Close To Home (Westen Series) (25 page)

“That bastard,” Seth muttered.

“He bribed the guy and paid him to write a false report.” Wade stared at Emma and Clint with determination in his eyes. “I want to nail this guy.”

“Get in line.” Clint focused on Anne once more. “What else do you have on him?”

“It appears Martin invested the money, but has slowly used his savings since living down south.”

“How do you know all this?” Emma asked, a little amazed.

Anne peered over her glasses, a Cheshire-cat smile spreading across her face. “I hacked into their financial records.”

“Damn it, Anne. I told you to quit doing that.” Wade glared at her.

Anne ignored his words. “I won’t get caught. I told you I’m very careful.”

“I’ll remind you of that when I have to defend you in court.”

She shrugged then looked at Clint and Emma once more. “There’s something else you might like to know about Martin Talbert.”

“What’s that?” Emma’s curiosity piqued.

“He has a thing for playing the ponies. His favorite bookie works out of a strip club in Tampa.”

Wade covered his eyes with one hand. “I don’t want to know how you found that out.”

Clint leaned back on the sofa, lightly rubbing Emma’s shoulder with his thumb. “Is he in debt to the bookie, Anne?”

“It so happens he is, to the tune of twenty-thousand.”

“Hmm.”

Everyone watched Clint. The silence played acutely on Emma’s nerves. “Do you think we can pay him enough to give his testimony about Duane?” she finally asked him.

Clint shook his head. “Whatever we pay Talbert, your ex can afford to pay more. We need another incentive to convince Talbert to do the right thing. Wade close your ears, you don’t want to hear this.” He waited for his youngest brother to put his hands over his ears before continuing. “Anne, how did you find this out?”

“Do you remember my old high school boyfriend, Nick Carnetti?”

“The one I threatened to castrate if he didn’t quit dating you?”

“That’s the one. We’ve kept in touch a bit over the years. And his uncle’s nephew’s cousin’s brother-in-law is the bookie holding Martin’s markers.” Anne lifted an eyebrow and sat back in her chair.

“Always knew I liked Nick,” Clint said.

Anne laughed. “Actually, he said he respected you for protecting me from him and some of the other guys in school. It showed him that family was important to others, not just his family.”

“You mean
the family
, don’t you?” Seth teased her.

“No. Nick’s a cop these days, guys.” She chuckled and pulled Wade’s hands from his ears. “You can listen now. It’s safe.”

Their lighthearted teasing eased some of the tension from Emma’s mind. Maybe things weren’t as dire as she’d predicted.

“How long do you think it will take you to track Talbert?” Clint asked.

“That all depends.” Anne took off her glasses and folded them on top of the file.

“On what?” Emma’s hopes sank a little more.

“Talbert hasn’t been a very nice man. And despite Nick’s profession, some members of his family don’t take kindly to being cheated.”

Emma nodded her head.

“We have to find the guy first, Clint,” Seth interjected. “Before slimebucket does.”

“It’s slimeball, Seth. Get it right.” Gwen teased.

“I know, Seth.” Clint nodded his head. “Once we find him...cover your ears again, Wade. Perhaps if we pay the IOU’s, we could get someone to twist the little maggot’s arm a bit. Sort of force him to meet with Wade and give his testimony.”

“As an officer of the court, Clint, I can’t be party to extortion.” Wade warned him, the lawyer in him very apparent.

“I’m not asking you to do a thing, Wade. Just if this Martin Talbert should suddenly have a guilt attack and decide to offer his testimony on Emma’s behalf, perhaps you wouldn’t mind a trip to Florida to take it?”

Emma sighed and rested her head on Clint’s shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. Twenty-thousand dollars might as well be ten million to me. I can’t get my hands on even that small amount.”

He held her closer. “Emma, you and I are in this together. Don’t worry about the money.”

“Count me in,” Seth said.

“You know I’ll help,” added Anne.

“I can’t add to the fund, but my fees are free for family.” Wade smiled at her.

Gwen hopped up and hugged Emma then sat on the sofa arm next to her. “I have some extra money saved away. Can’t think of a better thing to spend it on.”

Emma simply nodded at Clint’s family. She didn’t know how she’d ever pay them all back. But she would.

