Accused (Troubled Boys, Strong Men Book 1)

by Wendy Byrne

  Cole handed Sam and Jillian pepper spray. “Never leave home without it.” He pressed against the door until it opened fully and they could peer into the apartment.

  When no one was visible, Cole slipped inside followed by Sam, with Jillian behind and hanging onto his shirt. The awkward threesome picked their way through the chaotic mess of clothes, boxes and overturned furniture. The walls were stained from many years of cigarette smoke and a twenty-year old paint job.

  Jillian could swear her heart rate had tripled in the last few minutes. Her fingers trembled as she held onto the bottom of Sam’s shirt.

  Eerily the TV was still on, and the smell of fried foods hung in the air, but no one seemed to be around.

  “Come on, Carlos, I just want to talk.” There was no response to Cole’s words. “I’m going to check the bedroom,” he whispered. He came back out a few minutes later and shrugged. “Nothing.”

  Sam walked into the kitchen with Jillian trailing behind. She’d let go of his shirt but didn’t stray too far.

  “Whoever was here, they left in a hurry.” He pointed to the bacon lying on a paper towel next to the stove.

  She could still feel the adrenaline popping in her system like tiny bubbles in a champagne glass. “What do we do now?”

  Cole shook his head. “They either knew we were coming or saw us. That means Tyrone might be in danger.”

  “Hey, Matthews, come to the window.” Someone hollered from outside.

  Sam pushed Jillian against the wall. “Stay out of the line of fire.”

  Cole peeked out the window and yelled, “What do you want?” He turned toward Sam and Jillian and whispered, “I’m pretty sure that’s Carlos outside. He’s acting like some kind of bad ass and waving around a gun.”

  “Shit.” Sam shook his head and muttered. “I wish...”

  “Ssshhh.” She put her finger to his lips. “I’m here. You’re going to have to deal with it.”

  “You need to back the hell off.” Carlos ended his statement with a pop, pop, pop, sound.

  “Was that a gun?” Her legs began to wobble as she leaned against the wall.

  “He shot it in the air as a warning. What a dumb ass.” Cole sucked in air. “I guess we struck a nerve with somebody.”

  Jillian jumped when seconds later, her phone rang. “This is Jillian.”

  “Ms. Beckett, this is Dr. Davis from County Hospital. I’m afraid your son has been in a fight and had to be admitted.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Travis tried not to panic as he struggled to open his eyes. It felt like they were glued shut.

  Where the hell was he?

  “Shit.”

  He tried to calm. There was no way Slash could have Superglued his eyes. He tried one of his mother’s yoga deep breaths to stay cool.

  Yowsa, that hurt.

  Oh yeah, now he remembered. Slash had kicked him a couple of times after he went down. What an asshole.

  He struggled to adjust his position, hoping to clear his head. His left hand was attached to something that didn’t feel like handcuffs.

  Number one priority: figure out where he was. It didn’t smell like the jail. And the sounds he heard were definitely not what he’d become accustomed to.

  Where were his pants? His legs were bare. When he felt around with his fingertips, he touched stiff cotton, like in the jail, but different somehow.

  Had to be a hospital.

  Geez, Slash must have fucked him up bad.

  Did he cut his eyes or something? Oh hell, he remembered seeing a movie in which a guy gouged out somebody’s eyes. Oh man, being blind would really suck.

  He tried not to let his fear overwhelm him as he explored his face with his hands until he reached his eyes. His fingers felt the bulge of eyeballs underneath.

  “Hells yeah.” Damn, his voice sounded strange.

  Slowly, he tried to pry open one eye to confirm. Bright light assaulted him. Considering what he’d thought seconds ago, that was excellent.

  Last thing he remembered he was winning that fight with Slash. What happened after that?

  He touched his arms to feel for anything broken, then moved his legs to make sure they were okay. Next he traveled the length of his chest with his fingertips. “Shit.” That hurt. He brought his hands back up to his face to check for stitches.

