29. Poppy
29
POPPY
What does a normal life look like after everything we’ve gone through? Should I be worried about how I look naked? Or should I be more worried about getting as much sleep as I can when I’ve got a newborn to worry about?
No. I’m worried about getting arrested and not seeing my son grow up.
I don’t give a fuck what Logan says; it’s a real possibility.
Especially when I barely get discharged from the hospital and a Maine state trooper shows up to take me into custody.
“Take a step back, Trooper Douche.” Logan snaps irately, making sure that he inserts himself between the trooper at our door and me. “You don’t have any reason to be here.”
While Logan handles, or tries to handle, the trooper, I make sure that Killian is still sleeping in his car seat since we literally just got home, then pull out my phone to call for backup.
“Hey, Poppy, is everything okay?” Chief Townsend answers on the first ring, and I have a feeling that he’s been expecting my call.
“I need you to handle this, because I’m pretty sure Logan’s about to throw down with a trooper, and he called him Trooper Douche, which makes me think that there’s something there. Plus, we just got home, and Killian is sleeping and I really want to take a shower and a nap.”
“For fuck’s sake.” He sighs deeply. “I’ll get his boss involved too. Put me on speaker.”
“Done.” I do as he said and put the phone over Logan’s shoulder, because I’m not stupid enough to try and get between the two of them.
“Detective Pierce will bring his fiancée in for questioning. She will not be handcuffed, arrested, or anything of the like. Am I clear, Trooper?”
I don’t think I’ve ever heard the chief sound as pissed as he does now, but I have a feeling it has something to do with Logan being arrested in the first place.
When the trooper doesn’t say anything, I chance a look around Logan to see that there’s a stare-off happening between the two men.
“He heard you,” I answer for him. “But he’s currently trying to outmaneuver Logan which won’t bode well for him. We’re headed in now. Will you be there?”
“Yeah. I’m going to go ahead and call Ben, since I doubt you have a different lawyer.”
“Thanks, boss. See you soon.”
He hangs up after a lengthy sigh and I can’t help but feel it in the depths of my soul. I knew Ortega’s death wouldn’t be the end of everything, but I really just want to sleep in my own bed and maybe take a hot shower.
Instead of getting what I desperately want and need, I leave Logan to handle the trooper and move as quickly as I can to get what we’ll need to leave the house again. Thankfully, the baby’s diaper bag is already loaded, so all I have to do is change into something comfortable and grab some snacks for both me and the man currently pretending like he doesn’t even see anyone else in our space.
I don’t spare the trooper a word as I hand Logan the baby and walk out of the house after him. Normally, Logan would carry everything, but I know that with someone he deems a threat, he’ll want to have a hand free in case he needs to go for his weapon.
I’m also pretty sure that if I hadn’t handed him Killian, Logan might have knocked out the intruder. Even if he was another member of law enforcement, him showing up like this at our house violates all of Logan’s internal rules about dealing with other cops.
Neither of us says a word as he secures our son in the back seat. I’m trying not to freak out because there’s a very real possibility I’m going to be arrested for murder. And the thought of spending even a few hours away from Killian right now is enough to send me over the edge. So, instead of freaking out and panicking, I spend as much time as I can memorizing his face and holding his hand.
“Why’s his name Trooper Douche?” I stay quiet for about two minutes before the silence starts to feel awkward in a way that it never usually does.
“Because he’s the douche who arrested me based on Ortega’s bullshit. And he’s a dick who didn’t listen. Assholes like that don’t deserve me calling them by their names.”
Logan navigates the roads, and we’re almost to the station before I have anything to say.
“Technically,” I argue, “he’s just doing his job.”
“Nah.” Logan pulls into the parking lot of the PD and shuts off the engine. “He’s trying to use me and this situation to make his bones, to get a promotion or something. He’s trying to be a hard-ass, not realizing that I’m not the one to fuck with. I’ve already got friends in town who were here to help me find you. I’ll just redirect their skills… and anger.”
