“They’re trying to hurt Coco, don’t let them, Daddy, she rescued me. I was hiding outside, and she made me come in to stay safe until she could reach one of y’all.”
“She should have brought you over to the station,” Detective Callum McGuire announced.
“So you all can treat me just like you are treating me now? You don’t listen, and you see only what you wanna see. I called Piper. I left Miss Piper a message—several, in fact.”
I glanced over at Piper, who was standing next to four women I knew, all of them looked as if they belonged in New York instead of Orlando. I gave them a nod.
“Who are they?” one of the deputies asked, directing his gaze toward the women.
“Iron Ladies, tell you later.” They were a group of private detectives who were known to find creative ways around the law. We were willing to turn a blind eye so long as they kept a certain level of integrity within their ranks, which they did. At least, as far as I knew they did.
Piper pulled out her phone. “There aren’t any messages.”
“I called you, Miss Piper, I called you on the number you gave me.”
“Oh.” Piper reached into her front shirt pocket and pulled out a second phone. “My personal phone, sorry. I only check it a few times a day.” She scrolled through it and then pressed a button. Coco’s voice came through the speaker.
“Piper, this is Coco, I’ve got a little girl here at my shop. I found her hiding out back. Her name is Callie. She don’t belong in this area.” The message ended and then another one began. “Piper, she is looking for a motorcycle deputy named Sadie. This little girl is too fancy for this area, and I need you to call me back and help find her dad. He’s a doctor. I’m not letting this little girl out of my sight. I can’t have nothing happen to this wee thing.” That message ended and Piper closed her phone.
I glared at Callum before swinging my ire to two of the SWAT guys standing on either side of Coco. “Could you all back off now? There is too much going on in here, and it’s pretty obvious that Coco was helping and not hurting. Piper, Harley, and I can handle any of the paperwork that needs to be filed for the station, but if we need anything, we’ll let you know.”
“Sadie, you know—”
“I know. And we will deal with that later.” Okay, so I’d probably be in trouble for bucking protocol since he was technically in charge, but this was Callie, and she was scared.
As soon as the crowd thinned, Ryan knelt. “Callie.” He swept her up into his arms. “Why? You promised me that you wouldn’t do this anymore.”
“Grammy and Aunt Sonya said that if I liked Sadie that meant that I didn’t love my real mommy.”
“What a bitch.” This came from one of the Iron Ladies, probably Adeline since she was by far the most . . . outspoken.
“But I do, I love both of them.”
“Of course, you do.” Ryan soothed her.
“But Sadie hasn’t been around in a long time, and she hasn’t been at school either. I can’t call her to check on her.” Oh my god, listening to her made my heart ache. Her little world sounded so stressful. She was worrying about too many things.
“Callie, I had to work other areas the last few days, and Sunday you were at the park. I don’t know why you can’t call me. I put my number in your phone.”
Ryan didn’t let go of Callie through all of this.
“It’s not the right number.” Callie was adamant, and something tickled the back of my mind. Unknown callers, hang ups, they all started on Sunday, the same day that Callie was with Louise and Sonya. The day after I gave Callie my number.
“Callie, did Grammy or Aunt Sonya know that you had my phone number?”
“Yes, that’s why they got mad. They took my phone away from me for the day.”
I glanced over at Harley to see if she was putting two and two together. “Unknown callers?” she asked, and I nodded.
“Well, don’t worry, we will fix it.”
“If it’s okay, I’m going to take Callie home. Thank you all for your help. I need to go talk to my former in-laws.”
“I’m glad we could help.” Harley winked at Callie.
“Of course, Ryan,” Piper offered.
“Thank you so much. If I can do anything at all to repay you, I will. I’m indebted to you.” Ryan was tall, but standing next to Coco, he looked like a munchkin.
