by Ina Carter
Brenda seemed a bit on edge and defensive, like she was questioning if we were here to trick her, to find out what she knew. Kevin understood her concern and took her hand, looking at her compassionately.
“I agree it’s dangerous to go to the police, Brenda. You were smart to hide the evidence and have an insurance policy by sending the letter to someone you trust. I know we are strangers to you, but I think I know someone who might be able to help you. My uncle is a criminal defense attorney, and he would know what to do. Do you mind if I call him?”
I looked at Kevin, shocked by his admission. “Yeah, babe. Dad’s brother- Uncle Chris is a lawyer. I called him a few weeks ago, when your father showed up and hit you… I asked him if he knew Rob, and he had nothing good to say about the asshole.”
I knew why Kevin had to call his uncle. He was worried he might need an attorney if that asshole who tried to rape me filed criminal charges against him.
Brenda was still not convinced, looking at Kevin cautiously.
“My uncle is a good guy, I promise. He is also family and won’t charge us anything.” Kevin tried to convince her. I understood why she was worried – to report what she knew she would be risking her life.
“This is your best chance to free yourself, Brenda. If Kevin’s uncle takes Max’s case, your son might be out of jail before his sentence is over and have his record cleaned if it’s proven that he was wrongfully convicted. He can have a normal life. A good life. This is what you want, right?” I reminded her she held another person’s fate in her hands.
“Yes. All I want is to help my baby,” she whispered, tearing up again. “Okay, you should call him.”
Kevin took out his phone and made the call, not saying much to the man on the other end. He simply said, “Hi, Uncle Chris. This is Kevin. I think I need your help, and it’s urgent.”
Then he gave him the address of the motel, and we waited. Something about this simple conversation shook me. Kevin was lucky that he had people he could call, and without questions asked, they would come to his aid. For the first time in my life, I knew I had this too. Kevin was that one person that would be by my side, anytime, anywhere, under any circumstances. The knowledge that I was not alone in the world, that I wasn’t fighting my battles by myself made me feel invincible.
While waiting for his uncle, Kevin offered Brenda the food we brought, and she thanked him. The poor woman might have been starving because she didn’t complain that the sandwich or the fries were cold, she just took big bites, chewing slowly, like she didn’t want to show us she was ravenous. Kevin looked away because he not only knew hunger, but how much shame comes with it. I didn’t say anything, but went to him, and wrapped my arms around his waist and lifted on my toes to kiss him. “I love you, babe,” I whispered into his lips and felt his body relax.
Forty-five minutes later, there was a knock on the door. The man who walked in was older, with salt andd paper hair, but I recognized the warmth in his brown eyes. He did look like an older version of Liam, and likely Richard Tanner, who I hadn’t met yet.
Carrying a briefcase, the man was dressed in a gray business suit and did look like a lawyer. He hugged Kevin and looked around, trying to estimate the situation.
“Chris, this is my girlfriend Lauren and our friend Brenda,” he introduced us. “Sorry for the short notice, but we need your help.”
Chris Tanner shook my hand and nodded at Brenda, who was once again looking like a deer in headlights, afraid to move from her spot.
“Brenda, do you mind if I explain?” Kevin asked for her permission, understanding she might be afraid to share her story with another stranger, but she nodded in agreement.
Kevin briefly explained to his uncle about Max and Tyron and then told him that Brenda was running away from her husband, and the fact that he was a high-profile drug supplier. Then he told him about Rob, and the blackmail and his involvement in my friend’s incarceration. Chis Tanner was taking it all in like a lawyer; listening, taking notes, but even he understood the gravity of the situation.
“Listen, Brenda – Mrs. Young … I think you are in real danger, considering you are a witness to multiple crimes. I would love to be your defense attorney and be at your side if you want to testify against your husband and Rob Wilcox, but I need your permission to contact federal investigators and report what you told me? This is too big for the police. We need to call the FBI, Narcotics, and Public Corruption offices. They are the ones that can open an investigation into Wilcox and your husband’s drug ring.”
