Mikki released the breath she had been holding. “Thank you, Your Honor.”
“He will be assigned a probation officer, and it is mandatory that he attend any and all appointments.”
“Yes, sir.”
“He will be subject to random drug testing.”
“Yes, sir.”
“This is an emergency temporary order. I want you, all of you, in my courtroom in three days to discuss this matter more fully. Mr. Keaton will notify you of the time.” He looked over the top of his glasses and said, “Is that clear?”
Everyone nodded and said, “Yes, sir.”
“Bail is set at one thousand dollars. Pay that, and you may take him home tonight.” He held the sheet of paper toward Mikki.
Pete stood. “I’ll pay it.”
“I don’t think that would be a good idea, Sheriff,” said Mr. Keaton. “We’re already dancing on a fine line of conflict of interest.”
Mikki took the form. “I’ll take care of it. Where do I pay?”
Judge Gaston closed the file and stood. “See my clerk out front. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a meeting to attend. Good luck to you folks.”
“Thank you, Your Honor,” Mikki said.
Lisa threw herself at the man and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you, sir, thank you.”
Gaston froze for a moment then patted Lisa on the back. “You just see to it that I don’t have reason to regret my decision.”
“Yes, sir. I promise you won’t be sorry.” She left the room with Mikki.
Chapter 30
Pete stood beside Gil Keaton, waiting for Mikki to post Austin’s bail. When she walked out of the clerk’s office, he said, “I still need to get Austin’s statement.”
“When?” she said while tucking the receipt in her purse.
Pete looked at the lawyer and raised a brow.
Keaton said, “I can do it in the morning, if that works for you.”
Mikki nodded. “The earlier the better. I hate for him to miss any more school than he has to.”
“I told you, he’s out for two weeks. That’s the school rules, and there is nothing we can do about that,” Pete said.
“But what about his school work? Won’t he get behind?” said Lisa.
“I’ll ask Julie if she can help him keep up.” When no one spoke, he asked, “Will that be okay?”
Mikki shrugged. “Sure, call Julie. I don’t care.” She started to walk away, but Pete fell in step beside her.
“What was that all about in Gaston’s office, about us not dating anymore?”
“We aren’t. I don’t date men who don’t trust me.”
“Oh, come on, Mikki.”
When she didn’t answer, he sighed and said, “I’ll bring Austin’s things over later.”
“Don’t bother. Lisa can get them.”
He reached in his hip pocket and pulled out his wallet. “At least let me give you some money for expenses. The kid eats like a horse.” He tried to hand her the cash.
She kept walking. “No thanks. I don’t need it.”
“Mikki, don’t be ridiculous. Let me help.”
She stopped and narrowed her eyes. “Oh, you have done more than enough. I’m sure we will be just fine without your type of help.” She continued toward the door.
“Mikki, wait up,” Lisa called as she hurried toward them. She stopped beside her brother and said, “Give her time. We’re all pretty emotional right now.”
The sound of Mikki’s toe tapping on the marble floor echoed down the hall.
His eyes locked on the woman at the far end of the corridor standing with her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face. “I know.” His gaze never left Mikki as he handed the cash to his sister. “Give this to her, and let me know if they need anything.”
Lisa dropped the money in her bag and said, “I will. I’ll come over later and get Austin’s clothes.” She went up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “I love you, and I know you did what you had to do, but I’m still mad at you.”
Pete continued to stare at Mikki while he gave Lisa a quick hug. “Apparently, you aren’t the only one. Hell, right now I don’t even like myself.”
Keaton patted Pete on the shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Sheriff. How does nine sound?”
“That works for me,” Pete said. “I’ll have to check with Mikki.”
“Don’t bother. I’ll bring Austin in,” Lisa said before she turned and jogged to where Mikki waited.
Keaton and Pete watched the two women leave the building. “I don’t envy you, Sheriff. You are in a real predicament. You’re lucky Ms. Gray was willing to step up and take responsibility for the young man. And we are very lucky that Judge Gaston agreed. Yes, sir, Mikki’s quite a woman.”
“Yes, she is,” Pete said as the men walked toward the exit.
They reached the parking lot at the same time the yellow Mustang backed out of the parking space.
As Keaton walked away, Pete heard the lawyer say, “No, sir, not many men would let one like that get away.”
Pete watched Mikki’s dark hair fan out behind her as the convertible turned onto the street. He went to his cruiser and called the station, explaining that Austin had been placed into Mikki’s guardianship and they were to have Austin ready to go when she arrived and to release him into her custody. Once the call was over, he went on one last patrol before going home, alone.
Chapter 31
Lisa sat on Mikki’s sofa with her arms around Austin. His head rested on her chest. He wiped his eyes on his sleeve for the third time. “Mom, I’m really sorry. I know I screwed up, but I was only trying to help Virgil, I promise. I don’t do drugs, I swear. And I sure don’t sell them.” He sniffed.
