Harlequin Superromance September 2014 - Bundle 1 of 2: This Good ManPromises Under the Peach TreeHusband by Choice

by Janice Kay Johnson

  Caleb’s hearing was tomorrow. The most private of men, Reid would need to expose everything he’d suffered. He had already taken his brother home with him, even though he hadn’t believed he had it in him to be a father figure.

  Was he just doing what he thought he should do? she wondered. Or had he changed his mind? And if so—was it because he’d listened to her? Believed her?

  With a moan, Anna bumped her forehead against the steering wheel. She had to go tomorrow. Chances were good Reid would prefer she not be there; in fact, she suspected he’d like to have as few witnesses as possible. But...she had to be there anyway.

  Because he might need me.

  * * *

  MOST OF THE seats in the small courtroom were empty. In contrast to criminal trials, custody hearings like this were closed to curiosity seekers, thank God. A couple of times the door in back had opened and closed. Except when he himself had testified, Reid hadn’t looked to see who was coming and going.

  This morning, he’d fielded several phone calls from people who knew about the hearing, including Roger and Paula. He’d told Phil Perez what was happening, and Phil had called to say he’d be thinking about him. Alec Raynor and Jane Renner had both stopped by Reid’s office to say they’d be hoping there were no problems. Problems. Nice euphemism. That Caleb wasn’t condemned to hell again was what they meant.

  Caleb had declared he wanted to stay with Reid, but their attorney insisted on locating his mother. She had gotten hysterical at the idea of Caleb going to live with her. Dean would kill them both. She had agreed, if necessary, to relinquish her parental rights. Reid hadn’t been able to tell how his brother felt about that. Caleb must have been hurt. On the other hand, his mother had left him a long time ago. This couldn’t be a surprise.

  Once finished with his own testimony, Reid could only sit and listen, unable to control the direction of the proceedings. The experience was frustrating enough when he was present for one of his own investigations. This was agony. Reid kept finding new levels of fear. Dante would have written eloquently about the one that gripped him when Caleb had testified.

  Damn, Reid was proud of him. Despite his father’s presence only feet away, Caleb held his head high as he talked about the abuse he’d suffered. A few times his voice shook, but he answered every question anyway. Only at the end did he look Dean in the eye, when he said, “I had to take off. It was getting worse. I thought he might kill me the next time.”

  The bailiff had had to forcibly insist Caleb’s father resume his seat and shut his mouth until it was his turn to speak.

  The only other cop Reid knew in the courtroom was Clay Renner, present because in the course of the investigation, he had looked seriously into the previous allegations regarding Caleb’s treatment at the hands of his father. Renner had spoken to several former teachers, coaches and school counselors, and was prepared to testify as to what they’d said.

  So far, the judge hadn’t called him up. Reid didn’t know if that was good or bad. He kept reminding himself that she’d seen most of Renner’s testimony in written form.

  Dean Sawyer was on the witness stand now. Already his face was mottled red with barely suppressed rage. It was probably the first time in his life every word he said wasn’t accepted as gospel, Reid thought with cold satisfaction.

  The judge, a woman who looked to be in her fifties, wore reading glasses on a thin chain around her neck. She had them perched on her nose as she studied a small mobile light box, which showed an X-ray. From where he sat, Reid couldn’t see which one. It didn’t matter.

  “Your oldest son has an implant and two bridges to replace teeth knocked out while he was a boy,” she remarked.

  “He was an athlete. Basketball and football.” Dean paused, his gaze briefly connecting with Reid’s. “Took a beating sometimes.”

  Reid’s muscles turned rock hard. His attorney laid a hand on his arm. He ignored it. He had no intention of visibly reacting to the taunt. The back of his neck prickled with an awareness that there were other people in the courtroom listening to this. My life.

  The judge’s eyebrows rose. “I see. And is there a reason why you took him to three separate dentists to have the work done? It appears you yourself continued to go to the same dentist for annual checkups and any needed work, but Reid rarely saw the same one twice.”

