Chapter Twenty-Four

Paul

Logan got us to town about ten minutes ago, landing us on the roof of a neighboring building. We’re on our way over to the hotel on foot, plan in place. I wanted to just break down the door and get Rush out of there, but Callie reminded us how crazy Brenna seemed.

“What if she does something to Rush? I think Ryan should go in and knock on her door. Act like he wants to be with her or something. When she was attacking me, she kept talking about how she made the wrong choice and that she wants you back Ry.”

“That’s actually a great plan. You go in and calm her down, then give us a signal when she’s subdued, and we’ll come in and grab Rush.” Owens says from beside me.

Sheriff Calver called ahead and let the police in West Virginia know what is going on. They’ve had eyes on her room since we left Tennessee. Walking into the hotel she’s staying at, the front desk clerk points to the elevator, and I give him a nod.

Reaching her floor, we all hang back except for Ryan who walks to her door and knocks. He’s wearing a blue tooth device so we can hear his signal, ready to move immediately and get our son back.

“I figured you’d show up eventually. I just wanted you far

enough away from your fiancé to give us some time to talk.” She says in a bored tone as if she has no care in the world.

“Got your message loud and clear Brenna. I’m here, let’s talk.” He tells her with more patience than I could muster for the bitch who beat my woman and stole my kid.

Brenna lets him into her room and closes the door behind him.

“I know he’s your son Ryan, but he’s mine too. I deserve to have a relationship with him. I should get a say in who is let into his life.” She whines, and I hear Callie curse under her breath.

“I’m confused, I thought you didn’t want him, that’s why you gave him to me isn’t it.”

“I was wrong Ryan, I made the wrong choice when I chose Gary over you. We could fix that though, pretend the last year and a half didn’t happen. We could move somewhere and start fresh. You, me, and Rush could be a family like you always wanted.” She says changing her tone, sounding like the woman I met when they first started dating.

“Well, a boy does need his mother,” Ryan says, and that’s our que.

“I swear to god I’ll cut a bitch-” Callie starts, and I cover her mouth with my hand. “Easy Precious, you’ll get your chance as soon as we’re in.”

The cops give us the key to the room they got from the concierge when they arrived. Logan uses the key card and opens the door, and the guys storm in ready to get this shit over with.

“Clear” is shouted from the room and I guide Callie in by the arm, worried she might lose focus and deliver a can of whoop ass on Brenna for everything she’s done.

As soon as we’re in Callie stops dead in her tracks when she sees Brenna shoved against the wall and the police handcuffing her.

When Rush starts crying it breaks the spell and she goes to him, not worried about anyone else.

“I’m here sweet baby. Momma’s here.” She coos, rubbing his back. I pick him up, and he immediately moves to Callie who can’t hold him right because of her injuries. Sitting on the bed, she motions for me to bring him to her. I set him down on her lap where she holds him against her chest with her healthy arm.

Ryan and I sit on either side of her and hold our world in our hands.

∞∞∞

As soon as we got home, Callie gave Rush a bath and puts him in bed with us. I understand how she’s feeling, worried she’ll wake up and he won’t be here. Thank god that with the help of our friends and the police, we were able to get him back before any damage had been done. Ryan and I lay beside them, cocooning them in and keeping them safe.

“I thought I lost them, Paul. That phone call changed everything. I brought this evil into our world, it’s my fault Brenna was here in the first place. If I never would have-”

“Stop. Brenna fucking sucks, but without her, we wouldn’t have Rush. So yeah, things happened kind of crazy, but we got here in the end, and that’s all that matters.”

“You think she’ll forgive me?” Ryan asks staring down at our woman.

“She needs to forgive herself first. There’s so much guilt rolling around inside her she can’t even see straight.”

“Callie did nothing wrong.”

“And neither did you,” I tell him. I’ll let that resonate with him for a few days and then see where his head is at.

I turn out the lights and snuggle in close to my family, thankful they’re safe and in my arms. Today could have turned out so differently, but it didn’t, and for that, I’ll always be grateful. Our family has a long road ahead of us before we are healed physically and emotionally, but as long as we’ve got each other, I know we’ll get there.