Accused (Troubled Boys, Strong Men #1)

by Wendy Byrne

  Her fingers shook as she punched the numbers into the phone, but she didn’t say a word. In fact, she didn’t even look at him. Sam would be willing to bet if she could push him out the door that very second, she would.

  “This is Jillian Beckett.” Her voice trembled almost as much as her body. “What happened to my son?

  He wanted to hold her if only to settle down the trembling, but he held back. The rigidity of her posture and lack of eye contact told him to back off.

  While he couldn’t hear what was being said on the other end of the line, he had a good guess. “Yes, I’m so sorry. I had my phone plugged into the charger and it must have been set on vibrate.”

  “Around eleven last night you think.” Tears dampened her lashes. “No, I haven’t seen him or heard from him.” She gulped. “Do you know how or who he was with?”

  She shook her head and her voice was nearly a whisper. “Oh God no.”

  Her whole body shook. “Yes, I’ll certainly contact you if I hear from him.”

  After disconnecting, she slid to the floor. Her head fell against her raised knees. “Oh God.”

  “Travis escaped, but what else?” He sat down next to her and put his arms about her shoulders. “Come on, Jillian. I can’t help if you don’t talk.”

  For several seconds, she didn’t respond. “Carlos.”

  “What?”

  “The boy in the picture. The one who shot at us. That’s who he’s with.”

  It took a moment or two for Sam to put it together. “Shit. The kid we’ve been looking for? The kid Aaron was talking about? This isn’t coincidence. He got himself arrested for this exact purpose.”

  “Detective Brock couldn’t give specifics due to confidentiality.” She shuddered. “Why would Travis leave with him?” Tears rolled down her cheeks when she looked at him.

  Maybe because he felt he had no choice. Sam didn’t dare give voice to his thoughts.

  If she knew all that Cole had shared about Carlos, she’d be even more frightened. Sam had had firsthand experience with many guys like Carlos, and it wasn’t a cake walk. Intimidation and fear can become very powerful motivators.

  “Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Travis is guilty.”

  He grasped her shoulders and forced her to look at him. “You know you don’t believe that.”

  “But why wouldn’t he come here if he ran away?” She chewed on her fingernail. “Oh God, do you think that Carlos meant to harm him?”

  Answer with the truth or feed her BS? “Travis is smarter than most of the kids in the system.” Or skirt around the question and hope she doesn’t notice?

  “Is there a reason you’re not answering my question?” Fear spiked in her eyes.

  He shook his head. “I’m saying I don’t know why he went with Carlos.” He grasped her hands. “But I’m saying if Carlos meant to harm him, he could easily do it in juvie as well as any place else. There’s a reason Travis left with him. Maybe there’s somebody else involved on the outside. Maybe Travis remembered something.”

  “You mean like Tallman?”

  Although she said the words out loud, it was clear she didn’t want him to answer. A muscle flexed in her jaw as she ground her teeth together and guilt played across her features.

  “Maybe Tallman, or it could be somebody else as well. I say we shake the bushes and see what falls out.”

  “No.”

  He could almost see the thoughts tumbling about her brain as she fought through the latest wave of emotion. “Come on, Jillian. Talk to me.”

  She held his gaze for mere seconds. “Last night...I’m sorry...I mean, I shouldn’t have... It was a mistake.” She sucked in a breath. “I know you want to help, but Travis is my responsibility. Now we’ve added sex to the equation and it gets messier.”

  “This isn’t about the sex. I care about Travis too.” He grasped her hand and while she didn’t pull away, he could tell she was fighting the urge by the way her fingers twitched. “You don’t have to feel guilty for enjoying yourself last night.”

  “If I hadn’t been in bed with you, I would have heard the phone.”

  “Do you think that would have changed anything?”

  “He’s been gone ten hours.” She sucked in her bottom lip. “I might have been able to help.”

