“Ma’am what is going on?” They were helping the crazy bitch up off the ground speaking to her as though she were the injured party.
“She has kidnapped my grandbaby!” She cut on the waterworks and my eye started twitching with how they were looking between the two of us like they weren’t sure who to believe. I had a whole child strapped to my chest with all the accouterments of being her caregiver yet they want to take this lady’s word over mine.
ThisisTexas. And despite her having her head covered she had the complexion that made their protection a reflex.
“Miss, whose baby is this?” The older of the two officers walked closer to me and I protectively placed my hand on Ami’s back. My instinct was to walk away but I knew that would only escalate this situation.
“This is my charge, I am her nanny. If you will allow me to show you my employment contract in my email you will see that I have every reason to have this baby and this woman has been barred from having any contact with her. Not only that, but she attacked me while I was holding the baby. She has tried three times to snatch this baby off of my chest making physical contact with my breasts each time. At theleast,that’s assault. Isn’t there some type of charge that can be pressed against her?”
He looked uncomfortable like the idea of bringing this woman up on charges for sexual assault just for touching my chest. “Ma’am this sounds more like a civil matter.”
“Civil? When you can check any camera in this place and see that she came up to me and tried to snatch my baby from my chest? When did it become civil to put your hands on another person?” I was pissed. Not like I expected them to automatically believe me. But their casual dismissal of my words infuriated me.
“I thought you said she was your charge.” His face changed for indifference to suspicion and now I was getting angry.
I had to clench my teeth to prevent myself from going off the way I wanted to. Talking shit would again only put Ami in danger and if I got in trouble I didn’t know where they would take her or if they would release her to this woman’s custody. My ego wasn’t so big that I couldn’t shut the fuck up so we could walk away from this.
“I am her nanny and I have been taking care of her since she first came home from the hospital. I see you are happy to ignoreall that I said about her not being allowed contact with this child. Do you need proof of what I’m saying or will my word suffice for now?” Okay, that last bit was arrogant but fuck them.
He looked at me and then back at Ami’s grandmother like he was trying to decide who he could bully the easiest. “No, I think it’s best if you all just leave the area. There’s no reason for you to stay after causing a disturbance.”
I slow-blinked because this backwater asshole was a rent a cop who wasn’t even trying to do the just thing, just the thing to make his day easier. I had too many lawyers in the family and another on retainer who would own every dime he earned for the next twenty years if he didn’t do his job properly.
I took a deep breath knowing that if I opened that door it was going to be a far bigger shit show and make national news. That would raise questions and bring attention I didn’t want to my life. I chose the lesser of two evils and hoped it would give me the result I wanted.
“I didn’t cause anything, I finished it. I am here to purchase a gift for her father to wish him a good start to the season.” I didn’t want to have to use that card but these people seemed the type to care more about impressing a football player than actually enforcing the law they were sworn to uphold.
As suspected their ears perked up and the easy way they were attempting to dismiss me ceased.
“Her father. Who is her father?”
“Aldrich Dinero.”
“Oh. Oh!” The one who was holding the girl’s mother seemed to tighten his grip like he’d seen the headlines or had at least heard of what was going on. By the way the two of them glanced between each other, they knew I wasn’t some regular chick they could just dismiss without repercussion.
The security officer closest to me picked up my phone and handed it to me with a smile on his face. “Here’s your phone, miss.”
I had to battle not rolling my eyes because his switch-up was predictable but still disappointing. I hated feeling as though I wasn’t worthy of protection unless I was attached to something that was universally treasured. Be it my family’s wealth or my employer’s name in this city.
“Thank you.” I picked it up and saw that the phone had indeed connected, which meant that Aldrich heard everything that had happened. I felt my blood pressure tank and my skin immediately got clammy. Ami was fussing again and I quickly gave her the pacifier attached to her carrier so I could handle this latest problem.
I steeled my nerves and put the phone to my ear ready to take whatever was waiting for me. “Aldrich—”
“Go straight home and get whatever officer that talked all that shit, name and badge number. I've got a couple things I need to clear up with him.” His tone was cold, almost brittle and my gut clenched hearing how calm he sounded. I was sure he was pissed, because hearing this firsthand and being unable to do anything had to make him feel some type of way.
I glanced at the officer and then back down to Ami and reasoned with him before this turned into something his agent had to clean up. “Aldrich, I will not—”
“Is that the father of the child on the phone, ma’am?”
He spoke up with a little too much glee in his voice and I really wished he would’ve shut up. I wasn’t trying to save him, I just wanted to be done with this situation and away from this crazy woman. But he just had to go and say something. “Yes, it is.”
“I need to speak to him, please.”
I reluctantly gave him the phone knowing this wasn’t going to end up well for anyone. Dude seemed excited to talk to Aldrich, even standing up taller as he took the device from my hand. But as he put the phone to his ear and said hello, I could hear Aldrich’s voice rise on the other end of the line.
“Officer Samuels badge number 26405.” He kept listening and nodding his face getting redder and I could only imagine what Aldrich was saying to him. “Yes, she made that clear but also stated that she wasn’t a blood relative and the other woman was.”
“Miss, here’s your stroller.” I was carefully bouncing Ami in her carrier and patting her butt to help her fall asleep and ease my anxiety. I wanted nothing more than to go back after her grandmother but I knew that I needed to act like I had sense. The woman was hovering around like she was waiting for them to handcuff me or something so she could snatch Ami and run. It would be over my dead body.
