Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
A young Black woman with shoulder-length hair and a friendly smile introduced herself as Officer Angela Martin. “How’re you all doing?”
“Much better than we were,” Carson said.
“Our crime scene team would like to process the vehicle. Could I have the keys?”
Cresley pulled the keys out of her pocket and handed them to her, telling her where to find the car in the parking lot. “It’s a silver Range Rover.”
“Beckett was in the front passenger seat the whole time. I drove, Cresley was behind me, and Ty was sitting next to her.”
“Got it. Be right back.” Officer Martin left the room for a minute. When she returned, she said, “Can you take me through the series of events that brought you to our neck of the woods today?”
“Let me,” Cresley said. “He needs to rest.”
“Would you like me to have one of my colleagues watch your son while we talk?”
“No,” Ty said. “I don’t want to leave them.”
“It’s okay,” Cresley said. “Unfortunately, he already knows the whole story.”
Cresley told the story, beginning with the custody battle, Marlon’s unending demands for money, her refusal to give him any more, the pending court date and how his escalation into violence had led to the stalking, car crash, attempt to sign Ty out of school, the stabbing, the kidnapping and his demand that they leave their phones behind and drive him to Mexico.
“Where were you when he found you?”
“We’d moved to a friend’s home in Laurel Canyon while the police and FBI looked for him.”
Carson recited the address for her.
“How do you think he found you and got into the house?”
“He told me he’d had an AirTag in my car for two years and always knew where I was. I believe he came in through the back door to the yard and must’ve jimmied the lock or broken a window. All I know is that when I went into the bedroom, he was standing there, pointing a gun at me.”
Cresley told her about the tense hours in the car, the threats Marlon had made, how he’d held a gun to Carson’s head and said terrible things about him in front of Ty, as if trying to poison them against him.
Ty raised his head off Carson’s chest. “It didn’t work.”
The officer smiled at him. “I’m glad to hear that. Take me through what happened at the gas station.”
Carson told her about Marlon taking Ty inside and how they’d opened the glove box where his gun and extra phone were kept. “We called 911 to alert them of our position, and I told Cresley to get Ty out of there when they came out. She did a great job of rushing them and running off with Ty.”
“I was sure he would shoot me in the back as I ran away,” Cresley said with a shudder.
“He’d already caught sight of me with a gun pointed at him,” Carson said.
“He ran off and fired at me over his shoulder. I think you’ll find the bullet lodged in the roof above the pumps.
I aimed for his ass and took him down. He screamed his head off.
We exchanged words about who’d done what to who and how him stabbing and kidnapping me was worse than his flesh wound.
I kept the gun trained on him until you guys showed up, and then I think I passed out. I assume you confiscated my gun?”
“Yes, and his as well.”
“Will I face charges for shooting him?”
“That’s above my pay grade, but to me, it looks justified since he kidnapped you and shot at you first. Don’t quote me on that, though.”
“We never would,” Carson said. “I can produce my license to carry if that would help.”
“It would.”
“I’ll get that for you.”
“Here’s my card. You can email it to me.”
“I will when I have my phone.”
“Julian is coming,” Cresley said. “I’m sure he’s bringing our phones.”
“Oh, that’s good,” Carson said.
“Call me if there’s anything else I can do for you.”
“Thank you, Officer Martin,” Cresley said. “We appreciate your kindness.”
“I’m a big fan of your career, ma’am.”
“Oh please, call me Cresley.”
“I’m glad you and your family are safe, Cresley.”
“Thank you again.”
After the officer left the room, Cresley returned her head to Carson’s chest.
He wrapped his arm around her.
Cresley exhaled a deep breath, still trying to regulate a nervous system gone haywire. She’d never forget the sight of Marlon walking away with Ty while tucking a gun into the back of his pants.
“My dad tried to sign me out of school?”
Cresley winced, realizing he hadn’t known that detail until he heard her say it to the police officer.
“Was that the day the police were at school?”
“Yes, buddy, but I didn’t want to scare you by telling you that.”
“Why did he want to sign me out?”
“I don’t know, but I wasn’t about to allow that.” She couldn’t bear to think what Marlon had planned if he succeeded in getting to Ty.
“She called us a family,” Ty said. “Are we a family?”
Carson ran his hand over Ty’s back. “Is that what you want, pal?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“I do, too,” Cresley said.
“Do you want a family, Carson?” Ty asked.
Cresley held her breath, waiting to hear what he would say.
“I didn’t think I did until you two came along and made me see how cool it is. Now I can’t imagine life without you guys.”
