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“What about the kids? What if he wants to straighten up and see them? I can’t tell him no if he wants to be a part of their lives as a real dad.”
“If he wants that, then after he proves he can be trusted, you can arrange to modify the order to allow for supervised visitation with the kids. It’s doable. However, until he can show he’s capable of doing that, I don’t want you to take chances. Last time it was bruises on your arms. Next time, it could be something way worse.”
She sat, quietly sipping her coffee, thinking over what I said. I didn’t want to rush her, so I stayed quiet too. I was distracted by Daniel coming to the kitchen. He came over to me. He gave me a shy look.
“Hey, buddy, how’s your game going with your sister?”
“Good. Do you wanna play? We’re playing cars,” he asked tentatively.
I knew by his expression that he thought I’d say no. I didn’t have the heart. The kid was just looking for a male figure to give him positive attention. Something all kids needed, especially little boys.
“Sure, let’s go.” I got up and left my coffee in the kitchen and followed him to the living room. Dena gave me her shy look. She looked more like Tonya than Daniel did. He looked more like his dad. Dylan, I thought, looked like both of them. I got down on the floor and they explained what they were doing. In no time, I was immersed in a game of car chases. I couldn’t help but laugh at some of the tricks they made their cars and bikes do.
Before I knew it, an hour had passed. By then, Tonya was in the room with us and she had Dylan in her arms. He was watching us avidly. I held out my hands. “Here, give him to me. He can play too.”
She slowly handed him over to me and I handed him a truck I knew he could handle. Soon, all three of them were laughing and ganging up on me. We were racing to see who could get their car up the side of the couch faster when my phone rang. Groaning in defeat, I had to let them pass me and answer it. This time, I looked before answering. I saw it was Gordon’s number. My gut clenched.
“Tell me you have good news,” I said as I answered it.
“I have good news. We caught Dan Ewing and he’s on his way into the station. They found him leaving his ex-wife’s apartment complex. Get down here as soon as you can. We’ll charge him with anything we can, but I have no idea how long we’ll be able to hold him.”
“We’ll be there as soon as we can. Thanks, Gordon.”
“See ya when you get here,” he said before he hung up. As soon as he did, I looked at Tonya. She knew by the look on my face and what she’d heard, what was going on.
“Call Soleil and see if she can keep the kids for a little bit. We need to go downtown.”
“Give me a minute and I’ll ask.”
“If they can’t keep them, then I’ll call and see which old lady can. Someone around here will be able to take them,” I assured her.
In no time, Falcon came to get the kids and sent us on our way. I had to wait for her to change clothes before we headed out. I took her in my truck. She was quiet the whole way there. I left her to her thoughts. After pulling into the parking lot, we hurried into the main area, where I knew we’d find Gordon and the others. He waved me over when he saw us. I took her to his desk.
“Thanks for getting down here so fast. They just brought him in and are still booking him. While they do that, here’s the paperwork to request the restraining order. Jake mentioned he was going to talk to you about doing one,” he told Tonya.
She nodded. “Yes, he thought it would be smart. I’ve thought about it and I think I might do it. I’m not sure if a judge will think him grabbing me is enough of a reason to grant it, but we’ll see. Do you know how long it’ll take to process him? How long before we’ll know if a judge will sign off on this or not?”
“We should have him processed and back in a cell within the hour. As for a judge, it’s the weekend. Monday is as soon as anyone will see it. That could mean he’s out on bail for a day or so before we can get him served. I think it would be in your best interest to continue to stay at the Warriors’ compound. You have all of them and Jake there. There’s no place safer that I know of,” Gordon told her.
“I hate to be an imposition to them longer than I have to, but I guess if he’s out and I don’t have something like that to deter him, I should stay.”
“I don’t know how many times we need to tell you that the four of you being at the compound isn’t an imposition. We like having you there. It’s safe and the kids have a ton of other kids to play with. I won’t hear any more shit about it. Let’s work on this paperwork and get it ready.”
Thankfully, she didn’t argue. Gordon gave me an amused look. I sat her down and got her started on the paperwork. While she did that, I talked to some of my fellow officers. I could tell they were curious as to who she was and why I was with her. I didn’t explain. Let them wonder. I saw more than one of them checking her out with interest on their faces. It was all I could do not to plant my fist in their faces and tell them to keep their eyes to themselves.
By the time she completed filling out the restraining order paperwork, I got word that Dan had been booked and was back in a cell. He’d insisted on calling his lawyer, but they were having him cool his heels. I didn’t want her to have to see him, but I wanted to.
“Tonya, I need you to stay here with Gordon. There’s something I need to do before we leave. Okay? You’ll be safe here. I won’t be long.”
“You’re going to see Dan, aren’t you?”
I didn’t waste time lying. I nodded my head. She sighed then nodded. “Okay. Just don’t take long. I wish I felt like seeing him but I don’t. I just want this whole terrible situation to go away. I’ll wait here.”
“Great, thanks, babe.” I walked off before I could see what her reaction was to my slipup calling her babe. Hopefully, I hadn’t offended her.
Law: Chapter 6
As I was let back to the holding cells and found Dan’s cell, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw him. I’d seen pictures of him and, in all of them, he’d been a good-looking guy who was well put together. I’d seen him race and even after a race, he’d always looked handsome and had the ladies falling all over him. That Dan looked nothing like the Dan in front of me.