  “Don’t.” An unfamiliar woman’s voice spoke from what sounded like across the room.

  “Where am I?” His voice sounded raspy like he’d been screaming or something.

  “County Hospital.” The woman came closer and checked something by his head and clucked.

  Damn, he wished he could see something. “What’s wrong with me?”

  “You’ve got a broken nose and a couple of really good shiners are starting to bloom and your eyes are swollen shut. You have some stiches above your left eye, but other than that, you’re doing okay.”

  “That’s why I can’t breathe so good.” Travis let out a sigh and a twinge of pain slipped through. “My chest hurts too.”

  “You’ve got some bruised ribs. Nothing we can do for that except let them heal on their own.”

  “So I’ll live?”

  “Oh yeah.”

  “How about Slash? Is he in here too?”

  “I don’t know anything about that.”

  “Does my mom know?”

  “Somebody from juvenile called her. I imagine she’ll be here any time.”

  Oh crap. She’s going to be pissed.

  ***

  “What happened?” Sam saw the blood drain from Jillian’s face and automatically placed his hand at her elbow. Any second he expected she’d do a face plant in this scuzzy apartment.

  “It’s Travis. I need to get to County hospital.” She started to rush out the door, but Sam held her back. “I’ll drop off Cole and take you there.”

  She shook her head, “I need to do this alone.”

  He grasped her shoulders and forced her to look at him. “Is Travis okay?” When she nodded, he let out a breath and continued, “Your car is at Cole’s, remember?”

  “Right. I for—” She didn’t bother to finish her train of thought and remained quiet on the short ride back to the office. After Cole left with plans to relocate Tyrone temporarily with Mama Iris, Sam decided to revisit the idea of him driving her to the hospital.

  “Do you know what happened?”

  She looked at him with that scary, vacant expression. Maybe if she were crying he’d feel a little better, but this emotionless trance-like thing freaked him out.

  “A fight. I’ve got to go,” she mumbled and pressed the remote to unlock the doors, except she kept hitting the lock instead of the unlock. When the door wouldn’t open, tears started to dribble down her cheeks. “What the hell?” Her fingers trembled as she kept pressing the remote and pulling on the car handle without success. Finally, she shook her head. “I should have been there.”

  “You should have been where?”

  She turned and pounded on his chest. “With Travis. I’m never there when they…he needs me.”

  Sam had the feeling what she spoke about had nothing to do with Travis, but more to do with something else. “Jillian, you know you couldn’t be with him at juvie. He has to negotiate those things on his own. You’re doing everything you can from where you are.” He steered her away from her car toward his truck. “You’re in no condition to drive. I’ll take you there and we can come back later and pick up your car.”

  She looked at him as if seeing him for the first time since she’d gotten the phone call. Without another word, she slid into the passenger seat of his truck and buckled in.

  He didn’t even try to get her to talk on the short ride to the hospital. She seemed lost in some wicked spiral of thoughts she couldn’t discuss.

  Without too much problem, he pulled into a parking spot, then came around to help her out. Her body trembled as she got out. “Thank you,” she mumbled.

  Despite what he’d witnessed se
conds ago, with each step toward the hospital she seemed to grow in backbone and confidence through some internal mechanism he couldn’t quite understand. Her eyes focused and her breathing became measured and calm.

  “Did they say what floor he’s on?”

  “Third.” She walked into the elevator ahead of him and pushed the button.

  When they got out, he looked around. He spotted a guard sitting outside a room and ushered her that way.

  “Travis Becket,” her voice trembled as she spoke to the nurse.

  She glanced up from the chart she’d been completing, “family only.”

  He was about to offer to stay outside when Jillian looked at him and grasped his hand. “We’re his parents.”

  “Go on in. Room 312.”

  Jillian whispered. “A little white lie. I’m sure Travis would want to see you.”

