Altering Authority (16 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

When she was all dried off, in some clean clothes and feeling better than she had in weeks, Tatum and Jager left his room to find May sitting at the table having a cup of Tea with Donna, who’d apparently just arrived moments before. Matthew was playing with his Lego’s as usual, and Connor was down for a nap.

“Hey, Mom,” Tatum smiled as she walked, better than yesterday, toward the kettle to pour herself a cup of tea.
Maybe orgasms were the trick to recovery
she thought and smiled.

“How are you feeling?” her mother asked. “You’re looking better.”

Jager walked in then and patted Donna on the shoulder, “see, I told you I could take care of her.” He pulled out the third chair for Tatum. The other one was pressed to the wall behind and along with the table. The kitchen was too small to have more than three chairs anyway. Rather than making the women move so that he could pull the table out, he grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and hopped up on the counter.

“I forgot to give this to you the other day Jager,” Donna said and pushed an envelope on the table toward him, smiling sympathetically. Tatum looked at them both quizzically. Donna shrugged as Jager picked it up and laid it on the counter next to him. He smiled, and she assumed it was nothing important.

He didn’t know how much she remembered about the night they found her. Didn’t know how much she was told about what had happened, however he wasn’t about to let any of it ruin her good mood. She was recovering remarkably and he hoped it was because of him.

The rest of the week went smoothly. Tatum and Jager fell into a pattern. Showers, bed, doctor’s appointments, and by Friday, she was walking to the park with him and the boys, albeit slowly and on pain meds. She began doing therapy on her wrist every day. Apparently she was healing remarkably well, and the break wasn’t as bad as they originally thought. Her thumb was fine and her doctor expected a full recovery, her ribs included within three weeks.

She knew the doctor’s good news meant she would be well enough soon for the good stuff. She fantasized about them being together, finally. Even woke up a couple nights, sweaty and aching for him after dreaming about it. The fooling around, hands and mouth stuff, wasn’t enough for him anymore either. He craved her. Just her touch was enough to get him hard. It didn’t even need to be sexual. If she walked past him in the kitchen while he was sitting at the table and brushed her fingers across his shoulders, he pictured her in bed. Rubbing her foot up his leg while watching TV, he was nearly finished.

Everything was so good. He was waiting for the ball to drop. Knew it was about to. He’d missed his court hearings for Victor’s murder. He couldn’t bring himself to leave Tatum. He knew it was his fault that she was in the mess she was in, and he wanted, needed, to be there for her. He wasn’t going to miss a day. He knew that any day the cops or a bounty hunter would show up at his door to take him back to jail. He didn’t tell Tatum. Couldn’t bring himself to.

Sitting on the floor one night, playing with the boys, he knew who it was the second they knocked on the door. Tatum, with Connor in her laps, looked up at him questioningly. They weren’t expecting anyone at this hour. Taking a deep breath Jager walked to the door and opened it to find Charlene and two other officers standing there. They walked in and Tatum immediately stood and propped Connor on her hip.

“You know why we’re here Jager?” Charlene asked him. He looked to Tatum and she could see it on his face.

“What is this?” she asked quietly, taking a step toward him. Matthew had stopped playing and looked up at his father, surround by cops. He was on the verge of tears and Jager knew it. He wanted to walk to him, and tell him everything was ok but he knew he couldn’t.

One of the other officers grabbed his hands and pulled them behind his back. “It’s ok Matt, buddy. Daddy will be fine. Everything will be fine,” he said as his son began to cry out loud. Fat tears sliding down his cheeks. He stood and ran toward his father, but Tatum intercepted him, pulling him close to her and hugging him into her leg. Connor, taken aback by the commotion and the reaction of his brother, began to cry as well and to reach for his father.

“I’m sorry Tate. Call May, and my lawyer. Please,” he said as the other cop came to stand in front of him.

Charlene came to stand next to Tatum. She knew that her ribs weren’t fully healed yet, however Tatum couldn’t move to put Connor down. She was frozen.

“Jager Ryan…” the cop began, “you are under arrest for the murders of Victor Porter and your wife, April Ryan. You have the right to remain silent…”

Tatum’s head shot up at the same time that Jagers did.

“What did you say!” he demanded, looking from Charlene and Tate to the officer speaking to him. “I didn’t kill my wife,” he said, just more than a whisper. “I didn’t kill my wife!” he yelled now as the cop tried to push him out the front door.

The boys were inconsolable at this point. Matthew cried, “Daddy, don’t leave us too!” and Tatum’s knees felt weak and then gave out completely. She sat on the floor, hugging Connor and Matthew to her chest as they screamed for their father. Charlene squat next to her, rubbing her back although she didn’t feel it.

“… I didn’t kill her Tate! I didn’t kill my wife!” was the last thing Tatum heard before the car door shut and they drove away.

More to come with Tatum and Jager in the next segment of the ‘
Authority
’ Series. Stay tuned!

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