“I believe you. And I’m sure if you explain it to Pete, just like you did to us, he will understand. Tell him exactly what happened, and why, that’s all.”
“But like I told Mr. Keaton, I don’t want to get Virgil in trouble. He says these guys are bad . . . really bad. He’s scared of them, and so is his father. What if something happens to them because of me? What if they try to hurt me, or you and Chloe? Or Mikki or Uncle Pete?” He started crying again.
Mikki was sitting in a chair beside the sofa. She reached over and patted his back. “Don’t worry about that. These people depend on you being scared of them and afraid to talk. Bullies don’t pick on anyone who stands up to them. Don’t worry about us. We can take care of ourselves. Just tell Pete what you told us.”
When the crying slowed, Mikki said, “I’m proud of you, Austin. You tried to help a friend in trouble. There may have been better ways to do it, but I’m proud of you for trying.”
“Me too,” said Lisa. “Of course, you know you’re grounded until you’re thirty-five, but I’m still proud of you.”
Austin sat up and blew his nose. “Thirty-five?”
“You heard me, and don’t argue, or I’ll make it forty.”
Everyone laughed until Mikki’s phone rang. She checked the screen and laid it down on the coffee table.
Lisa saw Pete’s name and answered it.
“Hey, I thought I dialed Mikki’s number,” Pete said.
“You did. She is, uh, unavailable right now.”
“I bet. I was just going to let you know Austin’s things are boxed up and ready. Is he okay?”
“He’s a little shook up, scared, worried, and nervous about tomorrow. Pretty much what you would expect from a fourteen-year-old who’s just been arrested and stuck in jail with the scum of the earth.”
Pete sighed. “The only one back there was Lyndon Powers, and he was passed out the whole time. We have security cameras, and I assure you someone was keeping an eye on him.”
“I’ll r
emind him of that when he has nightmares over this whole thing.”
“Hey, I already feel like crap. Don’t make it worse. Is Mikki okay?”
Lisa looked at the woman sitting in the chair. “Yes, she’s fine. Do you want to talk to her?”
Mikki shook her head.
“Something tells me she wouldn’t talk if you superglued the phone to her ear. Just tell her I was checking on everyone, and she can call me if they need anything.”
“I will.”
“See you in the morning.”
“Bye.” She hung up and looked at Mikki. “He feels bad.”
Mikki propped her feet on the short table. “Good, he should.”
“He said you can call him if you need anything.”
Mikki folded her arms across her chest. “That will be a cold day in”—she glanced at Austin—“well, you know what I mean.”
Chapter 32
The next day, Mikki was cleaning out her refrigerator when she heard Lisa and Austin walk into the house. Austin went to his room without speaking, and Lisa entered the kitchen, looped her purse over the back of a chair, and sat down at the table.
“How did it go?” Mikki asked. She gave the shelf one last swipe and closed the fridge door.
“Okay, I guess. Pete asked a thousand questions and made Austin repeat everything over and over.” Lisa rubbed her brow. “All I could do was sit there and keep my mouth shut.”
Mikki put a cup of coffee in front of her and sat down with one of her own. “How’s Austin?”
“Terrified. Worried that Pete doesn’t believe him. Afraid of what happens next. His friend Virgil and his father walked in as we were leaving. The poor kid looked as scared as Austin. Pete wouldn’t even let the boys talk to each other.”
“I wish there was something I could do.”
Lisa reached for Mikki’s hand. “You already are. I can’t thank you enough for taking care of him.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I feel so helpless.”
“Don’t worry. I promise I won’t let anything happen to him.”
The two women were still sitting at the table when Austin came into the room. He went to the refrigerator, pulled out a bowl of leftover spaghetti, and joined the women.
“Aren’t you going to heat that up?” Mikki asked.
“Why?”
She and Lisa laughed when he took a big bite and looked from one to the other. “No reason, I guess.” After he took another bite, she said, “Are you okay?”
He shrugged and stuffed more spaghetti in his mouth.
“It’s going to be all right, Austin. You’re safe here,” she said.
He nodded and continued to eat while he blinked back tears. When he finished the spaghetti, he went back to his room.
Lisa sighed. “I hate to leave him, but I need to get back to work . . . and Chloe. I’ll be here Friday for the meeting with the judge, and I’ll have her with me. I hope that isn’t a problem.”
“Not at all. As long as I can get some sleep, I’ll be fine. And I can’t wait to meet Chloe. Austin may not admit it, but I think he misses her.”
“They fight like cats and dogs, but she misses him too.” Lisa carried her cup to the sink and said, “Guess I should go.” She went to pack her bag.
Mikki could hear Austin and his mom talking as she was gathering her things. A few minutes later they returned. Lisa hugged Mikki and then gave Austin a long hug and kiss goodbye.
Mikki and Austin stood in the door and watched Lisa back out of the drive. She slipped her arm around the teen and said, “It’s okay. You’ll see. Things are going to be fine.”
He wiped his nose on his sleeve and said, “Yeah, I know. Mom said Uncle Pete is going to fix everything.”