  He had to believe that Jillian was willing to accept his presence as well. While he didn’t know what caused the shift in her thinking, he suspected it had something to do with the uncertainty of what she might see, or perhaps it was about those demons she held close and had been reluctant to reveal.

  While she creaked open the door, he kept a steady hand on her back. He’d seen a lot of kids beat up in his day, and most times the injuries looked a lot worse than they were.

  “Oh my God, Travis.” She rushed to his side and laid a hand on his arm. Tears dribbled down her cheeks. “You look awful. Are you in pain?”

  “Mom, don’t you know you’re supposed to lie and tell me how good I look?”

  “And how the stitches above your eye are only going to add character,” Sam added hoping to break some of the tension and fear palpable in the room.

  “Coach, you’re here too?” Travis’ voice was muffled, affected by the swelling in his face and the fact his nose had been packed with gauze and splinted.

  All things considered, Sam figured the kid didn’t look too bad. The swelling surrounding his eyes would probably be down in a day or two, and he’d be sporting a couple of shiners for a while. His nose would more than likely take some more time to heal, but all in all it wasn’t all that bad.

  “Boy, you’d do anything to get out of that place, wouldn’t you?” Sam felt a need to keep it light since Jillian looked precariously close to collapse.

  “Even a hospital bed is better than that thing they call a mattress.”

  “Travis, I don’t understand. What happened? Where were the guards during all this?” She poked at Travis’ body as if to ensure herself he was, in fact, going to be okay. A little of the color returned to her cheeks in the process.

  “Slash was being an idiot and started saying stuff to me.”

  “Travis Connor Beckett, didn’t I tell you to ignore him?” Her body trembled.

  Somehow she had to learn not everything was in her control. And sometimes Travis had to learn the hard way. Maybe it was because he was an only child she was so willing to assume responsibility so quickly, but Sam suspected there was more involved.

  “You don’t understand, Mom. He was saying sh…stuff about you like how he’d like to see you naked.” He tried to shrug but clearly there was some pain involved as he winced. “So then I called him a snitch because of what he said about me, and he came over and started fighting me. I guess he didn’t want his friends to know.”

  “Did they all gang up on you?”

  “I don’t think so. I was winning at first, but then he must have hit me with something. I came to in the hospital.”

  ***

  “Thanks again for driving me to the hospital, Sam.” She kept her hand on the handle of the door, feeling she couldn’t get out of the truck fast enough. It wasn’t about Sam, but about yet another hellacious day in her life. “You’ve gone above and beyond. I truly appreciate it.”

  “I care about Travis.”

  “Just the same, you’ve done so much I’m not sure how I can ever repay you.”

  “Why don’t you come to the football game Friday? The kids all like Travis and I’m sure it would be good for you to have a little break.”

  Although she tried to smile, the idea of being around people who might judge her for what happened to her son sent a shiver down her spine. “I’ll try.”

  “Besides, Travis will expect a full report from you anyway on what happened. Best to give him a play by play.” He blew out a breath. “Mama Iris will be there, as always. I swear, that woman thinks she’s the back-up coach or something.”

  She couldn’t help smiling. “Now that doesn’t surprise me at all.”

  “I think you’ll find this crowd of teens much different than what you were used to before. There’s also this girl I know Travis has a crush on. It would give you a chance to check her out.”

  He was doing the hard sell. She couldn’t decide if it was because he felt sorry for her or wanted to distract her from her troubles.

  “Now you’ve got me intrigued.” She grinned as she got out. “I’ll definitely think about it.”

  She got into her car and buckled up. The fact that she hadn’t dissolved into a shriveling heap at the hospital was a minor miracle. Maybe her system had encountered so much over the last several days it was immune to another meltdown. Maybe it was having Sam by her side.

  Ugh! She could not go through that again.

  Becoming reliant on Archie those many years ago during the aftermath of her parents’ death hadn’t served her well. It had taken years for her to feel self-sufficient again. And even more years to finally make the break. She had to wonder whether she would have muddled through life with Archie, allowing his indiscretions to go on without repercussions if he hadn’t openly attacked Travis.

