The Fight for Us (39 page)

“Let’s go see if your girlfriend can corroborate your story, and you’re riding with me. You’ll just have to pick up Joss’s car from her house some other time.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

The front door opened at nearly nine that night, and when Isaiah strolled in, Joss’s knees started to tremor and shake. She gasped at the sight of him, and he cocked his head, silencing her as Chief Jeffries followed him in. His cheek was scuffed, and when he approached her, she reached for his face.

“God, what happened?”

Isaiah shook his head subtly. When he leaned to her lips to kiss her, he kept his eyes open until the very last second, and as he reached down to her hand, he ran the pad of his thumb down her palm.

“Now, you remember what I told you. You’re to say nothing at all to her until I’ve taken her statement.” Jeffries was threatening Isaiah in some way, but the easy expression on both of their faces instantly calmed Joss, who was still just thrilled as shit to see Isaiah alive. She wasn’t sure why she expected him to be dead, but after the past few days, she was just expecting life to pull the rug out from under her in some horrific display again. It was a bit ridiculous now that he was standing so casually in front of her.

“Chief, what’s going on?” She truly couldn’t say she knew for sure, so it wasn’t difficult to get the ball rolling.

“Please sit.”

She sat on the couch and watched as he took a small recorder from his pocket and hit the record button before he sat down in an arm chair. Isaiah took the other one and watched her steadily, studying her with an impassive expression that was almost too calm even for the most blasé of days.

The chief introduced her statement and the time and date. “I’m going to ask you some questions,” the chief said. “I’m not going to tell you the relevance until I’m done asking you. I want you to answer truthfully. Can you do this?”

She nodded. “You’re worrying me.” She laughed nervously.

The chief smiled kindly. “I don’t mean to. Tell me everything that happened to you today from noon on. Leave nothing out.”

Joss glanced at Isaiah whose expression hadn’t changed in the least. She felt her brow furrowing as she opened her mouth to speak. “I watched some T.V., took a nap, woke up, no one was here.” She shrugged. She knew the chief was looking for something more than that.

“Where was Isaiah when you woke?”

“I didn’t know. I called him, and he said he was at my place getting some clothes.” And then just because she’d been damn good at drama in high school, she turned to Isaiah. “Did you? ’Cause I’m completely out of clean clothes.”

His impassive expression changed so subtly she was guessing not even the chief noticed. His lips had pulled up ever so slightly, and the quick flinch of his eyes wasn’t missed on her either.

“Did Isaiah say anything else to you?”

“No. Why?”

“Does he often take your car when he leaves?”

“No, but mine was behind his, and I was sleeping, so…” She was really on a roll.

“What about text messages. Have you sent any today?”

She tried her hand at a sheepish expression. “I… Yeah.” She shook her head. “Earlier. I was upset with…everything. Things were kind of strained with Isaiah and I, and Harp’s been…you know, fourteen. I fired off a couple text messages to Todd. I shouldn’t have.”

“And yet, you said nothing about the rape allegation in those text messages?”

She sighed. That one threw her for a loop for a moment. “I was going to. But I stopped myself. I was afraid he’d retaliate if he was aware that I knew what he’d done. That man has nearly destroyed us, and I… God, I wanted to, but I was too afraid of what he’d do.”

The chief studied her, nodding slowly, and Joss prayed he wasn’t as good of a human lie detector as Isaiah. When he finally smiled, she started to relax.

“Wait? How do you know about the text messages to Todd?” It was actually a legitimate question that she couldn’t whittle out in her brain.

The chief ignored her question. “I may have some additional questions, but that’s it for now. Thank you.” The chief took a deep breath, and he reached for the recorder, turning it off quickly. He then clasped his hands in his lap. When Isaiah rose from his chair and moved to her, she started to worry again. He took her hand gently in his, letting his closest shoulder rest behind hers, and he leaned to the side of her head, kissing her hair.

When the chief spoke again, she held her breath.

