Page 65 of Contentious

“This is insane! He could’ve killed us and other people, too.”

Cresley’s phone rang. “It’s Ty’s school.”

“Put it on speaker.”

“Hello?”

“Ms. Dane, Mr. Beckett is here wanting to check out his son. Since he’s not on the pickup list, we assume he still doesn’t have your permission?”

“He absolutely does not have my permission. Call the police. They’re looking for him after he smashed into my friend’s car and took off. Don’t let Ty anywhere near him!”

“We won’t. Don’t worry. I’m calling the police now.”

“I’ll be right there.” She ended the call and gave Carson a pleading look. “Get me to my son. Please.”

Chapter Fourteen

Carson drove as fast as he dared toward Beverly Hills while Cresley vibrated with tension in the passenger seat. He reached for her hand and held on tightly, wishing there was more he could do to comfort her. “They won’t let him near Ty,” he said after a long silence.

“I know, but the fact that he’s there and trying… What if there was someone new working in the office who didn’t know…”

“They don’t put new people in charge of things like that. They know who he is, and they know he doesn’t have permission to take Ty.”

“What is he hoping to achieve by coming to the house, hitting us and going after Ty?”

“He’s trying to terrorize you into giving him what he wants.”

“It’s working.”

“I know it’s super unsettling, but we have to give the police time to find him. He’s committed actual crimes in the last two days, and when they find him, they’ll charge him.”

“He’ll make bail and be right back to his old tricks within twenty-four hours of being arrested, and you know that’s true.”

“We might be able to get a judge to order him held without bail since intentionally smashing into another vehicle can be considered attempted vehicular homicide, which is a felony.”

“Is he thinking if he kills me, he’ll get Ty and all the money? Because that won’t happen. Ty is going to Marlene if anything happens to me, and every dime I have will be in a trust for him. Marlon won’t get anything.”

“Who knows what he’s thinking? But his goal is to get you to capitulate, and you can’t do that. If you do, he’ll never leave you alone.”

“I’m keeping Ty home from school until they find Marlon and arrest him.”

“Hopefully, that’ll happen quickly, and they’ll hold him without bail.”

She cradled his hand between both of hers. “I’m so glad you’re here to talk me off the cliff, but I’m so sorry your gorgeous Range Rover got damaged.”

“Don’t worry about that. All that matters is that you’re safe.”

“I will worry about it. This happened because of me.”

“Cars can be fixed. It’s all good.”

“No, it’s not all good. This is a nightmare.”

They arrived at the school to see a massive police presence, which made Cresley gasp when she saw the cars and flashing lights along with a swarm of terrified parents. The second Carson brought the SUV to a stop, she was out the door and running. He double-parked and ran after her, following her to the courtyard outside the building, where two officers were taking a statement from the rattled school employee who’d turned Marlon away.

“We know Ms. Dane has full custody, and he’s not on the pickup list, so I told him he needed to leave. We talked to her, and she told us he’d rammed his car into her and her friend and said we should call the police.”

“Thank you so much for protecting my son,” Cresley said as she hugged the woman.