Somebody’s Perfect

by Kallypso Masters

  “Under arrest for what, deputy?” Adam asked in a low voice.

  “Step outside, sir,” the deputy repeated, “and we can go into more detail.”

  Before doing as ordered, Adam turned to Gentry and made a crackling, sizzling sound. Savannah caught a glimpse of the old man as all color drained from his face. Fear. No, absolute terror. The former master sergeant’s height and demeanor had intimidated her when she’d first met him, but Gentry looked as if he’d seen a ghost from the bowels of hell. Why would Gentry be so afraid of Adam? He didn’t even know him!

  Adam must have sensed that Gentry was behind these arrests, too.

  Wait! Did this have to do with what Damián had alluded to their first night back in San Diego, before the trial began? She leaned toward Damián and whispered, “What’s this about?” She couldn’t ask what they did to him, or she’d be admitting their possible guilt.

  Without answering, Damián turned away to be led out of the courtroom with Adam and another deputy falling into line. She followed, hastily trying to keep up. In the hallway, the deputy who had spoken to them in the courtroom pulled from his pocket two folded legal-looking documents. “These are the warrants for your arrests.”

  Without giving them a chance to look at them, they handed the papers to Savannah and ordered both men to turn around. Savannah nearly lost it as she watched first her husband then Adam being handcuffed, just before they were patted down and had their rights read to them. The surreal words were lost in a barrage of silent screams inside her head.

  “My wife will need the keys to our rental,” Damián told the deputies.

  “And we might as well give her our phones and wallets for safekeeping,” Adam added.

  How could they remain so calm at a time like this?

  The deputy nodded. One removed the wallet and phone from Adam’s pockets while the other retrieved the same, as well as the rental key, from Damián’s. The key fob was warm in her hand. Damián’s body heat. She clutched it to her chest.

  It was only when she went to put everything in her purse that she glanced down at the top warrant in her hands.

  “Assault and battery,” she read aloud. “And terroristic threatening?” What the—

  “Mind telling us who we’re supposed to have assaulted or threatened?” Adam asked. She noticed the ruddiness in his neck, so perhaps he wasn’t taking this as calmly as she thought. Why was he putting on a facade for the deputies—or was it for her? Something told her he wouldn’t be able to charm his way out of this. Whatever this was.

  “A complaint was filed against you both yesterday afternoon, and the judge issued warrants for us to pick you up and return you to San Bernardino County. Now, if you’ll come with us…”

  Damián muttered under his breath, “That sonofa—”

  Savannah turned to her husband. “Damián?”

  “Gentry’s behind this, I’m sure. He’s just trying to rattle you, bebé, by getting us out of the courtroom before you tell your story.”

  Well, Gentry was doing a masterful job of it. She clasped her hands together to keep them from visibly shaking in front of Damián. But how could she go back in there alone? How could her safety net be yanked out from under her today of all days?

  “Could I please have a moment with my wife, deputy?”

  After taking in her swollen belly and obvious distress, he relented with a sigh. “One minute.” They didn’t move from where they stood near him, though, giving them no privacy.

  Damián said, “Eyes.” She dreaded the moment he’d be taken away from her but met his gaze as if her last lifeline was being ripped away. “Listen to me. We’re going to have to go deal with this shit. We’ll get back to you as soon as we make bail, but we have to face it. That won’t happen before you have to take the stand this morning.”

  “No, Damián! You can’t leave me here alone! I can’t face that monster without you!”

  Damián growled. “Yes, you can, and you will.” The fierceness in his tone bore through her fear. “You’re the strongest person I know, Savannah Orlando. You already testified about what happened to your mother and what he did to you last March. Just tell the rest of your story. Tell the story. Remember the details that came out last night. Block him out. Don’t get bogged down in the emotions of the past. Stay focused only on the story of what happened to you. Find a focal point. Use your touchstones. You’re a warrior headed into battle, and nothing will piss him off more than knowing he can no longer rattle or manipulate you.”

  “Mr. Orlando, let’s go.”

  The deputy took his upper arm, but before he could pull Damián away, he said, “Take a deep breath, savita. Now.”

  Savannah glanced at Adam before Damián demanded, “Eyes.” With only slight reluctance, she brought her gaze back to her husband’s. Her Dom. “Deep. Breath.”

  Though shaky, she managed to pull in enough air to appease him, even though her chest was too tight to breathe deeply. In a moment of false bravado, to keep him from worrying, she tilted up her chin. “I’ll be okay, Sir. I’ll remember everything you’ve taught me.”

  She didn’t feel particularly strong or capable at the moment but didn’t want him to think about anything except his own predicament right now. “Do whatever they tell you to, Damián,” she admonished. To Adam, she said, “Keep him safe.” Thank God Adam, in his uniform, would be with him. Damián might not be treated as unfairly as he might have been if alone. She hoped they would be kept together. “And I don’t want either of you to wind up with any other charges before I can post bail.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Adam said with a grin. How could he find this the least bit amusing? “Don’t worry about us, hon. You go back in there and show him what Savannah Orlando’s made of.”

