“Sure you don’t want to eat anything before you go. Rest a while?” Maia asked.
“No, thank you. This is a rental car. I’m going to return it to the airport and fly home this evening if I can get a flight,” Ms. Autry said.
“Well, travel safe,” Maia said.
“Thank you,” Roman said, wrapping the woman in a bear hug when he stepped within reach.
“No, thank you!” she said, laughing and patting his arm. “Darcie will be happy, healthy and safe here. I have no doubt.”
“Drive safe now,” Riley said as he walked her to the door.
“Oh! One more thing,” Ms. Autry said. “I’ve been trying to call for over a week. No one’s answered your phone. Is it working properly? Have you changed your number?”
Right away a look of realization crossed Roman’s face. “I turned it off. It was too painful when I kept waiting for Talie to call me and she never did. Then she asked me to stop calling her, and I just stopped carrying it,” he explained.
“Well, please turn it back on. Please carry it. I may need to speak with you. And if she’s allowed a phone call, she might call. She had to have you stop calling because her ex checked her phone and would get angry each time you tried to contact her,” Ms. Autry explained.
“How did she end up with him back in her life?” Yvette asked from the sofa.
“She was not notified by the police when he was released from prison. She had no opportunity to leave town. He quite literally showed up one day and barged back into her life. He used the thing she loved most in the world to keep her under control,” Ms. Autry said, with a quick glance toward Darcie who was looking over toward the tree.
“She needs to be free,” Roman said.
“And we’ll get there,” Ms. Autry said again. “Darcie, if you need anything, you let me know. My number is on a card in your bag. Here’s one for you, Mr. Lyakhov,” she said, handing Roman a business card. “And one for you,” she said, handing one to Riley.
“Here’s ours,” Riley said, taking out his wallet and handing her a card. “Please, call regularly. Update us on anything, even it’s to tell us nothing’s changed.”
“I will.”
“Tell her not to worry about Darcie. Tell her I love her. And tell her everything’s gonna be okay,” Roman said.
“I will,” Ms. Autry said.
“Oh! What about a photo of Darcie and Roman in front of the tree?” Maia said. “I know my heart would be at ease at such a sight.”
“Great idea,” Ms. Autry said.
Roman walked over and stood in front of the tree. He kept Darcie in his arms and smiled at the phone Ms. Autry held up to take their picture with. “Smile pretty for Mama,” Roman said.
Darcie smiled brightly as she hugged Roman’s neck, Roman smiled while he snuggled his new daughter.
Ms. Autry took the photo, thanked everyone, then left.
Roman sat down on the sofa and looked at Darcie who was sitting on his lap. “So, what do you want to do first?” he asked.
“Can I finish decorating the tree?” she asked.
“You can,” he said. “I’m going right down that hallway into the bathroom. I really have to go — I never thought Ms. Autry would leave and I been holding it forever,” he said.
Darcie giggled.
“I’ll be right back, okay?” he asked.
“Okay,” Darcie said, walking over to the decorations so he could get up and go to the bathroom.
Moments later Maia, Riley, Richie, Lucas, Travis, Scotty and Lazarus shared a meaningful look around the room at one another as Roman’s sobs could be heard by all. He did his best to keep them quiet, but their shifter hearing picked them up anyway. Riley excused himself and walked down the hallway to the bathroom.
“Roman? You okay?” Riley asked.
Roman composed himself slightly and opened the door. He looked at Riley, not the least bit ashamed that he’d been crying. “I feel so fucking helpless!” Roman said. “There’s nothing I can do. I can’t just kill everybody and bring her home. They’ll come after her! I gotta get her out the right way. She doesn’t belong in jail. She didn’t hurt anybody. What if I can’t get her out?” Roman said.
“We’ll get her out,” Riley promised. “No matter what we have to do. We’ll get her out. I give you my word. You know we’re capable of far more than the average person. We’ll do whatever is necessary. People may fall, but I can live with that.”
“So can I,” Roman said. “As long she comes home to Darcie, and nobody can make her go back, the rest is just details. I don’t care what I have to give up!” Roman said.
“Exactly,” Riley agreed.
“Maybe I could ask Base. He’s due back next week for the holidays. I bet he’s got some big time lawyers,” Roman said.
“There ya go. I’m sure he does. And if they’re not the kind of lawyers we need, I’m sure they can tell us which ones are,” Riley said. “Base is an excellent place to start.”
“Mr. Roman?” Darcie’s voice called from the living room.
“I’m coming,” Roman said. “And you don’t have to call me Mister. I’m your new Dad now. Nobody is taking you from me,” he said, walking into the living room.
Darcie grinned at him. “Okay,” she said.
“Can I have something to eat?” she asked. “Is it past time? Is the kitchen closed?” she asked.
“Baby girl!” Maia said. “Around here, you eat anytime you want. Come on with Aunt Maia, you can have whatever you see that you want.”
“Really?” Darcie asked.
“Yep,” Roman answered. “I’ll be right in the living room.”
“Okay,” Darcie said, slipping her hand in Maia’s and letting Maia take her to the kitchen.
As soon as the child was out of the room, everyone else looked to Roman. “Tell us how to help,” Lucas said.
“I’m down for anything. Tell me who I’m killing,” Lazarus said, quite seriously and totally relaxed about it.
“Tell me what you need, Roman,” Richie said.
“I’m in, too. Don’t even ask, just point to where you want me,” Travis said.
“Me, too,” Scotty said.
“See? We got plenty of resources. Why don’t you tell them about it while I help Maia bring some more stuff in here to snack on while we finish this tree. I think your daughter needs to be around happy for a while,” Riley said.
Roman started explaining that Talie was sitting in a jail cell, accused of murder, breaking and entering, and possession of stolen goods. He explained that her ex had used Darcie against her in order to coerce her into moving in with him and making her too afraid to leave because he’d take Darcie from her if she did. He explained that there was no doubt in her attorney’s mind, or his for that matter, that the ex was responsible for all the horrible things she was accused of, and that the ex’s mother was trying to get custody in order keep Darcie quiet and her son free.
“Do you think he set her up intentionally?” Constance asked.
“No. I think he wanted her back with him because he sees her as property. Then I think when it all happened, she was a convenient person to blame. The police looked at the circumstantial evidence and arrested her. According to Ms. Autry, he let her take the blame,” Roman explained.