  “I had coverage through work. For my kids, it was whoever had an opening. The work was expensive on a cop’s salary, so I tried to find the best deal.”

  “Yet Caleb seemingly had a regular dentist, until he needed work subsequent to having a tooth knocked out,” she murmured. “At that point, you took him to an entirely new clinic when he needed a bridge.” She made a production of flipping through papers on her desk. “Let’s see. That was in November of this last year. Right after he alleges you gave him the last beating ‘he was willing to take.’”

  Reid rested his hand on his brother’s arm. He used the action as an excuse to look over his shoulder. Oh, hell, was his first thought. Alec Raynor sat at the back. But then he saw who else was there, in the seat right beside the door. His gaze locked with Anna’s, and he froze. His father was talking, but he didn’t hear.

  “Reid?” Caleb whispered urgently. “What are you doing? What’s wrong?”

  He gave his head a small shake and turned back around. “Nothing.”

  How had she known about the hearing? Why had she come? His heart was pounding as if he’d just brought down a suspect after a multiblock chase.

  The judge was talking again.

  And he needed to be listening. There’d be time for Anna later.

  She’s here. The knowledge sang in him. She had to care, or she wouldn’t have come. Would she?

  “Your oldest son was able to provide a number of X-rays showing broken bones, too,” Judge Valdez remarked.

  “He was clumsy.”

  “Children and teenagers are rather resilient, Mr. Sawyer. I’m told their bones don’t break as easily as those of adults. It takes quite a lot of force to do the damage I see on these X-rays.”

  The judge carefully lifted the glasses from her nose and let them fall. Her gaze pinned the man on the witness chair. “You should know, Sergeant Sawyer, that I also requested your first wife’s medical records from multiple clinics and hospitals in Spokane.” She paused. “Since she, too, apparently felt she couldn’t be seen more than once by any doctor given the rather suggestive nature of her injuries.”

  Reid gaped. What?

  “Given the hurried nature of this hearing, not all arrived, but some did,” she continued.

  Dean half rose from his chair. “Those are completely irrelevant! You had no right!”

  “I think I did.” Her voice cooled. “I believe they are entirely relevant. If your second wife hadn’t already left you, I would seek out her records, as well.”

  Face beet-red now, he stood up, shoving the chair back. “This is bullshit!”

  “Please sit down, Sergeant Sawyer.”

  He glared at her for a moment long enough to have her exchanging a significant glance with the bailiff. Then he reluctantly resumed his seat, his movements angry.

  Dean’s attorney was on his feet, protesting the inclusion of records relating to an individual not properly part of the proceedings. One look from the judge sliced him off midword.

  She eyed Dean again. “Have you anything you’d like to add, Mr. Sawyer?”

  He did. He’d been shaken from his game, though, by her obvious skepticism and by the united front against him. This courtroom wasn’t packed with his uniformed cronies giving their support. The judge wasn’t one he’d appeared in front of a dozen times when he was on the right side of the law.

  He talked about raising two boys and doing his best for them. About just wanting his youngest home again. About how there had been bitterne
ss between him and Reid, and he blamed Reid for influencing Caleb to make up these lies.

  “You check with anyone back home, ma’am. They’ll speak highly of me. I’m a decorated law enforcement officer. I may have taken a hand to my boys a few times when they needed it, but nothing that was out of line. I love my boy. I don’t even know how all this blew up.” Did he look genuinely confused? “I just want to take him home.”

  “Is that all?”

  He shot a look of vitriol at Reid. “My oldest son is new in town here. You don’t know him. People are taking him at his word, but they shouldn’t be. He broke the law when he stole Caleb from me. He’s been hiding a minor for months. You can’t tell me that’s right.”

  “Have you proof that in fact Captain Sawyer has had his brother with him?” she asked sharply.

  His jaw muscles spasmed a few times. “He was too smart to have the boy at his house.”

  “In other words, no.” She waited for a moment, then nodded. “Thank you, Sergeant Sawyer. You may step down now.”

  Looking less than happy, Dean scraped the chair back and lumbered to a seat next to his attorney.

