Retribution

by Tymber Dalton

  After a moment, Dunn seemed to realize he wasn’t very popular. He turned and walked back into the bowels of the station.

  Colin kept Andrew moving. Together, they headed for Davis Hammond’s car. Colin consoled Andrew the whole way, who kept insisting the entire time they were exiting the building and crossing the parking lot that he shot Cole Johnson.

  Tyler sat in the front seat while Colin and his father took up the back seat. Once they were away from there, Tyler realized his stomach was growling and that it was now after seven o’clock and he’d yet to have a substantial meal.

  “Right, that’s sorted, then,” Andrew said.

  Tyler looked back and found his father grinning. “Dad?”

  Andrew kissed Colin, a right fair snog that had Tyler feeling slightly uncomfortable. “You were brilliant, pet. Simply brilliant. Not a dry eye in the house when we left.”

  “Dad?”

  “How’d I do, Davis?”

  Davis glanced in the rearview mirror. “You had me believing you were senile. Prosecutor basically told Dunn unless they find the gun and can put it in one of your hands, he’d better not be bothering any of you again.”

  “Brilliant!”

  Tyler blinked. “Dad?”

  Andrew rolled his eyes. “I was acting, son. My goodness, I taught it in school. You think I can’t convince a bloody awful detective that I’m barmy, think again.”

  Tyler laid his head back against the seat and laughed while fighting the urge to cry tears of relief.

  * * * *

  Nevvie and Tom walked out to greet Tyler when Davis Hammond brought him home after dropping off Colin and Andrew.

  Davis rolled down his window. “And, do me a favor, huh? None of you say a damn word to any of those fucking Mayberry rejects unless I’m there, okay?”

  “Right.” Tyler nodded. “Learned my bloody lesson.”

  “Good. Have a good night. I’ll keep you posted.”

  Nevvie and Tom hugged Tyler, long and hard, as Davis got turned around and drove off.

  “What happened?” Tom asked.

  “The prosecutor basically told Dunn to shove it up his arse. Dad had them turned around in knots. Literally had some of the officers close to tears in the lobby. Made them think he was mad as a March hare. Davis explained that as long as Dad insisted he did it and refused to recant, and they could prove he hadn’t done it or wasn’t capable of doing it, nothing they could try to prosecute would stick. Reasonable doubt. We were all confessing to the same thing. We all couldn’t have done it.”

  “So who stole the fucking gun?” Tommy asked. “And when? How long’s it been missing and we didn’t know it?”

  “That’s the question, right?” They headed for the house when headlights rolled up the driveway. “Bloody hell, now what?” Tyler muttered.

  It was Crystal. She exited her car and walked up. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes,” Nevvie said after hugging her, “but it’s been a long damn day, and I just want to go to sleep, hon. I’m sorry. Maybe come by tomorrow?”

  “No worries, I understand. Just to let you know, I’m going to be heading back to New York probably next weekend. So we can make good use of our time together before then.”

  “That’s probably best,” Nevvie said. “You’ve got a life to get back to. Please have Elliot bill for us any charges we racked up having you here. We’ll pay your hotel bill and other expenses, too.”

  “Not a problem. Mr. Paterno said it’s taken care of.”

  “He is a good egg,” Tyler said. “Thank you for all your help.”

  “I’m just a phone call away if you need me tonight.”

  Once she drove off, they headed inside and locked the door behind them. Willow and Mikey waited in the living room.

  “Where’s Zoey?” Tyler asked.

  Mikey and Willow pointed at the stairs.

  “Yeah, she’s pretty upset about Grandpa,” Nevvie said.

  “I’ll go talk to her.” Tyler didn’t have to knock because her door stood open. “Grandpa’s not going to be charged.”

  She sat on her bed, the TV playing, her quilt wrapped around her. “Really?”

  “Really. None of us will be charged.”

  “How…how is he?”

  Now he understood. “He’s fine, sweetheart. He was simply acting. He’s not senile.” She started crying and he walked in to hug her. “It’s all right, sweetheart. I felt like crying earlier, too.”

  “I thought he had Alzheimer’s or something.”

