“Have you read all of those?”
May smiled.
“Not lately. I have my e-reader as well and I haven’t even read all of them. I seem to like collecting books instead of reading them.”
“I used to read a lot. And then William came along.” Melissa gave May a small smile as she took her mug. “I’m surprised I know how to string a sentence together. He still doesn’t sleep through.”
“I’m sure he’ll grow out of it.” May sat beside her, tucking her legs underneath her. “How is he?”
“A little shaken. He hasn’t forgotten and kept waking in the night for me.” Melissa took a sip. “I’ve told him Grandma is on timeout and he understands that.”
That was something. But May could see more clearly what was bothering Melissa. The woman clearly needed a friend right now and it seemed to be the person who had saved her little boy from being run over.
“Did you tell your husband about this?”
“Yes.” Melissa nodded miserably. “And he tried to say it wasn’t a big deal, that it was a misunderstanding.”
May nearly spilt her coffee in her surprise.
“He what? Your son almost got run over and he says it was a misunderstanding? What part of the misunderstanding did he not get?”
“Sara got to him before I got home. He was all about trying to get me to apologize for scaring his mother and to press charges against you and your friend for attempting to kidnap him. He used a few racial epithets I recognized coming from Sara, something I’ve never heard him say before.”
“Didn’t the police see the CCTV footage?”
“I don’t know. I do know that security at the store told them and they called to let me know Sara had been arrested.” Melissa scowled. “Then, as I’m leaving to take William to Mom’s, my husband is telling me he’s going to the station to bail her out before he goes to work.”
“What?”
“Yes. He’s going to get her settled before he goes on to work and then we’re all going to talk together where I apologize for causing her undue stress.” Melissa’s hands tightened around her mug. “If he thinks I’m going to apologize for what I saw, he’s got another thing coming.”
“If I were you, I’d be divorcing him for believing the perpetrator.” May said grimly. “Your son’s safety is more important than his mother’s feelings.” She cupped her hands around her mug, huddling close to get warm as a shiver went down her back. “Do you want me to give the police my statement?”
“If you don’t mind.” Melissa blinked. “Have they not called you?”
“No. I’ve been expecting their call but nothing.”
“I gave them your information and everything.” Melissa sighed. “From the sound of it, you will need to go in and physically let them know. I can’t begin to imagine what Sara’s said about you.”
“If it’s anything like what she called me yesterday, I think I can.” May grunted. She felt sorry for the younger woman; Melissa looked like she was about to crack under the strain. “Has your relationship always been this bad?”
“Practically. I married her baby boy and in her eyes she thinks she’s in competition with me. I’ve put my foot down several times and there are moments when John will back me up but mostly he tells me that it’s how his Mom is and we need to accommodate her.”
May scowled. She hated people who did that. In those situations, the mother had often made her son an emotional husband and they had been raised to make sure they came first before anyone else.
“I’d have kicked him to the kerb the first time he did that.”
“Have you had that before?”
“When I was in college. The guy’s mother used to French kiss him in front of me and claim it was to make sure he hadn’t taken drugs or alcohol. Neither of them saw anything wrong with it and I high-tailed it out of there after I saw them do it.”
Melissa made a face.
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Sorry, but it’s not the first time I’ve encountered a mother who treats her son like her husband and manipulates him into thinking she’s normal.”
Melissa sighed.
“I wish I could have put my foot down but I don’t like confrontation.”
“I just hope your husband comes to his senses.”
“Same here.” Melissa paused. “It’s not the first time Sara’s put William in danger. She let him wander off in the woods when she and John were hiking and William almost fell off a ridge. He’s fallen down stairs at her house – outside concrete stairs – and has nearly got run over. I keep telling John that she isn’t a safe carer for William but he ignores me. Why I left her alone with William yesterday, I have no idea.”
May had been listening with growing horror. If she had thought it was bad before, this was even worse. But she could understand Melissa’s train of thought.
“You thought you’d give her one last chance.”
“I’m glad someone understands.” Melissa looked up at May. “Are you feeling better?”
“Sorry?”
“You looked like you were about to collapse yesterday. I’m sorry I made you feel worse.”
“Don’t worry about. My energy levels have been low in the last couple of years.” May saw Melissa’s confusion. “I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer eighteen months ago. I’ve had surgery and chemo. I was told I was in remission yesterday but my energy levels aren’t up to par yet.”
Melissa’s mouth fell open, her eyes widening.
“Oh, my goodness.” She gasped. “And you ran out in front of a car to save my son? You are a hero.”
“I wouldn’t call it that.” May yawned. “But I am still quite drained.”
“I can imagine.” Melissa scowled. “Cancer wouldn’t go anywhere near Sara, sadly. She’s too toxic even for that.”
May laughed.
“There are days when I wish it had gone to someone else.”
“Don’t we all on anything?”
May couldn’t agree more with that.
