All About Zane (Travis County Legal Book 1)

by Avery J. Moon

  I stared at Joshua over the table and shook my head. "Right in front of my eyes and it takes a five-year-old to point it out."

  Josh just grinned at me. "A very smart five-year-old," he said ruffling Zane's hair.

  We finished the meal and Zane insisted on helping Josh with the dishes. While the two of them puttered around cleaning, I rumbled through the kitchen drawer to find Molly's number.

  The phone rang twice before a gruff and angry voice answered. "We don't want any!"

  I ignored the rudeness and asked if I could speak to Molly. "You could have, but we just kicked her prudish ass out." There was laughter in the background, and I heard someone say, "Tell them to check the nearest overpass, she'll probably set up housekeeping there."

  My knuckles whitened on the phone's receiver as the call was terminated.

  "Josh, I'm going out for a while. Will you and Zane be okay here?"

  He came out of the kitchen, wiping his hand on a dish towel. "Sure, but can I ask what's up?"

  I told him briefly as I gathered my car keys.

  "You sure you don't want me and Zane to come along? Extra eyeballs searching for her?"

  I debated but shook my head. "She's pretty shy sometimes. I'm hoping if it's just me she won't feel so self-conscious."

  "Should I start moving into your room?"

  "Let's hold up on that for right now. She can always crash in Zane's room for a day or two while we work things out."

  It took me half an hour to find her. She was trudging down the street, pulling along a suitcase that had one broken wheel, her head down and her shoulders shaking. I pulled off to the side of the street directly in front of where she was heading and opened my car door. I had given myself a little leeway because it took a while for me to get out of the car still.

  She was drawing up to the side of my car as I emerged. "Hey, Molly," I called out.

  Molly glanced over at me, tears streaming down her face, then she quickly looked away. She didn't say anything, but she stopped moving.

  I stepped around the car and stood before her. "I called your house and one of your asshole roommates told me you needed a place to crash for a while," I kept my voice quiet and friendly. "I was kind of hoping maybe you'd keep Zane company for a few days while we sort things out? I could really use your help, Molly."

  She gave a short bark of a laugh, using one hand to wipe her face. "I'm not fit to help anybody, Mr. Shepard. I can't even help myself."

  "Then why don't we help each other?"

  She wouldn't meet my eyes, just shook her head. "I don't take charity."

  I laughed softly. "Believe me, it isn't charity." I felt a drop of rain hit the tip of my nose and looked up at the gathering rain clouds. "Tell you what, why don't we put your bag in the trunk and you can stay the night in Zane's room. Then in the morning, when you've had a chance to rest and recover from all this, we can talk. I really do need your help, I swear."

  She hesitated but, finally, she nodded. We barely got her bag stowed away and ourselves in the car before it started to rain in earnest.

  "Is one bag all you have?" I asked. "Where is the rest of your stuff?"

  Molly shrugged. "Back at the apartment. I couldn't carry all of it, so they threw it out in the yard."

  My jaw clenched, and I turned the car around in the nearest drive, heading back to her old abode of an hour ago. When we pulled up, two burly guys and a girl with straggly hair were going through the items in the yard. The wet night didn't seem to bother them.

  "It isn't worth it, Mr. Shepard," Molly said, her voice shaking. "They aren't very nice people. They might hurt you."

  "It's worth it to me," I said, starting the slow process of getting out of the car. The rain had abated after just making everything damp and moist. I was hoping none of her stuff had been ruined.

  "Hey, guys," I said. "I'd appreciate it if you all would go back inside so Molly and I can collect the rest of her things. And you can put those things back down before you do."

  One of the big guys stood up and gave me what he must have thought was an intimidating stare. “This here is our stuff now, she left it on our property, so now it’s ours.”

  “No, it isn’t. She didn’t have a way to take it before and now she does.” I pulled out my phone. “Of course, if you like I can call Sheriff Green and have him give us the legal decision.”