  “No, love. He’s fine. Never fear. He simply wanted to protect all of us. It was merely an act.”

  “I wish I’d never said anything,” she said. “I should have kept my mouth shut and pretended it never happened to me.”

  “No, you mustn’t think that, sweetheart. Absolutely not. This happened, and…well, it happened. Can’t get much worse, right?”

  “Jesus, Dad!” She looked horrified. “Don’t say that! You’ll jinx us!”

  He hugged her again. “Yes, well, let’s move forward now. This will get sorted out.”

  “I want my life back.”

  “I know, sweetheart. It’ll happen. Trust me. It just takes time to stabilize, that’s all.”

  “When’s that happen?”

  “Hopefully soon.”

  Not soon enough for me.

  Chapter Seven

  The next evening was Saturday, and Karen and Bill had gone out for the evening. Chloe was spending the night with Clay and Jennifer, since Jennifer’s granddaughters were spending the weekend with them.

  That meant Andrew and Colin were looking forward to a calm, quiet night at Andrew’s, alone, without having to go to Colin’s to earn it.

  Andrew was more than ready for it. After all the commotion surrounding Zoey’s attack and Cole’s murder, and yesterday’s debacle, quiet was a welcomed respite.

  Davis had reported back that afternoon that, no, there would be no further requests for information from Andrew.

  That morning, Andrew had helped Colin pack more of his clothes and move them to Andrew’s house. It was obvious where Colin wanted to live—and where Andrew wanted him to live—and silly to drive back and forth all the time.

  Especially since the night before, after completely exhausting each other in bed, Andrew had proposed to Colin, who’d tearfully said yes.

  The only reason they hadn’t set a wedding date yet was because they knew it would give Susan ammunition in a fight they didn’t want to have with her until after Colin had consulted with an attorney and made any and all changes he wanted to his personal affairs.

  They didn’t need to be “married” to be together, and Andrew was content with having the man in his bed and his home. They also weren’t going to tell the family about that yet, either. The last thing they wanted was anyone bugging them about setting a date, or prove a distraction from the triad taking care of Zoey and their other children.

  Although, earlier in the week, to satisfy the nagging little part of his brain which insisted on caution, Andrew had spoken to Bob. Bob had run a quick background check on Colin for Andrew, just in case. Bob had reported Thursday evening that Colin appeared to be exactly who he claimed to be, and even had an admirable credit score to boot.

  Andrew had prepared them lasagna for dinner, and they’d just sat down to eat when he spotted headlights sweep across the front of the house. Tonight they were eating in the living room, sitting on the couch. Colin set his plate on the coffee table and got up to look out the window next to the front door.

  “It’s Steven.”

  Bloody hell, they just couldn’t catch a break. “What?”

  “Yeah.” Colin unlocked and opened the door. Andrew had set his plate aside and was standing when he heard the boy’s sobs. Steven practically fell into his grandfather’s arms after charging up the porch steps.

  “Stevie? What’s wrong?”

  Andrew made his way over to them and helped Colin get the boy inside, closing th
e door behind him.

  “It’s Mom,” he sobbed. “She threw me out.”

  “What?” Both men stared at each other, and it was Colin who found his voice first. “What happened?”

  “Dad wasn’t home. He’s out with Courtney, Sarah, and Robert at a bowling fundraiser thing for Sarah’s school. I wanted to stay home and study. Out of the blue, Mom told me I wasn’t allowed to talk to you anymore, and I told her she couldn’t tell me what to do, because I’m eighteen now. She said she wouldn’t have me talking to ‘some queer’ and living under her roof. So I said fine, guess that meant she didn’t want her queer son living there, either. Then…it got uglier.”

  Andrew enveloped both of them in a hug. “Oh, my dear boy. I’m so terribly sorry.”

  “It’s okay, buddy,” Colin said. “You’ll move in here with us.” He belatedly met Andrew’s gaze, and Andrew nodded in agreement.

  Steven choked back sobs. “I’m glad you said that, because I grabbed as much of my stuff as I could load in my car when I left. I wasn’t sure where I was going to go. Dad doesn’t even know yet, unless she told him.”

