He took her outstretched hand and smiled. “Little Rebecca Salinger. Look at you all grown up.”
“Please. You act like you haven’t seen me in ages. We were both at Jason and Skylar’s last competition.”
Skylar was the daughter of my co-worker, Noah Moore, and Jason was Drake’s son. The two teenagers were dance partners and had entered a local competition a few weeks back. They were also grounded along with Dom over the weekend.
Drake nodded. “Maybe, but that was personal. I can deal with the fact you’re all grown up and even have a teenager of your own, apparently. But I’m here in a professional capacity to assist you. And that takes some getting used to.”
The reminder Drake had a job to do had the moment turning serious. “You’re here about Dom?”
“I have two cases on my docket at the moment.” He took a seat in the chair opposite me. “Dominic Bayers and Julie Dawson. But the Dawson one we’re not stirring too much yet.”
Which meant he was definitely coming to me about Dom. “Do you have any news?”
“Well, the State’s Attorney is Samantha Lang. She has relented on the kidnapping aspect. But I think that had more to do with not pissing off your family than anything she thought was fair. She knew the kid was only trying to keep his family together. It helped that you let them know within twenty-four hours as well. You played everything right. Everything went the way it should.”
I frowned but controlled my annoyance. “She wanted to charge him. What is wrong with her? She is aware she is not allowed to go anywhere near where Dom is if she wants to keep him protected.”
“She has no idea where Dom is actually staying, just that he is in your custody. As far as everyone is concerned, including me, Nick arranged for you all to be in a safe house.” Drake was warning me of what the situation was. His kid was part of the debacle in the PaintBall course. He knew where Dom was. But he wouldn’t say anything “She knows what is at stake. She won’t get her conviction if she meddles too much.”
“So, she and the FBI know who they’re dealing with?”
“They have an idea. I don’t think your son has any idea how much he actually saw.” Drake leaned back. “He could identify the men getting out of the car, but I believe him when he says he can’t remember much. He told us all he knows. Consciously.”
“You also think a cognitive interview is a good idea, don’t you?”
“Not my call.” Drake shook his head and I could tell he had an opinion on the matter. “I’m just the muscle in this operation.”
He went on to explain what had happened at the safe house and how Dom had escaped in the early morning. All things I already knew.
“I don’t want him traumatized any more than what he already is.” That was my big concern. “You’ve got to understand that. What if it were your kid?”
Drake nodded and offered me a weak smile. “You’re preaching to the choir, Bex. I’m still married because I believed I was protecting my kid.”
“What?”
“Jason was so alone and struggling to make friends. I mean, besides Skylar of course.” He let out a long sigh, sadness coating his handsome face. “Sage and I didn’t want him to have to deal with divorced parents on top of all that. I don’t think it helped that I was hardly home.”
I smiled, because I understood what he meant. “But he’s thriving now.”
“And getting into more trouble than I can control.”
“Yeah, they really managed to do a number on the course.”
“I have to admit though, Bex,” Drake's features softened. “It felt good to be grounding my kid for having fun. He’d been so withdrawn he never got into any trouble.”
“Well, they’ll be cleaning up the PaintBall Course they messed up. If nothing else, they will bond over manual labor.”
“What about yours? Did you ground him?”
“When you speak to him, don’t refer to him as my son.” Bex hated to have that conversation but she needed to make things completely clear. “His mother just died and he misses her. He is resentful as hell towards me. More so than toward Logan. And I don’t want him to think we’re dismissing his mother.”
“Noted.”
“As for grounding.” The corners of my mouth lifted. “Dominic has been in the apartment since he arrived. I sent himto PaintBall to make friends. But we made him start at Marina De Ferrier High School this week. He’s not happy. Besides, all his new friends are grounded anyway.”
“True.”
“Now what can you tell me about the case?”
