36. Caleb
CHAPTER 36
Caleb
T he days following New Year’s Day are blissful. We settle back into a routine as Charlie goes back to school and Bailey gets everything ready for the sale of their place. We’ve gone over and started packing up the sentimental items she wants to keep and figuring out what she wants to sell. Lily is supposed to go with us this weekend and decide what she wants to take, and then the guys and I will deliver it to her place.
On Friday morning, I’m pulled into my staff sergeant’s office. I take a seat in one of the leather-back chairs across from his desk, clasping my hands in my lap.
His head swivels from his computer to me, and he settles back into his chair. I watch as he twists the edge of his grey moustache. He sighs heavily before bracing his arms on his desk.
“Sutton, I’m going to need you to lead the elementary school event today. Bell called out.”
“Of course. Is there anything I need to know?”
He grunts as he adjusts himself in his chair. “No. You’re just doing a basic presentation on safety. There’s a manual you can take with you. I’ll have someone else cover your patrol for the day.”
I nod. “Of course, sir. What school am I heading to?”
“Dogwood Elementary.” I grin to myself as he says the name, because that’s where my little girl goes to school.
I slap my hands against my thighs and push up from the chair. “I’ll grab that binder and the other guys and head over there right away.”
He nods as I make my way out of his office and into the bullpen. I find the binder and gather the guys, and we figure out rides. I decide to take my truck, and Officers Whitmore and Haas join me. Haas jumps in the front, and Whitmore opens the back door and just stands there for a second.
“Whitmore, in or out, let’s go,” I call.
He pulls himself in, and his head pops up between the front seats. “Sutton, why do you have a booster seat back here?”
“Because my daughter needs it,” I grunt.
Both men’s heads swing to me as their jaws drop.
“Daughter?” Haas asks, seeming to gather his wits first.
I nod.
“Ummm, not to seem rude or anything, but when the hell did you get a daughter? She’s obviously older if she’s in a booster seat.”
“My girlfriend has a daughter with her deadbeat ex.”
Both men just nod and sit back as I drive us towards the school. Haas reaches forward and presses play on the stereo, and Taylor Swift blasts through the speakers. I quickly reach and turn down the volume.
Whitmore breaks out laughing, and I glare at him through the rearview mirror. He works to tamper down his laughter as I change the music. Nineties rock fills the car, but I can still see the amusement in their eyes.
Finally pulling into the parking lot, I park, and we make our way to the front office. There will be five of us doing the pr esentation today. The receptionist leads us to the auditorium and informs us the students will be arriving shortly. I place the binder on the podium and quickly peruse it as the guys stand in the corner chatting.
A door at the back of the room opens, and the sound of children talking carries into the space. I watch as teachers shuffle in with lines of kids behind them and lead them to rows of seats. I’ve just closed the binder and am standing in the centre of the stage when I hear Charlie’s voice ring through the room, “Daddy!”
I grin and jump off the stage as she comes running at me full speed. I pick her up as she wraps her arms around my neck and kiss her cheek.
“What are you doing here, Daddy?”
“Working. Some of Daddy’s friends are going to do a presentation for your classmates.”
She looks over my shoulder and waves her hand furiously at them. I turn and look at the four officers standing on the stage staring at us, obvious interest on their faces. They all wave back.
“Can I say hi?” she asks.
I look back at the auditorium and see students still funnelling in. I make my way to the stairs, climbing them two at a time to join the guys. Their conversation stops immediately as they watch us approach.
“Charlie, these are Officers Whitmore, Hass, Jones, and Lazar,” I say, pointing at each of them. “Guys, this is my daughter, Charlotte.”
They all wave and say, “Hello.”
Charlie says, “Hi,” and then asks me, “Daddy, why aren’t they at your games like Uncle Josh, or Matt, or Grayson?”
“Because they play on the same team, I don’t play with people from work.”
“Are we not good enough for ya, Sutton?” Whitmore jokes.
“I’m not sure you could keep up,” I say with a laugh.
“I’m sure I could keep up with you, old man,” he says, even though he’s only three years younger than me.
“My daddy is really fast,” Charlie says, smiling.
All four of the guys look at her with soft smiles as Whitmore says, “I’m sure he is.”
The sound of the back door closing has me turning to face the crowd of students and teachers gathered. I watch as the final students find their seats. “Little Bear, time to go join your class.”
“Are you taking me home, or is Mommy coming?” she asks.
“If I’m still here, you can go with me. I’ll let you know when school is done.”
