“That’s not legal, surely?” Callie glanced between Gina and the lawyer.
“No it’s not, and if it’s their lawyer doing it, dropping snippets to the media from ‘an undisclosed source’—and you can be sure they won’t dirty their hands personally like that anyway—they can claim no prior knowledge and get away with it. Besides, by then the public will be on the grandparents’ side and no jury would hand a child back to someone who’s looking like a drug dealer. Would you?”
Callie frowned. “That’s not right. Gina would never do that, look at her.”
“We have to deal with facts so this is what we do.” She turned to Gina. “Do you even know who you’re dealing with here?”
Rory spoke up while squeezing her hand reassuringly. “I googled them. He is in his early sixties, she’s only in her fifties. One child, Aden. They own half of the West Coast by the look of their bio. Not used to losing, by all accounts, if you can believe those he’s burned along the way in business deals. They play to win and don’t seem to care what it costs them.” He glanced at Gina. “There are also reports of their good deeds, philanthropy, and support of minority groups. Looks like they can play with the big boys or get down and dirty with the charities that matter making them look good.”
“Exactly. This is what you’re up against. They have some very powerful connections. This isn’t going to be easy by any means.” She shuffled her papers. “I know this is hard on you, Gina, but I have to do this to you if we have any possible chance of winning. I want to do a drug test first. How long did you know Aden?”
Gina licked her lips, trying to get moisture back in her mouth before she answered. “Um, I met him about eight months before I became pregnant. Fisher is nearly eighteen months old now so almost three years ago.”
“Right.” She made notes on her legal pad. “Did you do drugs in the time you were together or the time prior to meeting him?”
“I’ve never done drugs.”
“Ever? Not even tried them at a party, even just once?” Layla stared at Gina as if she didn’t believe her.
“No. Not even once. I saw what they did to my father.”
A smile curved Layla’s lips. “So long as this is proven by the test, it will go a long way to saving your ass. How long did it take you grow your hair that long, four, five years?”
“I guess that’s about right.”
“Long enough for our purposes then. I don’t care what you did before that.” She made a note on her legal pad before looking back at Gina.
Chapter Fifteen
“So just to clarify things, the drug test isn’t going to give me any surprises then, you’re sure about that?”
Gina shook her head and he noticed the fire rising in her eyes. This had to be hard for her as well as embarrassing to air her history in front of people she hardly really knew and he could tell she was getting ready to snap at someone. When Layla had started asking questions her face had gone pale and Rory hoped she didn’t pass out. He’d never seen anyone as frightened as she was.
“I need a hair sample. Luckily yours is so long. It’s more than we need which makes things so much easier. It will show us what you’ve taken in the way of substances over the last few years. It’ll get tested in an independent facility that is approved by the courts.” She made another note on her pad.
“They’re hinting at you supplying their son as well as getting him addicted. How did you meet Aden? Can you tell me that?”
“I worked as a waitress. He came in one day with some friends to the diner where I worked and then he kept coming back.” She glanced quickly at Rory who couldn’t help but watch her. “We hit it off really well and started dating soon after that.”
“So you didn’t know who he was?”
“No. He looked the same as most of the crowd that came in. College-type kids who never really had much money.”
“When did you notice he was doing drugs?”
*
Gina sighed and thought back. “I think it was after he’d moved in with me. I never had much of value but one day I noticed things missing. When I asked him about it, he snapped and said I was crazy and asked if I was I accusing him of something.” She looked around the table. “I had no one to turn to, not a soul since my father died and I was lonely. I’m not proud of the fact that I rolled over and gave in, alright? It was nice to have someone who came home at night and I could talk to.” She swallowed, and tampered down her temper. It wasn’t their fault so she really needed to keep control of her emotions. “Sorry. I tried not to upset him because I didn’t want to make him leave. More and more went missing including the money I used to stash away for rent. After a while, I decided it was too late to stand up for myself against him.”
“So he stole from you to support his drug habit?”
“Yes, at least that’s what I believe. We were the only two in the apartment. Who knows what happened while I was at work.”
“How did he die?” Layla looked at papers from her file. “From all accounts, he wasn’t formally identified at the time of his death.”
“I knew very little about him really. I know it might sound strange to you, he didn’t like to talk about himself and at the time I didn’t care. I was happy he was with me.”
“So, he died how?” Layla looked pointedly at her waiting for an answer.
“I woke up one morning to go to work and found him dead next to me. He’d overdosed. I freaked out and didn’t know what to do.”
“So, help me out here, Gina. Just give me the whole damned story. It would be helpful in this instance if you could elaborate and I didn’t have to drag every sentence from you like this.”
“Hey, go easy on her. Can’t you see she’s upset?” Rory turned on the lawyer and growled in warning before turning to Gina again. His face softened, the big protective deputy who only moments ago doubted her, now turned in the blink of an eye into the soft-hearted man she loved. When he reached out to touch her, Gina tried to smile and reassure him she was okay. Layla was right, this had to be done.
“Settle down, Deputy. If they get her on the stand, what I’m doing now will seem like child’s play. Sit down and behave yourself.”