“Nah, Miss Callie was precious. She was no trouble at all. Just glad ole Coco found her and not some Hoosi Tenga.” I stared at the woman, having no clue what she just said. If the reactions from the Iron Ladies and Piper were anything to go by, it was probably safe to assume it was inappropriate. They were all visibly stifling laughter.
“Thank you again.” Ryan held Callie tight before facing me. “We’ll talk later, I’ll call you. Thank you for all your help.”
Anytime. I loved Callie as if she were my own. All of that was on the tip of my tongue, but I didn’t say any of it.
Callie peered over his shoulder and waved, her small hand not lifting from him, just her fingers. I waved back, and something inside me cracked a little. When the bell chimed and he and Callie were gone, I returned to the crowd. Steeling myself, I put on a professional face. I’d think about what just happened and what it meant later.
“Hi, Coco, I’m Sadie, thank you so much.”
“Ahh, that little girl loves you. A lot weighs on her little soul.”
“I know. I’ll talk with her dad.” I glanced over at the other four ladies. “Hey, what are you doing here anyway?”
“Coco called. She wanted Sunday’s help on some computer stuff,” Melanie said. It was her roundabout way of saying that Coco needed Sunday to hack into something. “She wanted us to help find this little girl’s father since Piper wasn’t answering.”
For the first time all day, I felt like I could breathe. Callie was safe and I was surrounded by the strongest women I knew.
“What’s hoosi tenga anyway?”
“Horse fuckers,” several people replied in unison, and I shook my head.
“Speaking of fuck, what the fuck is going on?” Adeline asked as the door of the shop opened and Kat and Bridget walked in.
“Oh, good, I didn’t miss anything.” Kat smiled as she moved into the shop. “Hey, you guys.” She leaned over and gave a hug to Adeline, Olivia, Melanie, and Sunday, the women who made up the Iron Ladies. “Long time no see.”
“Lock that door for me, would ya?” Coco asked and Bridget turned around to pull the shade and then slide the deadbolt.
“Heard you’re up for motors,” Olivia stated.
“Why didn’t you go with the dad and Callie?” Harley asked.
“Wait, what?” Bridget wanted me to spill, but I refused. She’d have to figure it out.
“Did you see him? I might as well have been any one of you all, it was a thank you for doing your job.”
“What are you smoking? He’s overwhelmed, been worried to death, and has his kid back in his arms after fearing the worst,” Harley defended.
“It sounds to me like it was her grandmother’s fault,” Adeline said. “Why is that bitch filling her granddaughter’s head with that shit?”
“I think there is some power struggle going on between Ryan and his late wife’s family.”
“Girl, abort, abort, abort. That is too much drama. Are you ready for that?”
“I don’t know. I care about him and Callie, but I think he might feel torn in too many directions. Me being the new variable, I’m afraid that I’m the one he’s going to get rid of. I get it, Callie comes first. But couldn’t he have at least hugged me, asked me to come over, something?”
“These are things that you need to speak to him about.” Kat came up behind me and wrapped her arms around me. “It will all work out.”
“I hope that you’re right.”
22
Ryan
“Doctor Montgomery, there is a woman here to speak with you.”
“Thanks, Polly.”
> I didn’t recognize the woman, but she was holding a stack of papers and examining me with the most quizzical eyes. “Hi, I’m Doctor Montgomery, how may I help you?”
“Doctor Montgomery, I’m Elizabeth Warden with the Department of Child and Family Services. Is there somewhere we can talk?”
“Sure, give me a second.” I caught Polly’s attention, which wasn’t hard since she was clearly listening in on the conversation. “Can you have one of the interns check on my patients? Call me if there’s an emergency, I need to speak with this woman for a few moments. We’ll be in one of the counseling rooms.”
“You’ve got it.” Polly was always so easy to work with.
Once the woman and I were settled in the counseling room, I asked, “What can I help you with, Ms. Warden?”
“Miss, and actually I’m here to talk with you about Caroline.”
Instantly, my hackles rose. “My daughter, what about her?”