She nods as I put her down and then runs to join her class.
We go through our presentation and answer questions from the students about when to call 911 and what police officers do. When we finish, Charlie waves at me as her class leaves the auditorium. The guys and I make our way to the front office and go over the basics of what they’re supposed to do in case of an emergency. When we finish, I check the time and see that classes will be out in half an hour. I decide to make my way to the Timmies across the street and grab a coffee and bagel while I wait for Charlie to be done with school. I send a quick text to Bailey to let her know I was here for a presentation and will bring Charlie with me.
Five minutes before the bell, we all make our way back to the school. I head into the office and ask that they tell Charlie’s teacher that I’m in the office when she’s ready.
Confusion fills the secretary’s face as she looks at me. “Charlotte Porter was picked up about five minutes ago by her dad.”
The blood drains fr om my face. Derek hasn’t wanted anything to do with Charlie. His sole goal has been to get Bailey back, so why would he take Charlie? He’s only allowed supervised visitation with her, so he shouldn’t be taking her from school, ever. I need to find my little girl.
“Call her mother right now, tell her Caleb says it’s an emergency and she needs to get here ASAP. Then you need to shut the campus down. No one in or out until I say so,” I order, my training kicking in.
The secretary’s face blanches.
I turn and see all four of the men with me are ready to do what I order. “Haas, you take the southwest corner, Whitmore the southeast, Jones the Northwest, and Lazar the Northeast. I’ll take the parking lot. Haas, radio in a potential child abduction. The suspect is Derek Porter, he has a record for domestic abuse.”
They nod, and I jog towards the parking lot, making sure to keep my eyes open for both of them.
I have never felt the panic that I feel right now, not knowing where Charlie is. At least when I was deployed and now at work, everyone else is trained. Charlie is defenceless.
I do everything I can to push that feeling aside as I work to find her. I push open the door to the parking lot, and the brisk winter air hits my skin. Adrenaline has my blood pumping through me so quickly that the cold barely registers.
I meticulously make my way up and down the rows of cars, looking for the familiar make and model. I check each license plate, hoping to find him. I’m halfway through the parking lot when I hear Charlie’s cries. That awful sound makes me freeze, but it’s going to help me find her.
Crouching down, I listen for where it’s coming from. I can tell it’s to my left and a few rows back. Still crouched, I slowly make my way in the direction of her cries. Each row I move through has the sound getting louder and my heart racing fast er.
“I don’t want to go with you,” she says through her sobs.
Frustration fills Derek’s voice as it sounds like he pounds his fist on a car. “When your mommy gets here, everything will be better,” he says.
“You hurt Mommy,” she says.
“Only because she deserved it. Now, if you don’t stop that crying, I’ll give you something to cry about.”
I can see him five cars down from me as I come to the last row. He’s gripping Charlie’s arm as he drags her to the car. I carefully grab the radio on my shoulder and say into it, “I found them. Last row at the back of the parking lot, south side. He’s driving a red Honda civic.” I turn the radio down to ensure it doesn’t alert Derek.
As the beep of him unlocking the car fills the air, I unclip my gun from my side, flicking the safety off and standing to my full height. Luckily, he hasn’t noticed me yet. I put one foot in front of the other and slowly approach the vehicle.
When I’m just one car away, I say, “Put your hands up and step away from the girl.”
Red crawls up Derek’s neck, and he turns to face me. His grip tightens on Charlie, creating white marks on her skin. That poor girl is going to have bruises to remind her of today.
“Release the girl,” I say, my voice coming out calmer than I feel.
He shakes his head. “I’m not listening to the likes of you,” he spits.
This isn’t going to be easy. I steel myself, knowing I need to remove the emotional aspect to ensure a positive outcome.
“Why don’t you tell me why you took Charlie,” I say.
That seems to have him loosening his grip on her. I watch her blood flow rush to the spots that had turned white from his fingers.
“Because it seems to be the only way to get Bailey’s attention. She’s selling our house. I saw the sign. I needed her to talk to me.”
“Did you really think that kidnapping her daughter would have her see you in a positive light?”
His brows pinch together as his face flushes red. “That bitch doesn’t realize how lucky she had it with me.”
His words have me wanting to punch him. How could he possibly think she was lucky being scared of her husband? I push the anger down with three deep breaths. I will not fuck this up. I will not lose Charlie.