  She tugged on Adam’s sleeve until he leaned down, and she kissed him on the cheek before turning to Damián. “I love you. I’ll make you proud, Sir.” Her throat closed on the last word, but her voice didn’t crack.

  His gaze bore into her soul. Then he smiled. “You already have, querida.”

  She brushed his lips with hers before the two men she’d counted on to be here during the greatest test of her life were led away.

  She called after him, “Whatever false charges he’s had filed against you will be thrown out, I’m sure. And I’ll get to you as soon as I’m finished here.” They’d retreated several yards before she realized she didn’t know where they were going. “Wait! Deputy, where are you taking them?”

  “San Bernardino County Central Detention Center,” he called over his shoulder.

  She’d been rescued from Gentry’s cabin in that county. Had something happened after she’d been airlifted out that would convince a judge to issue a warrant on charges of assault and battery? Damián had been shot during the rescue. What could he possibly have done to Gentry while wounded?

  And how was she going to get through today’s rebuttal without her two solid rocks, her protectors, in the room with her? She blinked away the tears. Her hands tingled before she had the wherewithal to take a few slow, deep breaths to keep herself from hyperventilating and tried to regain control.

  Could she walk back into that room alone? The door swung open, and she turned as the DA came up to her. “Is everything okay, Savannah? What was that all about? We don’t need any drama or distractions today.”

  “I’m sorry. It’s over now.” She hadn’t seen the DA enter the courtroom before the arrests, but at least the judge and jury hadn’t witnessed this disaster.

  The DA glanced around, as if expecting to find Damián and Adam, then focused on Savannah again. “Will you be ready for me to call you this morning for rebuttal after my cross-examination of Gentry?”

  Savannah nodded.

  Rather than crumble in despair, Savannah followed Sullivan back into the courtroom. Her gaze zeroed in on the bastard who’d done this and so much worse to her. She hoped her face exuded the hatred she’d harbored for him since the night he’d first molested her twenty
years ago. Her glare would wither a stronger man, and the smirk that had been on his face when she first came back inside slowly waned.

  This beast had stolen her innocence and her childhood and had loomed large and ominous in her nightmares ever since.

  I am strong.

  I can’t be beaten.

  In strobe-like effect, Gentry’s image alternated between the younger, more vibrant man from her childhood and the old man who sat here today. For the first time since she’d escaped Gentry’s house that Christmas Eve nine years ago, scared and pregnant, she was able to put the beast into realistic context. The man seated in front of her today was but a shell of that specter. He’d lost weight. His skin was sallow, almost pasty, and his hair white. Funny how being incarcerated could put a crimp in his golfing activities, ability to dye his hair, and visits to the tanning booth. He wasn’t the strong and invincible man she remembered.

  I will tell my story.

  Back straight, shoulders set, she returned to her seat knowing she wasn’t really alone. Her hand went to her collar, and she surrounded herself in the glow of Damián’s love, training, and encouragement. She felt the warmth of Adam’s paternal love and support. It was as if both men still sat right here on either side of her.

  Gentry was about to discover that his years of abusing and torturing her, whether directly or by allowing others access to her body, had only made her the most formidable opponent he would ever face in this lifetime. He’d honed her into the warrior who would singlehandedly take him down. This morning, she would continue to tell her entire story, sparing no details.

  Gentry would be forced to listen to her telling what happened in her voice. He’d hear her describe the unspeakable horrors he’d perpetrated on her and, if he didn’t know it already, would discover how much she despised him.

  If there was any justice to be had, when this trial went to the jury and judge, he’d be found guilty and receive the harshest sentence possible. With any luck, that would be one or more life sentences with no possibility of parole, and he would never experience freedom again. A small price to pay for all he’d stolen from her.

  He might have thought removing her safety net would paralyze her, but the anger seething beneath the surface now would be what she needed to bring him down.

  Savannah took several slow, deep breaths and prepared for the triumph to come.

  I will not be beaten.

  * * *

  “You okay?” Dad asked as they sat together in the back of the deputies’ SUV. The walls were closing in on him, and he couldn’t help but flash back to the time he’d been hauled off to juvie after punching the crap out of Julio for beating Rosa.

  “It’s Savannah I’m worried about. What if she—”

  “Savannah can do this. If you ask me, our being arrested is only going to increase her resolve to put that shithead away for life. That woman’s tough as nails. Maybe without us being there to prop her up, she’ll surprise you.”

  “Fuck, I know she’s strong. She and I worked hard for months to prepare her for when she’d have to face that maldito bastardo alone on the stand. But we both expected me to be in the room to welcome her down from the witness stand with open arms. She’ll have no one now.”

  “She knows you’ll be with her in spirit. I overheard her repeating her mantra this morning. You’ve done all you can. Speaking of spirits, maybe say a prayer that her mom will be with her in our absence. Hell, I’ll even ask Joni to be there for her in my absence. I’ve learned to never underestimate the power of having a loved one helping out from the other side.”

  Damián nodded. He’d sensed Mamá’s presence over the years, and Savannah had confided that she believed her mother had visited her at the Thousand Steps Beach cave last May. Perhaps John Grainger, too. He sent up a silent plea for one or all of them to join her today, if they weren’t there already.

