“He cheated on you again?” he asked.
His mother halted her assault.
“What do you mean again, Mom?” She covered her face with her hands.
“Your mother’s car accident,” CS said. “It happened because she was very upset.” He bit his lip. “She crashed her car after she found me with another woman.”
Leo hadn’t thought he couldn’t hate CS any more. But hearing those words, knowing his father was to blame for his mother’s dis-ability, made him change his mind.
That confession seemed to knock Jason into action. He flew to their mother, replacing one cane in her hand and steadying her so she could walk out of the study. He never looked at CS.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” he said when they reached the doorway. “I’m so sorry.”
Finally the wail of police sirens began to compete with his mother’s despair. Jason let go of her to answer the pounding on the door.
“Hello, Jason,” said a familiar voice. “I heard the call on the radio and thought ‘I know this family. Sounds like another Scott needs to turn himself in.’”
“Thanks for coming, Detective Easton.” Jason opened the door wider, and the detective stepped in, followed by two uniformed officers.
Leo now stood next to his mother, and the detective nodded at them before scanning the area around CS. “Whose weapon is that?”
“It’s mine, ma’am,” Leo said. “I mean, it’s my roommate’s, but I was the one who brought it here.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Is it loaded?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She slid on rubber gloves and placed the gun in an evidence bag she extracted from her pocket. Handing it to one of the officers, she asked, “Is anyone hurt here?”
The Scotts shook their heads.
“Seems this family’s making a little progress, then.” She turned to CS, who peeled himself off the wall and stood at attention. “Commander Scott, I understand you want to turn yourself in for the murder of William Walsh. Is that correct, sir?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Very well. I need to arrest you and take you in for questioning now. Do you have any weapons on you, sir?”
“No, ma’am.”
Leo watched as the detective frisked him, secured him in handcuffs, and read him his Miranda rights. CS hung his head as she led him out of the study and handed him over to the officers.
Apparently the detective wasn’t done yet. She returned to the study and sat on the edge of the desk, folding her arms across her chest. “Sit down, Mr. Scott.”
Jason and Leo both looked at her expectantly.
“Leo, have a seat.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She extracted a notepad. “Who does this gun belong to?”
“My roommate at the Naval Academy.”
“I need a name.”
“Benito Dulce.” Leo spelled the name at her request. “He won’t get in trouble for this, will he?”
The detective cocked one eyebrow. “Is Mr. Dulce aware that you have the gun?”
Leo shook his head.
“You took it without his permission?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“When?”
“This afternoon, ma’am.” Leo sniffed.
She tilted her head. “How’d you get the weapon here?”
“Shut up, Leo.” Jason inched forward. “Don’t answer that.” She shot Jason a warning glance. “Not another word from you.”
“How’d you get the weapon here?” she asked again.
Leo hesitated. He hated lying. His father’s lies had wreaked havoc on his entire family. “I’d rather not answer that, ma’am.” She put away her notebook and crossed her arms again. “Do you know what I have to do now, Leo?” He looked down. “You need to arrest me, ma’am.”
“No!” Jason and his mother shouted.
“Please, Detective, he–he didn’t fire the gun. This isn’t his fault!”
“Jason, he’s in possession of a gun illegally. I have to arrest him.
You and your mother can come down to the station if you want, but he’s definitely under arrest.”
The detective ordered Leo up, and he barely felt fazed as she frisked him. If things had gone differently tonight, Leo knew he could’ve been arrested for murder. Weapons charges seemed minor.
But his heart did pound when she slapped the cool metal handcuffs onto his wrists. Watching an arrest on TV was quite different than experiencing it himself.
Two hours later, Leo sat in an interrogation room, his head resting on his arms as he leaned over the table. When the door opened, he lifted his head.
“Dr. Ina!”
“Hello, Leo.” She took a seat next to him.
“What’re you doing here, ma’am?”