  “By randomly driving around the greater Los Angeles area?” He lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. “You’ve got to know that doesn’t make any kind of sense. You don’t have to go at this alone. Enjoying yourself for a little while and forgetting about your troubles doesn’t make you a bad parent.”

  Her focus narrowed and she clenched her jaw. “You don’t know. You’re not a parent.” No doubt lashing out at him kept her guilt in check.

  “True, but that doesn’t mean I don’t understand.”

  She disengaged her fingers. “You need to leave now.”

  There was so much more he wanted to say but didn’t. “Call me if you need anything.” He didn’t want to give up so easily, but trying to get her to see reason at this point wouldn’t get him anywhere. Instead, he picked up his things.

  He was nearly to the door when she spoke. Her voice was barely above a whisper. “I told you my parents were alcoholics.” Her breathing slowed. “I can’t remember a night when they didn’t go to bed drunk.”

  He didn’t say a word, only nodded.

  “Travis knows they died in a car accident before he was born, but I never told him they were drunk.” She drew her fingers through her hair. “Admitting that to him would have been much more than I could have borne.”

  “You can’t blame yourself for that. It wasn’t as if you were driving.”

  “I know, but they…” She shuddered. “I drove them everywhere to keep something like that from happening. I wanted to come home that weekend but was working on a big art project. It was their anniversary. Normally I would have driven them. They had a right to celebrate their life together.”

  “But they didn’t need to drink or they could have taken a cab, a limo. They had options. They chose not to utilize them.” He could tell he wasn’t getting through to her. “You can’t control everything, Jillian.”

  “Intellectually I know that, but I’m still trying to convince my heart.” She drew in a shaky breath. “I should have been there for them. When will I learn? I should have been there for Travis.”

  He grasped her shoulders and forced her to look at him. “You were there for Travis. What are you talking about?”

  “I should have helped him escape from the hospital and taken him out of the country. I had the opportunity, but wanted him to get vindication. Now he might be lost to me forever because I trusted such an imperfect system.”

  “You would have been on the run for the rest of your lives. Does that make sense?”

  “You think losing my son forever does?” She gulped back a sob. “If I don’t find him soon he’s going to be dead. I can feel that deep inside my soul. Knowing I didn’t do everything to prevent that from happening is something I would never recover from.”

  “Let me help you.”

  She looked his way, but it was as if she was seeing through him. “I need to do this on my own.”

  “Why do you insist on pushing me away?”

  She didn’t respond, instead urged him toward the door without another word.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Never. Never. Never. Again.

  The contempt in Archie’s eyes had been bad enough, but her own self-loathing pushed her to another level of despair.

  Although Archie hadn’t said much, Jillian knew him well enough to know he was thinking that she was doing the exact same thing she’d always accused him of doing: putting her needs ahead of her son’s. Nevertheless, she couldn’t help reflecting on things she could have done differently: spent more quality time with him, not allow her petty grievances with Archie to distract her so much, kept a tighter rein on his whereabouts. The list of past failings went on and on until it nearly smothered her
.

  And now she’d let Sam become an important part of her life. Not being alone after all those years with Archie felt incredible. But it was also selfish. Once again she’d forgotten about the most important person in her life. Guilt churned over and over in her mind until she thought she might go stark raving mad.

  She couldn’t think. She could barely breathe. In less than two weeks she’d somehow become accustomed to relying on Sam. But no more. Going it alone was the only option. It wasn’t fair to Travis to not put him first.

  He was her son. Her life. Her everything.

  Facing choices was never easy, but this was a no-brainer. She could live her life without Sam, but she couldn’t live her life without Travis. Fear clutched her chest.

  Frantic and uncertain where to go and what to do, she willed the phone to ring. Travis would contact her as soon as he could. She knew that with every fiber of her being. He hadn’t made the decision to escape on his own. There was no doubt in her mind that he had been coerced into running.

  She couldn’t wrap her mind around the situation. Worst case scenarios paraded through her brain, muddling it. Somehow she had to wipe the worse-case-scenario crap from her thoughts.