“Um, Emma?” Wade cleared his throat. The knowing look he exchanged with Anne sent shivers down Emma’s spine. They had more news, and it wasn’t good. “There’s one more problem.”

Emma’s heart skipped a beat. “What?”

Wade glanced at Clint briefly then focused on Emma. “Your ex-husband has requested a visitation with Brian.”

“No!” The word flew out of Emma’s mouth like a shot. She tried desperately to catch her breath. Her hand gripped Clint’s thigh.

“Just Brian?” Clint’s hand tensed on Emma’s shoulder. “The bastard has two sons. He doesn’t want to see Ben, too? Just the one he’s trying to steal?”

Wade held up his hands in surrender. “Actually, I don’t think he cares about either boy. I think he just wants to see how much Brian resembles him. He’s petitioned the district court for a court-ordered visit.” Wade, pressed his hands together, leaning closer, his face a study in sympathy. “The judge has ordered...”

“No! He didn’t want them six years ago. He isn’t going to take Brian away from his family.
Not even for one day
.” The desperation she felt so acutely filled her voice. “How am I going to explain any of this to either one of them? Brian’s just a little boy. He doesn’t even know Dwayne exists. You know that. He would be so frightened without his brother or me.”

Clint hugged her close. “Brian’s not going anywhere.”

Wade shook his head at them both. “You don’t get a choice in this, Emma. The judge ordered that a visitation take place.”

She’d had enough. She was
not
going to lose her son, and some faceless judge wasn’t going to give Dwayne the right to hurt either boy.

“Then you just get the judge to make the bastard come here, Wade. He’s invading our lives. We don’t need to make it convenient for him. And you make sure the judge knows that Brian is not to be out of my sight once during the visit.” Emma jumped up and stalked to the door. “You got that?”

“I got it.”

The door slammed behind her.

* * *

The night’s cool air seeped into the bedroom and surrounded Emma as she stood between her sons’ beds watching them sleep. She pulled her flannel robe a little closer. Fear made her hand tremble as she reached out to caress first Brian, then Ben on their foreheads.

How many more nights would she have to watch them sleep like this?
Never in her wildest nightmares did she ever think she’d lose them.

They were her world. From the moment she’d first held them in her arms, gazed into their big dark eyes, and nursed them at her breast, they’d stolen her heart.

How was she supposed to survive having them torn apart? How were they going to survive it? They depended on each other so much and in so many ways
. And Dwayne, snake that he was, had picked the most vulnerable of the two—Brian.

She withdrew her hand, slowly closing it in a fist. No way was she losing this battle to Dwayne. No one—no judge, no law, no person—was going to harm her sons.

“Mommy?” Brian’s small voice called from his bed.

“Yes, honey. It’s just me.”

“Why’re you so sad, Mommy?”

Emma realized too late that the bright harvest moon shining in the window had illuminated her face. The last thing she wanted to do was to infuse her son with her own fear. She crawled into the bed and drew him beside her. “Sometimes mommies just need to hold their boys at night, honey.”

“Why?”

She pulled the quilt around them. “Do you sometimes get scared at night?”

He nodded. “Yes, when I have a bad dream. And then you let me sleep with you.”

“Well, sometimes mommies get scared, too.”

“Did you have a bad dream, Mommy?” Ben asked from across the room. His voice sounded small and unsure in the darkness.

“You could say that.” Scooting over, she opened the covers and patted the bed for her other son to join them. “Come here, Ben. I can use lots of snuggles tonight.”

With a bound, he landed in bed beside her. Emma basked in the pleasure of four arms and four legs wrapping around her in one big group hug. She whispered to them both how much she loved them. Both boys giggled then started telling her about the movies they’d watched with Gage. It was some time before they drifted off to sleep.

Emma lay awake listening to them breathe, wishing this night would never end and tomorrow would never come.

“
W
hy do we gots to get a blood test?” Ben asked from the backseat of Clint’s Jeep.

“I don’t like tests,” Brian mumbled beside him.

Emma focused on the passing urban scenery as they drove the freeway farther into the city. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The boys thought it was a test like in school. They both hated tests. How were they going to react when they discovered needles were involved? She didn’t have a clue how to explain this test to them, let alone what it meant. So for now, she’d chosen the coward’s way out. She’d told them as little as possible.