  The guy laughed. “And who says you’ll make it to finish that call, cripple?” He pointed at my cane. “Don’t look to me like you could defend yourself so good.”

  I just smiled. “Do you know what a Navy Seal is?”

  “It sure ain’t no middle-aged cripple of a man, that’s for sure.”

  I kept my smile and even brightened it up a bit. “The Seals teach you a whole lot of ways to kill and maim a man. A surprising number of the ways don’t require two working legs to accomplish.”

  The girl threw down the stuffed animal she had been holding, and I heard Molly whimper inside the car. “None of this shit is worth a fight, guys,” she said.

  “You let us be the judge of that, bitch,” said the other man, stepping up to stand beside the first. This version of the bully brothers was tattooed to the hilt, not more than a few square inches anywhere I could see that wasn’t filled with some inked in design. Most of them were some version of death or skulls. Classy.

  Tatts moved first, thinking to surprise me with his speed. I side-stepped and whipped my cane up and in the path of his Adam’s apple. His momentum did the rest. He went down gagging as the other moved in. I heard the car door open, and then the trunk, but couldn’t spare a glance for Molly.

  Bully number one was a little smarter than number two. He approached me slowly. I just stood there smiling. Then I realized I wasn’t alone anymore.

  Molly stood beside me, with Zane’s wooden little league baseball bat in her hands. Bullies don’t like even numbers, especially after taking a hit. They backed off, cussing all the way, into the house. Tatts followed quickly after giving me a glare that said I’d better be watching my back for a while.

  I waited till the door shut behind them. “Molly, you might want to get your stuff into the trunk before they change their minds. I’d help, but I’m not good at bending right now.”

  “No problem, Mr. Shepard.” She hauled butt and got her stuff into the trunk, and we both climbed back into the front seat. I noticed she was hugging the stuffed animal the girl had dropped. “You shouldn’t have done that. They could have hurt you.”

  “Maybe,” I said. “But sometimes you just have to stand up to the bullies in life.”

  “Yeah, I know,” she said quietly. “That’s what got me kicked out.”

  “Well, good for you,” I said. “Trust me when I say things are going to get better for you real soon.”

  She was quiet for most of the drive home, but as I turned on our street, she finally spoke. “Thank you for saving me tonight.”

  I grinned at her. “I’m not sure who really saved who, Kid. That was quick thinking with the baseball bat.”

  Molly gave me a small smile as we pulled up to the garage. Once I parked, I turned as best I could to face her. She was still clutching the animal and shaking.

  “It’s up to you if you want to store all your stuff in the garage, or just leave it in the car tonight and just bring in your clothes.” I was hoping all her things would have a new home soon, but I didn’t want to press her tonight. She’d been through enough for one day.

  “My clothes will be enough for tonight.”

  Zane must have heard us pull up because the front door opened and he came running toward the car, opening Molly’s car door, and practically pulling her from the car.

  “Come on, Molly, I want to show you my new tablet. And we’ve got my room all made up for you. I get to sleep on the roll-away bed tonight!”

  Zane loved that stupid roll-away.

  Molly grinned down at him and, with a backward smile to me, allowed herself to be pulled into the house
. Josh was waiting at the door when I got there a few minutes later.

  “Any trouble?” Molly may have missed it, but Josh’s keen eyes hadn’t skipped over the fact that I was covered in sweat and moving even more slowly than normal.

  “A little, when we went back for the rest of her stuff. I may have gotten my butt kicked if she hadn’t pulled out Zane’s bat from the trunk.”

  “Sounds like a keeper.”

  “Oh yes, now if we can just convince her of that.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN: Becca's Case File (Colin)

  I was relieved when Molly said she had the next day off work. She needed some time to pull herself together. Besides, if I had anything to say about it, her days at the corner market were short-lived, anyway. But Molly needed a little time before springing that on her.

  We pulled out the roll-away and set it up in my room for a camp-out night. I gave Molly fresh sheets for Zane’s twin bed and a clean pillowcase.