  He needed to talk about something else, or he’d go insane.

  “So you’re going ahead with the VIP security firm, Dad?” Damián asked, trying to focus on something else momentarily. The driver deputy glanced in the rear-view mirror, looking back and forth between the two of them as if trying to figure out their relationship. Good thing they were being careful about what they talked about. Damián knew how it was when he’d been incarcerated in juvie. Even the walls had eyes and ears.

  “It looks like it. But before I decide on anything, I want to talk it over with Duncan Wilde, a Marine who runs a security agency based in Denver. His primary mission is to hire disabled vets. So I want to make sure I won’t be unwanted competition for his Lost and Found Investigative Services. I respect the hell out of them and their work.”

  Dad rubbed the back of his neck. “And then there’s Karla, who might be a tougher sell.” He laughed. “But I think as long as I promise not to take on the tougher, hands-on cases, all I have to do is prove that this is the best way for us to send our kids to college. My pension sure as hell isn’t going to cut it. And her indie music recordings aren’t going to sell well until she’s able to go on tour.”

  Maybe he should talk with Savannah about putting some of their newfound wealth in a college fund for the triplets, especially in case anything ever happened where Adam and Karla weren’t able to pay for their college tuitions. Damián had worried about money since he was a kid, but that had changed when she’d inherited tens of millions from her mother. They chose not to live lavishly. However, providing for the best education for the next generation in the family wasn’t a luxury item.

  “Dad, if anything happens, Savannah and I will make sure everyone’s taken care of.”

  Adam squeezed his shoulder. “I appreciate knowing that. Takes away a lot of stress. But as long as I’m able to provide for my family, I will.”

  Having exhausted this conversation, Damián nodded and leaned over to whisper, “Do you think these charges will stick?”

  “Gentry’s reputation will be mud after Savannah’s finished with him.”

  If only Dad hadn’t insisted on joining him in giving that bastard what he had coming. Then, at least, Dad would still be with Savannah. Damned sloppy on Damián’s part. Should have taken out the trash himself.

  Long stretches of desolate, scrubby, desert-like landscape whizzed by the tinted window as they sped toward San Bernardino, every mile taking him farther away from his precious savita.

  Gentry might think he had the upper hand now, but he wasn’t going to win the game. No jury could listen to Savannah’s story and not be moved to convict his ass and send him straight to hell.

  He hoped they’d be out of jail in time to see that happen. He wanted some satisfaction, too.

  “Sorry I dragged you out here,” Damián said.

  “I’d like to see the day when you start telling me what to do,” Adam said. “I chose to be in that courtroom.”

  Damián grinned. “Okay, but Karla’s going to be furious when she finds out we got arrested.” As far as he knew, Dad hadn’t told her about what had happened last March during the aftermath of the raid.

  He laughed. “When she hears, she’ll probably think I went after Gentry and tried to tear him apart limb from limb in the courtroom—not that she’d blame me for doing so.” Adam stared out the window a moment.

  Damián grinned as he remembered the sound of Gentry’s screams. While they hadn’t delivered total justice, no doubt a pedophile like Gentry would get what was coming to him once he made it into the state prison system and out of the North County jail.

  But his levity was short-lived. That bastard was in the room with Savannah, who now had to face him all alone.

  Damn it. He should be back there with her!

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  When Gentry returned to the stand, the DA asked him several innocuous things before launching into a methodical line of questioning intended to give Gentry enough rope to hang himself.

  “I wanted to do something special for my daughter on her eighteenth birthday to show her how much I love
d her. I pulled out all the stops,” he boasted.

  “You even spent a lot of money to buy her a special dress because you wanted her to look beautiful,” the DA continued.

  “Her dress was covered in tiny diamonds. It looked exquisite on her. Nothing was too good for my darling princess.”

  Savannah cringed at the word she now only associated with Damián and her daughter.

  The next questions came rapid-fire. Gentry’s response of yes sounded repeatedly.

  You invited guests? Many guests? Important people? Powerful people? All of them male? Powerful men? Men who had money? Did you consider all of them your friends? All there at your invitation?

  And then she started bringing out the questions he had to answer in the negative.

  You did not invite any of their wives or daughters? Their girlfriends? None of Savannah’s friends? No one she asked you to invite?

  “She’d been tutored at home since the age of eight and had no friends, except for some business acquaintances of mine.”

  “No family? No friends? Doesn’t that seem like an unusual guest list for a young girl’s birthday?”

  Gentry squirmed in his seat before settling down again. “She was going to go into business with me, so it was the right time for her to be introduced to some of the people she’d be working with.”

  “What was her title in your company, Mr. Gentry?”

  His face grew red as he searched for some bogus title to give her, knowing full well she’d been nothing more than his slave to be handed over to his business clients and associates in hopes of making him more money with better deals.

  He pulled the collar of his shirt away from his neck. “She was in new client acquisitions.”

  “Clerk? Associate? Manager?”

  “What difference does it make what her title was?” Gentry asked testily.

  “If the Court were to subpoena your accountant to produce payroll records from the year after your daughter turned eighteen, would her name be on them?”