“We can’t imagine life without you either,” Cresley said. “And we’re so glad we don’t have to.”
“So then it’s all worked out, right?” Ty asked. “We’re a family now.”
“Carson needs time to recover before he makes any big decisions.”
“But he just said—”
“I heard him, but let’s take things one step at a time and get Carson back to full health and see where we are, okay?”
Cresley wanted to give him time to rest and recover.
Their emotions were running high, and she had no desire to back him into any corners.
Just because he couldn’t imagine life without them didn’t mean he wanted to be permanently shackled to a single mom and her son.
Not that long ago, he’d wondered what Julian could be thinking spending all his free time with Isla and her kids.
“Fine, but he’s my family.”
Carson closed his eyes and smiled as he tightened his hold on the boy. “Always.”
The three of them were asleep when Julian and Isla arrived two hours later.
Carson opened his eyes and blinked his brother into focus, noticing that Julian was still wearing a dress shirt and suit pants. “You didn’t even get changed before you hit the road.”
“I picked up Isla and headed south. How’re you doing?”
“Much better now that Beckett is in custody.”
“They said he’s making a racket, demanding you be charged with shooting him.”
“He had it coming.”
Julian handed them their cell phones. “Sure as hell did. The whole family wanted to come, but I held them off. Expect an onslaught when you get back to town.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
Cresley raised her head off Carson’s chest. “Hey, guys.”
Isla moved toward Cresley’s side of the bed and squeezed her shoulder. “We’re so happy to see you all.”
“We’re happy to be seen,” Cresley said with a grateful smile for her new friend.
By eight o’clock, the doctor was ready to release Carson. They gave him a scrub shirt to wear home and handed a plastic bag containing his bloody T-shirt to Isla.
“Should we find a place to stay tonight and head home in the morning?” Julian asked.
“Nah, let’s go home,” Carson said.
“Are you sure you’re up to more hours in the car?” Cresley asked.
“I assume I won’t be driving this time.”
“You assume correctly,” Julian said. “I talked to the police outside, and they were finishing up their work on the Rover. They gave me the keys. Isla can drive my car home, and I’ll drive yours.”
“Ty and I will go with Isla,” Cresley said, “so she doesn’t have to be alone.”
“I don’t mind at all if you want to be with Carson,” Isla said.
Cresley was torn.
“Go ahead with Isla, Cres,” Carson said. “We’ll be right behind you.”
“Promise me you’ll ask Julian to stop if you need to.”
“I promise.” He kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you back at home. We can go to your house, if you want.”
“Not ready to go back there.”
“Let’s go to my place,” Carson said. “Isla’s house will be a crime scene.”
“Yes, please. That would be good.”
“We’ll get your stuff as soon as the cops let us in,” Julian said.
Cresley nodded. “Thank you.” She hugged Carson gently. “Don’t get hurt on the way home, you got me?”
“Yeah, babe. I’ll behave. I promise.”
She was almost afraid to let go of him.
“Everything’s okay now,” he whispered as he kissed her cheek and then her lips. “All good in the hood.”
She left him with a wan smile and went to help Ty into Julian’s G-Wagon.
“We need gas,” Carson said to Julian.
“First stop.”
“What a fucking couple of weeks,” Carson said as they led Isla to the interstate twenty minutes later.
“No shit, huh? What now?”
“Ty wants us to be a family.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“Better than expected. I’ve become quite attached to both of them.”
“Funny how that happens when you’re not looking, huh?”
Carson turned his head to look at his brother. “Feels like everything is changing. You’re with Isla. I’ve got this thing with Cres. Griff’s got a kid. Mom and Dad are back together.”
“That’s life, right? Don’t get too comfortable.”
“It feels kind of… out of control.”
Julian laughed. “That it does, my friend, but it’s the best thing to ever happen to me. Nothing else is even close.”
“I’m starting to see what you mean.”
He laughed harder this time. “I bet you are. For what it’s worth, I think she’s great, and Ty is, too.”
“Ty is the best kid I’ve ever met.”
“I’ll fight you on that one.”
“Beckett looked into me. Talked to some of my former buddies. Dumped it all on them in the car. I can’t imagine what Ty thinks of me after hearing that.”
“What I saw when I walked into the room earlier was a woman and a child snuggled up to the man they both love.”
“They don’t love me. They haven’t known me long enough for that.”
“Wow, you’re dumber than I thought.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“She’s in love with you. He’s in love with you. You’re in love with both of them.”
“That’s not what this is.”
“Oh no?”
How would he even know?
“Let me ask you this… When you were in that car with Beckett and his gun, what was your top priority?”