“Gina?”
“I didn’t know what to do. He still had the needle in his arm and he was cold. So very cold.” She shuddered and rubbed her arms even though the house was warm. “I don’t know how long I sat there watching him. Eventually I called the police and they came.”
“They didn’t ask for identification?”
“Yes they did. I couldn’t find his wallet at first. I discovered it later when I got over the shock and I gave it to them. He didn’t have much of anything else apart from a few clothes. Everything in the apartment was mine.”
“What was he like, his personality?” Layla leaned back in her chair and tapped the pen on her lips.
“He could be very sweet. Then he would change and be erratic and snappy. I never knew when he was going to erupt.”
“And you never found any evidence of drug use in the house?”
“No. I guess I never tried to find any. It’s not like I knew for sure he used drugs, more of a guess, I suppose. The erratic behavior should have alerted me, but it was easier to pretend it wasn’t there. I didn’t want to upset him and get into an argument. I’d had enough of that growing up.”
“Fair enough. So when the police questioned you, what did you tell them?”
“Exactly what I’ve told you.” Gina licked her lips and glanced at Rory. “They came back again the next day and grilled me again. I let them search the apartment for drugs but there weren’t any. There was nothing that gave any clue as to who he really was and they said he’d be classed as just another poor person unless someone came forward. His wallet was under the seat of my car, although that didn’t give them much to go on anyway.”
“What did you do then? Did you know you were pregnant?”
“No. I found out a couple of weeks later. I had nobody to turn
to.” She ignored the look of pity in Rory’s eyes. She only had herself to blame, or so she told herself at the time. “The rent was overdue because of, well, Aden I guess, so I packed up what I could, sold what I couldn’t, and walked out.”
“Right, I can use this. Where did you go? Give me all the details you can too, please.” Layla leaned forward and watched her with piercing eyes, making Gina feel like a bug on a pin.
“I took what I could fit into my car and went to a flophouse and rented a room. They didn’t ask for the lasts weeks rent in advance and it was all I could afford. I don’t care what anyone says about it not being a safe place for Fisher, we didn’t have any choice. It was that or the streets. I stayed there until I moved over here.”
“Yes, we’ll get to that in a moment. Back to the, ah, living accommodations. You moved into this room. You were pregnant. You had little or no money, correct?”
Gina nodded her head.
“You continued to work at the diner?”
“Yes, right up until Fisher was born. I had a couple of days off and then found another job. My boss wouldn’t hold my position for me.” She held her head up high, determined not to feel bad about what had already passed. She was a fighter and it was all part of surviving on her own terms.
“Who looked after the baby while you were working?”
“I made friends with an elderly lady in the room next door. We used to share the kitchen and some days we shared what little food we had. She offered to look after Fisher while I went back to work and I paid her what I could. It worked for both of us until my shifts got cut to almost nothing and I couldn’t pay for my room anymore.”
Chapter Sixteen
Rory shared a glance with his elder brother and knew what he was thinking. They both had a soft spot for an underdog and what Gina had gone through was tough. Listening to her talk made him feel guilty for doubting her reasoning for leaving Fisher alone while she went to get his formula. He could see she had done what she thought was best and wasn’t being neglectful, but it still niggled at him. Would Cindy have done the same thing under similar circumstances?
Together they would make sure she was eased through this case with the minimum of fuss and exposure. Rory knew Chance still had his contacts all over America from lawyers like Layla to the media. He could stir up a hornet’s nest if he chose to divert the attention away from Gina.
“Now that’s when you answered the advertisement Rory put in the paper?”
“Not you, too. What is wrong with you guys?” It seemed Tyson could hold his tongue no longer. He glared at Gina, his mouth going into a tight line.
“Let me remind you of something, cowboy.” Layla pointed a shiny red nail in his direction. “If you want to remain in this room, in this family conversation, I would strongly suggest you zip your lip unless you have something nice to say. Preferably about me, but we can discuss that later. Right now you aren’t being helpful in the slightest.” She flicked her hair back. “Behave or you can go outside. I don’t want you upsetting my client.” Layla raised her eyebrow at him and when he looked down at the table, she blew him a kiss making sure he heard the sound effects.
“Right, before I was so rudely interrupted. You answered an ad for a wife. Rather a risky thing to do, I would have thought. So you answered his ad, is that correct, Gina?”
“Yes.”
“All of these things are helping me garner a picture of what your life has been like since you met Aden. If we can prove he was the one who let you down and led you into poverty with his questionable actions, we can turn the tables on the claim, although I still think we’ll have a fight on our hands. I’m not doing this because I enjoy pulling wings off of butterflies.” She smiled and Rory understood why Chance liked her so much. She was sharp as a tack and seemed incredibly determined, even if Gina was finding it a hard interview.
“You placed the ad when, Rory?”
He gave her the date and stared down his younger brother.
“Care to share with me why you did what you did? Just for my own information at this stage.”
