Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
RACHEL
I was heading for my car to meet up with Mojave and Frankie after the work day was done when Scott showed up.
I shouldn’t have been surprised, he never took kindly to me ignoring him, but I hadn’t been paying attention, too busy texting Zero about the next opportunity he had in his schedule for a check in.
He was honest when he said parenting didn't come easy to him, and he needed help, and after our conversation earlier today, I wanted to make sure to check in soon, just so he knew he had support.
“You can’t keep ignoring me.”
Jumping, I jerked my head up to find Scott leaning against my car, his arms crossed tightly over his chest and a scowl on his face.
I bit back a sigh. I didn’t have the time nor the energy to deal with him right now.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t ignore him face to face.
While he’d never laid a hand on me, Scott had always had a temper and property damage wasn’t out of the realm of possibility when he was angry.
The day I gave him the divorce papers, he shattered my late grandmother’s favorite teapot against the wall.
“I’m not ignoring you. I’m working. What do you want, Scott?”
Pushing off the car, he strode closer, scowling when I took a step back to stay out of his range. “I’m really tired of this, Rachel. I said I was sorry. What more do you want from me?”
“Nothing,” I answered pointedly. “I don’t want anything from you. We got divorced, remember? There’s nothing more left to be said.”
“That’s bullshit!” he shouted, slapping his hand hard against the side of my car. Luckily, not with a closed fist, but the car did rock under the force. “We made vows! For better or worse! You’re supposed to forgive me!”
This time, the sigh escaped unbidden, filled with exhaustion from months of dealing with this.
I knew Scott wouldn’t take the divorce well.
He was a traditional man, didn’t believe in divorce, and if I hadn’t had all the evidence Mojave had provided me, the process would’ve dragged out a lot longer than it already had.
I’d hoped after the divorce was finalized that he’d stop, but maybe I should’ve known better.
With my parents supporting him, he didn’t actually take accountability for anything he’d done.
“Scott, you cheated. You knew from the start how I felt about that. Not to mention your recent criminal activity–”
“What criminal activity?” he bellowed. “I didn’t do shit! I can’t believe you’d believe those thugs over me! Haven’t you heard what they’ve been doing around town?”
“I believe video evidence over your lies, Scott. I recognized you in that video. You didn’t even cover your face.”
“That wasn’t me! It was blurry! You couldn’t see shit!”
We’d had this conversation before. At least a dozen times since I filed for divorce.
He refused to take any responsibility for his actions.
Even if it hadn’t been his idea, which I figured might be the case because he was more Officer Larson’s lackey than the ring leader, he was still involved.
He still put an innocent man behind bars.
He was just as guilty in my opinion. And I was really tired of having this argument.
“We’re not doing this again,” I told him, heading around my car to put the files I’d brought with me into the front seat. “I’ve made myself perfectly clear. We’re divorced. You need to let it go.”
I barely had time to put the documents down before he grabbed my arm hard, wrenching me around to face him.
I jerked back at the wild expression in his eyes.
This wasn’t the Scott I knew. The Scott I knew was put together, hair always gelled perfectly and his face shaven every day.
He asked me to iron his uniform every morning so even his clothes were always perfect.
The Scott standing in front of me had several days of scruff, his hair greasy and falling onto his forehead, and his clothes looked disheveled.
I would’ve felt bad for him if he wasn’t squeezing my arm to the point of pain, his teeth bared in fury as he readied himself to start shouting again.
“Is there a problem?” Mojave’s quiet voice interjected before Scott could get started.
My stomach sank as I turned in his direction, worried Frankie was still with him and he’d inadvertently put her in danger.
He stood alone, though, his expression dark as he stared at Scott unblinkingly.
The look was a little unnerving actually.
“Who the fuck are you?” Scott snarled and I grimaced as spittle flew out and hit me in the face.
Mojave didn’t answer. He didn’t approach either. Thankfully. Physical violence wouldn’t help the situation, no matter how poorly Scott was acting. Instead, he did something unexpected. He pulled out his phone and pointed it in our direction.
“What are you doing?” Scott demanded.
“Filming,” Mojave replied calmly. “Your hearing is coming up soon. I think they’ll want to know about you harassing women when you’re supposed to be keeping your head down.”
“I’m not harassing anyone! She’s my wife!”
“Ex-wife,” Mojave corrected. “She asked you to leave her alone. You grabbed her instead. That’s harassment.”
His tone was even, cold, and got the response he’d wanted. Scott jerked his hand away from me like he’d touched a hot stove, putting a few steps between me and him. Of course, he turned his attention to Mojave, jabbing a finger at him instead.
