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Sydney turned to Mike and he nodded, “I’m not going any further than this room. I have a feeling you’ll be able to see me from the kitchen table.”
The little girl shifted and surveyed the area almost as well as he had when he’d first stepped inside. A hard habit to break, though he was less obvious than she was. He’d taken in the space the moment he’d crossed the threshold. Taking in the number of people in the room. Counted out the windows, hallways, and even took note of a few weapons in places out of the range of little hands. Beyond the Sherriff’s county issued piece between those in the room and the extra he'd calculated a good dozen guns in various calibers if he counted the rifles.
Maggie walked over and took Sydney’s hand once the little girl had moved back up to Mike’s knee. With a quick hop off his lap the Nana to all led her away from the conversation she was too young to hear and a pit formed in his stomach at the reality she’d experienced most of what would be discussed first hand.
After watching his daughter leave the room he tried to sus out what was happening with all these people there. “What’s this all about Red?”
“I spoke to Hollywood and he is trying to keep his metaphorical MC jacket on and not his sheriff’s uniform. But he’s technically on duty today and you set that tone when it comes to the cuffs, he was LAPD before this and knows the California policing policies and the like.”
“Understood.” Mike wasn’t about to go into the jurisdictional issues, if there was one thing he understood during SEAL training less is more and let those willing to speak do it before settling into a final plan of attack.
“We brought in Doc and she’s going to help with Sydney and you if you want about the trauma you both have been through.”
With tight braids that disappeared behind a scarf tied as if it were a headband that draped along her right shoulder the woman had a poof of hair and paler skin. But it was her eyes, kind and soft that told him everything he needed to know about the woman. She was clad in a leather coat with her name on a patch, but that was over a long flowing dress. The mix of hippie biker was a sight to behold.
“I was born into the Army on a German base and trained combat trauma at the VA,” she explained. “I’m retired and have been doing private practice for a few years and recently moved to Montana. Honestly my child psych has come as OJT through the Steels and those they rescue. It’s the best and worst way to learn and I consult with some of the best in my field before I move forward beyond basic talk therapy. That being said, I’m an MD, not a PhD so any physical exams I can do also. Normally I’d pass that off to a pediatrician, but we don’t have one on deck that wouldn’t report. That being said at some point it will need to be done, sooner the better from a long term disease stand point, sadly, she’s a year too young for the HPV vaccine though I’m tempted to break that rule if it’s not too late.”
Everyone in the room dropped their head and the last person in the room turned her head to the side to gather herself. On the job training, he could think of worse things, but the idea of his daughter having to go through the trauma of a physical exam sent his stomach on a tumble ride. All of this was wrong.
“Then we’ll deal with the Amber Alert,” Red said continuing the explanation of the parties involved as he leaned his elbows on his thighs. “You need to make this right eventually and that brings us to Cream. For now you’ll stay safe here and we’re going to deal with all of this.”
Cream smiled softly, the gentle aura around her set Mike at ease even as he made out a slightly hard edge. “Look, Mike you’re in a lot of trouble right now. They think you’re a person of interest in taking your daughter out of state. But you’re on leave and vacationing so we can use that for our defense.”
“The last thing I sent to Sassy, Syd’s mother, was that we were going to go camping in the mountains and cell service would be spotty.”
Cream’s eyes locked with Hollywood’s for a moment sending a bolt of cold down his spine.
“What? Was that a mistake?”
“It shows a planned deception, you abandoned your truck at a truck stop,” Hollywood said. “We know that because it’s part of the Amber Alert. Still in California, but not exactly in a place where there’s a trailhead. For me, it would be a red flag I’d bring to the DA for a warrant.”
“So the fact I swapped out my license plates with my mom’s car,” Mike surmised as Cream began scratching out notes on a yellow legal pad. “Probably sealed it with the judge.”
“It shifts my approach a bit,” Cream admitted, but held up her hand to keep him silent. “Red explained the texts you read between your ex and her husband. I’ve glanced at a few since Hack is printing out the whole transcript for me to offer as evidence. If I can use those to show why you took her then I want to help you gain full custody of her. Are you ready for that? If you get custody will you retire from the Navy? Or do you have a girlfriend or family member that can help you with Sydney fulltime?”
“My rotation is up, I’m not mad about getting my twenty in so yes, I’m willing to retire from the Navy and find something to do as a civilian to support her. I don’t know exactly where I’ll end up, but I know Sydney will never go back to that woman. Put her in hiding, change her name, I don’t care.” Rage began setting fire to Mike’s skin. While people believed in the idea of not letting trauma settle in, he’d never been one to let it out. Compressed into tiny balls of hatred wouldn’t work anymore. Only what had happened wouldn’t change as he relived it over and over again, and this was just the beginning.
“I’ll help you through the entire process,” Cream assured. “At some point I’ll need to know the truth, every bit of it so I can avoid saying or doing the wrong thing.”
“You have a story? An alibi?” Hollywood asked. “A believable situation that people can accept because the man was a monster and people honestly don’t care he’s gone. Custodial interference is one thing.”
“One I can get tossed with two lines of text messages and your joint custody agreement. They have no proof you’re in Montana and not California,” Cream added.
“But there’s a dead man and that usually calls for at least a few years locked up by someone,” Hollywood continued.
“But cases can go cold,” Cream added. “Icy if they need to.”
“I left the house, can’t say what happened after I left. I admit to stealing his phone because I didn’t want the messages deleted.”
He’d been trained for torture, knew how to slow his heartbeat, replace his thoughts and stick to the lie. During the trip he practiced his story a thousand times over. This was a mission, one he wasn’t going to fail because the most important person in the world was on the line.
“For now you’re safe here. Hollywood, Doc and myself will see to that. Doc will need to start working with Sydney to help her with the trauma. Will you be okay with that?”
“Let me think about that. I’m not sure Sydney’s ready for that right now.”
Doc reached out and touched Mike’s hand. “She will need to deal with this sooner than later. We need to document everything and as horrible as it is, we want to do that before her body heals and takes that evidence from us.”
“Well, I guess I better be okay with this. You’ll protect her right? Talk her through everything, I can’t see standing by her side and saying this lady is gonna touch you and you have to be—” Mike brought a fisted hand to his mouth wishing he could punch instead of press the fist against his teeth. How could Sydney be able to handle what they’re trying to do? Why can’t the words typed out in some sick sexual fetish be enough? The word disease bounced back around in his head. His daughter could have an infection, a virus, one that could rob her of the ability to have her own children or stay with her until the day she dies. Treatment, isn’t that what Doc said at first. They needed to treat sooner rather than later.
