Harlequin Superromance September 2014 - Bundle 1 of 2: This Good Man\Promises Under the Peach Tree\Husband by Choice (24 page)

“Yes. TJ made it into a ditch. Diego is here in the hospital, too, with a broken leg and some other broken bones. No head injury, though, unlike you. You took the hardest hit.”

“He drove straight at us.” The horror of the memory was in his eyes. “We were on the shoulder. As far over as we could go. He swerved to take us out.”

“Neither of the others was sure what the vehicle was. They didn't get a license plate or see the driver, either.”

He looked at Reid. “Wasn't Dad.”

“We know.” Reid took his hand again. “Sergeant Renner questioned him, but he was able to prove he wasn't in Angel Butte.”

Caleb nodded slightly. “Dodge Ram.” Long pause. “They've got...kind of a different front grille. You know? My friend Ian's dad drives one.”

“Ah.” Renner sounded pleased.

“Did you see the driver, Caleb?” Reid asked.

“Yes. Don't know him.”

Renner said, “I brought some photos to show you, Caleb. No, don't try to sit up. I'll hold them so you can see them.”

Reid recognized the faces enlarged and printed in color that Renner had fanned out at the foot of the bed. He said nothing, but approved when Renner chose to start with Trevor's uncle, deliberately skipping the photo of TJ's father and moving on through several others before he held up the driver's license photo of Randal Haveman.

Caleb's whole body instantly stiffened. “Yes!” he hissed. “That's him. Oh, man. Who is he?”

Reid kept his mouth clamped shut. Renner's eyes met his briefly before he looked again at Caleb. “Can you keep it to yourself?”

“Yes.”

“TJ's father. He's...been afraid it was his father. I guess he's been sneaking out at night hoping to catch him red-handed.”

“Oh. I thought...” Caleb closed his eyes, leaving his suspicion unspoken.

“We'll find him,” Renner said, voice hard. “You'll have to testify in court, Caleb.”

“I will.” His fierce stare held Clay Renner's. “He was looking straight at me when he hit me.”

Primal rage hit Reid like the leading edge of a storm. He locked his jaw so tight, he feared his molars might crack. He wanted in the worst way to go after the son of a bitch himself. But he knew he couldn't, for a lot of reasons. And the determination and cold anger he saw on Clay Renner's face reassured him.

“Then I'll get on with it,” Renner said harshly and left without another word.

Reid sat down again, allowing the silence to build. He half expected Caleb would fall asleep again, but instead he turned his head on the pillow to look at Reid, his expression tormented.

“Paula and Roger... Are they in trouble? God, if only we hadn't gone out! Or if I could have gotten out of the way—”

“Then the truck would have hit Diego harder than it did. He might be dead right now.”

Caleb's stricken expression didn't change.

“This isn't your fault, Caleb. None of it.” Familiar theme, Reid thought. On a flicker of amusement, he wondered how many times Paula had given this same lecture. What had she said to him, not so long ago?

You have
no
responsibility for your father's sins.

In that microsecond, Reid let go of the belief that she was wrong. He only wished he'd have a chance to try to convince Anna that
she
bore no responsibility for her sister's death.

“I told you Dad wasn't in town,” he said. “Paula and Roger didn't forbid you guys from going anywhere, did they? You had pretty girls in your sights. Why wouldn't you ride down to the county park? What is it, half a mile tops?”

Caleb's face relaxed some, although he remained troubled.

“Will they, like, go to
jail
or something?” he asked.

“I don't know,” Reid had to admit. “I'll do my best to keep that from happening.”

“And what about the other guys?” This was a cry. “What if they have to go back?”

This time Reid shook his head. “I'll fight to see that doesn't happen.”

“You promise?” Caleb's eyes bored into his.

“Yeah.” God. “I promise.”

The tension left Caleb's thin body. “Okay.” But then his eyes shot open even before he had let them close. “Dad? Does he know...?”

With so much else going on, Reid had forgotten to say this. “I got a restraining order, Caleb. He's not allowed to see you. There'll be a hearing as soon as you're well enough to attend. Unless you want me to look for your mother, I'm going for full custody.”

Caleb searched his eyes. “You mean...I'd live with you?”

