Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Don’t get me wrong, I adore my oldest brother, but he doesn’t flinch in the face of conflict.
Instead, Barrett became a doctor with, if his online ratings are to be believed, a lovely bedside manner, and my gentle brother Wesley became a shark-level family law attorney who never met a spouse he couldn’t teach a lesson about attempting to hide marital assets. He wasn’t involved in my divorce—Ben and I chose mediation and even if we hadn’t, Wesley felt his close relationship with Ben could be considered a conflict of interest—but he isn’t close with Aaron.
So, as soon as Aaron left with the police, I was on the phone with Wes, begging him to meet me at the station.
“I’m still not sure this is a good idea,” Wesley says, once I’ve handed over the report and explained everything in a hushed voice in the station’s lobby. “No, I’m not related to Aaron, but my nephew is directly involved. As are my sister and former brother-in-law.”
“But no matter how this works out, it doesn’t give you power over any of us,” I say. “This isn’t a will or an inheritance situation. That’s the only time it’s strictly illegal to represent family members, right?”
“Right,” he says with a sigh, “but this could get messy, Mel.”
“It’s already messy,” I say. “Ben and Radcliffe accused Aaron of child abuse, Wesley! This is as messy as it can get. Not to mention crazy.”
He flips through the report. “No one’s talking about child abuse. Not yet, anyway. Ben is just alleging that Aaron contributes to an unsafe environment in the home. It’s up to the police to decide if what happened fits the definition of a lewd act with a minor.”
“But they won’t decide that because he did nothing wrong!” I say, my heart racing with a mixture of fear and rage, the way it has been since the cops knocked on our door for the second time in two days. “I explained it to you, Wesley. Aaron happened to be getting out of the shower when Chase screamed, and we both went running to help him. It was an act of kindness and concern, nothing ugly. We just have to explain that to the police or to the judge or whoever and everything will be fine.”
“It’s not that easy,” he says, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Once things enter the legal system, they’re never that easy.”
“But Ben can’t keep Chase away from me.” Fear locks around my stomach again, making me feel like I swallowed a cannonball. “He has to bring him back to me Tuesday morning, the way we planned.”
“I don’t know,” he says with another heavy sigh. “We’ll have to see how Aaron’s interview with the police plays out. But I’m guessing, as long as Aaron is in your home, things are going to remain ugly with Ben and Radcliffe.”
“Fucking Radcliffe,” I mutter, rage burning through my blood again, banishing some of the fear. This is good. This is the plan. I’ll stay angry so that the terror won’t be able to drag me under and drown me. “This is all him, Wesley. He’s been scheming to take Chase away from me for weeks, way before Aaron showed up on the scene.”
I explain what Matty heard when he was eavesdropping on Radcliffe, and Wesley looks even more troubled than he did before. “That’s not good,” he says. “That likely means their lawyer has been preparing for something like this for weeks. That gives them the advantage.”
“But Ben wouldn’t do that to me,” I say, still desperately wanting it to be true. “He wouldn’t plot behind my back to take my son away. Not with Radcliffe or anyone else. He may not be in love with me anymore, but he loves me, Wes, and he knows I’m a good mother. He knows that.”
Wesley puts his arm around me, drawing me against his side, but I pull away.
“Sorry.” I shake my head and swipe at the corners of my eyes. “I can’t hug right now, or I’ll cry, and I don’t have time to cry. I have to focus on clearing Aaron’s good name and getting Radcliffe and Ben to back the hell off.” I glance down at where my phone sits in my lap, my jaw clenching as I see Ben still hasn’t read my text messages. He didn’t answer any of my three phone calls, either. “If Ben would just pick up the phone, we could have this settled in five minutes. It’s all just a big misunderstanding.”
“I’m sure his lawyer is advising him not to make contact with you directly,” Wesley says. “Just as I’ll continue to advise you to refrain from messaging or calling him again. You don’t want to give them any evidence to use in their case to prove that you’re unstable or unfit to parent.”