That’s Lo.
That’s the man I love.
He carefully helps me get out of the car and then takes Killian and the bags so that I can lead the way to the back door of the station.
Once I have the code punched in and we’re walking in, I see the trooper’s car come into the parking lot. Instead of waiting for him, I close the door and smile to myself. Yes, it was absolutely petty, but I don’t care.
I’m not quite sure what I expect to happen when we walk into the bullpen, but I shouldn’t be surprised.
Nor should I be surprised when the door opens behind me again and in walks Remy and Parker with Nox at their side and Cassie in their arms. “The other two are with Mom,” he grunts in greeting, walking straight by.
“Reinforcements.” Parker whispers and then kisses me on the cheek before she moves around me, rocking Cassie. “Figured you’d need me to keep you from committing murder.”
The bullpen is full. Like bursting at the seams full of police and their kids and partners.
A few of the faces aren’t familiar, but they’re the first to approach Logan and Killian, and I have to swallow down a hint of panic.
“Look at that tiny thing.” One of them leans down so that he’s face-to-face with the baby. “Your daddy’s gonna be wrapped around your little finger, but dontcha worry. Uncle Niles won’t let you get soft.”
“Stuff it,” Logan grunts. “Niles, Angelo. You’ve both met Poppy, but she probably doesn’t remember.”
“Yeah, it’s not like I was in labor and had been stabbed.”
“In your fat.” Emma pipes up from her desk. “It doesn’t count because you were stabbed in the fat.” When I turn a glare at her, she doesn’t even flinch. “ It’s the truth. But I’m super happy that it was just the fat.” She winks at me, playing it off.
I hear the back door to the station open again and know it has to be the trooper coming in.
“You all had nothing better to do with your day?”
“Nope,” Chief Townsend adds from his office doorway. “They really don’t, I’m sure. Come with me. I’ll supervise the questioning in my office.”
“That’s not protocol,” Trooper Douche remarks snidely. “We really should use an interrogation room.”
“You’re aware, I’m sure, that Poppy is a dispatcher here. Before here, she worked for the county. She’s not getting special treatment. She’s getting the respect that she deserves due to her station and position within this department.” With that explanation, the chief walks into his office and waits for us to follow.
When Logan steps forward, I place a hand on his arm.
No one in the open space of the room misses it.
“Stay out here,” I tell him quietly. “I’ll handle this.”
“No.” He shakes his head. “You don’t need to do anything on your own. I’ve got you.”
“I’ve got his entire life on this drive,” the man Logan introduced as Niles adds. “Plenty of ammunition to get you out of this.”
“No.” It’s my turn to shake my head. “I’m not going to do anything other than tell the truth and face whatever comes as a result. Anything else would be disrespectful to the situation and what I went through to get away from that asshole.” I stand on my tiptoes to kiss Logan on the cheek. “I’ll be done in a few.”
But I do grab the food bag from his hand and take my snacks with me.
I’m hungry, what can I say?
“Does she have a sistah?” Angelo, the other man I only met just a minute ago, asks Logan. “If she’s got one that’s anything like her, I wanna meet her.”
“You and Niles are going to stay with us for a little bit.” I stare at them over my shoulder. “We’ve got the space, and I want to hear what favors Logan did for you before that had you up here to help. Plus, I do have a sister, and I can’t wait to see her eat you alive.”
With that, I step into the chief’s office, doing my best to ignore Trooper Douche. The office is clean, if cluttered, and I’m quickly struggling to find something to focus on besides the tense and obviously pissed off trooper.
“Your statement leaves a lot of questions,” he starts, pulling out a notepad. “The one that you gave at the hospital. You state that you were able to grab the weapons before you were forced from the house. Why didn’t you use them there, to defend yourself? Why wait until you and the victim were hours away?”
My blood pressure, which I feel like I’d been doing a good job of keeping under control, skyrockets.