  “I believe I’ve seen enough.” She looked at Reid’s father. “You ought to know that I did take the precaution of speaking to two people in Captain Sawyer’s previous department in California, his captain and an undersheriff. Both spoke extremely highly of him and were pleased to forward his records to me. Are you aware that in recent years he served on the Family Protection detail with a focus on domestic violence?”

  His father said nothing.

  Now her gaze touched briefly, unreadably on Reid before softening as she nodded slightly at Caleb. “I had intended this to be a preliminary hearing,” she said. “However, the evidence overwhelmingly supports the allegations of child abuse brought against Sergeant Dean Sawyer. It’s apparent that Caleb’s mother is not in a position to take him into her home. Therefore, without hesitation I remand custody of the minor child, Caleb Sawyer, to his brother, Reid Sawyer. I see no reason to revisit this decision.” She lifted a gavel and brought it down with a sharp rap.

  Caleb’s body lurched in a wracking sob. Reid wrapped his arms around his brother, stunned to discover his own cheeks were wet. He squeezed his eyes shut, choosing not to see the scuffle taking place on the other side of the courtroom as his father bellowed invectives.

  “We’re done with him,” he murmured to Caleb. “The son of a bitch is out of our lives.”

  Caleb cried in enormous gulps that shook his whole body. Reid turned his head enough to see the back of the courtroom, hoping Anna would be walking down the aisle to them. He’d never needed her more. Instead, all he saw was her back as she slipped out the door.

  The emptiness inside him expanded, the pressure feeling like a giant, dark vacuum.

  He had Caleb. At least he had Caleb. Thank God.

  Reid laid his cheek on his brother’s head and closed his eyes.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  LEANING AGAINST HER kitchen counter, Anna was waiting for the microwave to beep when the doorbell rang. She stiffened, her heart leaping and then hesitating before resuming a seminormal rhythm.

  Reid? Or Hector Ramirez, deciding now was the moment to confront her?

  Would Hector ring the doorbell to announce himself?

  It had been two days since the hearing. She’d half expected Reid to show up, but he hadn’t. No calls, either. She’d told herself she was relieved, even as she knew she wasn’t. She had this awful fear that he had given up on her. She couldn’t blame him if he had. Why was she being so stubborn in refusing even to listen to him?

  All she knew was that a terrible conflict still raged inside her. When she slept, her dreams were of her little sister. Cuddling close and whispering, tremulous, “I’m scared, Anna. Are you scared?”

  Yes. Yes!

  Waking and sleeping, Anna saw Molly’s dead face. The terrible angle of her neck.

  Yes. Yes! I’m scared.

  I’m still scared, she admitted to herself. Afraid to trust. Unable to forgive. No promise should ever be broken.

  He didn’t break one. Look what he has done for his brother.

  She was being unjust, and she knew it. Unforgiving. Unreasonable. She knew all that, too. Listening to the horror Reid and his brother had suffered, she had felt something completely unexpected: fierce gratitude to the Hales for doing what no one else would. Sitting there in the back of that courtroom, Anna would have given anything to go back in time and protect the boy Reid had been.

  Stung by shock, she asked herself: Did that mean she’d do anything for him now? Including aiding and abetting him in shielding a shelter that violated her bone-deep principles?

  Or...had her principles begun to quake and crumble?

  The microwave dinged, making her jump. The garlic chicken on rice smelled good, but she stayed rigid, listening hard. If it were Hector, would he circle the house looking in windows? What if he appeared in the kitchen window?

  Anna made herself draw some deep breaths and tiptoed to the front room. No peephole in her door, so she sidled up to the window and lifted a slat of the blinds enough to peek through. Reid’s SUV was parked at the curb, and he stood beside it, looking back at the house, not moving. An air of resignation and maybe sadness surrounded him. For a moment, it seemed as if he were staring right at her, as if he knew she were there, huddled inside, watching him.

  He shook his head and got into his Expedition. A moment later, he drove away. By that time, she felt sick. The freshly warmed leftovers didn’t smell as good anymore.