*****
The phone call came through as Chris was working through his paperwork, trying to stop the mouse from jumping across the screen when he wasn’t even touching it. He put it on loudspeaker, not stopping his typing.
“Campbell.”
“Safe to talk?”
Romanov. Chris hadn’t expected to hear back from him so quickly.
“Yeah. May’s not into work yet.” Chris sat back and looked at the clock. “She should be any moment, though.”
“Good. Because I’ve got some stuff about this woman who nearly killed a child. I don’t think you’ll want her to hear it.”
They had spoken for nearly two hours two nights before about the situation with May. Chris knew he should leave her well alone but he could tell something wasn’t right and it wasn’t going to be easy. He didn’t want May to be blindsided and Chris was sure something would come up that May wouldn’t be able to dodge.
It was her problem but Chris couldn’t sit back and let her deal with it alone.
From Romanov’s voice, he wasn’t sure he was going to like what he heard, either.
“What have you got?”
“Sara Monahan, fifty-nine, has never worked a day in her life. And she has two separate charges of child endangerment against her from over twenty years ago.”
“What? She’s endangered a child before?”
“And considering the welfare system for children wasn’t that great in the nineties, the fact she got two charges must mean she did something really bad.”
“Did she get the children taken off her?”
“No.”
Chris bit back a growl. He had been in that position himself. How he had grown up reasonably adjusted to the outside world, Chris had no idea.
“Any idea what happened?”
“I didn’t want to push too much. My contact wasn’t willing to look in deeper; she’s not supposed to be in those files.” Romanov paused. “But she did tell m
e that Sara only got fines. She has three sons. Joe, Jacob and John. The charges were against Joe and Jacob, nothing against John. He’s the dad of the grandson she almost killed, isn’t he?”
“From what I found out myself, yes.” Chris pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose. “I think he thinks the world revolves around her.”
Romanov growled.
“Women like that shouldn’t be allowed to procreate. I can’t understand favoritism.”
“I never could.”
Chris had known from the beginning that his brother was the one who was favored by his parents. He couldn’t change that and now he didn’t want to. They had made their beds and they were lying in it with a son who had no idea how to cope without them holding his hand while he was making all the money, having been left to his own devices.
That would never have happened if he had been smothered like his parents did to his brother.
Chapter 4
“What happened to her other sons?”
“Ivan did some digging on that. Both Joe and Jacob left as soon as they graduated high school. They moved to the other side of the country and never spoke to their mother again.”
“Their father?”
“Left when John was two. He paid child support but he never had custody. The child endangerment charges happened shortly after.” Romanov added grimly: “Even after that he was only allowed supervised visitation. Sounds like he was the lesser evil.”
That sounded like a fuck you towards the husband for leaving her. Either that or he had been keeping her in check so she went off the rails when he walked out.
At least those sons had some sense. Chris didn’t want to begin to think what would have happened if all three looked the other way with their mother’s actions.
“What about John, the youngest?”
“Living two miles away with his wife and son. From all accounts, he thinks his mother is amazing and raised him well, that his brothers are ungrateful.”
One word came to mind in Chris’ head. Enmeshed. It had happened to his brother and now he couldn’t function, believing Chris’ money was rightfully his as well. How John Monahan had managed to get a wife and have a baby when he had been raised the same way was astounding.
If his wife didn’t run for the hills after this, she would be in the future.
“I wonder what it would take for him to realize that his mother is going to kill his son and destroy his marriage.”
“I don’t know but I wouldn’t want to be around to find out.”
Neither did Chris.
Then he heard the front door opening and pulled up the security screen on his computer. May was arriving.
“I’d better go. May’s just got here.”
“If she hasn’t already, she had better get her statement to the police. Sara Monahan’s managed to discredit witnesses before.”
“She’s had the police called on her since the child endangerment?”
“Several times. Neighbors heard abuse and domestic violence and Sara has openly attacked people but she always manages to come out looking like the victim.”
Charming. That meant May had inadvertently bumped into a sociopath who thought they could get away with anything because they had the knack of getting the charges dropped. The little old lady routine seemed to be working.
Chris heard the door to the outer office opening.
“Talk to you later.”
He hung up and stood, hurrying to the door. May was putting her bag into the bottom drawer of her desk. She still looked pale, her hair undone and loose about her shoulders with a simple Alice band keeping her hair out her face. A simple black t-shirt and jeans with knee-high boots was her outfit today. Simple but still arousing.
Chris coughed. May started up, clutching at her chest. Then she relaxed.
“Jesus, Chris! You’re going to frighten me to death one of these days.”
“At least I’m useful for something.” Chris chuckled and gave her a slight bow. “Morning.”
“Morning.” May frowned. “Are you okay? You don’t look very happy.”
“My normal expression.”
Chris wished he didn’t have a personal assistant who could read him better than anyone else. May could always sense something was wrong. She snorted.
