He’d just shown up fifteen minutes earlier with his mother Fawny, who Emily had never met, and with a sheriff’s deputy, and Henry walked out of Emily’s apartment with the baby.
Which, unfortunately, he was entitled to do since he was listed on the birth certificate as the baby’s father and there were no standing custody or protective orders prohibiting it.
Henry also told Emily if she wanted to see her baby again, she’d fork over ten thousand dollars. Otherwise, he would file for custody and claim she’d withheld his baby from him. And she could bring the money to him after 12:00 noon at a friend’s place in Little Havana. Fortunately, she’d had enough sense to snap a picture of his car’s license plate. Ken found the plate was registered to Fawny Roche at a different address than the one Henry gave Emily for the money drop.
By the time Beck and Joaquin arrived at Dewi’s, Dewi had taken a shower and dressed, and Ken had an initial dossier on Henry Roche and his mother, Fawny, who was 55.
Both mother and son had impressive rap sheets, mostly for fraud, check kiting, and other financial crimes. Henry also had eight child support orders against him by five other women. Unfortunately, neither of Henry nor Fawny had outstanding criminal warrants that would make Dewi’s job a lot easier, and it explained why the deputy had been forced to allow Henry to take the baby this morning instead of hauling Henry off in handcuffs. Had Emily refused to allow anyone entrance to the apartment until she could consult with an attorney, she could have staved off this incident, because as the baby’s mother she also had the right to hold on to the baby.
But she didn’t know she didn’t have to allow anyone inside, and Henry had already picked up the baby and carried him outside by that point. Had she tried to attack him, a) the baby could have been hurt, and b) she would have been arrested for assault and domestic violence.
Emily’s first call had been to her parents, who were driving down and still in northern Georgia.
Ralph told her to call Dewi, and told Emily to pass word that if Dewi didn’t get the baby back before he arrived, he would hunt Henry down and rip out his throat himself, if necessary.
For several pesky legal and annoyingly practical reasons, Dewi couldn’t let that happen.
No matter how satisfying it might be to her on a personal level to not only let that happen, but to facilitate it happening.
Dewi quickly relayed all this to Beck and Joaquin upon their arrival. “Okay,” Dewi said, standing and stretching, her back cracking. “Joaquin, you’re with me. I want to pull out of here in ten. Beck, you and Ken mind the store here today.”
“Wait, what?” Beck shook his head. “No.I’mgoing with Joaquin.”
“No, your ass is staying here, where you can deal with anything that happens and quickly get to Nami,” Dewi said. “If she goes into labor when you’re on the ass-end of this fucking state, I’ll never hear the end of it. And if there’s muscle needed here today, you can handle it. Besides, a Prime should go with Joaquin. Da and Badger are tied up taking care of Tamsin. I won’t jeopardize her safety over this.”
“Then swap places with one of them!”
“We still don’t know why my Prime powers failed with Malyah,” Dewi reminded him. “That was before we knew there was a wolf in their background. Do you honestly want to risk me failing Tamsin when she’s a full shifter? And both Da and Badger say they prefer I not be shouldering Tamsin’s grief right now because they don’t know what it might do to my baby.”
“Then let’s send Stig or Elliot,” Beck said. “They’re both Primes.”
“Yeah, and they’re both out of state right now with Martin, coordinating resettlements. The earliest they could probably get down there,ifthey can even get a direct flight to Miami, would be sometime tomorrow morning. Emily’s father will arrive down there tonight and go on a rampage if that baby isn’t safely back in Emily’s arms. Joaquin and I can be there in three hours and hopefully have this resolved before dinner. I need Joaquin because he speaks Spanish way better than I do, and looking at the logistics of this, and some of the dude’s known associates, not speaking Spanish could be an impediment.”
“Then send Carl or Mateo with him!” Beck practically shrieked.
“They are not Primes. And they need to stay at home, with Tamsin and everyone, helping Da and Badger with her and the baby, and helping Brianna and Malyah take care of the kids. That isnotnegotiable, Beck.”
“You’re being unreasonable,” Beck protested. “Sendme! Or at least bring me with you, too!”
She struggled not to lose her patience with Beck, knowing this came from a place of love and concern.
Even if it did aggravate the snot out of her.
Instead, she looked to Ken. “Your call,” she finally said. “And you know I don’t offer that lightly. I will not Prime you, and I will abide by your wishes.”
Beck snorted. “Okay, then!Finally! A voice of reason. At leastsomeonewill see things my way.” Beck smugly crossed his arms over his chest and wore a victorious smile.
The reluctance on Ken’s face was almost enough to make Dewi change her mind about going, but then he nodded. “Dewi’s right,” Ken said. “There’s a baby at risk and we are on the clock with it running out fast. This requires a rapid response, and she’s the best one available to go with Joaquin. We don’t need action delayed because we don’t have a Prime there, or can’t communicate with people. I’m not willing to risk Tamsin’s safety, and if Badger and Da have a concern about Dewi’s baby, then I defer to them.
“Hopefully Dewi and Joaquin can locate this guy quickly, Joaquin can be the muscle to subdue him, and Dewi can Prime the dude. And we need someone available to stay here, meaning Beck. We have to get that baby back to her momma, and we’ll likely need a Prime to do it peacefully. If Emily’s father gets hold of the guy before Dewi does, wewillhave a massive headache on our hands to clean up. Not to mention innocent people could get hurt. And no one wants that.”
Dewi was both pleasantly shocked as well as glad for the backup. “Thankyou, voice of reason!”
Ken offered her a smile.
Beck glared. “What thefuck, dude?”
“What?” Ken asked. “I don’t see a problem with this. And sheaskedme for my opinion.” He looked at Dewi. “You’re not going to drag the guy back here and toss him in the woodchipper, right?”