“Todd’s in custody, along with his cell phone. He entered the home when Isaiah was there. Sadly not a criminal offense for a landlord in and of itself, but he attacked Isaiah.” The chief rolled his eyes. “I use that term loosely, given the state of Todd’s face. Isaiah detained him until our arrival. There was some pretty suggestive evidence on him when he was patted down. Rohypnol to be exact. We confiscated his phone at the scene for further investigation. I saw the text messages.”

She took a deep breath. She didn’t question he was the one who’d drugged her, but it still left her fighting to breathe all of a sudden. When she’d swallowed enough to get her lungs working again, she spoke. “What will he be charged with?”

“Assault, trespassing, maybe sexual assault, possession, possession with intent if we find enough of the drug in his home. I expect a number of charges, but we’ll have to wait to see for sure. If he is responsible for what happened with Nat and we see evidence of it out in the open when we execute the warrant, there could be harassment charges as well.”

She felt her body go slack. Her shoulders slumped forward as the air left her lungs, and she stared at the floor. Something felt oddly terrifying about this. She was just primed to have life kick her in the ass at the moment, and this actually sounded like good news. Joss wasn’t sure she trusted good news at the moment.
This
might actually be enough.
This
might just protect them. And
this
might just keep him from ever having a claim to their daughter’s custody to hold over her head again.

“He’ll have good lawyers.” She let her negative-Nelly out to speak freely.

“So do we.” Jeffries smirked at her for a moment. “His lawyers will fight it. They’ll say Isaiah set him up, and frankly…” Jeffries cleared his throat as his voice trailed off for a moment. When his eyes glanced to Isaiah it was chastising. “But the fact of the matter is, they don’t have any proof of that whatsoever. Nothing but Todd’s word. And sadly, his word, coupled with hard evidence, isn’t going to get him very far. I’m not saying it will all stick. But we’re going to make an impact on this man’s life in a very uncomfortable way.”

She nodded. “Won’t he just post bail?”

The chief nodded. “Sure. But his behavior outside of jail can have very serious repercussions for his case. If he knows what’s best for himself, he’ll behave. If not, we’ll arrest him.” He smiled at her for a moment. “Now, I’m going to let Isaiah fill in any other details, so you can have some privacy. I’ll keep you posted. We’ll be talking to Judge Bryant first thing tomorrow morning to get a search warrant. With the evidence we have, we’ll get the warrant. Todd’s in jail, and by the time his lawyers even catch wind of where he is, the warrant will have been executed. If there’s any more damaging evidence, we’ll find it. Try to relax and let us do what we need to do.”

He stood then and walked toward the front door as Joss tried to get to her feet. Isaiah was there by her side, helping her with a hand on her elbow, and she let him lead her.

“We’ll talk soon. You two take care.” The chief leaned down and hugged her before shaking Isaiah’s hand. And then glancing back at Isaiah, he continued. “Stay out of trouble. I intend to retire in a few months’ time, and you’re not going to screw that up for me.”

“Yes, sir.” Isaiah responded from beside her.

The moment the door closed, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. When she turned to him, he looked nervous.

“Are you mad at me?” He sincerely looked worried she might be.

Her eyes filled with tears, and she shook her head rather than trying to talk. He scooped her up in his arms, carrying her back to his bedroom and laying her down on the bed. When he lay down beside her, he propped himself up on an elbow, brushing her hair away from her eyes. She stared in a stupor from the ceiling to him before she let her eyes return to the ceiling. It was simply easier to look at the flat white surface of nothing than it was to look at the concerned expression on the face of her everything. He’d done it for her. He’d done it for Nat. Hell, he’d done it for all of them.

“Please, Joss.” His voice was warm and calm, but his eyes were wide. “This is what we needed. For once he’s being charged for his crimes.” He sighed. “Talk to me?”

She shook her head, but her throat was painfully tight. She knew she needed to say something. She knew she had to explain the lunacy that was happening in her head somehow, and she wasn’t sure exactly how to put any of it into coherent words. She reached up, gently running her finger across the thin gash on his cheek. “You’re amazing.” She whispered, but her tears fell, and she couldn’t seem to stifle the pain that it caused.

“Then why are you upset?”

“I don’t deserve you.”

“Yes, you do. There’s nothing that man could ever do to you that would make me love you any less than I do.”