  * * *

  REID DIDN’T LIKE knowing that Ramirez was lurking in town and had followed Anna a few times, but so far they hadn’t been able to do anything about it. Ramirez hadn’t confronted her and was keeping his distance. Nobody had figured out how he’d discovered it was her who’d been responsible for placing Diego in a home. He had a right to stay in Angel Butte if he chose, considering the hearing he needed to attend was next week. Until then, they were in a state of limbo.

  Jane talked regularly to Anna, who was very sensibly staying away from Diego. They were all waiting Hector out. Jane was also keeping Anna informed about the manhunt for Randal Haveman, which frustratingly had failed to locate him. He had to have guessed that he’d been identified, even though Renner had managed thus far to keep his name from the press.

  Haveman’s wife—TJ’s mother—had become hysterical when her husband failed to come home from his last business trip. His personal vehicle, a white Yukon Denali, was located at a Dodge dealership in Bend, which had reported a black Dodge Ram pickup with canopy stolen. Everyone knew the bastard was still around. Unfortunately, the weather had taken a turn for spring, which meant he could be camping out—and in this country, the options were almost limitless. Alternatively, this in-between season offered him a whole hell of a lot of choices of vacant homes and cabins if he wanted to break into one.

  Nobody thought it was safe to leave TJ with the Hales. Reid would have taken him home, but he’d been too visible visiting Caleb in the hospital. To Reid’s surprise, Clay Renner offered his home with his wife’s blessing.

  His wife, who the day after Caleb’s court hearing had let Reid know she was indeed pregnant and intended to keep working as long as possible. She was due around the first of October. She wanted to come back to work after a maternity leave, but possibly part-time. Not willing to lose her, Reid had promised to make that happen, although he didn’t yet know how.

  Promised, he thought wryly, with a last scan of Anna’s town house before he drove away. He’d been making a lot of those lately. If she’d give him a chance, he was ready to make the kind of promises to her he’d never believed he could or would. Pretty clearly, though, she wasn’t going to give him the chance.

  Living with that constant ache of empt
iness, he tried to convince himself he just had to give her time. He had unknowingly—no, God damn it, why lie to himself? knowingly—violated a tenet so essential to her, she’d fashioned her entire life around upholding it. No, he hadn’t known about her sister, but he could have guessed something like that lay in her past. And he’d lied anyway.

  What else could I do?

  He still didn’t know.

  So far, both the sheriff’s department and Angel Butte P.D. officers knew the Hales had been shielding a boy on the run. Renner hadn’t yet come out with the whole story. Reid appreciated the fact he was trying to protect them, although Roger and Paula were resigned to letting all the boys go once it was safe to make plans. So far, there was no indication Anna had reported them, either. The fact she hadn’t was extraordinary enough to give him hope, even if she was still refusing to talk to him.

  Reid was pulling into his own driveway when his phone rang. Frowning, he saw that the number was the Hales’. Speak of the devil. He set the brake, turned off the engine and answered.

  “Reid?” The strain in Roger’s voice sent Reid into cop mode. Something was very wrong.

  “Roger. What’s up?”

  “Haveman is here. He’s demanding that someone bring TJ to him. He’s holding us hostage until that happens.”

  Reid tried for calm. “Us?”

  “Paula, me and three of the boys. Isaac, Damon and Truong.” He paused. “Damon’s hurt, Reid. He tried to take him on.”

  Jesus. “He asked you to call me specifically?”

  “Yes. He apparently saw you out here. He...knows you placed Caleb here and have been protecting us.”

  Haveman had been off before, but still managed to function well enough to have an outwardly normal, financially successful life. Now he’d derailed completely. He couldn’t possibly imagine he’d be able to return to that life. If he wanted TJ delivered to him, it was so he could kill him and then probably himself—and very likely the Hales, whom in his rage he would blame for “stealing” his son. A crazy like him would see no reason to spare the other boys, either, who in his eyes had sinned by running from their own fathers.