“Yeah.” Reid reached for his hand again. Touching like this was starting to come more naturally. “You'll live with me. I'm sorry, Caleb. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I should have done this in the first place.”

“'S'okay.” Caleb's words slurred. “Took me away from Dad.”

It seemed Reid's chest ached all the time now. “I wouldn't have left you, no matter what.”

No response. Caleb had dropped off, maybe hadn't even heard him. Didn't matter, Reid realized. They'd said enough.
He trusts me.

Doing nothing but watching his brother sleep, Reid stayed for another ten minutes before the lure of a shower got him to his feet.

* * *

A
S
SHE
DROVE
, Anna kept an eye on Diego, who had pushed the passenger seat as far back as it would go to accommodate his cast. A pair of crutches lay on the back seat, but, given that he also had a cast on one arm, he wouldn't be making much use of them for a while.

They had sneaked him out of the hospital through the employee parking lot, and Anna was pretty confident they weren't being followed. Diego's body was rigid, though, and he kept glancing in the side mirror. The kid was scared to death that his father would find him.

“I picked these foster parents mostly because I thought you'd like them,” Anna said. “But there was another reason, too.”

Diego turned his stare on her.

“John is retired Marine Corps. Recently retired. From what his wife says, he was in a lot of firefights in Iraq and Afghanistan. He knows about your father. He'd be more than happy to take him on.”

Tears appeared in Diego's eyes. He wiped at them, ducking his head. “I... Thank you.”

She patted the cast on his arm, then put her hand back on the steering wheel.

“Did you get a chance to see Caleb again?” she asked after a minute. Diego had wanted to say goodbye. Proud that she'd kept her intense interest out of her voice, Anna waited anxiously. Reid had left her two messages this week, both updating her and ending each time by saying he wanted to talk to her. She wasn't ready.

“Yeah.” Diego brightened. “Reid brought him to see me.” Ironically, Caleb had left the hospital before Diego, whose injuries hadn't been life threatening. Partly, that was because Diego had the mobility issue, but also because finding him a home where he could be kept safe from his enraged father had been an issue.

“Good. You know, if you both stay here in Angel Butte, you'll go to school together.”

“That'd be cool.” From his downcast tone, she knew he didn't believe it would happen. “He has a hearing Monday. I mean, in court. He's pretty freaked.”

“Tomorrow?” Her pulse picked up. “That was fast.” Ridiculously fast. How had Reid pulled that off?

“Can you find out what happens? And let me know?” His puppy-dog brown eyes pleaded with her. “I mean, if he can't?”

“I will.” She pulled into the driveway of Diego's new home and set the emergency brake. “Cross my heart.”

He grinned, if weakly. Then looked alarmed as he gazed wide-eyed toward the house. “Is that
him?
”

Anna smiled. She'd had the same reaction the first time she met John Pannek. He was big, muscular and mean-looking—until he smiled. Walking down the driveway toward them, he wasn't smiling yet. “Yep. Think he can take on your dad?”

“Yeah!” Diego exclaimed.

Half an hour later, she was back in her car. Usually she took longer to settle a kid into a new foster home, but this time she'd been able to tell she wasn't needed. For all the abuse he'd suffered, Diego had stayed a nice, levelheaded boy. The Panneks had fostered for her before, and she had complete confidence in them. It was pure luck they'd decided they were ready for another child right now, ending her waffling about where she could safely place Diego. They'd taken to him instantly, and vice versa. If Hector went looking for him, it would appear that Diego had vanished. Unless they sent him in a wheelchair, Diego wouldn't be able to start school for at least another month. A former teacher, Beth was going to homeschool him until the custody issue was resolved.

Anna drove a few blocks, then pulled over.

Eight other boys still lived at the Hales'. Remained vulnerable the way she and Molly had been. Because
she
hadn't done what she should have done and reported the couple hiding kids from all legal authorities.

She'd been telling herself she wouldn't have to, that with the sheriff's department investigating, it would all come out anyway. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling shame. Whatever her duty should be, whatever her conscience said, she didn't want to be the person Reid would blame for destroying the people he loved. She didn't know if that made her a coward or someone whose eyes had been opened to shades of gray.

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.

* * *

M
OST
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.”