  “There are plenty of towels and blankets in the hall closet, help yourself. And there’s a bathroom off Zane’s room that you can have all to yourself if you’d like to take a shower or bath.”

  “That’d be nice. It was hard taking a bath at the apartment. The bathroom door didn’t lock very good.” She shuddered.

  “Well, this one locks a little too good, if you ask me. When Zane was three, he locked himself in one time and we had a devil of a time getting him out.”

  Molly giggled. “Sounds like Zane, all right.” She smiled and started to shut the bedroom door behind her.

  “And Molly?”

  She peeped back around the door.

  “I really want you to make yourself at home. If you get hungry, grab a snack. And if you can’t sleep and want to go downstairs and watch television, that’s okay too. You’re safe here, Molly.”

  Her knowing smile tugged at my heartstrings. “I know I am, Mr. Shepard. You’re one of the good guys.”

  “Um, one more thing, Molly.” She just looked at me and waited. “Could you maybe call me Colin?”

  She bit her lip. “I’m not sure that would feel right.”

  “Well, we’ll just keep the option open for now then. Goodnight Molly.”

  “Goodnight, Mr. Shepard.” The door closed. There was no sound of the lock catching and my heart tweaked again. If I had been through half of what that girl had been through, I don’t think I’d have been so trusting. Not even with one of the good guys.

  If Zane had thought it was going to be a late night, he hid his disappointment well. I guess just sleeping in the made out spare bed was enough for him. I admit it was kind of nice having him so close. I should have thought of this sleeping arrangement before now. Reading his bedtime story didn’t even require me to get out of bed.

  The next morning, we let Molly sleep in, and I got up with Josh and helped get Zane fed, dressed, and out the door. Once they had pulled out of the drive, I straightened up a little and put on a pot of coffee. A few minutes before the sheriff was due to arrive, Molly came downstairs.

  “There’s extra bacon,” I said. “And eggs in the fridge if you’re up to making them. I should have told you last night, but I’m expecting the sheriff this morning.”

  Her eyes widened, and she backed up a step. Then I realized how that had sounded. “No, no, he’s not coming because of you. I asked him to come over to talk about how the search for Becca is coming. He’s going to bring the files for me to look through, and he’s going to go through the house one more time to see if he missed anything.”

  Molly’s shoulders slumped back down. “Oh.” She eyed the coffee pot. “Is there by chance extra coffee?”

  “There is, and more where that came from.” I pointed to the can on the counter. “Like I said, you’re a guest here and you can help yourself to anything you want to eat or drink.”

  She started to say something, but the doorbell sounded, making her jump.

  “That must be him now,” I said, stopping briefly beside her as I went to answer the door. “Are you okay staying here this morning until I’m done with the sheriff? I hate to put you off, but...”

  “But finding Becca comes first. I get that. I’ll stick around.” She smiled. “It’s not like I really have any place to go.”

  “I keep telling you, things are getting better for you,” I said over my shoulder heading for the front door. “For all of us, actually.”

  I did a double take when the opened door revealed Sheriff Gabriel Green, sans uniform. Not that he was naked, although I wouldn't have minded that too awful much either. Instead, he was sporting a black leather bomber jacket, fitting for the cool November weather, over a black collared polo shirt and blue jeans. Previously, I had imagined that the uniform had been a big part of his sex appeal. It was pleasing to find out I was wrong on that point. He was plenty sexy in plain clothes too.

  Stepping to the side, he walked past me into the house. "So this is what a house sounds like without a kid."

  "Don't get used to it. Around six o'clock the sound level increases by a couple of hundred percent." I paused. "Although, to be honest, Zane has been much quieter since I got him back. I think he's just glad to be home."

  Gabe just grunted. "You can take that to the bank." I waited, but that was all he seemed willing to say on the subject.

  "So where do you want to start?" I asked.

  In answer, he handed me two small manila file folders. Neither of them was any too thick.

  "The file on top holds the records of all the interviews we did. Everyone that came forward and said they saw Rebecca that day is in there. We also have statements from family and people close to her as to where they were the night she disappeared."

