Page 127 of Reckless Love

“If I let her crimes go, I become part of the problem, and I don’t want to be that person anymore. The one who doesn’t notice. Doesn’t care. Because I do care. Other people should get to be as happy as I am. The only happiness Raul and my mother have ever cared about is their own.”

“Can we play mini-sticks when we get there?” Landon asks from the back seat.

“Your Uncle Logan told me he was setting up a whole tournament,” I say.

“Stephen, can you play too?”

“I’m going to be in the meeting with the adults, buddy. But I’ll definitely take you some other day.”

“I love playing games,” Landon says, staring out the window.

“So do I,” Stephen says quietly.

We haven’t told Landon the truth yet, and that was Stephen’s idea, but the lie weighs on him. He didn’t want to say anything until we got all the official paperwork back declaring Stephen legally Landon’s father.

As soon as we get to Sawyer and Logan’s house, Landon sprints to the front door. Sawyer lets him in to head to his favorite room in the house and then waits for us.

My brothers and sisters along with Stephen, Caitlin, and Brice gather in the living room. Logan, Ember, and Hollyn are refereeing the cousin mini-stick war happening elsewhere.

“Alex has agreed to use the police officers and judges he values most to arrest Celia and Raul and to oversee their trials. He’s confident they’ll take the charges seriously,” Brice says from his spot on a couch next to Maren.

“Great,” I say, “but will Stephen be protected?” If that’s not guaranteed, I won’t go ahead. That thought slots me a little too close to my mother—putting my happiness over the collective good, but I spent too many years without him. Landon has a chance to have a real father in every sense of the word. We don’t have to take her down now if the consequences are completely unpredictable.

“Alex was not comfortable with that,” Brice says.

“He’s a rule follower,” Maren grumbles.

“Stephen will have to testify,” Brice says.

“Will he get immunity?” Caitlin asks. “I’m not a criminal defense attorney, but I know enough to tell you there are serious risks if he doesn’t.”

“Alex says he’d be okay with that, assuming what Stephen has will ensure a conviction.”

“If everything I know is deemed admissible,” Stephen says, “then there’s no way she gets off without some form of punishment.”

Stephen’s hand slides along my thigh in comfort. “What do you think?” I ask Stephen.

“There are a lot of people in Bellerive who’ll be grateful to see Raul and Celia behind bars, and like you, I want to be better than I used to be.” He searches my expression for a beat, and relief runs through me at how steady he is, how sure he seems. “I’ll testify.”

“They’ll be arrested on the same day at the same time. We’ve heard Raul will be back on the island in two weeks. That’ll be when it happens,” Brice says.

“I can’t believe he’s dumb enough to return to the island,” Sawyer says. “He really doesn’t think you’ll do anything with that evidence?”

“Why would she?” Stephen asks. “He gave her everything she wanted, and to someone like him, that would be the end of it.”

“I didn’t care about much when we were married,” I say, “and he probably assumes he’s dealing with the same version of me. He’ll be arrested before he figures out I’m not his accomplice, unwitting or not, anymore.”

“Your divorce should be finalized within the next week,” Caitlin says.

“We’re all in agreement?” I ask, scanning Nathaniel, Sawyer, Maren, and Gage for any signs of dissent. “We’re taking Mom down too?”

“She lost all of us a long time ago,” Nathaniel says. “I won’t lose any sleep.”

My other siblings nod or murmur words of agreement.

“Okay,” I say. “Then I guess we have a plan.” And instead of feeling anxious like I thought I would, a strange sense of calm surfaces. Although this choice is the harder path, it’s also the right one.

Raul is arrested as soon as his plane lands. I don’t feel the need to be anywhere near the man when it happens. But we’re all outside the hockey arena to see the police march in to escort my mother to a waiting cruiser. Arresting her away from the house was strategic to have her isolated from any loyal employees, any documents she could destroy or surface, or even her phone, which is the first thing the police confiscate.