“I found out about the gun, and I was worried sick. I kept calling your house, but nobody answered. I didn’t know what to do, but for some reason…I thought you’d probably go home.” She shook her head. “So I took a flight down here. Crazy, I know.” She started to reach for him, but stopped. “I’m so relieved you’re okay.” He grasped her hand as he felt his eyes fill with tears. “My father’s a murderer.”
Ina squeezed his hand. “I know, Leo. And you’re not.”
72. Hugging Goodbye, Hugging Hello
Leo looked down at his lap. Suddenly he was overwhelmingly tired.
He wished he were in a bed instead of in an interrogation room.
“So, Lt. Keaton knows I read her chart?”
“Yes, I had to tell her,” Dr. Ina said.
“Was she mad?”
“What do you think, Leo?”
He sighed. “Is she, um, is she okay? I feel awful for her.” He fidgeted in his chair. “For what happened to her.”
“She’s one tough woman. Without breaking confidentiality — there’s been quite enough of that already — let’s just say I think she’ll be all right.”
“Do you promise?”
“No, because it’s not up to me. It’s up to Lt. Keaton to heal, just like it’s up to you. Now that the truth’s out about your father, I think you both have a good shot.”
Despite himself he grinned. “No pun intended?” Ina stared for a moment and shook her head. “You’re awful,” she said. “The only one I know who could turn gun charges into a joke.” There was a loud rap on the door and the detective and his mother entered.
“Would you like me to leave?” Ina asked.
Detective Easton shrugged. “I need to talk to you about some things, Leo, and it’s fine with me if your mother and psychologist are here, but it’s up to you.”
“I want them here,” Leo said immediately.
“Very well, let’s all have a seat then.” Detective Easton sat next to Leo, and his mother joined Ina on the other side of the table.
“I’ve been interrogating your father, Leo, and I want to verify some of his statements with you.” The detective pulled out her notepad.
“How long had you suspected that your father murdered William Walsh?”
“About twenty-four hours, ma’am, since twenty-three forty-five last night.”
“That’s when you broke into Dr. Hansen’s office and read the chart for…” She consulted her notes. “Lt. Darnell Keaton?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Leo gave Ina an apologetic look.
“I’m curious. How’d you know Lt. Keaton was meeting with Dr. Hansen?” the detective asked.
He blew out a breath. “I saw Lt. Keaton in the waiting room when I was leaving my session yesterday, and then I watched Dr. Hansen take her back to her office.”
“I didn’t see you,” Ina said.
“I was hiding, um, in the coat closet.” Noticing his mother’s disappointment, he looked down.
“So what was in Lt. Keaton’s chart that led you to suspect your father?” Detective Easton continued.
“A lot of things, ma’am. She told Dr. Hansen her CO found out about her affair with Mr. Walsh, and I knew her CO was my dad,” h
e said. “That blew me away. My dad isn’t exactly the forgiving type, and I wondered what he did with that information. And then the lieutenant started dissociating, and I knew something bad had gone down.”
“Dissociating?” she asked.
Ina gave Leo an encouraging nod.
“It’s like you zone out when you’re flooded by traumatic memories, like you’re reliving them,” Leo said. “It happens to me sometimes. But Dr. Hansen taught me to take some deep breaths, and it’s not so bad.” His mother reached across the table for his hand, holding it in hers with a sad smile. “I know what memories must flood you,” she said softly.
After a pause, the detective forged on. “What else led you to suspect your father?”
“Well, Lt. Keaton told Dr. Ina she felt awful for hitting me, so that made me doubt she was the murderer.” Leo let go of his mother’s hand. “But really, I think I kind of knew all along it could’ve been my dad. I finally just accepted it, I guess.” He sighed. “It made me sick.”
“So what’d you do after you found out he was the murderer?”
“I decided I had to confront him.” He looked down. “I promised myself if he wouldn’t confess I’d — I’d kill him.” His mother gasped, but the detective didn’t seem fazed. “You see, this is the part I had trouble believing when your father told it,” Detective Easton said. “This is the part where you were a complete idiot.”