The court order had only been for Brian to be tested. However, she didn’t want Dwayne to try and come after Ben at some later date. So she asked Wade to have the judge require that both boys be tested.

The day after the big meeting with Clint’s family, she’d received a letter containing the court-ordered paternity test to be done in Columbus under the watchful eye of court-appointed security. It still angered her every time she thought about it. Dwayne had been the one who cheated on the first test, not her, and yet the court treated her like the criminal. She prayed the person assigned to the test’s security didn’t have on a uniform or the boys would talk of nothing else.

“It’s not like a math test, guys.” Clint explained as he turned into the parking lot of the University clinics where the testing lab was located. “The hardest question they’re going to ask you is your name.”

Both boys giggled.

“We know our names, Doc Clint,” Ben said.

“What kind of test is it, Doc?” Brian asked.

“Remember when you had to have shots for school?” Clint parked the car and the boys scrambled out.

“Miss Harriett stuck needles in our arms.” Ben informed him.

“It hurt.” Brian sounded less confident than his brother.

Emma closed her door and joined them behind the truck. With her hands on their shoulders, she turned them to her. “The people in this clinic will need to use needles to get some of your blood for the test. But there’s no medicine involved, like with shots, so I don’t think it’ll hurt as much.”

Their faces grew serious.

“Do you promise?” Ben asked.

Emma swallowed. She wanted to reassure them, but she wouldn’t lie to them either. “I can’t promise it won’t hurt at all, guys. But maybe not as much as shots, okay.”

They both nodded. Their distress tugged at her heart. They shouldn’t have to go through this torture.
Damn Dwayne
!

“Hey guys, let’s get this done so we can spend the rest of the day having fun.” Clint started toward the clinic. His words instantly distracted them.

“What kind of fun?”

“Can we go to McDonald’s?”

Clint’s gaze met Emma’s above their heads. “We’ll go to COSI then maybe McDonald’s for lunch. That is, if it’s okay with your mom.”

“What’s COSI?” Brian asked.

“COSI stands for the Center of Science and Industry. It’s this really cool place with trains and science stuff. You guys’ll have a good time there.”

Despite her wish to get the boys far away from the city their father lived in, Emma couldn’t ignore her sons’ happy, excited faces, which moments before held fear and wariness. That same hopeful expectation also on Clint’s face sealed her decision.

She laughed and shook her head. “Okay. You guys win. We’ll make it a day of fun, once the blood tests are finished.”

Both boys jumped around, whooping and hollering. Clint opened the clinic door and ushered them inside. “First we get this over with, guys.”

* * *

Clint watched Ben and Brian stare enraptured by the pendulum swinging from the ceiling in the City View area of COSI. Their heads swiveled back and forth following the chain’s movements. The boys cheered when the weight knocked down one of the pegs placed in a huge precise circle on the floor.

“How does it work, Doc Clint?” Ben asked.

Both boys watched him for an explanation. He marveled at how quickly he’d come to care for these two little kids. Their natural curiosity amazed him. He’d wanted to bring them here today to watch them learn and see so many new things. Only he’d forgotten how many questions they asked. And the day had just started.

“Well, it works by gravity.”

Their only response? Two blank stares.

“What’s grabity?” Brian asked first.

Clint took a deep breath. “Remember when you jumped out of Old Man Thompson’s tree?”

They both nodded.

“What happened the second you jumped?”

Ben giggled. “I hit the ground. Then Bri landed on top of me.”

Brian pushed Ben. Ben pushed back. Clint pulled them apart before they could come to real blows. He left his hand firmly on their shoulders as a reminder not to start shoving again.

What was taking their mother so long? Emma had gone off in search of site maps, while the boys dragged him down the hall to this exhibit.

“Why didn’t you fly up into the sky, Ben?”

“Cause people don’t fly, birds do.”

“True. But the real thing that keeps you from flying is gravity. Gravity pulls things to the ground. Like leaves in the fall, and apples off the tree.”

“And us when we jumped.” Ben announced.

“That’s right. It also keeps the pendulum swinging.”