“You’re a fuckin’ coward. Hiding behind a camera instead of facing me like a man. You’re all cowards. Just like that little bitch we caught with the drugs. He cried in his cell after we arrested him.”
It sounded like Scott was trying to egg Mojave into starting a fight. Mojave didn’t move or even flinch. He just continued to stare, his phone still pointed at Scott.
“What? Nothin’ to say?” Scott demanded.
Something changed in Mojave’s expression, something I hadn’t seen before.
He didn’t get angry or meet Scott on his level.
His expression hardened and his shoulders went back, his chin lifted.
He didn’t look anxious or uneasy anymore.
Like the man with the military bearing was hiding just under the surface.
“I don’t have to say anything,” Mojave answered firmly. “You’re doing plenty of talking for the three of us. You’ve got two choices. You can either leave quietly, or Rachel can call the cops. Think your buddies will side with you when there’s even more video evidence showing who you truly are?”
The muscle in Scott’s jaw ticked and his hands flexed as he fought his temper, but eventually he shot me a dirty look. “This isn’t over.”
“Yes it is,” I said, trying to hide the tremble in my voice. “I’ve already got the divorce as evidence. Keep harassing me and I’ll get a restraining order. Leave, Scott.”
His eyes widened with fury but he recognized he was in a losing situation and eventually stormed off, hopping into a car I should’ve recognized parked along the street. My dad’s car. Because of course they’d help him if he couldn’t afford his own.
Maybe it was time to put up more boundaries with my parents. They were actively encouraging Scott to harass me, and it was making things worse. If I didn’t want to risk him truly going too far, they needed to stop encouraging him.
“You okay?”
Mojave had lowered his phone, tucking it back in his pocket, and he was watching me with sharp brown eyes that seemed to see absolutely everything. Including just how bothered I was by the whole situation, despite me saying otherwise.
“I’m fine. Where’s Frankie?”
He glanced off to the side and Frankie poked her head out from the nearby alley. All my breath left me in a rush. She had been nearby, she’d heard the whole thing. A little girl shouldn’t be exposed to things like that.
“Mojave–”
“She was supposed to go home. Told her to go back home and I’d pick her up once he was gone,” he said blandly, giving Frankie an expectant look.
She raised her chin defiantly. “I wanted to be sure she was okay!”
Blowing out a shaky breath, I tried to rein in my emotions.
I couldn’t process what just happened right now, not while Frankie was there watching.
Closing the door to the car, I walked around it, coming over to Frankie and squatting to be at her eye level.
“I’m okay. I promise. I’m sorry you had to see that. ”
Her brows were drawn together and she looked worried, her concerned gaze sweeping over my face. I gave her a small smile to reassure her. “I know that looked scary, but I promise, I’m okay. Are you okay?”
The question confused her and she looked between me and Mojave in question. “Yeah? Why?”
“Because seeing an adult act that way can be really scary. I care about you, Frankie. I didn’t want you to be scared.”
Mojave joined us, hands tucked back in his pocket and the blank expression back. After that interaction, I had more questions for him, but they’d wait until after Frankie was home safely. Now, in front of her, wasn’t the time nor the place to ask.
“Gonna ask her what you wanted to earlier?” he queried, making me frown. The question wasn’t directed at me, though. It was directed at Frankie, who brightened and whipped around to look at me again.
“Mojave said I get ice cream for doing all my work. Do you wanna come?”
Blinking, I looked up at him in surprise. “All of it? That was three days of work.”
He shrugged. “Killian helped with the math. Prez helped with something called ELA. I helped with science. We got it done.”
It wasn’t often I was at a loss for words, but for a moment I could only stare at him. “You… recruited your crew to help Frankie with her homework?”
He nodded like it was nothing, then shrugged again. “I said she’d get ice cream when she was done. The shop is nearby. She wanted to invite you to join us.”
“I…” didn’t know what to say. I’d honestly expected that Frankie wouldn’t get much done hanging out with Mojave all day.
While I trusted him to look out for her, he didn’t immediately strike me as someone capable of helping with homework.
He continued to surprise me with each interaction he had with Frankie. He was more capable than he let on.
Frankie took my hand, tugging it to get me moving. “Come on. Mojave has a picture I made with Killian to give you. You can look at it at the ice cream shop. Killian is a tattoo artist. He has his own shop. He said I could have a free tattoo if I graduate high school.”
Letting her pull me toward the street, I shot Mojave a questioning look. “You took her to a tattoo shop?”
He shrugged. “It was quiet.”