them.
He put a hand on Riley’s knee, hoping to wake her gently, but the second he touched her, she bolted upright and looked around in alarm.
“It’s okay, Ri. It’s me.”
“Porter. Where’re the kids?”
“They’re here. We’re ready to go home.”
“Bria too?”
“Bree too,” he reassured her.
Then Riley burst into tears. It was as if she’d been holding back her emotions all day and only now, knowing all was well, allowed herself to break.
Oz gathered her in his arms and stood. He’d never been so grateful for his height and strength as he was right this moment.
His woman needed him, and he was happy to be there for her. Today, and every day from here on out.
“I’m okay,” Riley muttered against his chest.
“I know you are,” Oz told her. “Ready to go home?”
“Yes,” she said emphatically. “Put me down, I can walk, Porter.”
“I know you can,” he told her. He lowered her feet to the floor but kept his arm firmly around her waist. Riley leaned heavily against him as they headed for Logan and Bria.
“Riley?” Logan asked as Oz got close.
“She’s okay,” Oz told his nephew. “She’s just so happy we’re all going home. Together.”
“Me too,” Logan said.
Keeping his arm around Riley, Oz reached down and took Logan’s hand in his free one. His nephew grabbed his sister’s hand, and they walked out into the night. Oz might not have thought this was how he’d get a family, but he wouldn’t change it for the world.
The trip back to Killeen was quiet. Riley had been exhausted earlier, but now she was wide awake.
Logan and Bree fell asleep almost the second the door shut behind them, and it felt right to just hold Porter’s hand as he drove.
They didn’t talk, they just existed in the moment. Happy to be together.
Once home, Porter carried Bria up the stairs and Riley held Logan’s hand as they entered the apartment.