  In many respects Travis’ trouble had been a gift. Although it was disturbing to look at it that way, there was no disputing the fact that it had forced her to make a decision she might not have otherwise made. Money had never been important to her, but when Archie stripped away at Travis’ self-esteem, the line had been drawn.

  Lost in her thoughts, she was home before she knew it. Unfortunately, when she pulled into the driveway, she found a strange car, and realized the day was about to be get even longer.

  ***

  Travis stirred when he heard the door open. “Mom?”

  “No, Travis, it’s Dr. Stern.”

  He couldn’t see and with his nose packed with a bunch of bandages, he couldn’t smell very well, but as the doctor came closer he caught a whiff of his ever-present spicy cologne. Travis was pretty sure the stuff cost a fortune, but he thought it stank. Right now it made him want to gag. The smell made him remember everything bad that had happened in his life. His fuck ups, his parents’ divorce, the disappointment he saw in his mother’s eyes, Lexie…

  “I’m not up for getting shrunk today.” He only wanted to close his eyes and hope this whole this was one giant nightmare.

  Dr. Stern patted Travis’ arm. “I was in the hospital to check on some patients and heard about what happened and thought I’d check on you.”

  He couldn’t be sure, but it sounded like Dr. Stern checked that bag thing hanging on the pole beside his bed. Weird how not being able to see so good made him more aware of other stuff. “So what are they giving me?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You checked that bag thing, didn’t you?”

  “Oh yes, of course. Professional curiosity. It looks like saline to keep you hydrated. Pretty standard stuff.”

  “Nothing there to keep me sleepy?”

  “Doesn’t look like it. But the sleepiness is not too surprising with head trauma.”

  “How long do you think they’ll keep me here? Not that I’m anxious to go back or anything after what happened.”

  “A couple of days probably.” He patted Travis’ hand. “But more troubling is the fact that the judge wants you in court as soon as you’re able to get around.”

  Oh shit. That didn’t sound so good.

  Chapter Eighteen

  If Jillian had
any adrenaline left in her body she might have ordered whoever they were off her property. Instead, she put her car in park, got out and waited for them to show themselves.

  When it was Archie who got out of that old Ford, she was shocked. This was followed by another shock when she realized he was apparently alone. That must be a first since a young female seemed to be his accessory du jour of late.

  “Everybody knows.” He appeared more disturbed than angry.

  “You’re going to have to give me a little more. Everybody knows what?” She wanted to add, ‘That you’re an asshole,’ but didn’t have the energy to toss out the insult.

  “About Travis.” He paced back and forth in front of her. “I’ve had reporters staked out in front of my house all day. That’s why I had to borrow the gardener’s car to get here. ”

  She glanced at the weeds in her flower garden and shrugged. “Well, cry me a river. I guess I can appreciate the fact that you didn’t sic them on me, but I don’t know what you want me to do about it.”

  “Don’t you get it? I said everybody knows.”

  “Okay, I’m giving in to your paranoia, but since juveniles names aren’t made public, they’re only taking a guess. Call their bluff and deny it.” Why didn’t she walk into the house and pretend she didn’t see him?

  “I have, but you don’t know how persistent they are.”

  “I’m sure they are circling looking for blood since it’s about the only gossip going on right now. The only thing you can hope for is a big-time celebrity gets sentenced to rehab for shoplifting or something to take the heat off.”

  “You’re making light of this, but it’s horrible being hounded.” He placed his hands on his hips, “I might never get a job after this fiasco.”

  She bit off a laugh. “You’re kidding, right? I would think you’d be the new golden child, seeing how skewed the view of life is in your circle. Can’t you see the publicity for the new flick: Producer is successful even with a kid in jail for murder? It’s a definite winner. I’d be shocked if somebody didn’t want to buy the film rights.”