  I nodded. "Because most likely with someone smart like Becca, it was someone she knew."

  "That's what I'm thinking, but so far everyone has alibied out. I've been meaning to ask you if you ever had a chance to teach your sister any self-defense moves. Would she have fought her attacker?"

  "Hell, yeah," I said. "I mean, she's no black belt or anything like that, but she could hold her own. It was either someone she knew, there was more than one of them, or they got the drop on her."

  "Drugged?"

  "Doubtful in my opinion. Again, unless it was someone she knew well and trusted. Becca wouldn't just drink anything a stranger handed her. She's heard the stories too." I realized I was still talking of her in the present tense, but I couldn't stop myself.

  "The other, smaller file holds everything we know about Rebecca's movements that day. People she saw, places she went, everything we could dig up." Gabe started casually looking around the room. "If it's okay with you, I thought I'd start going through the house again, while you looked through the files."

  "Sounds good, Gabe. If you have any questions about anything, just call me." As he started to walk toward the stairs, I remembered. "Oh, and you should know that Molly Ranson is staying here for a while."

  Gabe stopped and half turned back to me. "The young girl from the mini-mart on the corner?"

  "That's the one. I'm hoping to get her to agree to take the job as nanny."

  He thought for a minute, then nodded. "All in all, not a bad choice as far as I'm concerned. I'd rather take in someone I knew rather than someone I didn't." And with that, he disappeared up the stairs.

  "A nanny?" Molly was quiet. I hadn't heard her come up behind me. Normally people had a harder time getting a drop on me. I must really be starting to slip.

  I whirled to face her and almost fell. Her quick hand steadied me.

  "Sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I just wasn't sure where you wanted me while the Sheriff looked around, so I was coming to ask you and I overheard."

  I smiled at her, embarrassed about my lack of grace. “It's not like it's a big secret. That's what I was talking about last night when I said you could help me.” I looked down at the files. They had waited six months, they could wait a few more minutes. “Why don't we go and sit at the kitchen table and I'll t
ell you all about it?”

  I refreshed the coffee and put on another pot in case the Sheriff wanted any once he came down. Then we sat down and I met her eyes. "I guess I should just give you the facts. Last Friday, I went to court to try to adopt Zane. The problem is that my step brother Michael had applied to adopt him too, so it became a legal battle of sorts. And Zane had been living with him for the past six months, because of all this," I motioned down to my tattered body. "I think they were kind of leaning towards giving custody to him and his wife."

  Molly shook her head. "That's not what Becca wanted."

  "I know, and luckily because Becca did things rights before Zane was even born, the courts knew it too. Unfortunately, at the moment, I'm simply not able to take care of a five-year-old. As much as I hate to admit the fact, the courts are right on that."

  I paused for a sip of coffee, closing my eyes to enjoy the full flavor of the added vanilla creamer. I'd missed that.

  "Anyway, the judge offered me a conditional six-month custody of Zane, with the requirement that I hire someone to help take care of him and the housework. A nanny. I've checked around, and I'm having a hard time finding one that is available now."

  "Nannies live with the family, don't they?" Molly asked, looking thoughtful.

  I nodded. "They do. In fact, the court specified that in the conditions. They don't want something happening in the night that I might not be able to handle. I can respect that, too, at least until I get my strength back."

  "What exactly do they do? Just watch the kids and help with housework? That's it? And they live in the house for free?"

  I smiled. "Now can you see why I said we could help each other? You need a place to stay, and I desperately need help." I swallowed, hating to look so needy. "I don't want to lose Zane to Michael."

  "You think the court would approve of me? I mean I don't have any qualifications as a nanny or anything."

  "Sure you do. You have the three best qualifications I can think of." I ticked them off on my fingers as I counted. "One, Becca and I have both trusted you with Zane in the past and you have done admirably for us. Two, Zane adores you and would love to have you captive here to entertain him. And three, you are local and available now, right when I need you the most."