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The Columbus PDSergeant that arrived was no one she knew, but he gave her a look when he walked in the room. “You’re the one that got banged up over on Hogue.”
“Yeah,” Sage sighed. “That’s me.”
The man held out his hand. “Derek Lane. Gary Blake was my T.O. ten years ago. I’ve been following the news on him. It’s a damn shame.”
“Yes, it is. Now he finally has to retire, which I hear he’s been threatening to do a long time.”
Sergeant Lane laughed. “The man was old when he trained me,” he exclaimed. “Now, what can I do for you?”
Sage explained the situation and showed him the footage on her phone of Tim pushing through the door and past her.
Lane nodded. “I can trespass him if you want, and I have a feeling we could scrape assault charges off that too, for him pushing you.”
Sage shook her head. “I don’t want to be the one to charge him. He does have a pending felony warrant out of Florida, though. If, by chance, you find him and speak to him, you might keep that in mind when you run him. And he didn’t say how much the grant was from OSU, but it’s probably at least five grand.”
Lane jotted down notes and called several things in. Because they were heading into the holiday, he warned her, they may not be able to contact anyone at the college for a report for a few days.
“That’s fine. I just wanted you to have all the details.”
Lane promised to do what he could tonight to try to track him down, but again, no promises. He took Adam’s statement about what had happened and seemed shocked at the boy’s recall. Then he took Brian’s statement, and they seemed to connect over shared former Marine chatter.
The officer handed her a card. “If you don’t hear anything from me tonight, I’ll contact you Friday, at the latest. Turkey day is usually a shitshow of domestic violence cases, so I doubt I’ll be able to do anything tomorrow.”
“That’s fine,” Sage said, for the first time feeling guilty for being off. She was low woman on the totem pole, and if the accident hadn’t happened she probably would have been working tomorrow. And Adam would have been home alone. Sigh.
Once the officer left, she sagged onto the couch. Brian and Adam had started up the game system, but they paused when she came in.
“You had to do it, Mom,” Adam said, coming over to her.
“I know, buddy. I don’t think he’ll ever learn.”
Adam shook his head and turned back to the screen. Brian leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead, and she could see the approval in his expression. “Don’t beat yourself up about it,” he whispered. “It had to be done.”
Yeah, she supposed it did. Sage took a deep breath and turned to look at what the boys were doing. “So, what’s the point of this game?”
21
Thanksgiving was a sedate affair. Sage went through the motions of cooking the monster dinner because it seemed wrong not to. She’d been raised in a household that celebrated Thanksgiving with more food than could ever be eaten, even with the large family gathering. She had two brothers, their kids, and a bunch of cousins and they all usually gathered on the ranch for the holiday. It had been some of the best times of her life, hanging with them in the barn with the animals and getting into trouble.
Adam didn’t have that, and she was very conscious of the lack. Their family had shrunk when they moved to Ohio.
Adam didn’t seem concerned, though. He gushed over everything she made, especially the pecan pie at the end. She watched Brian taste everything she made as well, and by the end, he seemed more than full. “I know we’re supposed to watch a game or something after this, but I’d rather just take a nap,” he said, grinning.
So, once the food was put away, they curled up on the couch with blankets and watched a movie. If they fell asleep, no one said anything.
Sage loved these relaxed times in their home, because there was too much not-relaxed time. Adam’s course schedule was going to be bananas after the holidays, and she wasn’t looking forward to it. She was going to go back to the road full-time, and she wasn’t even sure which shift yet.
Would Brian be around? She wasn’t sure. She didn’t want to count on his presence, then him not be there.
The thought of him leaving made her feel ill.
But she would hold to her word. Once they figured out what Tim was doing, and Adam was safe, she would let him go if she had to.
The movie was supposed to be a comedy, but suddenly, she felt like crying. Brian had moved into their apartment, and her heart, and it was not going to be easy to lose him.
You’re looking for trouble, girl. Just wait and see what happens.
Glancing at Adam, who seemed content in the moment, she wrestled with the conflicting emotions within her.