There was no way he could imagine how hard it was to hear that. It was like being given a reward you didn’t earn, thanks when it was the last thing you deserved. She rolled away from him, and when he sighed, she did her best to sum it up for him.

“Can you imagine what it feels like to hate yourself so much that it hurts to hear someone say they care about you? You really do deserve so much more than the stupid girl.”

“
Don’t
say that.” He whispered. He sounded like he was in pain.

The sound of the front door suddenly being pushed open interrupted them, and he cursed in frustration. She had nothing else to say anyway, and as he stood from the bed, she closed her eyes. She was shutting down for some reason. She ought to be happy, and she was to some extent. She was happy for him, she was happy for Nat, and she was happy her daughter had a fighting chance to be free from her father. She was happy that for once in the past fifteen years, Todd was being held accountable for something. It was so long overdue. But she was also terrified of what everything that had happened meant to them. And terrified she’d never get to a place that felt normal again. And the biggest terror of all—that she wasn’t really worthy of all that he’d made possible for her.

“I’m going to talk to the girls. Come out for a while if you’re up for it.”

She nodded but didn’t look back. She wanted to be more for him, but she was struggling to feel like she was enough for anyone at all. She waited a few minutes, and when she did crawl from bed, she looked in the bathroom mirror for a moment. Her skin was even paler than usual, and she had dark circles under her eyes. She blew out a deep breath of air as she stared at herself, and then she flipped the light off.

She found them in the living room. The girls were sitting on the couch, and Isaiah was sitting in the side chair. He glanced to her, but his expression was serious. She’d obviously walked into something important. Rather than ask, she took the other armchair and waited.

“I just don’t know if I can do it. Not yet. Please don’t make me.” Natalie was practically begging with her eyes as much as her words, and Joss didn’t need to catch the first part of the conversation to know it was about school.

“I understand this is hard, but you’re not going to be able to hide forever.” Isaiah’s voice was soothing but firm. He knew how to command without being overbearing. “You assured me you didn’t need to see the doctor in Baymont tomorrow. You told me you were fine, and I took you at your word. But if you aren’t going to school, then I can only assume you’re not as fine as you said.”

“Just not yet. Please. Give me another couple days. Please, Dad.”

“Nat, every day that passes is going to make it more and more difficult to face this. I’m not going to force you to go tomorrow, but you need to trust me. You’re not doing yourself any favors by waiting. If you’re not in class by Wednesday, we’re going to have to make some decisions, because you have to go to school somewhere.”

“What does that mean?” Harper interjected quickly. She obviously didn’t like the sound of that any more than Joss did.

Isaiah sighed. “She has to go to school. There’s no getting around that. If not here then somewhere else. I won’t risk my daughter’s happiness or emotional well-being by forcing her to endure this. But she can’t simply retire from high school. It doesn’t work that way.”

Harper stared at him for a moment, and he stared right back. The two of them could certainly be contentious together, Joss had no doubt about that, but he could also handle her overly-sarcastic mouthy personality. She had no doubt about that either.

“Well, maybe I don’t want to go to school either.” And there it was. That damn mouth.

But Joss didn’t have it in her to bicker with her child on this day, and instead of putting her daughter in her place, she sighed and looked out the window.

“You are absolutely going to school tomorrow. We don’t need you in any more trouble than you’re already in.”

He’d just proven her point beautifully. He could definitely handle her.

As Joss looked back at Harper, she caught the pursed lips and annoyed expression, but Harper was holding her tongue.

“The two of you need to go to bed. It’s late. I’ll drop you off at school tomorrow morning, Harp. Your mom’s still not feeling very good, and I want her to get plenty of rest.”

Harper finally looked at Joss. “Mom, what’s wrong? You’ve been sick for a long time.”

Joss could see Isaiah studying her out of her periphery, but she just looked at Harper. “I don’t think a day and a half constitutes a long time, Harp. I’m fine. I promise.”

Harper didn’t look convinced, and when Joss finally glanced to Isaiah, he didn’t either. The girls stood, and when they’d left the room, Isaiah remained seated for a moment, staring at her.