“What if they find out?” she whispered fearfully.
“I have a good contact with the Bureau, and trust me, they would make sure Rob doesn’t get a whiff of this. As a person of interest, they would want to have the element of surprise. You are a very important witness, Mrs. Young, and you have some pretty damning evidence. They would likely put you in the witness protection program and make sure you are not in harm’s way. As your attorney, I would insist on it! Should I make that call?”
We all watched Brenda as multiple emotions crossed her face. I saw the moment she found her bravery, lifted her head, and strengthened her shoulders. “Yes, Mr. Tanner. Make the call! I think it’s time they all pay for what they did to my kid and to me.”
This moment was my victory as well. It was my monster she was going to put behind bars, the man who tortured me for years was going to pay for his crimes.
“Thank you, Brenda!” I whispered at her.
Chris Tanner went outside to make a call, but when he came back, he looked between Kevin and me and pulled us outside the room as well.
“Kev, listen, son. My guy at the L.A. Bureau is sending an investigator right away. I think you and your girlfriend should go before they show up. I’ll take it from here.”
“I want to help, Mr. Tanner. Robert Wilcox is my father. I have access to his house if you need me to do some digging…” I started talking fast, thinking of ways I could also help investigators, but the guy smiled at me, took my hand, and interrupted me.
“I know who you are, sweetheart. Kevin told me about you and how that bastard treated you. This boy loves you, honey! He asked if I could look into your father and see if I could find some murky cases. I’ve suspected Wilcox is running that department like a shark and had some dirty investigations. I work for the ACLU and faced his protégé Annabelle Barrett in court, and I bet you your friends are not the only innocent kids she sent to jail. I know you want to help, and I will relay this to the investigators, but for now, I think we should take it one step at a time. I need to get this woman out of here and keep her safe. Those drug traffickers might be on her tail already, considering she knows too much, and this is not safe for her or either of you.”
Kevin hugged me to him and said quietly. “He is right, babe. Let’s get home for now and let Chris handle this. You’ll keep us in the loop, right?” he asked his uncle.
“As much as I can share, yes!” he promised.
We went inside, and I hugged Brenda tight, “Thank you,” I whispered in her ear again “You are so brave, Brenda. And you will never be a victim again!”
Neither would I!
Chapter 23
When we got to Kevin’s car, he walked me to the passenger side, but instead of opening the door for me, he pressed his body to mine and kissed me with desperation. I wanted to drown in his embrace, drink from his passion, and take from his strength.
“You were amazing, babe!” he whispered in my lips. “The way you spoke to Brenda! You showed that poor woman not just compassion, but you gave her the courage to fight! I looked at you, and all I saw is my girl, my warrior…”
“Do you think he’ll go to jail, Kevin?” I said in a whisper. I didn’t want to declare victory prematurely before the war was over. I could be free of my father only when justice was served, and he couldn’t hurt me or the people I loved anymore.
“He will, babe! That bastard can’t outrun all of his sins.” Kevin declared resolutely, with a co
nviction that slipped into me. I believed him.
Kevin was still looking at me with such tenderness, holding me to him like I was fragile, while at the same time, he was telling me I was strong.
“Laurie, do you know something… Today when I introduced you as my girlfriend, something inside me clicked in place. I still can’t believe you are mine, babe. Together I feel we can do anything. Conquer dragons, forge new paths into the darkest woods, fly to Heaven and back…”
“Kev, you are going to turn me into mush…” I tapped his chest with my palm reprovingly, “Just when I felt I have some steel in my blood, you are melting it.”
He grinned widely, and his hand found mine, entwining our fingers. “Hey, I don’t think Excalibur was made in a day. To tamper the steel, you got to heat it multiple times, sharpen the blade… To forge perfection, you’ve got to be patient, babe. The fire won’t melt you; it will make you more resilient.”
“Oh, I think I can take your fire, Kev. You are quite the swordsman, I might say!” I teased him.