Leo’s eyebrows shot up.
“I should throw you in jail right now for such stupidity. How would committing murder help anything? How would getting yourself locked up make things better?” She gestured across the table.
“How’d you think your mother would handle her son serving a life sentence?”
“I thought it’d help my mom,” Leo said, massaging his temples.
“And my brother, ma’am.”
“How?”
“If I’d had to kill my dad, well, I was going to try to make a deal so Mr. Rose went free but nobody would know my dad was the murderer.
That way Mom wouldn’t feel guilty, and Cam wouldn’t leave Jase.” The detective’s forehead wrinkled, but she said nothing.
“Hey!” his mother shouted.
Leo jumped in his chair.
“You are not responsible for me choosing to marry your father. He gave me two beautiful sons, and I wouldn’t trade that for the world.” Leo’s eyes widened.
“And you’re not responsible for me failing to leave your father when I should have. That’s on me, Leo. You can’t stop me from feeling guilty, because you don’t have any control over that. I’d feel much guiltier if you were behind bars.” She shook her head. “And I agree with Detective Easton. You were an idiot.”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Ina added and sat back in her chair.
Leo dared look into his mother’s flaring eyes. “I’m sorry, ma’am.”
“Maybe you’re not a total idiot,” Detective Easton chimed in. “I really can’t believe what you did, Leo. You single-handedly coerced a murderer into confessing a crime almost eighteen months after he committed it. And this is a man who beat you mercilessly. I don’t know how you got the courage to do that.” Leo was silent for a moment. “Audrey gave me the courage. I had to save her dad.” He wanted to cry. Everyone was mad at him, and he just wanted to hug Audrey — smell her special coconut-chlorine scent. But he couldn’t. She was lost to him forever.
“Leo, you did it. You’re giving Audrey her father back.” Ina said.
“Of course she’ll be upset at what your father did, but she loves you, and I’m sure she’ll be grateful for all you’ve done.”
“It doesn’t matter, anyway.” He rubbed his buzzed hair and looked at the floor. “I’ll be stuck in prison on weapons charges.” The detective cleared her throat. “Actually, the charges have been dropped.”
Leo’s head snapped up.
“When your father found out you’d been arrested, he said he’d stop cooperating with the interrogation until you were released. He said one son with a police record was enough.”
“So Leo’s free to go?” his mother asked.
Detective Easton nodded and rose, tucking her notepad back inside her suit jacket. “But I may have some more questions for you, Mr. Scott. Don’t leave town for a while.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Leo stood as well, his exhaustion dissipating. “Um, Detective? You’re still dating my coach, Matt, right?” She looked wary. “Yes?”
“Can you give me any dirt?” He grinned. “Like, any stuff I can give him crap about?”
“Well, he’s a swimmer, so he’s very flexible. And you know what they say about the benefits of flexibility.” She knocked the heel of her hand into her forehead. “I forgot who I’m talking to — you’re dating a swimmer, Leo. You know all about that!” His cheeks flushed, and his mother looked decidedly uncomfortable.
“I’ll meet you outside, Leo,” she said, following the detective out of the room.
“Yes, ma’am.” Leo turned to Ina, who offered a melancholy smile.
“I’ll miss you, Leo. You made the Academy an interesting place.”
“Yes ma’am,” he said shyly. “I’ll miss you too.”
“So you’ll be okay, then?” Ina asked.
“If you think I have a chance with Audrey, I’ll definitely be okay.”
“I meant what I said. I think she’ll come around.” He looked into her kind eyes. “Thank you for helping me, ma’am.”
“You’re welcome. It was my pleasure.” They stood together for an awkward moment. Leo wondered if it would be okay to give her a hug. Ina finally turned to the door and winced.
“Are you all right?” Leo asked.
“Oh, the old ACL’s acting up again. It’s been a long day, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I miss my crutches.”