“Bullshit. Who were you talking to just now?”
“Who says I was talking to anyone?”
“‘Talk to you later’. Either you were having a sex chat with someone and you didn’t want to be caught or you were having a confidential conversation that you didn’t want me to hear.” Her eyes narrowed. “Which is it?”
Chris sighed and leant against the doorframe, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“The latter. It was Anton Romanov. I asked him for a favor.”
“Oh, really?” May looked skeptical. “You’re asking the Russian mob boss for help?”
“It concerns Sara Monahan.”
“Sara…” May’s mouth dropped open as realization dawned. “You mean the old lady I told you about at the store? Why on earth are you looking her up?”
“Because I wanted to make sure you were okay and Romanov has contacts I could use. I wanted to know what you were up against. And it’s bad, May.”
May stared at him. Then she barked out a laugh and sat at her desk, starting to power up her computer.
“She’s a racist, negligent woman who shouldn’t be around children. What else could there be that’s bad?”
“She’s been charged with child endangerment before against her two older sons.”
That made May pause, her fingers over the keys. She stared at him.
“She has three sons?”
“Yes. They cut contact as soon as they were able to leave.” Chris sighed. “She’s had the police called on her before for multiple things. She’s dangerous.”
May shook her head, rubbing at her eyes.
“Why does that not surprise me? Suddenly, I’m exhausted just thinking about her. Melissa told me she was a danger but her husband won’t see it.”
“You’ve spoken to the daughter-in-law?”
“Yesterday. She came over. She’s one step away from taking William and leaving her husband because John wants her to apologize to Sara.”
Chris had heard a lot of things but that was ridiculous.
“She was in charge of him and nearly got him hurt and Melissa is the one to apologize?”
“I know. Life’s really strange, isn’t it?”
She didn’t even know the half of it. Chris pushed off the wall and went over to her desk.
“Have you made your statement yet?”
“No, I was going to go in my lunch hour.”
“No, you are going to go now.” Chris pulled her bag out of the drawer and took May by the arm, forcing her to stand. “Do it now.”
“Why?”
“Because the fact you were a witness to something serious and they’ve not contacted you is odd.” Chris guided her towards the door and gently pushed her into the hall. “Go.”
“Okay, okay.” May scowled as she snatched her bag. “Jeez, you’re such a nag.”
“Love you, too.”
Chris laughed as May flipped him off without looking over her shoulder.
*****
May was furious. How dare they? The nerve to accuse her of all that.
She had had interactions with the Baltimore police before and they were normally very nice, respectful officers. May didn’t think any of them would be as disgusting as the officer who had spoken to her had been. She had felt like the one arrested and she was getting a grilling. When it became clear that even if the officer took her statement he was just going to put it in the trash, May had told him to hear from her lawyer and left.
Sara Monahan really did have a reach. Now she knew why she hadn’t been contacted; they had believed Sara’s version of events, even with the security footage from the store.
May notified Melissa of the problem on the way b
ack to Chris’ house. Melissa was just as furious. That was when May found out that the footage of the incident had gone conveniently missing and all they had was May, Sammie and Melissa’s word against Sara. Despite several witnesses saying the same thing, Sara stuck to her story and the police were believing her.
May shuddered to think what they had been told with regards to her but from what she had been told by the officer, it was enough to make her feel sick.
She was still simmering with rage as she pulled sharply into Chris’ driveway and stormed into the house. If she hadn’t promised to come into work, she would have gone straight home. May didn’t think she would be able to work now, not after what she had been accused of.
It was a wonder she hadn’t been arrested.
“The fucking bastards!” She screeched, throwing her bag across her office. It hit the wall and the contacts of her bag scattered across the floor.
The door opened and Chris came hurrying out. He stared at the mess and then at May.
“Where’s the fire?”
“What?”
“I’ve never seen you lose your temper in all the time I’ve known you.”
May’s heart was pounding. She was feeling the start of a migraine. She managed to get to the couch and sagged onto it.
“I’m sorry. I needed to take my frustrations out on something.”
“I can see that.” Chris joined her, kneeling in front of May and taking her hands. “What happened?”
“That woman.” May tried to fling her arms around but Chris held them tightly. “That fucking woman!”
“Easy there.” Chris didn’t even blink at her outburst. His expression didn’t change as he waited for her to attempt to calm down. “Calm down. And speak clearly. What happened? I presume it didn’t go well?”
“That’s an understatement.” May felt like she was about to cry now she had come down from the anger. “I went to the police station and I got to be interviewed by the officer who had arrested Sara. And while he was questioning me, I felt like I was being interrogated. After I told him everything, he straight-up asked me what drugs did I take and what did I expect out of this.”
That was when she saw Chris’ face darken. His eyes went so dark they were almost black. His jaw tightened.
Love In Arms_BWWM Romance Page 4