Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Joshua screams at Juniper as she walks out of the room, begging for her to come back and help him. He then turns his ire on me, promising every bit of retribution that he can muster. He’s still yelling threats when officers stream into the room. Protocol demands they have their guns out and focused on me. I follow their instructions and disarm myself, even letting them put me in handcuffs until they can sort it all out. I’m not worried in the slightest.
I have the right under the law to defend myself and Juniper in our home. Joshua assaulted me first, brought tools with which to kill Juniper and made a lunge for the gun with the intent to fire it. No charges will be filed against me, but just to be safe, I have Juniper call Brienne so her lawyer can meet us down at the police station.
CHAPTER 30
Callum
I lift my head slightly from the headrest as Juniper pulls into the driveway. She insisted on driving and frankly, I didn’t have it in me to resist. It’s been eight hours since I shot Joshua and I’m just now getting home as the morning sun hangs low in the eastern sky.
Because of my head wounds, I was taken first to the hospital. And just because you’re a suspect in a shooting doesn’t mean you get treated any faster. I had to have a CT scan of my head, then it took forever to get someone to staple my wounds—two separate ones where Joshua hit me with the gun. I was given the all-clear with the diagnosis of a concussion and then put into the back of a police cruiser to be taken in for an interview.
Of course, Juniper was by my side the entire time at the hospital. Somehow, she managed to procure comfortable clothes for us as we weren’t able to change before we left the house. She was still in her clubbing dress and I was covered in blood.
The upside to getting pistol-whipped and needing medical care was that Brienne Norcross was waiting at the police station with not one but three formidable-looking attorneys to represent me when I arrived. I wasn’t able to talk to her as Juniper and I were led into separate interview rooms so our stories could be obtained. One attorney went with Juniper and two went with me.
None of that legal representation mattered though because I didn’t do anything wrong. I was in my house and had the legal right to defend myself and Juniper.
After four hours of interrogation, my attorneys finally called a halt to it. No charges will be filed against me but Joshua isn’t so lucky. The first set of crimes he’s facing, which can be amended pending further investigation, include kidnapping, assault and assault with intent to kill, although the DA is considering upping that last one to attempted murder.
Now we’re home and I don’t understand why there are two lines of cars, two deep, in the driveway.
“Who’s here?” I ask as we pull in behind a dark blue BMW 7 series.
“Brienne arranged for some people to come over and clean up,” Juniper says as she puts the car in park and presses the garage door button for us to enter that way.
“Clean up?” I’m not sure why this doesn’t make sense to me, but I’m exhausted and my brain wants a vacation.
Juni reaches across the console and lays her hand over mine, which is resting on my thigh. “There was a lot of blood in the garage and bedroom, not to mention all the black dusting powder the crime scene people left behind.”
“Oh,” is all I can think to say, but I still don’t understand why there are four vehicles here to do that.
Juniper exits the car and I follow, my eyes drawn to the concrete where I sprawled after Joshua hit me. I don’t know how much blood was there, but it’s spotless now. I see a wadded-up ball of yellow crime scene tape in the garbage can and hear voices inside the house.
I follow Juniper and take in what is assuredly not only the cleaning crew but a welcoming committee. I smell something savory and my mouth waters as we move through the mudroom and into the kitchen.
Juniper is immediately drawn into hugs as I see Brienne, Drake, Jenna, Gage, Baden, Sophie, Cannon and Ava. Ownership and coaching staff. The cream of the Titans crop.
Luckily, the events of last night have not hit the news yet but it will most certainly be on the evening broadcast once Joshua is formally arraigned today. He’ll probably be out on bond by tomorrow though. But this crew inside my home knows because they’re close enough for me to share insider information, as evidenced by the fact they all jumped in to help me and Juniper return to a cleaned home and food on the table. It means the world.