“Please understand that I’m only doing my job.”
“Fine, get to it then.” Okay, that was rude, but I couldn’t think of a single reason why DCF would be here talking to me about my daughter.
“I spoke with Caroline—”
“You spoke with my daughter? Why wasn’t I notified?”
“It’s my job. We do not notify the parents until after the fact.”
“I’m confused, what is it that you’re after?”
“A petition has been filed, and by law, we have to look into it. It seems that Caroline’s maternal grandmother is concerned about her well-being.”
“No, she isn’t. She is ticked that I’m not still mourning the loss of her daughter. It’s been four years. I miss her, I do. But it’s time for me to move on. I deserve to have a life. Louise Hazelton is furious that I’ve started dating, and she’s gone out of her way to corner the woman, who is a deputy—”
“Sadie Lazar?”
“Yes, why?”
“She was mentioned.”
“I figured as much. Listen, I’m more than happy to answer whatever questions you have for me, but can I say a few things before we begin?”
“Absolutely, Doctor Montgomery.”
I settled back in my chair and tried to hold on to whatever threads of calm I still had. “I’ve tried for four years to maintain a relationship with my ex-in-laws, I really have. They are one of the few connections my daughter will ever have with her mother.” She nodded sympathetically, so I kept going. “However, what I will not do is allow my daughter to be in a position where she is subjected to manipulation or mental abuse, and it’s become abundantly clear to me over the last few weeks that Callie’s grandmother is putting her in situations that could be viewed that way. My wanting them to respect my requests and boundaries, which I don’t believe are unreasonable, is probably the second reason for your visit today.”
“What kinds of requests have you made?”
Oh, where to start? Where to start? “Well, I requested that Callie be home at a certain time on weeknights, and that stipulation is ignored more often than not. I’ve asked her on several occasions to refrain from making plans with my daughter before clearing the plans with me first.”
She jotted something down in the file on her lap as she murmured, “Those seem perfectly reasonable.”
“Thank you. The most recent incident was last weekend when she called and made plans to take Callie to Animal Kingdom, and even though it wasn’t cleared with me beforehand, I agreed to let them take her.”
This earned me a grin. “Didn’t want to look like the bad guy, huh?”
“No.” There was a hint of mirth in the single word, and I relaxed a bit more. She seemed to understand the dynamic I was working with. “So, I let her go with them, but while they were there, they berated her so badly about her approval of Sadie that she called me crying. She had been at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and had a miserable time. Tell me what six-year-old is miserable at Disney?” If I hadn’t been watching her as closely as I had while she wrote, I would have missed the slight pinching of her lips. Good. She disapproved of that as well.
“Mr. Montgomery, who watches Caroline when you work your long hours?”
“What long hours? I work from six in the morning until two thirty in the afternoon, Monday through Friday. Yes, it’s a relatively recent change, and before I altered my hours, my mother, who lives with us, would watch her. It allowed Callie to be in her comfort zone as much as possible and was the least disruptive for her.”
“Is Caroline involved in any activities?”
“Soccer, it’ll be starting back up soon.”
“Anything else? Dance, music?”
“No, I’ve tried, but she would like to start an ROTC for elementary schools.”
Miss Warden stared at me. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Callie loves all things military and strong independent women. Mulan, Merida from Brave, you name it.”
She bent down her head and scratched out several more notes. “And can you tell me about why Caroline is suddenly running away?” Miss Warden looked as if she was ready to play the who-doesn’t-blink-first game. Her eyes were wide as she waited for me to answer.
“The two reasons are totally unrelated. The first time was because she didn’t want to hurt her grandmother’s feelings. Her grandmother used to do all of her clothes shopping and tended to only buy Callie dresses, which Callie apparently hates wearing. So, she would sneak jeans and a T-shirt in her backpack and change at school . . .” I relayed the entire story.
“Is Callie afraid of your mother?”