“May I?” He gestured for her to lean on his shoulder.
Ina paused before leaning in. He wrapped his arm around her for support as they made their way out of the interrogation room.
He got to hug her after all.
Leo thrashed about in his bed, exhausted yet fighting sleep.
Jason had driven to Tallahassee to pick up Audrey and bring her to Pensacola. Since arriving home from the police station, he’d showered, eaten, and been tucked into bed, despite his protests of wanting to stay up and wait.
“I’ll send her to you as soon as she gets here,” his mother had promised as she sat on the side of his bed. “But, Leo, you’ve been through hell, and you need to rest.” She cradled his face and kissed him on the cheek. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.” Questions about his father, his mother’s accident, and their family’s future had swirled through his mind, but Leo put them aside.
They’d start figuring it all out tomorrow. “I love you, Mom.” An hour later, his brain was working overtime, caught in the past as he awaited the future. Memories of Audrey flooded him — the first time he’d caught a glimpse of her skinny dipping, their easy banter from the start. Then all the swim practices, pasta dinners, and study sessions they’d shared, cautiously disclosing deeper hopes and fears, though still keeping their ugliest parts hidden. But after Audrey’s father had gone to prison and CS had beaten Leo for his drug addiction, there was no holding back. Then they knew each other completely, their vulnerabilities raw and exposed.
Leo had risked so much to get his father to confess, and now he prayed he hadn’t lost Audrey in the process.
The door creaked, drawing him out of his reverie. And there she was.
She stood on the threshold of the dark room, the hallway lights creating a sleek silhouette. Leo sat up in bed and held his breath.
Shadows veiled her face, and he strained to read her expression. They were motionless until Leo heard himself whimper, “Audrey.” A choking sob escaped her as she rushed to him, leaping into his arms as they covered each other with desperate kisses.
He felt her hot tears on his cheek as she pressed against him.
&nb
sp; He was in the best physical shape, but perhaps the worst emotional shape, of his life. Yet united with her, he could face anything, heal from anything.
Eventually, Audrey spoke. “Don’t you dare do that again, Leo!
Don’t you dare make me fall in love with you, make me want to sacrifice everything for you, make me miss you so much it hurts — it aches — then leave. You promised never to let me go! You promised!”
“I’m so sorry.” He held her tight, rocking her body with his. “I thought you’d hate me for what my dad did.” She pulled away. “Don’t you remember? In the hospital I asked how you could still love me, and you said you’d never judge people by their father’s actions. Do you think that only applies to you? Your father’s a coldhearted murderer — I can’t believe what he did to my dad, to my family. I’ll never forgive him. But, Leo, you’re not him!
You’re not responsible for what he did! It’s not your fault.” Leo looked down. CS had polluted him. How could she not blame him too?
“You broke up with me because you thought I wouldn’t forgive you for what your dad did? Well, now we know that isn’t the case.
And you broke up with me because you thought you might have to kill him?”
He recoiled. “How’d you know that?”
“Your mom told me. She called Jason on our drive back.” Audrey gazed into his eyes. “You were going to pull the trigger?” He let out a ragged sigh. “I thought I could do it…but in the end, I couldn’t. I couldn’t kill him. Because then I’d be like him. I don’t want to be like him, Audrey,” he pleaded.
“You’re not like him! You are sweet and kind and wonderful and giving. Te amo, Leo.” She brushed her lips against his, and he responded with hungry desire.
She broke away. “Oh, I’m still so mad! Don’t you know I could never be happy without you? I need you! When you broke up with me, I thought about drinking myself into oblivion but I remembered how awful it was when you were hooked on Oxy. I didn’t want to do that to you, or to me. We both deserve better.” Her voice rose even higher. “And then I find out you contemplated murder? That’s the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard!”
He looked away and bit his lip. “Why don’t you hit me? Let your anger out. It’ll make you feel better.” It would certainly make me feel better.
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