Unraveled (Love in Salem, book 2) (22 page)

Finally, the sexual haze lifted enough for Aidan to speak.

“You still with me, baby doll?”

Atayla grunted.

His smile was all smug satisfaction as he kissed her shoulder.

“Take a shower with me?”

She grunted again.  “I can’t even move.  How do you expect me to shower?”

He chuckled.  “Get up, lazy girl.  We need to go shopping for a present.”

After planting a playful smack on her ass, he crawled down and kissed away the sting then rolled off the bed and padded towards the bathroom.  By the time Atayla drug herself out of bed and stumbled into the shower, the water was nice and hot, and Aidan was all washed up and ready to clean her, thoroughly, from head to toe.

Chapter Twenty-one

It probably seemed silly, but Atayla was nervous when she picked up her mail Monday morning before work.  She hadn’t been anywhere alone other than Aidan’s house over the last few days.  A chill ran down her spine as she walked up to the mail boxes. 

She felt as though someone was watching her.

Atayla opened her mail box and pulled out her mail.  A small key dropped to the ground.  There were bigger lock boxes along the left wall where bigger items were kept safe.  The key left in her mail box meant she had a package in one of those boxes.

She walked over to box 10C as indicated on the key tag.  After she unlocked the box she pulled out a small brown package.  She didn’t bother to see who it was from, she just tossed the key inside and shut the door.

Fifteen minutes later she had pulled into the small parking lot behind the office.  It was comforting sight to see the security crew outside installing cameras.  Hopefully Bill would install better lighting as well.  Grabbing her mail and package, she hurried out of her car, double checked the locks, and jogged to the door.

One of the workers opened the door for her.  She nodded her thanks and went to her office to dump her load on her desk.  She had been running late this morning thanks to some amorously virile man who decided to show her that waking up could be just as much fun as going to bed.

Not that she was actually complaining or anything.

The smell of coffee lured her to the kitchenette where treats and beverages were kept for the clients.  This morning Ashley brought in doughnuts from Divine Treats.  Atayla crossed herself, hoping the calories wouldn’t jump on her hips just from being near them as she fixed herself a cup of coffee.

Just because Aidan liked her curves didn’t mean she would allow herself to become even curvier.  And she definitely would if she ate one of those delicious, jammed packed full of fat, confections created by the devil himself just to torment her with things she can never enjoy.

Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic, but dammit, she loved doughnuts.

Especially Bavarian cream….

Atayla snorted in disgust and stomped back to her office so she could get busy working and stop thinking about the fact that she didn’t get any breakfast this morning.  She needed to update the daily calendar before Bill strolled in and started his day.  Ten minutes later she hit the send button and e-mailed the updated calendar to Bill.

She turned to grab her mail and sort through it when a heavy file, at least two inches thick, thudded loudly on her desk.  Eyebrow quirked, she looked up at Bill standing on the other side of her desk.

“Can I do something for you?”  She intoned as sweet as she could.

“Yes, you can.  You can take that file with you when you go to the court house and have Paxton Aiello’s emergency custody order signed and processed.  Today.  Right now, in fact, before Hayden’s mother decides to have her attorney throw another curve ball at us.”

“Have you heard from Busby yet?”

“Not yet, but I’m sure if he has heard about this he is scheming to undermine everything CPS and I have accomplished over the last few days.”

Atayla nodded.  “I’ll go right now.”

She slipped the file into her satchel and slung it over her arm. Bill followed her out of the office and walked her to her car.  He looked around the small lot and frowned.

“I’m going to have better lighting installed out here.  There will also be a monitor inside the office that the cameras will feed into so you can see if anyone is out here before you walk to your car.”

“Thanks, Bill.  I appreciate it.  This place has always given me the creeps anyway.  Especially at night.  At least now I won’t be so scared that I can’t walk to my own damn car.”

Bill grunted.  “I should have done it a long time ago, but since I usually walk you, Mandi and Ashley to your cars at the end of the day it wasn’t a priority.”  He gave her a sheepish look.  “I never thought about all the times you worked late to finish up the last minute stuff.”

“Well, considering that up until last year you were pulling all those late nights with me, there was never a need to consider such things.”

“There was always the need, Atayla.  I just neglected to do it.”

“Stop being so hard on yourself.  I need to get going.  The courthouse opens in five minutes, and I want to be first in line.”

Bill stepped back as Atayla got in the car and buckled in.  He watched her until she left the parking lot before heading back inside.

It took forty-five minutes to get the order signed and processed.  After that, she stopped at the hospital to check in on Hayden and give the news to Paxton.  Hayden was supposed to have been discharged yesterday after a twenty-four hour observation, but the doctor didn’t like Hayden’s continued lethargy after receiving IV fluids and eating a couple good meals.

More blood work had been drawn, including a drug panel, and sent to lab late last night.  She hadn’t yet heard the results of those tests and worried that something more was going on with Hayden than anyone knew.

Her heels clacked as she walked down the hallway to Hayden’s room.  The door was open, so she peeked inside.  Hayden was sitting up in bed hugging a gigantic teddy bear.  Big solemn blue eyes looked over at her, and the fear she saw in them broke her heart.

She smiled and took a few steps into the room noticing that a cot had been brought in, and Paxton was sound asleep.  Slowing to quiet her steps, she tip-toed over to the bed and kissed Hayden on the forehead.

“Hey there, handsome.  How are you feeling?”

Little fingers tighten their hold on the teddy bear.  “I don’t like to be alone.”  He whispered.

