Page 92 of Cupcake of the Month
“Josh, stop!” Zach wailed.
His anguished cries broke Josh’s heart. Nearly broke him. Josh turned to him, and Clint clocked him on the cheek. Josh’s head snapped and he stumbled, but he regained his balance and reversed course, charging forward and jabbing Clint in the gut and following with a cross to his jaw.
“Josh, please!” Zach held fast to Josh’s waist, inadvertently squeezing his bruised ribs. He let out a hiss of pain. Clint took advantage of the distraction and punched him again, landing a blow on his shoulder. Josh twisted to avoid hurting Zach, wrenching his muscles in the process. It took a special kind of asshole to hit a man with a kid.
A brown-clad body forced itself between the two men and law enforcement pulled them apart. Josh’s focus was solely onClint, pushing off the officers in his quest to get to his stepdad. Within seconds, Josh was on his stomach, one arm painfully tucked behind him and a knee in his back.
“You gonna behave if I let you go?” Shondra’s voice asked.
“Where’s Zach?” Josh tried to turn his head but the strain in his shoulder was too great. He couldn’t promise to behave until he knew Zach was safe. “Is he hurt?”
“Hey.” Jordan knelt beside him. “He’s okay. Security has both him and your mom. And his stepdad.”
“Josh?” Shondra said.
“Yeah.” He heaved out a long breath, both in relief and to slow down the rush of energy. “I’m good. I’ll behave.”
The pain on his back lessened and his arm was freed. Josh got to his knees, taking great satisfaction in seeing Clint in a similar position, his hands cuffed behind him. He shouted obscenities and threats, his face turning red. The officers helped him rise and even then, he lunged at Josh.
Josh ignored him, instead looking for Zach. He stood next to Marian, her hands in cuffs behind her, and a police officer. Tears streaked down Zach’s reddened face. Josh surged forward. He had to get Zach away from all this, had to keep him safe and protected. He had to.
Jordan grabbed his arm. “Let them do their job, Josh. You’ll get in the way.”
He shook her off, still moving forward. “I don’t care.”
She put her hands up in surrender and he dodged onlookers videoing the incident on their phones. Assholes.
The officer next to Zach had a hand clasped on his shoulder, and raised his other arm to block Josh from getting closer. “You need step away, sir.”
“It’s okay, Bob,” said Officer Durst. “This is his brother.”
“No, he’s not.” Zach’s hands bunched into fists. “I’ve never seen him before in my life.”
His words sliced Josh’s heart into small pieces of agony. Zach was hurt and angry, but knowing that didn’t make hearing the hateful words any easier. He took a deep breath.
“That’s not a very nice thing to say, Zach,” their mom chided. “Especially since he’s taken care of you for us for the past eight years.”
“I don’t need you to defend me.” Josh said. He swallowed his rage for his brother’s sake instead of demanding answers. “I’m glad you’re okay, buddy.”
The police, FBI, and airport security stood discussing jurisdiction until Shondra Durst led them away from the gawkers in the terminal to the security offices. Clint and Marian were placed in separate rooms, with Josh, Zach, and Jordan in a third.
The room was small, barely large enough for a table with two chairs on either side. A mirror spanned one wall, and utilitarian tile covered the floor. It offered nothing other than a place to sit and wait.
Zach threw himself into a chair and folded his arms across his chest. “I hate you.”
“You’re allowed.” Josh took the chair next to him. Jordan pulled a chair from the other side to sit at the end of the table, her presence lending him a strength he’d never find alone. “But I love you.”
“Mom and Dad need me,” Zach insisted. “They told me so. Why did you stop me from going with them?”
“Simple, buddy,” Josh said. “I need you too.”
Tears welled up in Zach’s eyes and he promptly turned around, trying to hide the quick wipe on his shirtsleeve. “All I wanted to do was see them. Spend time with them. Do you know what it’s like, hearing other kids talk about their mom or dad when I don’t have either one? I only have you.”
“I’m sorry, Zach. I really am.” Josh wished he could wraphis arms around his brother, hold him, and tell him everything would be all right. But everything might not be all right. Zach might be taken away from him, leaving him with no one in his corner. “I might have made a lot of mistakes, but I’ve always tried my best with you.”
“They needed me.” Zach leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table, holding his head in his hands. “I had to be with them so they’d be harder to find. I was going to write you, you know, once the plane landed. So you didn’t worry. They told me I couldn’t tell you because you’d try to keep me from them.”
Damn right he would. “What do you mean, ‘harder to find’?”
