Page 50 of Roll With The Punches
“It’s in my name, yes. It’s my daughter’s. She’s sixteen, and she’s inside, and her stepfather won’t let her leave.”
“Butyouhave primary custody of your daughter?”
“Yes. She lives with me and was here for a voluntary visit. She didn’t have to come visit, it’s not court-mandated. And now they won’t let her leave.”
The deputy pointed to Pat and Tracey, who’d returned to the porch after moving Pat’s car. “Ma’am, sir, I need you to please step down here and talk to me for a moment.”
They did, the deputy pulling them off to the side.
That gave Brandon another chance to look around for Jeff.
Nowhere to be seen.
What the hell?
* * * *
Jeff slowly retreated down the driveway while Tracey’s attention was focused on Brandon. Walking down the sidewalk and past where they’d parked, he saw there wasn’t a fence or gate around the backyard.
Ignoring the ripple of pain in his back, he ducked down behind the cars and skirted up the driveway, along the side of the house, and around the back. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out which room was Emma’s from the sound of Pat screaming and Emma yelling back at him.
In the distance, he heard sirens and knew this was cutting it close. Lightly tapping on the window, he wasn’t sure she’d heard him at first when the blinds jerked open, and she grinned at him from the other side. He held a finger to his lips and she nodded as she opened the window, yanking on the two tabs on the bottom of the screen to pull it out of the frame, dropping it outside.
“Bags,” he whispered, motioning for them.
She grabbed her stuff and passed it through, then he helped her climb out. Pat had stopped yelling at her door, but now Jeff could hear him ranting from the front of the house.
She threw her arms around him in a crushing hug. “Oh, my god! I’m so glad to see you!”
“Me, too, kiddo, but let’s get you out of here first. Then we can celebrate.”
With her safely out, he had her pull the window down before telling her how to replace the screen, so he could keep his prints off of it.
No use opening a door for Pat to try to claim he broke into their house.
“You okay?” he whispered. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“I’m fine. Sooo much better now that you guys are here. Where’s Dad?”
“He’s up front. He doesn’t know I did this. I snuck away. Come on.” He winced as he shouldered her overnight bag while she grabbed the backpack she used as a purse.
Jeff followed his original path, and, at the edge of the house, peeked around to see that the deputies were in fact there. He motioned for her to follow him. The way everyone was standing, Pat, Tracey, Stuart, and Brandon’s backs were to them.
“Ma’am,” one deputy was saying, “I’m sorry, but she’s sixteen, this is her father, and she lives with him. Unless you have a court order saying she’s required to be here today, you cannot prevent her from leaving, daughter or not. You will have to contact your attorney to file for a modified custody agreement if you want to change that.”
“Ahem,” Jeff said.
Brandon turned around, and if it hadn’t been for the shitty situation, the smile Brandon gave Jeff would have made Jeff’s cock hard right there.
“Em!”
She ran over to hug Brandon while Pat let out an enraged roar and started toward her.
As Tracey yelled for Pat to stop, two of the deputies stepped in and immediately took him down, handcuffing him.
“If you don’t settle down right now, sir, we’re going to arrest you.”
“They broke into my house and took her! That’s kidnapping!”