“Man, I can’t let Bailey come here until you let Charlie go. I need to make sure she’s safe,” I say.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watch as Haas and Lazar make their way through the cars in an attempt to get behind Derek. I take a step to the side, forcing Derek to turn towards me more so they can sneak past without him seeing.
“Please let me go,” Charlie says as she sniffles, and my heart breaks watching her.
Derek shakes her arm. “Shut up,” he grits at her, and I watch as tears fall down her cheeks.
I take a step towards them, and Derek reaches behind his back and produces a 9mm hand gun, pointing at me.
“Don’t take another step,” he says as he shakes the gun at me. The way he holds the weapon shows me he’s had no training on how to use a gun, but that only makes it more dangerous.
I stop in my tracks, keeping my weapon trained on him.
“Okay. Let’s talk this out then. What will it take for you to let her go. You’re hurting your daughter.”
He looks down at her, his face lacking any emotion. My anger grows, but I work to keep it tamped down. I don’t understand how he can look at her with anything other than love.
“Get me Bailey,” he says. “I wanna talk to Bailey.”
“I can’t bring her out here. How about I call her?” I offer.
His eyes narrow for a second before he nods and gestures his gun at me as if to tell me to get on with it. Reaching into my pocket, I pull my phone out and dial Bailey. She answers after one ring.
“Caleb.” Her voice comes through soft and worried.
“Bailey,” I say, as Derek shouts, “Put it on speaker!”
Pulling the phone away from my face, I click the screen, putting it on speaker.
“Bailey, I’m here with Derek. He has Charlie and says he wants to talk to you. Is that something you can do for me?”
The sound of her muffled sob and deep inhale travel through the line. “Yeah.” Another deep breath. “Yeah, I can do that.”
“Derek, I’m going to come closer so you can talk. Okay?”
He nods erratically, and I cautiously approach him, holding the phone in an outstretched hand.
“Bailey,” he yells at the phone.
“Yeah.” Her voice comes out stronger than it did just a second ago.
“I had to get your attention. I knew Charlie was the best way,” he says, as if that explains away his behaviour.
“You have it,” she says.
“Honey, you need to come back to me. We need to be a family again.”
“Charlie is scared right now. We can’t do that if Charlie is scared. Please let her go,” Bailey pleads.
I watch as Haas positions himself behind Derek and puts a finger to his lips the second Charlie spots him.
“If I do that, then you won’t come see me.”
Just then, Haas wraps an arm around Charlie and pulls her away. He quickly turns his back to Derek to shield Charlie, leaving Derek standing there, mouth open. Derek spins, the gun moving to follow Charlie before he trains it on me as he yells . The vein in his neck pulses.
“You did this,” he shouts as he takes a step towards me. “You turned her against me. You took her from me. You can’t take her from me.”
He aims the gun right at my head. Without a thought, I aim for the shoulder of the arm holding the gun, and my finger pulls the trigger. The shot echoes through the air as Derek stagers back from the impact. He drops the gun, and Lazar comes behind him, securing his hands in handcuffs before holding pressure to the wound.
The second I know Derek is contained, I run to look for Charlie. I find her at the edge of the parking lot with Haas. I rush to her and pull her into my arms, holding her as she cries into my neck and squeezes me tight. Haas leaves us and joins Lazar, radioing the situation and getting an ambulance to attend to Derek’s wound. I make my way towards the building. Just as I’m about to reach the doors, they fly open and Bailey comes running out.
She spots Charlie and me and makes a beeline towards us, wrapping her arms around us as she cries. I hold both of them as close and tight as possible. It takes everything in me not to break down with them, but I know they need my strength right now. The sound of sirens nearing draws my attention. Releasing my hold on the girls, I turn and watch as the ambulance pulls into the parking lot, two cruisers right behind it.
I’m still holding Charlie, her arms tightly wrapped around my neck, as I tell Bailey, “We’re going to have to give them our statements. They’ll want one from Charlie, too, but you’ll be allowed to be with her.”
Bailey nods as she wipes away her tears.
I pull her into me again, kissing the top of her head as I whisper, “I love you” into her hair.
When I turn back towards the cruis ers, I’m shocked to see my staff sergeant approaching us.
“Sutton,” he says, his voice its usual gruffness.
“Sir,” I say with a nod of my head.
“Haas and Lazar have the subject detained and are getting him medical treatment. I’m going to need your weapon, and then McKinnon will take your statements.”