  “Have you eaten?” Andrew asked. So much for their evening alone, but this was, obviously, far more important.

  Steven was family.

  And I suppose my instincts were right after all.

  They got him seated in the middle of the couch, between them, and Andrew fixed him a plate of lasagna and a glass of iced tea while Colin got him talking, starting from the beginning of what happened.

  “She was telling me how horrible it was you were involved with Andy. I guess a friend of hers works for the sheriff’s office as a clerk and she saw you two there yesterday. I finally got tired of it and told her to leave you two alone. Told her that you’re happy, you’re actually living with Andy and not just dating him, and you’re finally smiling for the first time since Grandma died.

  “That’s when she started to scream at me how horrible gay people were. I finally had it. I finally hit my breaking point. I’d planned to wait until after I got out of college to come out to her, because I knew when I did that she’d cut me off. But I couldn’t stand there and listen to her talking about you both like that.”

  “Aren’t you going to college here in Savannah?” Andrew asked.

  “Yes, sir. That was my plan. The community college. I know she probably won’t pay for it now. I don’t have a scholarship. I can work full-time once I graduate high school, I guess. At least I can make a living.”

  “Nonsense,” Colin said. “You’re going to college. If she won’t pay for it, then I will.”

  Steven’s eyes widened, and Andrew understood from the boy’s shocked expression how much emotional trauma Steven had truly endured that evening. “Really?”

  “Yeah. Your momma was so worried about my savings and money and stuff that wasn’t her business to be worried about. I can’t imagine community college is more than I have saved up. Damn sure not leaving it to her after she showed her ass. You’re going to college, and your momma can go screw herself.”

  “Oh, my god! Thank you, Grandpa!” Steven hugged Colin, then turned and hugged Andrew. “Thank you, Andy!”

  The men smiled at each other. “Well, since you’ll be living here, you should call me Grandpa Andy. So as not to confuse the little one.”

  “Will Karen and Bill be okay with me living here?”

  “I dare say they would have volunteered to let you live here, if we hadn’t first.”

  “I’ll do chores and stuff and help out, I swear!”

  “That you will,” Colin said. “This isn’t a free ride. This is Andrew’s house.” His gaze met and held Andrew’s. “He’s in charge.”

  Andrew winked at him, smiling.

  “Yes, sir,” Steven said, oblivious to their little exchange. “I promise. Whatever rules you want, I’ll follow them.”

  “We can discuss that tomorrow, son,” Andrew said. “Eat your dinner, then I’ll show you to your room and you can put your things away. Is there anything else you need to get?”

  “A couple of things I’d like to get from my room at home. Some books and stuff. The rest of my clothes. But if I can’t get them I guess I won’t have them.”

  Steven’s cell phone rang, and when he pulled it out and looked at it, he angrily ended the call and set it on the table. “Mom.” He practically spat the word.

  “I can ask Thomas and Tyler to go with you tomorrow to try to get your things. Perhaps they can distract your mom long enough for you to get what you need?”

  “If we can get there and get out between nine and noon, she’ll be gone at church. Dad’s working tomorrow morning.”

  “I’ll call them right now.” Andrew fetched his phone and dialed Nevvie, since he knew she’d have hers on her.

  “Hey, Dad. Thought it was date night for you and Colin?”

  “Change of plans. I need to borrow Thomas and Tyler tomorrow morning. It’s imperative.”

  “What? Hold on, what’s going on?”

  “It’s…” He sighed. “Perhaps it’s best if the three of you come over right now.”

  “We’ll be right there.”

  Five minutes later, the triad sat in their living room and listened as Steven tearfully recounted what happened.

  Tom looked angry. Ty’s cold, calculating expression spoke to even deeper emotions.

  Nevvie summed it up.

  “That fucking bitch. You let me go with you guys, in case she shows up. What fucking kind of goddamned mother throws her kid out!”

  She realized she was screaming—and swearing—and covered her mouth. “Oops, sorry.”

  Tyler hooked an arm around her and pulled her close to his side. “Careful, love. That is exactly why you should not go with us tomorrow. It is a trigger for you, in addition to everything else we’re going through right now.”

