Warning: Some ugly stuff in this chapter, including a recap of Sam's injuries
Family Ties
Chapter 30
I woke slowly, smiling. He'd definitely missed me. I stretched a little, trying to ease the ache of overused muscles. Okay, so I'd missed him too. Ranger leaned over the bed, kissing me good morning.
"Morning Babe, I've got to go to work. Coffee and breakfast are here, do you want me to bring you some before I go?"
I smiled up at him. "You're willing to bring me breakfast in bed?"
He shrugged, then gave me all 200 watts. "Figured you might need some recovery time this morning."
I threw a pillow at him as I laughed. "Smug bastard!"
His laughter reached me as he walked back into the kitchen. He knew he was right, too. It was infuriating. Not that I was about to complain.
He did bring me breakfast in bed. I relaxed and enjoyed being pampered. He pushed a stray curl out of my face. "What are your plans today, Babe?"
"Sparring with Bobby at nine, lunch with the girls, and following up whatever I can find on Brennan. You?"
"Contract negotiations this morning, lunch with the DA, hunting a couple of skips this afternoon. Should be home at a decent hour. Dinner?"
"Dinner is good. In or out?"
"Your choice, Babe."
"Hmm, let's see how the day goes."
"Let me know." One last kiss, and he was gone.
I enjoyed my breakfast, then took a quick shower. I'd need another after being tossed around by Bobby, but definitely needed one now as well. The hot water eased the last of my aches, and I felt human again by the time I was dressed. I was just putting my shoes on when the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Steph, it's Javi. Is this afternoon too soon?"
"Wow, that was fast. No, not too soon at all. What time?"
"Three o'clock would be perfect. Can you get here by then?"
"Yes. How do I find you?"
"Call me on my cell. I'll come get you."
"See you then."
We disconnected, and I took a deep breath. This was really going to happen. I took another. This was for Sam. I could do this.
I noticed the time and hurried down to the gym. Didn't want to keep Bobby waiting.
Two hours later, I was covered in sweat and grinning like a fool. Bobby grinned back at me and I reached out a hand to help him up.
"Not bad, kiddo. See you tomorrow."
"I'll be here."
I jogged to the door and up the stairs. I had no time to waste if I was going to be on time for lunch.
Lunch with the girls was always an experience. It was even more so now that Ranger and I were together. I wasn't giving up any details, but that didn't stop them from trying. An hour and a half later, my head was throbbing as I left the restaurant. I decided to stop at 7-11 for aspirin and a coke on the way to the prison. I didn't want my attention to be diverted by a damn headache.
I took my aspirin and sipped my coke as I drove. I had a little over an hour to get there, so I was okay on time. I left the radio off and enjoyed the quiet. My headache had faded by the time I called Javi.
"It's me. I'm ten minutes away, where do you want me to park?"
"North side of the visitor's lot. I'll be waiting."
Javi was waiting just as he said he would be. He smiled as he saw me, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Hey Steph. If you're armed, leave it in the vehicle. Last chance to back out."
I had locked up my weapons right after I'd called him. I shook my head. "So, how do we do this?"
His smile was smaller this time, but it was real. "Follow me."
He led me to an employee entrance, and punched in a code. "This will get you past the sign-in desk, but no farther. From there, you act like any other visitor being escorted. I'll escort you. Don't make eye contact if you can help it." He put his hand on my arm. "Listen, there's no way to do this without a guard."
"No ear on me, Javi."
"Can't be done, Steph. The closest we're going to manage is ears we control. Mine."
Shit. I hadn't wanted him any more involved in this than he already was. I met his eyes. "In that case, are you ready for this? Last chance to back out."
His look was serious, but steady. "I was ready before I called this morning."
I nodded and continued to follow. He led me to a small room. I looked a question at Javi, and he explained. "We usually use this room for an inmate to meet with their attorney, or occasionally a member of the clergy. No external ear here."
He held up a finger for me to wait outside the door a moment. He went in and rearranged some furniture. Coming back out the door, he said quietly. "When you walk in the room, stay to the right side as close to the wall as you can, keeping your head down. There's a chair in the far corner. That one's for you, it's under the camera and the one place it can't see."
I nodded my understanding. "Where will you be?"
"Just inside the door. I'm going to have to leave you for a minute to get him."
"Understood."
He held open the door and watched me make my way to the chair. He held up one finger and was gone.
I sat and waited. I thought I'd be more nervous, have more doubts or something. All I felt was an anxiousness to have this done.
Javi pushed Ward in ahead of him, and directed him to sit across from me, a small table between us.
He looked different in prison clothes, smaller somehow. I didn't like the way he was looking at me, but met his eyes. Finally, he smiled. "Well if it isn't sweetie pie. Hoping to get another look at the big boy? Couldn't get enough, could you?"