Instead of screaming in response, like I know he wants me to, I reach into my snack bag and grab a Twizzler. Only once I have a bite of the amazingness in my mouth do I calm down a little and take a deep breath.
“Not a victim,” I correct him. “Ortega wasn’t a victim. He shot three men at my house, and then he forced his way inside. I was on the phone with 9-1-1. Which is the correct thing to do in that situation. I called for help and then tried to get to safety. I know there’s a recording of it. So, for you to show up at my house is completely unacceptable.”
I look up at him, still taking my time and eating my snack. He’s obviously uncomfortable with how much knowledge I have and the fact that I’m not afraid of him. But why should I be?
Outside the door, I know that I’ve got Logan. The other people out there, I couldn’t care less about. But him? Logan will always be there for me. He’ll always find me.
“I’ve reviewed the tape,” he concedes. “But you’ve yet to explain why you had a weapon of such force and didn’t use it when you could.”
“Then…” I reach into the bag and pull out another snack, this time some jerky. “You weren’t listening to the same audio. I used the knife. I did defend myself. And I slid the brass knuckles into my pants in case he did get the upper hand. Which he did. I was forty weeks pregnant. Do you know how hard it is to move when you’re that pregnant? No. You’re a man. I did what I had to in order to protect myself and my son. And when I did get the chance to defend myself and get away again, I took it. I’m not sorry that I hit him too hard. He killed two men, and he was going to kill me and my son. If you’re going to arrest me, do it. But if I were you, I’d get the security footage from all of the game cameras that I saw at the cabin.”
He raises an eyebrow at that, clearly surprised. “Cameras?”
“Yes.” I nod my head while eating my jerky. “I counted five, I think. And they’ll show exactly what happened because at least two were pointed at the house.”
The entire time, Chief Townsend doesn’t say anything, until I see him picking up the office phone. “Yeah,” he says quietly. “I want you to get the game camera footage at the cabin where Poppy was taken.”
He nods at the trooper and then hangs up.
“I don’t know why you thought it was a good idea to bring her in,” he tells the trooper. “But all of this could have been done at her house or even over the phone.”
For the first time, I really look at the trooper, and I can feel the anxiety dripping off him. His face is tight, his mouth in a grimace that seems almost painful, but his eyes are the worst. They tell an entire story, just with one glance.
He doesn’t want to be here, doesn’t want to be doing this.
“What’s really going on?”
Both men look at me. Chief with curiosity, but the trooper has fear in his eyes.
“N-nothing,” he stammers slightly, and I know there’s something more.
“Tell me before Ben gets here and stops you from talking to me. Whatever it is, I’ll find a way to help you. But not if you’re trying to throw me and this department under the bus to get ahead.”
He shakes his head vehemently. “It’s nothing like that. I was approached by the Office of Professional Standards and informed that if I did not pursue the case against you, I would be made an example of.”
One glance at the chief, and he nods. “I’ll take care of it. Unless you’re arresting her, Poppy you’re free to go home. I expect there won’t be any charges after I make this call. And when it’s all said and done, you might even have an apology from the Maine State Police for this.”
“Seriously?” I question him. “All this, making me come in, and I can just go home?”
They nod at me, and I leave the chief to clean up whatever mess I accidentally left by killing Ortega.
When I open the office door, I almost fall over.
Logan’s holding our baby in his arms, and he’s using a foot to keep some of the guys away from Killian.
“No.” He’s snapping at the other people around. “If Poppy finds out I let you touch him with your dirty hands, she’ll kill me. Go wash your hands, you heathen.”
“Yeah,” I add in with a laugh. “But after that, we’re going home because I’m exhausted and I really want to sleep.”
Logan’s eyes meet mine. “All good?”
“Chief’s handling it from here.”
On the way home, Logan stops to pick up pizza, and if I wasn’t already going to marry him, I might propose on the spot.
“This is so much better than tacos.” I stuff at least three pieces into my stomach before I give up and get ready for a food coma. “But not as good as sex.”