Tears burned the backs of her eyes.  “You aren’t alone, sweetheart.  Your daddy is right there.”  She pointed at the cot.

Hayden’s eyes followed her finger, sitting up on his knees to see the low lying cot sitting perpendicular to the bed.  Relief flashed through his eyes, and he sat back and smiled shyly at her.

“He’s
sleepin’.”

“Yes, he is.  He has been here with you the whole time.  Did you know that?”

Hayden shook his head.

“Yep.”  She tapped his nose.  “He hasn’t left you for even a second.”

“I member seeing Uncle Aidan kiss you.  You gonna be my Aunt now?”

Atayla smiled.  “We’ll see.”

“Atayla?”  Paxton’s sleepy voice drew her attention. “Everything alright?”

Paxton sat up, and dry washed his face with his hands.  One glance at Hayden and he was up and at the boy’s side.

“Hey, buddy.  How long have you been awake?”  He ran his fingers across his son’s forehead, checking for fever.

“Long time.”  He sniffled, trying hard not to cry.  “I
wanna go home.”

“I know.  I do, too, but we have to wait for the doctor to make sure it’s okay first.”

Paxton looked over at Atayla.  “His eyes aren’t all foggy like they were yesterday.  That’s a good sign, right?  And he is awake and talking.”  He blew out a relieved breath.  “I couldn’t get him awake for more than a few seconds yesterday.  It was so damn scary.”

“How did his tests turn out last night?”

“Dr. Curtis said there was ‘nothing alarming’ about his results.  Whatever the hell that means.”

“It means, other than the fact that he is malnourished and still slightly dehydrated, I couldn’t find anything else wrong with him.” 

All eyes turned to the woman standing in the doorway looking over a chart.

“Dr. Curtis.”  Paxton said in welcome.

“Mr. Aiello.  Hayden is doing great.  I’m comfortable releasing him today into your care.  I have already spoken to Child Protective Services, and they are concerned about the matter of custody.  They haven’t heard anything more about the Emergency Custody Order.”

“Actually, that is one of the reasons why I’m here.  I went to the courthouse and had the order signed and processed first thing this morning.  Mr. Aiello here now has full custody of Hayden Aiello.”

“Fantastic!”  Dr. Curtis smiled.  “I’ll let CPS know and start the discharge paperwork.  The Social Worker will probably check in on Hayden in a few days and periodically for a while after that.  Standard procedure to ensure that children who have passed through the system continue to receive good care.”

“Thanks for everything Dr. Curtis.”

The doctor exited the room.

Paxton turned to Hayden.  “Did you hear that, buddy?  You are going to live with me now.  Is that alright with you?”

Hayden nodded his head then launched himself into his father arms.  The boy sobbed as his father rocked him, murmuring assurances and promises that he never had to worry about anything again.

Atayla snuck out of the room and headed back to work.  She considered calling Aidan and updating him, but decided against it.  It wouldn’t be ethical to give such information out since Paxton was a client, no matter that she personally close to the family.

Paxton would find the time to let him know, or at least have someone call and let the family know.

By the time she made it back to the office it was approaching noon.  It was a good thing she didn’t have anything pressing today or she would be spending the night at the office. 

A chill caused her to shiver.  She didn’t even want to think about being in that parking lot alone late at night again.  She still hadn’t gotten over the ordeal, constantly feeling as though eyes were watching her every move.

Craziness.

She sought Bill out first thing, wanting to let him know how things went at the courthouse.  She rapped on his doorframe.

“Hey, Bill.  Got a minute?”

“Sure.”  He pointed to one of the chairs in front of his desk.  “Have a seat.”

“Judge Burns had no problem signing the order.  Especially after reviewing the file we had been generating over the last year.  It took a while to get it processed though.  Those ladies in the Clerk’s office do not like to be rushed, that’s for sure.”

Bill laughed.  “I’m sure they were
spittin’ mad about having to push the order through instead of sitting on it until they felt like working.”

“I stopped by the hospital and let Paxton know it was finished.  It gives him one less thing to worry about.  Are we filing charges against the mother?”

“Yeah.”  He dug through some files in his briefcase and handed one to her.  “Get started on this right away.  I want this filed and a court date set as soon as possible.  I know Busby will try and manipulate things, but we have CPS on our side and police and hospital reports as evidence.  There is really nothing he can do change things.”

“Sure thing.”  She got up to leave.  “Hayden is being discharged from the hospital as we speak.  The family is having a ‘Welcome Home’ party for him this evening so I will probably head out a little early.”

Bill waved his hand at her.  “Just let me know when you are leaving.”

Atayla walked back to her office and set the file on her desk.  She filled out the necessary complaint forms to send to the courthouse and set out the forms that Paxton needed
to sign for them to gain copies of the police report and the hospital’s medical records of Hayden’s condition.

The complaint forms she placed in Bill’s basket for him to sign so they could be sent out and put the forms Paxton needed to sign in her bag.  She would go over them with him tonight so they could get the ball rolling.

After that she decided to go through her mail.  The junk mail went in the shred box, the bills she put in her desk drawer.  Next picked up the package and looked it over.  The return address didn’t have a name, only a PO Box in California.

She had a sneaky suspicion who it was from, but it didn’t stop her from carefully peeling the brown wrapping away from the box and opening it.  Atayla gasped at what was inside.

Pictures.

Pictures of her over the last few months.

Pictures of her and Aidan.  Some in public, some intimate.