Page 114 of Foolish Pride
“Jim, right?”
“Yeah, and everyone thought his wife died, but John and Jim faked her death. It’s a long fucking story, but this woman wasbasically insane. She kidnapped the girl because she thought she was her daughter.”
I was going to need more details on this case, but for now, I needed the bullet points.
“Okay…”
“Wes was there when everything went down. He stormed into the cabin with Blake’s spare gun and?—”
Sighing, I spun away from him. This was really fucking bad. “Where the hell did he get her spare gun?”
“It was under the seat of the truck.”
“Did he fire it?”
“No,” he snapped. “He was just trying to protect Blake.”
“Alright, what else happened?”
“John had a gun, and when he pointed it at Wes, Blake attacked him.”
This was getting worse by the second.
“The woman had the little girl with a knife to her throat. When I showed up, I shot her.”
“Fuck,” I laughed, not finding any of this funny. “You really know how to step in it, Parker. No wonder the grandparents are suing for custody! You let him have access to a weapon!”
“I know!” he shouted. “But lots of people around here let their kids use guns. They go hunting and?—”
“But he’s not your kid!” I retorted. “He’s a minor in your custody, and the court will scrutinize every fucking move you make. Especially the fact that you’re a deputy, and somehow, you didn’t secure your weapon!”
“It wasn’t my gun!”
“Do you think that fucking matters to the court?” I shook the paper at him. “The grandparents could easily take this kid from you!”
He scrubbed a hand over his face, slumping down in the chair across from my desk. “Fuck, I can’t let that kid go.”
“You may not have a choice.”
He looked up at me with pleading eyes. “Ryder, you have to help me. Whatever it takes, you have to make sure we don’t lose custody of Wes. He can’t go back to where he was.”
“He wouldn’t,” I sighed, taking my own seat. “But he could end up in foster care.”
“What?”
“If the judge finds neither party fit to care for Wes?—”
“No. No fucking way.” He shoved out of his seat and paced the room. “Then we’ll leave.”
“Leave?” I barked out a laugh. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going to go? You can’t flee with a kid!”
“Better than returning him to those people or shoving him in the system!”
“And what the fuck do you think is going to happen to Wes? What are you going to do when he’s old enough to be on his own? Are you gonna come back and hope that no one arrests you for kidnapping? Your life will be over!”
The man was falling apart in front of me. I had to get a handle on this quickly. “Listen, go home. Give me tomorrow to figure out something. I have to research all of this. I’ve never actually handled a custody case before.”
“But you can do it, right?”