  “I don’t know, Ty,” Tom darkly muttered. “I kinda want a crack at Susan myself. First showing up here, and now this? She’s as bad if not worse than Emily ever was.”

  “Actually,” Colin said, “Emily was friends with Susan. When Andrew told me about what happened, I remembered it. At the time it happened, I was too busy taking care of Camille to put much thought into it. But I remember Susan was really upset about Emily’s death at the time because they’d met through church.”

  “Ahh,” Tyler said. “Now we really know why Susan despises Andrew so much. She has likely put it together who he was in relation to Emily.”

  Steven spoke up. “I heard her mention something to Dad the other day about an Emily, about missing her, like she was dead, but I didn’t know who she was talking about.”

  “Bingo,” Nevvie said. “So she’s going to be a bitch regardless. Literally cut from the same bigoted and brainwashed cloth as Emily was.”

  “Do you think there’s anything we need to do, legally, to protect Steven?” Andrew asked them.

  Tom shook his head. “He’s eighteen, and—”

  They all looked up as more headlights, two sets of them, rolled into the driveway.

  One of them a sheriff’s cruiser.

  “Right,” Tyler said. He handed Nevvie off to Tom. “See if you can keep her out of jail, please. Let me do the talking. Steven, if you will.” He motioned for the boy to join him as he opened the door.

  Andrew and Colin stepped onto the porch behind them, watching as Susan followed the uniformed deputy up the front walk.

  “Good evening, officer,” Tyler said. “How may we help you?”

  The deputy looked less than thrilled to be there and remained at the bottom of the stairs, not actually stepping up onto the porch. “Mrs. Jardine here says her son is being held against his will.”

  “That’s bullshit!” Steven yelled. “She’s just mad because I told her I’m gay!”

  “Stop being stupid, Steven,” she shot back. “You’re not gay and you know it. You can’t be gay, because we’re a good Christian family.”

  The deputy literally did a double-t
ake and stared at her for a long moment before returning his focus to the group now gathered on the porch. “Are you Steven Jardine?” the deputy asked.

  “Yes, sir. And I turned eighteen last week.”

  “Do you have your ID on you, son?”

  “In my wallet.”

  “Let me see it, please.”

  He produced his driver’s license and handed it over. The deputy studied it, nodded, then returned it. “Thank you.” He turned to Susan. “He’s legally an adult, ma’am. Unless you want to file charges against him for something, we’re done here.”

  “He’s my son! I can’t let him stay…here! It’s bad enough my father’s living here with these…people!”

  The deputy turned. “Son, are you here of your own free will?”

  “Yes, sir. When Mom threw me out, I packed my stuff and came here. Grandpa and Mr. Paulson said I can live here, with them.”

  Susan’s eyes widened. “You are absolutely not living here! I forbid it!”

  The deputy looked sympathetic to Steven and the others. “Ma’am, you can’t stop him.”

  “I want his car! He stole his car!”

  “Susan,” Colin said, “you know damn well that car is in my name. I’ll be getting him added to my auto insurance policy tomorrow, so you can drop that.”

  She looked desperate. “His phone! I want that back! I paid for that. It’s in my name.”

  Steven pulled it from his back pocket and handed it to the deputy. “There. Enjoy.”

  Her mouth gaped open and closed a few times as the deputy passed it to her. “Anything else, ma’am?” the deputy asked.

  “He has a few items he’d like to retrieve from her home, if he may,” Tyler said.

  The deputy nodded. “Okay. Let’s go do this.”

  “No!” Susan screamed. “He’s not moving out!”

  “He’s already moved out, Susan,” Colin said. “You threw him out. Great job being a mother, by the way.”

  “Of course we cannot force you to let him get his things tonight,” Tyler said, “but I have already called my attorney and he is in the process of drafting an emergency motion to allow Steven access to his property. Either we can handle this tonight, quickly and privately, or I will make sure my attorney forces you to get an attorney and it will cost you a minimum of twenty thousand dollars just to let him get his things. Are you really ready to play that game, madam? Because I can assure you, I am quite eager and ready to bleed you dry many times over after the shameful way you treated your father and mine, much less your poor son.”