  Focus. She couldn’t ride around the greater Los Angeles area hoping to bump into Travis. That would be spinning her wheels.

  As much as it pained her to think about it, she needed Travis to take the initiative and call her. But if he thought she’d try to get him to turn himself in, he might not. Then again, he was sixteen years old, without money, without a car. What could he do? Her son was not street smart and masterminding some kind of jail break wasn’t even on his radar.

  Was that the naïve thought of a parent who’d coddled her child until the child was unable to distinguish right from wrong? Or were there more ominous forces at play?

  Nerves twittered inside as she paced the wood floor. Creak. Moan. Leg up. Leg down. Like in the beginning of this nightmare, nothing helped assuage her fears. Where to begin?

  Should she call Dr. Stern? Maybe he had some thoughts as to where Travis might go.

  Jillian had forgotten to ask Detective Brock about the police response. Surely there was some kind of APB out on the pair. She had to believe it wasn’t quite as serious as when an adult escaped from prison, but there had to be some punishment involved.

  Assuming he had some kind of option—which he more than likely didn’t—where would Travis have gone? She went to his room probably for the thousandth time since he’d left a little over a week ago, and started to go through his desk once again. Tiny folded up pieces of paper littered the drawers and she opened each one. Something she’d already done a hundred times. Football plays.

  Her heart clenched. Sam. He’d looked hurt when she threw him out. But he had to understand. No matter what happened between them, this was about her son. He had helped her immensely by securing Cole, protecting her, comforting her, but he also kept her distracted.

  She wasn’t sure how long she’d been in Travis’ room, but jumped when the phone started ringing. Racing through the house, she tried to catch it before it went to voicemail.

  Out of breath, she answered. “Travis?”

  “No, Mrs. Beckett, it’s Lexie.”

  ***

  “Big plans, huh?” Travis had learned something about himself over the last week or so: He hated being intimidated. After everything he’d been through, he no longer was willing to go with the flow. He’d done that the last year or so with nothing but trouble to show for it.

  They reached a clearing, and Travis could see a highway in the distance.

  “You’ll see soon enough.” Carlos shoved him. “Our ride should be arriving any minute now.”

  Seconds after he spoke, a car squealed to a stop on the side of the highway up ahead and Carlos shouted, “run.”

  Travis figured he didn’t have any other option other than to follow. At least for now.

  ***

  With a palm to her heart, Jillian attempted to stop her racing pulse. It didn’t work. While it wasn’t Travis on the other end of the line, it might very well be the next best thing. “Are you all right? Where are you?”

  “I’m scared.” There was no trace of the confident, cocky Lexie in her voice.

  “That’s okay, honey. Tell me where you are and I’ll come get you.” She picked up her keys and headed toward the door.

  “Venice Beach. Is Travis okay?”

  Jillian worried her lip. “I’m not sure. He’s escaped from the juvenile detention center.”

  “Oh God, no.” She started to sob. “He’s with Carlos, isn’t he? They told me that would happen if I didn’t cooperate.”

  “Who told you?” Her heart rate escalated and her knees went weak. Somehow Lexie knew about the plan for escape.

  “You’ve got to find Travis before it’s too late.”

  “Tell me where he is.” Despite her terror, Jillian tried to keep it out of her voice. The last thing she needed was to scare Lexie even more.

  “I don’t know where they...” Her voice trailed off as she sucked in air.

  “You keep saying ‘they’. Who are you talking about? Eric Tallman?”

  Her sobbing made any words unintelligible. “Please.”

  “You need to tell me where in Venice Beach you are so I can help you.”

  “I’m not sure.” She hiccupped through another sob. “I ran away from them.”

  “All right, Lexie. Try to calm down. Let me help you. I’ll call the police.”

  “Noooooooo, I’m afraid. Some of them are in on it and they’ll do nothing about it. Come get me, please.”

  “Sure. Do you see some street signs where you are?”

  “No, but there’s a McDonalds in Venice Beach. I’ll be there.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll find you.” She slammed the front door and jumped in her car. “I should be there in an hour or so.”