“I didn’t feel like going through the whole dating scene again. My wife died three years ago and I was after more of a companion than anything. I liked the sound of Gina when we spoke on the phone and the photo she sent made it clear that she was nice looking. It was all I wanted at the time, companionship. Or so I thought. I’ve since changed my mind.” He gripped Gina’s hand, giving it an extra squeeze. “Fisher was a bonus.”
Layla looked up, her mouth a small round oh. “So you didn’t know about him?”
“No.”
She wrote more notes, her hand moving frantically over the page. Silence surrounded the table while she worked. When she looked up she glanced at Gina again. “So, you didn’t tell Rory about the child then. Tell me why?”
Gina gave her fiancée a quick glance before speaking. “I was desperate by this stage. I had very little money left and my shifts had been cut even more. I was actually looking in the paper for another job when I spied the ad. I was prepared to do almost anything to keep a roof over my baby’s head and food in his stomach. I’m not proud of that fact, but I’d do it again if I had to. And then I lost my job.”
“Did you stop to think of what you wanted for yourself out of life?”
“No. I’ve had to look out for myself for years, even before my father died. So this was no different in my mind.”
Layla smiled, a gesture that reminded Rory of a cat taking an extra slurp of cream from the bowl. “You two seem rather cozy to me.”
“We fell in love.” He glanced at Chance who gave him a small nod. “It worked for Chance and Callie so I took the risk it would work for us too.”
Layla looked at them with her mouth wide open, words escaping her for the moment. She glanced between the brothers and cast a quick glance at Tyson who had his head down, a frown on his face. She closed her mouth and cleared her throat, seemingly swallowing with difficulty. “Right.” Still shocked, she picked up her pen and clicked it a couple of times, seeming to gather her wits.
Rory came to the rescue. “Stranger things have happened.”
“Sure they do. Look, the courts are going to find it rather convenient that you two suddenly fell in love. Sounds a bit saccharine, if you see what I mean. And being an officer of the law yourself, I’m sure you don’t believe in coincidences.”
“Tough. We have and we’ll be married when our house is renovated.”
Layla put her pen down and clasped her fingers together in front of her face. “If you want my opinion, and Chance is paying very handsomely for it, get married now. Prove this isn’t just a convenient way to try to cheat the courts.”
“That’s not fair. Rory wanted to get married in our own place when we were ready.” Gina glanced around the table. “They can’t do this to us, it’s not right.”
*
“Do you want to lose your son?”
“That’s a little bit below the belt, don’t you think?” Gina stared at the woman who a moment ago had her full support.
“No, not if it gets us what we want.” She leaned forward on her elbows. “We have to show the court two things. One, the Bellinghams are wrong in as much as it wasn’t you leading their son astray, it was him that put you in the position you are in now. I doubt public opinion would be able to soften the blow to their case if it got out that a spoilt rich kid on drugs got you pregnant and left you in poverty. And two, this is a committed loving relationship that would be the best place for your son to grow up. You have Rory’s family here—his brothers and sister-in-law.”
Layla looked at Chance, a line marring her perfect forehead. “Is your father still alive?”
He scowled and crossed his arms.
“I’ll take that as a yes, then. Do you mean to tell me that after all these years, you haven’t made peace with that man?” She stared at him, her mouth set and he looked away.
“This isn’t about me, Layla. Let’s keep it that way.”
Everyone in the room watched the play between the two of them.
“Actually it is. You pay me for my opinion and now you’re getting it. I helped you set up bank accounts to keep this family afloat and made sure they had what they needed. Now they need you to step up one more time. Make up with your father, Chance. At least enough that he will have some contact with Fisher. It’s important to show a united, loving family. From what I can find out about the Bellinghams, Fisher would probably be brought up by nannies and spend his formative years in boarding school, just as his father did. I doubt they would change their very busy lifestyle to accommodate a small child. We need to go one better and show the courts the opposite.”
Gina held her breath, waiting expectantly to hear what he said. Chance glanced at her and Callie dug him in the ribs with her elbow. “Stop being such a hard ass. Hell, Chance, if my mother died and left Dad alone with us kids, I wouldn’t blame him for hitting the bottle. Might be hard but I’d still love him and understand why he did it.”
“You weren’t here.” He glared down at her and she ignored him.
“Seems to me you’ve been precious long enough. Make up with him and then maybe your own kids will be able to have a grandfather around. Heaven knows it’s not going to happen from my side of the family.” She looked down at her hands, her shoulders drooping.
He placed an arm around her and looked back at Gina before sliding his gaze to the lawyer. “Hard hitter.”
She smiled and let go a tiny “whoop,” fist pumping the air. “Knew you’d see things my way eventually.”
Gina sagged in her chair. It was all getting too much for her. The tears rolled down her cheeks and there was nothing she could do to stop them.
“Hey, come here, honey. I’ve got you.” Rory pushed his chair out and pulled her onto his knee where he crooned to her softly as she let it all out. She sobbed for the father she lost, the father Fisher had never known, and the agony she would go through if they lost this case. When her tears eased, Rory wiped her cheeks with a tissue. Gina glanced around the table. Everyone sat watching her meltdown.
The Sheriff's Mail-Order Bride (The Watson Brothers #2) Page 13