I barely smiled. "Hello, Anton. Brought you a present." I slid a picture most of the way across the table.
"What the fuck is this?" But he reached for the picture. He stared at it for a long time. I let him have all the time he needed. I'd chosen the picture, it was of Lauralene and baby Nicole. It was a good one, showing the two of them looking at each other.
"Her name is Nicole Francine Ward."
He looked up at me. "She gave her my name?" I nodded, and he went back to staring at the picture. "Even after I hit her like that..." He seemed to be talking to himself. He smiled just a little, and I got a glimpse of who Anton might have been, had his life been different. "Nicole was my momma's name."
He looked up again, meeting my eyes. The hard look was back. "Why you bring me this?"
"It's a peace offering, Anton, so we can talk."
"So talk."
"You know a guy named Michael Brennan?"
Small movement that might have been a nod. "Skinny white dude, trying to walk like he's all that, 'cuz he got popped for murder while he on parole." He shook his head. "Probably a poser or some shit, the boy ain't for real."
I smiled. It was an accurate assessment as far as it went. Brennan preyed on the young. I slid a picture of Sam across the table, and Ward picked it up. "That one I'll want back."
"Who's this?"
"His victim. She's not dead. The charge is attempted murder. But there's going to be more charges added soon."
He glanced at the picture, then slid it back to me. "Like what?"
"Sodomy, rape, sexual abuse of a minor, like that."
His face twisted in disgust. "Man, she ain't nothing but a baby."
"He gave her a concussion and a broken cheekbone knocking her out so he could rape her. Before that, he broke her leg, hit her so hard he broke a bunch of ribs, damaged her liver, pancreas, and spleen. There were bruises on her neck, so he tried to choke her out. The bruising on her waist was probably from when he raped her. He tore her up so bad her vagina and rectum had to be surgically repaired. After he was done, he threw her in a tub full of hot bleach water, burning 40 of her body so bad she's had to have skin grafts, and breaking her collarbone in the process. She's three, Anton."
He gave a short nod, jaw clenched. I risked a look at Javi. His expression was impassive, but he was a little paler than he had been a few minutes ago.
I turned my attention back to Ward. "You bring him in?" I nodded. "How do you know this girl?"
"I'm a friend of the family."
"So, you think a picture is gonna make me take care of this for you?"
I shook my head. "I don't want you to. In fact, I'd like you to stay as far away from him as you can."
He tilted his head, thinking. "What do you want, and what are you offering?"
"Francine Taylor is a good woman. She tried to raise her daughter right."
He nodded, unsure of where I was going with this. "Didn't stop her from gettin' wit me."
"No, it didn't. Maybe if she had a friend on the outside, keeping an eye and ear out, she could have. Maybe, now that Lauralene is a mother herself, she'll want to do better by your daughter."
"Lotta maybes. What are you offering, and what do you want?" Suspicious now.
"I've already talked to Lauralene. She's getting her GED. If she does well, I'll help her enroll in a community college, a few classes at a time, until she decides what she wants to do. There are a lot of scholarships out there, and she's got a chance to make something of herself, for her daughter's sake."
"She agreed to this?"
"Yes. She doesn't want to be working sixteen hour shifts to put food on the table and letting her daughter roam the streets."
"You're already doing this." I nodded. He looked at the picture again. "Lauralene, a college girl." He shook his head, amused. "So what are you doing for my kid?"
"For now? Just keeping an eye on her. As she gets older? Well, we'll see what she needs."
He looked at the picture again. "She's the only thing I ever been a part of that hasn't turned to shit. You keep it that way."
"I'll do my best, that's all I can offer."
He nodded. "So what is it you want."
"I want you to stay far away from Brennan. You're tied to me, and so is he. No connections." He nodded, and I smiled. "But feel free to distribute the truth about his crimes to anyone and everyone who might be interested."
His smile was slow and feral. "No connections, and he still get what's coming to him."
"Only thing, if they add to those charges soon, he'll be moved out of here. I don't know how much time we have before that happens."
Ward shrugged. "I tell a couple of big mouths, it'll be all over this place in hours, man. You a sneaky bitch." The last was said approvingly. "One other thing I want."
I held my breath, hoping it was something I was willing to deliver. "What?"
"I ever get a damn parole hearing, you there to testify on my behalf."
"I could do that, on one condition."
"What condition?"
"Do something with yourself while you're here. Get your own GED, then study something so you'll have something to do with yourself when you get out besides banging."
He shrugged. "It's all I know, man."
"It doesn't have to be. All you got is time, might as well use it."
"And if I do?"
"Then I testify on your behalf."
He thought a minute, then held out his hand. We shook on it, and Ward prepared to leave. He'd just reached the doorway when he turned around. "Last question. If I ever do get out of this shithole, we cool?"
I met his eyes. "As cool as you let us be."