Mikki couldn’t answer because of the lump in her throat. I hope so.
Chapter 33
Pete sat at his desk, tapping his pen against his cup of cold coffee. He had read Austin’s statement a dozen times. He couldn’t find one reason to doubt the boy’s story. His phone buzzed, and a deputy said, “Bryer Lab on line two.”
Pete picked up the phone. “Sheriff Foster here.”
“Sheriff, this is Mindy Carrigan from the Bryer County Crime Lab. I have the fingerprint results you were wanting on that envelope and the small baggies inside it.”
Pete took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay, what does it say?”
“First of all, the contents of each of the bags did test positive for methamphetamines. Second, none of the prints on the envelope or bags match those of your suspect, Austin Riley. We are running them through AFIS now.”
Pete slumped back in his chair and exhaled. “Thank you. Can you send that report to me, please?”
“Sure thing.”
“I appreciate it.” Pete hung up and dropped his face in his hands while the emotions rolled over him.
A few minutes later Trina knocked on his door and said, “This fax just came for you.” She handed him two sheets of paper.
He took the pages and sat back, propping his heels on his desk. The first one, amid all the legal wording, confirmed Austin’s fingerprints were not on any of the items that had been examined by the lab.
When Pete glanced at the second page, his feet hit the floor, and he read over it a second time. Two sets of prints were identified on the envelope. One was Virgil Ellerton’s. The second set belonged to Mitchell Larson. Only one of the small baggies had an identifiable print; it was also Larson’s.
He laid the reports down and began tapping on his keyboard. When the image appeared on the computer screen, he sat back and stared at the monitor. His fingers drummed on his desk as he studied the information.
Pete recognized the man as one of the three Penny had pointed out in the diner the day he and Derik had met for lunch. “Okay, buddy,” he said out loud, “you picked the wrong town to show up in. I think we need to have a little talk.” He hit the print button and began pulling up other pictures until he had enough for a photo lineup. Once he stuck the pages in a folder, he walked out of his office and told the people at the front desk that he would be out of the office for a couple of hours.
Pete drove across town and took a small side road nine miles past the city limits. Twenty minutes later he stopped in front of a small house. A truck sat on blocks beside a wooden fence. Chickens ran loose in the front yard. Two brown cows in a pasture to the left stopped grazing and looked at him then returned to their afternoon snack. A big red dog, lying on the front porch, stood, stretched, and began to bark. Pete exited the squad car and started toward the house.
The front door opened, and a woman said, “Afternoon, Sheriff.”
“Hello, Mrs. Ellerton. Is your husband home?”
“Yes, sir. Is he in some kind of trouble?”
“No, ma’am. I just need to speak with him.”
She opened the screen door wider and said, “Come on in. I’ll fetch him.”
Pete stepped into a tidy room with threadbare furniture. An end table beside the couch held a dog-eared Bible and a lamp with a hole in the shade. He followed the woman into the kitchen and dropped the file on the table. When he sat down, he noticed a rip in the dining chair seat had been repaired with gray duct tape.
Mrs. Ellerton went to the back door and began to ring a metal triangle hanging from the eaves of the porch. She stepped back into the kitchen and put ice in three glasses. She was filling them with water when her husband stepped to the door. He removed his boots and entered the room.
“Mother, did you call?” Mr. Ellerton said.
“Yes, the sheriff here needs to talk to you.” She nodded in Pete’s direction.
Ellerton looked toward the table and nodded. “Hello, Sheriff.” He wiped his hand on his overalls then offered it to Pete. “What can I do for you?”
Pete shook his hand and said, “I would like you to take a look at some photographs and let me know if you recognize anyone. Keep in mind the person we’re looking for may or may not be in this group.” After he fanned the six pictures out on the table, he walked to the window and watched chickens scratch the ground. He rocked on his toes and waited.
After several minutes, Ellerton said, “Number four. He’s the one that shot me.”
Pete turned from the window. “Are you sure?”
The man looked at Pete and said, “I know who shot me, Sheriff.” He jabbed his finger at one of the photographs. “I saw that man dang near two or three times a week, sometimes more, until he accused me of stealing from him and shot me in cold blood. Yes, sir, ain’t no doubt about it. Number four, that’s him.”
“I need you to put your initials on the back, and the date.” Pete laid a pen on the table and began gathering the remaining five pictures. When Ellerton finished, Pete tucked the folder under his arm and headed toward the door.
“Are you going after him, Sheriff?” Ellerton asked.
“When the time is right, Mr. Ellerton. When the time is right.” He waved to the couple and headed back to Oak Springs.
Chapter 34
Mikki sat next to Austin and Lisa in the empty courtroom. She watched the foot resting on the boy’s knee bounce nervously.
She patted his arm and said, “Relax. This is just a formality. I’m sure the judge is going to let you go back to Pete’s. Everything will be fine, you’ll see.”
Arrested Romance (Oak Spring Series Book 2) Page 9