Page 25 of Dead Sure
“Do I have your permission to speak in front of Jude and Fitz?” Reagan asked.
“Yes, especially since Fitz is paying your fee.” Ten offered the captain a small smile. “There’s no one I trust more to have our best interests at heart than Fitz and Jude.”
“Like Ronan said, Autumn and her attorney wants sit down with Ten tomorrow. What he didn’t tell you is that Autumn claims she will drop the criminal charges against Tennyson under certain conditions that she’ll only name at this meeting.” Reagan wore asour look, as if to say he wasn’t a fan of whatever quid pro quo Autumn was going to spring on them.
“Shit,” Jude said. “I don’t like the sound of that one bit.”
“Autumn isn’t under criminal indictment, so why does she have an attorney? Why isn’t DA Briggs involved in this meeting?” Fitz sighed, his eyes on Ronan. “I think Ten has to take the meeting. At least hear out what Autumn wants, then you can make decisions from there.”
Ronan knew his boss was speaking sense, but the thought of Ten being in a room with a woman who’d already caused him so much harm, mentally and professionally, made his skin crawl.
“That’s what I was thinking too, Fitz, but with one difference. I want you and Jude there with all of the information you’ve dug up on Autumn. I’m sick of sitting on the sideline while this woman comes at me and my family because she didn’t get what she wanted. It’s obvious why Elijah Logan wanted nothing to do with her. None of that is on me. From this moment forward, we fight fire with fire.” Ten turned to Ronan. “What do you think?”
“I agree with you, Ten, but Reagan runs the meeting. If he says we’re done, we’re done. No arguments.” Ronan paused, trying to figure out the best way to move forward. “Are we anywhere close to asking for an arrest warrant for Autumn over what happened to the Hughes baby?”
Fitz shook his head. “That’s the bad news. The District Attorney’s office doesn’t want to pursue this case.”
“What! Why? Because of the case against Tennyson?” Ronan half-shouted.
“This is the exact kind of outburst we need to avoid tomorrow,” Reagan said, softly.
Ronan rolled his eyes. “Fitz, why don’t they want to pursue this case against Autumn?”
“Because the child survived. They don’t want to set a precedent of going after doctors and nurses for providing subpar care. Secondly, Autumn is going to say she left the baby’s room to find Doctor Logan. She’s not lying, she did go find him.”
“No, she’s not lying,” Ronan agreed with disdain. “What about the instances of stalking and harassment?”
“There’s plenty of evidence of that behavior,” Jude said. “We’ve got Doctor Logan’s phone records which show how often Autumn Miller calls him. There are also her text messages to him.”
“Stalking cases hinge on the victim being able to prove there is a threat of death or bodily harm. The looseness of this statute is the reason battered women can’t get the protection they need.” Reagan paused to take a sip of tea, as if to wash the taste of those words from his mouth. “Each charge carries a penalty of two to five years and a thousand dollar fine. Autumn Miller has no criminal record. It’s my guess a judge would rule that she’d have to pay a fine and go along on her merry way. From what I read in the file Jude sent over, the doctor’s life hasn’t been threatened.”
“Yet,” Ronan said. “With Autumn having lost her job and her access to Logan, this situation could escalate quickly and dangerously.”
“I agree,” Fitz said. “But we need some kind of leverage against Miller. We can’t walk into this meeting tomorrow with no ammunition of our own against this woman.”
“Leave that to me. I’ll be in touch tonight.” Reagan got out of his chair. “Ten, do I have your permission to take this meeting with Autumn Miller and her lawyer?”
Ten nodded. “Yes. Let me know what you need from me. I’m going to reach out to Cope and Carson and see if they’re willing to attend the meeting as well. All of our professional futures are on the line here and I’ll be damned we go down without a fight.”
Ronan was onboard with Ten’s plan. Yes, Carson, Cole, and Cope’s livelihood was on the line, but so was Tennyson’s freedom. In Ronan’s book, keeping Ten out of jail came before anything else. He was ready to do anything in his power to fight for his husband.
14
Tennyson
Sitting at the kitchen table, Ten thought back to his reunion with Everly and Ezra when they came home yesterday afternoon. He hugged them and hadn’t wanted to let either of them go. Ezzie had wiggled out of Ten’s hold, but Everly had been content to stay with him for as long as Ten needed her. They hadn’t spoken about Ten spending the night in jail or anything to do with the case against him.
“Hey, Dad!” Everly walked into the kitchen dressed for school. She grabbed a bowl and a box of Cheerios. She brought them to the table, before getting the milk.
“Hi, honey. How’d you sleep?” Ten grinned as Everly fixed her own breakfast.
“I don’t like Autumn, Dad. She’s vicious and nasty. She wants to hurt you. Hurt all of us.”
Tennyson hated the little furrow of worry between Everly’s eyes. A seven-year-old shouldn’t have to be on guard against people who were hell bent on doing their family wrong. “All of us, as in our family, or as in psychics?”
“Both. She’s really angry that you lied about that doctor falling in love and marrying her. Autumn wants to ruin your life the way you ruined hers.”
Ten sighed. “Thank you for telling me.”
