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“I’m sorry, Isaac. I wanted to find Mad so he’d keep us safe.”
Isaac kissed the top of Newt’s head. The paramedic had removed his helmet during her examination.
“It’s okay, buddy. Just… just don’t do that ever again, okay?”
“Okay,” Newt said in a small voice.
The sound of a car engine had me turning to look down the driveway and I felt my pulse speed up at the sight of the two police cruisers heading toward us.
I knew it was bad when a grim-faced Alex got out of the first car. I automatically stepped in front of the open ambulance. I glanced over my shoulder at Isaac who’d gone even paler. He was hanging onto Newt as if he expected someone to rip him from his arms.
Cam approached me, his face pulled into a mask of seriousness. The friendly man from earlier was gone.
“Sheriff,” I said in greeting, because I knew he wasn’t there for the informal visit he’d talked about.
“Lieutenant Kent,” he responded.
Yeah, this was bad. No other reason to use my title otherwise.
Cam looked past me into the ambulance. “Everyone okay?” he asked.
The female paramedic nodded. “We’re going to transport the boy to the hospital in Greenville just to get checked out, but he should be okay. Not seeing any signs of hypothermia or frostbite.”
“Good,” Cam said. His eyes went to Isaac. “Are you Isaac Foster?” he asked.
Isaac dropped his eyes to the floor of the ambulance. His expression broke me, and I couldn’t stop myself from stepping between Cam and the vehicle. “Sheriff, you aren’t—”
“Maddox,” Isaac cut in. “Don’t,” he said firmly. He leaned down to whisper something to Newt.
“No, Isaac!” the little boy cried and clung to him harder. “No, you promised!”
Isaac kept trying to talk softly to Newt, but the child wouldn’t hear him out. I couldn’t blame him. Newt knew what was happening. Isaac stood and lifted Newt into his arms, making sure not to bump their heads on the ceiling of the ambulance in the process. He walked to the back. Newt was sobbing and begging Isaac not to leave him.
I held Isaac’s elbow when he stepped out of the ambulance. He faced me and put his hand over Newt’s head. He waited until Newt had quieted enough to hear him. “Newt, I need you to listen to me, okay?”
Newt pulled back a little. His fingers were wrapped around the chain of my dog tags which were around Isaac’s neck. He’d been wearing them ever since the night I’d given them to him.
“I need you to stay here with Maddox while I go take care of some things.”
Newt began shaking his head. “No,” he croaked.
“You remember how you and Maddox spit on it?” Isaac asked. “The night you and I were going to leave and you asked him to spit on it and so that’s what you guys did after dinner. Do you remember that?”
Newt nodded. “Yeah,” he whispered.
“What did you spit on?” Isaac asked.
“That Mad would watch out for us and keep us safe and never let anyone hurt us again.”
“Do you think Mad would ever break a promise you guys spit on?” Isaac asked. His eyes shifted to me and I knew he was talking to me as much as to himself. It was his way of reminding me of the promise I’d made to him the night he’d told me about his past.
No matter what, don’t let Gary get Newt.
“No,” Newt said sadly.
“So I need you to stay here with Maddox so he can keep his promise, okay?”
I could tell Newt wanted to say no. Fuck, I wanted to tell Isaac no too. I wanted to punch Cam and Alex and everyone who tried to take Isaac from me. But I had to put Newt first.
Newt finally nodded, then Isaac gave him a hug. “Love you, Newt,” he said softly.
“Love you,” Newt returned, then he began to cry again.
Isaac was barely holding it together as he handed Newt to me. The little boy clung to me like a vine as Isaac leaned in to kiss me. “I’ll be okay,” he whispered to me.
“Isaac,” I said in what sounded like a strangled moan. I couldn’t believe I was letting this happen. It was like I was back on that dirt road crawling between the bodies of my fallen comrades trying to make sense of why they were dead and I wasn’t.
There was no sense to be made of it, though.
Isaac kissed me again. “I love you.” Then he turned to Cam and said, “Yes, I’m Isaac Foster.”
Cam hesitated for a moment, his eyes shifting between me and Isaac and Newt. His face fell as he said, “Isaac Foster, you’re under arrest for the kidnapping of Newton Foster-Willis. I’ll need you to come with me.”
I wanted to rip Cam’s arm off when he closed his fingers around Isaac’s upper am and led him toward the patrol car Alex was still standing in front of. I made sure Newt couldn’t see as he told Isaac to put his hands out in front of him and proceeded to cuff him, then search him. I rubbed my hand over Newt’s back as I watched Cam put Isaac in Alex’s car. Isaac didn’t look at me as the cruiser turned around in the driveway and then began making its way down the driveway. I stiffened when Cam approached me again.