I nod and try to pass Charlie off to Bailey, but she shakes her head and tightens her grip on me. I withdraw my weapon and pass it to staff sergeant Cook, barrel pointing down. He clears the chamber and removes the magazine before depositing it into a clear evidence bag.
McKinnon steps up beside us and nods at the Staff Sergeant, who then leaves. He extends his hand to Bailey, and she shakes it before wrapping her arms around her middle.
“I’m Officer McKinnon, I’m going to ask you a few questions now, while everything is fresh,” he says, and she nods.
He looks at me as though dismissing me, and Bailey must notice, because she says, “I’d rather Caleb stay.”
McKinnon raises an eyebrow at her. “Caleb?” he asks.
“Bailey’s my girlfriend,” I say, and he nods.
“Okay, Bailey, can you start by giving me your full name and your relationship to the assailant.”
McKinnon goes through all the basic questions with Bailey before moving to me and, eventually, Charlie. She answers all his questions as best as possible, all while staying in my arms. When he’s finally done, he hands Bailey a business card and shakes my hand before joining the rest of the guys.
I turn and look at Bailey, seeing the exhaustion in her eyes. Using my free hand, I cup her cheek. “Let’s head home.”
She nods against my hand, and I lead them towards my truck. I’ll come back for her car or send someone later, but I’m not letting her drive right now. As soon as we pull out of the parking lot, Charlie is passed out in the back and Bailey holds my hand tightly. When we arrive home, I carry Charlie inside and lay her on the couch, covering her with a blanket and grabbing Princess and Vanilla from her bedroom.
Bailey and I settle at the other end, and I hold her as we watch Charlie sleep. The exhaustion eventually takes over for both Bailey and me, and we fall asleep on the couch.
I’m woken up when Charlie climbs into my lap, bringing her blanket and bear with her. She settles in, and I hold her as she falls asleep again.
I n the morning, I make us all breakfast before we head upstairs for showers and fresh clothes. After pulling my shirt on, I settle on the edge of the bed and grab the stuffed bear that’s sitting on the dresser across from the foot of the bed. I stare at it as I remember the day that Bailey, Charlie, and I went to the mall and Charlie helped me make it. That day, I didn’t know just what those girls would become to me, but I knew they had forever affected me.
I look up at the sound of the door opening and see the girls standing there. Charlie comes in and climbs onto the bed, settling into my side as I wrap an arm around her and kiss the top of her head.
“What’s its name?” Charlie asks, and I smile.
“Charlotte,” I say, and her eyes go comically wide.
“We have the same name,” she says.
“She’s named after you.”
“Really?” Her voice is filled with wonder as she looks at the stuffed bear in her princess dress and tiara Charlie chose the day we made our bears.
“Yup. I knew you were special, and I always wanted to keep a part of you with me. So I made this bear to be my Little Be ar at home.”
She smiles up at me and snuggles into me. “Why do you call me Little Bear?” she asks.
I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and run my fingers through her blonde strands the same way I’ve learned her mother likes.
“Did you know bears represent courage and strength?”
She shakes her head.
“When we first met, you were strong and courageous when you called 911, just like a bear. Not only that, you remained a happy little girl, showing just how strong you are. So, you’re my Little Bear.”
“I like it,” she whispers into my chest, and I hold her close as I watch Bailey wipe at her tears. I pat the spot beside me on the bed, and she joins us. I wrap my arm around her and we sit there as I hold my girls.
I’m on leave at work for the next little bit while they run an investigation to ensure my shooting was justified. Bailey takes some much-needed time off as well, and we keep Charlie home from school. We spend our days at home, just the three of us, plus Finn. We get Charlie registered for therapy to make sure she works through everything that happened, and Bailey schedules herself an appointment. I have department-mandated sessions with a therapist through the department.
We get Bailey’s house completely packed so she can be done with those bad memories, and the guys help me get rid of the furniture. The next few weeks are filled with more interviews at the precinct, to ensure all the details are straight, and court dates. Luckily, our friends are there, supporting us through everything. I can see how much having people around who truly love and care for her helps Bailey. She’s never had it before, and I’m so glad she has it now.
I use the time off to turn the den that wasn’t being used into a split space. I add bookshelves and a comfy chair so Ba iley can use part of the room as a reading getaway. In the other half, I set up all of Charlie’s toys so she has somewhere other than the living room to play.
I spend every day grateful to have been the officer that responded to that 911 call and to have met Bailey and Charlie. I know I will spend the rest of my life ensuring they are happy and cared for, and one day I will make sure they have my last name and know I’m never letting them go.