“Wanna go home then?” he opened the car door, suddenly eager to get going.
Not that I needed any encouragement – bed, cuddling, and taking some of Kevin’s heat, sounded heavenly right now.
We were almost at Liam’s house when Kevin suddenly got silent.
“Hey, babe. Did that name sound familiar – Annabelle Barrett? That prosecutor Brenda and Uncle Chris mentioned? Why do I have a feeling I’ve heard it somewhere?” he pondered out loud.
I tried to think hard, but now that he mentioned it, I had a nudge in the back of my head, like some memory from a long time ago.
“Let me Google her, and see if something sparks some recollection,” I suggested.
We parked in front of the house and pulled my phone. The prosecutor had a web site with the L.A. district office and sure did work under my father. She was in her forties, blonde and stern-looking, a true viper as Chris said. Her face was not familiar, but I opened her bio and started reading it to Kevin.
“Miss Barrett is a Specialized Prosecutions Director who was personally appointed to the position by the L.A. District Attorney Robert Wilcox in 2015. Miss Barrett started her career as a public defender in Dallas, Texas…”
“Yes, I remember now!” Kevin yelped. “She came to see me in that group home in Dallas… She was Connie’s lawyer, babe!”
“Yes, the news articles… I read them in the library, when I wondered what happened to Connie.” I also put the name to the vague memory I had.
Kevin and I looked at each other, stunned by the revelation. This was not a coincidence. I was the first to speak.
“Kev, it doesn’t make sense. Why would my father offer a position to the woman who defended my kidnapper? He appointed her to one of the top positions in his office, she did his bidding…”
“Unless she was doing his bidding, even when she defended Connie?” he suggested.
I forgot to breathe. I had my own mixed feelings about Connie, and sometimes I missed her. She was not the most maternal person, but compared to my biological parents, she at least loved me, that much I knew. Just imagining that she might have gotten a much harsher sentence for kidnapping me, just because my father corrupted the lawyer who was supposed to look out for her interest made me shiver.
“Kev, do you know what happened to Connie? Is she still in jail?” I asked quietly.
He looked down like his emotions were getting the best of him, likely bringing back memories from our childhood. Honestly, he had more reasons to hold resentments against his mother than me.
“Connie has been sending me letters over the years, babe. Not that we are on good terms or anything, but she calls me from jail once in a while. She served her sentence and was released last year. In her last letter, she told me she moved to Tulsa to live with some friend she met in prison.” He admitted. His tone was not bitter, but sad.
I watched his face and his hardened jaw, the hurt in his jade eyes slipping into me. I knew what it must have been like for him to receive this correspondence from the woman who he felt abandoned him. He hadn’t forgiven her for it, that much was obvious. Maybe it was time I helped Kevin to close a chapter in his book, to find some closure, so he could be free, too. I knew he wouldn’t forgive Jack Mason for what he did to him, but there was hope that he might give some clemency to Connie. Maybe I needed to see her, too. Once upon a time she was my mamma.
“Kevin, we should go see her,” I suggested. He lifted his eyes to mine, a shadow of pain crossing his face. But then, to my surprise, he nodded.
“You are right. We’ve got to ask Connie what she knows of Annabelle Barrett. There might be more to this, babe. Let’s get inside and think of a plan, okay?”
I followed him out of the car and we walked into the house. The mood for getting into bed with some naked cuddling was gone, but not the affection. Kevin didn’t want to let go of me, and his arm was wrapped around my shoulder when we walked into the living room.
Liam was lounging on the couch, watching some Netflix show on TV. He lifted his eyes to us and grinned.
“Hey guys, you did a good job cleaning up the blood in here.” He teased us.
“You should go check upstairs, bro. You might have a bed to replace in your guest bedroom,” Kevin joked, and then to demonstrate to his brother the status of our new relationship, he leaned toward me and kissed me with all the passion from last night. I couldn’t help it but respond in earnest, my body heating up in an instant, forgetting we had an audience. Liam cleared his throat.