  ***

  “What do you think?” Sam was with Cole. Maybe together they could figure out where Travis might be.

  “I think it’s bullshit. Juveniles don’t escape from that place unless they have help from somebody.”

  Sam drew in a breath while nerves twitched throughout his body. “Are you sure about that? As in never?”

  “A while back some kids got out but one of the locks on the doors had malfunctioned. Somebody on the inside had to facilitate Travis’ and Carlos’ jailbreak. No way they could have gotten past the locks otherwise.”

  “How long were those other kids gone?”

  Cole shook his head. “They’ve never been found. Not sure if they’re dead or are doing a real good job staying beneath the radar. Then again, the system doesn’t look that long and hard for juveniles. They save their manpower for the high profile adults.”

  “I would guess the Carlos kid might have some connections, but Travis is like a fish out of water. Why take him with him?”

  “I’m guessing Travis was the target. There was no way Carlos’ arrest was some kind of random coincidence. They’ve been trying to nab him for months and all of a sudden, a couple of days before Travis’ trial, he gets arrested and put in the same cell as Travis.”

  Cole leaned back in his chair. “Somebody was afraid Travis was going to get off, or they were afraid of what might come out. When I relocated Tyrone to Mama Iris’, he told me he used to see Carlos hanging around Tallman’s car. I figure he was a snitch for the guy, but it could have been drug distribution, or maybe he was doing something even more lethal for the guy. Who knows?”

  “Which brings us back to drugging Travis and framing him for murder.” Everything in Sam believed it had all about setting up Travis.

  “Which reminds me. Dr. Stern was supposed to hypnotize him, I think yesterday or today. Do you know if that happened?” This whole clusterfuck seemed to be getting bigger.

  Cole flipped through his phone messages. “Don’t see anything from him. Maybe he didn’t get a chance.”

  “So who has the power t
o manipulate the system to ensure Carlos is Travis’ roommate?”

  “I guess we could ask the warden how the assignment was made.” Cole picked up the phone. The call went into voicemail and Cole left a message. “We’ll have to wait to hear back.”

  “Tallman’s involvement in this stinks. He’s screwing the merry widow. He’s in Travis’ room at the hospital. We still don’t know why.” Sam blew out a breath. “I say we try to find the son of a bitch.”

  “It’s as good a plan as I can think of right now.”

  They walked together out the door and got into Sam’s truck. “We can only hope he gives us trouble. It will give us an excuse to kick the crap out of him.”

  ***

  Lexie was scared. More scared than she’d been in her whole life. They’d taken Travis. She would be next. She was sure of it. They’d called her and told her they were coming. It wasn’t like she could run home.

  Ms. B would know what to do. But what if she was part of it? Her own mother was part of it. No, she couldn’t think like that. She had to stay focused.

  She’d sure picked a bad time to stop smoking pot. She could use a shot of mellowness about now.

  Oh man, the guy behind the counter was looking at her weird. Maybe there was some kind of poster around town with her picture on it. She glanced down at her clothing and realized she’d been wearing the same thing for days.

  He came around the counter and started to walk towards her. Panic filled her lungs and stung down to her toes. At first she backed up, hoping she’d been mistaken about his intent. But he kept coming as he murmured something about wanting to help. She sprinted for the door like the devil was chasing her. She had to find another place to hang out and wait for Mrs. B.

  Scared as shit, she ran across one lane of traffic, barely escaping getting hit. Before she had a chance to celebrate her good fortune, a car came out of nowhere. Mercifully the pain of the impact last only a few seconds before blackness overtook her.

  ***

  Sam tried to suppress the nervous energy running roughshod through him. They’d gone to Tallman’s office and had struck out. Their next stop had been Victoria Gill’s home, but his car wasn’t there. As a last ditch effort, they were on their way to Tallman’s home. After that, they’d take a drive through the neighborhood to see if they could shake the bushes and find him.