“No. She loves her, which is why she was so worried about hurting her feelings. Callie goes out of her way not to hurt anyone’s feelings. My mom would always show Callie photos of how she used to dress, so in Callie’s mind, the fact that she didn’t want to be just like her grandmother turned into a much bigger deal than it was.”
“And the other day?”
“Remember when I said they berated Callie so badly about Sadie that she called me crying? A large part of that incident revolved around my ex-mother-in-law telling Callie that if she loved Sadie, then it meant she no longer loved her real mother.”
Miss Warden sucked in a quiet but sharp breath and her pen stilled.
“Yeah. I had the same reaction. Callie is a smart girl, but she’s still a little kid. She tried to call Sadie because Louise had said a lot of cruel things, only problem was the number in my daughter’s phone wouldn’t go through. Before Callie left to go with Louise, Sadie’s number had been entered correctly—”
“How do you know this?”
“I have a parental lock on her phone, she only has access to approved numbers. I got the number from the phone and entered it into my account online. After all this blew up, I checked my account, that number was still correct, however the number in Callie’s phone had been changed. The last four digits were all changed to zero-zero-zero-zero. They weren’t even original.”
“And you’re sure that Caroline didn’t do this by mistake?”
“I seriously doubt it. She said that once Louise found out that she had Sadie’s phone number, her grammy got mad and took away the phone.”
“You think this is what led to her running away?” Miss Warden didn’t look up as she quickly jotted down even more notes.
“I think it contributed to it. Callie has also learned Sadie’s schedule, so when Sadie wasn’t at the school on Monday or Tuesday, Callie worked herself into a fit. Callie wanted to find Sadie, she didn’t really think about her actions or what could have happened. She knows she went about it the wrong way, but while the police, Sadie, my mother, and I were out searching, Louise was berating me about how horrid of a parent I was. Of course, she wasn’t out looking for her granddaughter.”
“Dr. Montgomery, prior to Sadie coming into your life, how did Callie behave?”
“She was quiet and a bit closed off. Since meeting Sadie, my daughter has come alive. Something in her has changed, and it is for the better. Call
ie is laughing more, and I love it.”
“Do you not think that it has anything to do with you being around more?” Her question caught me off guard, because I’d never considered it that way. Yes, Sadie was good for Callie, but maybe my being home more was just as good for her. Maybe the novelty of Dad hadn’t worn off after all.
“I think Callie is just happier all around with our life. My being home is only one part of it, but Sadie is another.”
“All right, Dr. Montgomery, I think that I have enough, at least for this visit. Thank you for taking time to speak with me.”
“May I ask about the school, what happens as far as security? Not just Callie but any kid, they’ve got a serious problem if a child can sneak off and get into an Uber.”
“Believe it or not, I have no clue. They are an entirely different division of the state. We have no jurisdiction over the school or the employees. The board of education handles all of that. Your best bet is to call the county and speak to the superintendent.”
“Thanks.” I stood and shook her hand before escorting her out. I was beyond pissed at Louise. Okay, I was still a little pissed at the school, but mainly at Louise. I kept that damned smile on my face until the elevator door closed behind her.
How dare that conniving bitch do this. Call Child Services on me? Oh, hell no, she had lost her fucking mind.
“Dr. Montgomery?” Polly tapped my shoulder. “Are you okay? I’ve been calling your name.”
“I’m not okay, no. I need to catch up on my patient reports, so I’ll be in my office for the rest of the afternoon. Holler at me if you need me.” I headed back to my office. Today was a wash, and my brain was working overtime as I ran through what I should do. Louise had lost her mind, she was unhinged.
23
Sadie
“Orange County, thirteen twenty-two, what’s your twenty?”
I spoke loudly into the mic wired into my helmet. “Thirteen twenty-two, fifty-one Audubon Elementary.”
“Ten-nineteen, fifty-six Lieutenant Christakos.”
Book'em Sadie (Iron Badges #1) Page 15