“Hmmm, Got it! Do you want me to leave you alone again?” he murmured. This made Kevin laugh into my lips. But he broke the kiss and looked sheepishly at his brother.
“No worries, bro. We’ll get you earplugs when we get back. We have a plane to catch tonight, so you can sleep in peace,” he offered.
Liam looked between us surprised and smirked. “Early honeymoon?” he questioned.
“Not exactly…” Kevin sighed. We both sat down, our smiles fading, since we had a lot to tell Liam, and it wasn’t about our happily ever after.
Kevin told his brother about my friends Max and Ty, and all about our day, and the things we found out. I could see Liam’s blood rising when he heard about my father’s blackmail and how he led a dirty investigation to incriminate my friends.
“That asshole! I knew it, Lauren. I told you when I met Rob, something was really off about that man. Psychopaths have this distinct air about them, I guess. The good news is that they also think they are smarter than everyone else and untouchable. That will be Rob’s undoing – when he gets beat at his own game.”
Liam was right about my father – his arrogance was his biggest weakness, and I hoped he was served a long and harsh prison sentence. That would be poetic justice, that he would be put behind bars this time, while my friends and I broke free from his clutches.
“Liam, there is more…” Kevin sighed, and then told his brother what we just found about Connie and her connection to the prosecutor. Liam looked concerned at Kev.
“Are you sure you want to meet your mom, Kev? This is going to be tough for you!” he said knowingly.
“I was planning to see her eventually, so now is as good as time as any. Come to think about it, now it’s going to be much easier.” He looked at me, love radiating out of his eyes. “Connie might have been a shitty mother to me, Lauren, but I would have never met you if it wasn’t for her. And that is what I am most grateful for in this world!”
“Me too, Kev,” I whispered back, feeling my heart expanding.
Liam was watching us with a wistful smile on his lips, “I am paying for your honeymoon then… Or family reunion or whatever you want to call it.”
Then he was already on his feet, grabbing his laptop from the coffee table. Not that I didn’t appreciate Liam’s offer to pay for our trip, but Kevin and I hadn’t even discussed what the plans were to find Connie.
“The last letter I got from her was only a month ago, Laur
en. I don’t know why, but I wrote back to her when I found you. She has been writing a lot about you over the years, wondering if you were okay, and if you were happy, so I wanted to give her some closure, I guess. I hope you are not mad?” Kevin asked concerned, not knowing how I felt about his mother after all those years.
“I am not mad, Kev. There are a lot of good memories of Connie, and I know in her way she always loved me. Did you tell her the truth? About my life after?”
“No, Lauren. This is your story to tell if you wish. I just wrote to her that you and I reconnected, that we became friends again…”
“Where to?” Liam asked as he was already booking a flight for us.
“Tulsa, Oklahoma.”
The last-minute flight in first-class must have cost Liam an arm and a leg, but I wasn’t complaining. For the night, I was cuddled to Kevin, and the cabin was mostly empty, so we had some privacy to make out. Which we did a lot during the three-hour flight.
“Am I smothering you, Laurie? I don’t want to be a clingy boyfriend, but after torturous weeks of wanting to kiss you so badly, I can’t get enough of you,” he whispered in my ear as his lips trailed more kisses down my neck.
“The only complaint I have is that we are not in a bed somewhere, so we can do more than kissing. I bet the flight attendants in the front are betting which bathroom would be our initiation into mile-high club. Do you think they give you a pin “Welcome to the club” or something?”
“They should! I bet people would wear them as a prize token everywhere.” Kevin chuckled at my naughty ideas. “Sadly, for you, babe, you are dating a giant, and I barely fit in that restroom alone.” He informed me.
“Well, we also don’t want an emergency landing, considering you are a rock star and all…” I added and made my guy laugh. It was liberating that now we could talk naughty, tease each other, and flirt, and I loved this new playful side of our relationship. It feathered the heaviness of what we were facing, gave us that needed reprieve to be twenty-something love-drunk kids in those moments in between.