Swept Away (24 page)

They arrived at the police station with one minute to spare before the police reissued a warrant. The place was crawling with reporters that bombarded their car. Josie flinched and pulled away from the window, clutching his hand. Half the world thought she was a lying slut. The other half thought she was a victim, and the press was eager to keep the debate alive.

A squadron of uniformed officers directed them to the back of the station. The officers formed a human tunnel, funneling her in the back door. Josie reached for Tucker, but got separated in the jostling crowd. Though he could still see her, he couldn’t touch her, and that made him feel like he was a million miles away.

Shae was waiting for her. There was another man with her, a handsome guy with blond hair and small wire-rimmed glasses. “Josie, this is Matthew Brandt. He comes highly recommended, so I added him to your team.”

Josie nodded, though the look of confusion on her face made Tucker doubt she was listening. The door was closed against the crowd, and the sounds of people yelling her name quieted.

“You okay, Josie?” Shae asked as she led Josie to a small room with a round table and four plastic chairs.

“I’m fine, I guess,” she said, scanning the interrogation room with wide eyes.

“Those jackasses leaked that you were coming in on purpose. All of them seem to be buddies with Stone. Josie, they are going to fingerprint you, take your mug shot, and officially arrest you. But then you will be released until your hearing.”

Josie chewed on her lip and nodded.

Shae frowned, her perfect pink lips turned down. Rubbing Josie’s arm, she said, “I’m really sorry about this. This is such a sham.”

“You need to tell her about the deal,” Matthew said.

“Oh yes, the deal.” Shae sighed as she pulled a stack of papers from her briefcase. “The prosecutor has offered a plea bargain. You will admit to fraud and defamation of character and only get a year’s probation.”

Tucker stood up straighter. Normally, he’d relish the fight. He wanted nothing more than watch Stone go down, to pay the price for hurting Josie and Maddy. But the temptation for her to sign this paper and walk out of this building with this mess behind them…he felt like an alcoholic being offered an ice-cold, refreshing drink. He knew it was the wrong choice, but his mouth nearly watered for it. Maybe he was so tempted because his gut screamed that they were not on the happily-ever-after course. “Take it, Josie. Take it and we leave for Vegas tonight.”

Shae arched an eyebrow at Tucker as she explained further, “You realize, it’s basically Josie admitting that she lied about everything. The abuse. Maddy. All of it. She will be legally bound to never tell the truth, and in one fell swoop, she would restore Jeb Stone’s tarnished reputation. For the rest of her life, Josie will be called a liar. It’s your choice. As your council, it’s legally sound and absolves you of a future civil suit.”

“Civil suit?” Tucker asked.

Shae grimaced. “Jeb has the right to sue Josie for damages. He lost nearly all his assets to Amanda in the wrongful death suit she filed on Josie’s behalf. If the prosecution proves Josie did any of this on purpose, she could be looking at jail time and Jeb could sue her for her assets.”

“Little good that would do him,” Josie said. “I have nothing.”

“It would be up to the judge, but he could order that you pay from future earnings,” Shae said.

Tucker felt dirty for trying to talk her into signing, but he couldn’t stop himself. Idealistically, he agreed with her. But he no longer gave a damn about ideals. He wanted her free. He wanted their child safe. He sat beside her, turning her toward him. “Take the deal. What does it matter in the long run? We can walk out of here today, be married by midnight. Please, Josie?”

Josie looked crushed. Her brow furrowed and her breathing shallowed. “I see your point,” she said quietly. She picked up the plea and read over it, her head slowly shaking back and forth. “What’s this?” Josie pointed to a paragraph in the middle of the second page.

“Oh, that,” Shae said. “You sign the deal and commit to the confidentiality clause, you will get three million dollars for your troubles.”

Josie’s laugh was far from pleasant. “Once again, money saves him. If I sign this? I’m no better than a whore. No, I’m worse. At least someone who sells her body for money does it on her terms. Me? I’d be letting him get away with taking something from me that was way more valuable than my virginity. He took my joy, and my trust. To this day, I panic when I’m in crowds. I have nightmares…not because he used me for sex, but because I was powerless to stop him. Do you know how bad it sucks to try to feel powerful when you know damn good and well you can’t even stop a man from wrestling your pants off your body? I may have come to terms with that physical weakness, because I’ve told myself that he can’t change who I am inside, but,” Josie laid the paper on the table, “if I sign this, then I’m nothing but a pathetic coward, and he wins.”

Shae pulled the cashier’s check from the pile of papers and ripped it into a hundred pieces. “Matthew, will you come with me to present this to Mr. Stone as our answer?” Matthew nodded as they left.

Josie looked to Tucker. Pulling him closer by the collar of his shirt, she kissed him. “I’m sorry, Tucker. I know you’re worried, but he won’t get away with this.”

“I’m scared, Josie. None of this has gone our way.”

“I can’t let him get away with it. I could never look at myself in the mirror.”

“You’re right. I know, you’re right.” Burying his face in her hair, he couldn’t stop the tears. Of all the shit that had gone wrong this year, this was the toughest. He felt like he should be able to do something to stop this, not just kiss her goodbye and send her out there to the wolves.

But that was the only option he had. Taking a deep breath, he put on a smile that was more grimace and said, “You know I’ll support anything you need to do.”

Her hand was soft against his face. “Thank you. And don’t worry. It will be a memory in no time.”

But it wasn’t. She was fingerprinted, photographed, and taken across the hall to the magistrate to be arraigned and read her charges. The whole time she was wide-eyed and pasty. It was like the Applewold PD snared a rabbit and relished torturing it. Tucker’s gut ached, and his body remained tense. When the prosecutor came in and tried to strong-arm her into taking the deal she’d already rejected, Tucker wanted to punch him. He disliked Bill Rogers on sight. His suit was too well-fitted, his cologne too strong. He looked more like a slick, high-end car salesman than someone who was supposed to be upholding the law.

While looming over Josie, Rogers tossed the papers at her. “You might want to give these a second consideration,” he said. “Sign them and you walk away today. Don’t sign and I swear, I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you get to see what it’s like to do some jail time. You and everyone who helped you pull off this stunt.”

Josie’s head whipped with that information. “What do you mean?”

Rogers sat, leaning his body too close to hers. “I don’t buy for one second that a sixteen-year-old kid pulled this off on her own. I’m going to turn over every rock and flip every stone until I find out, then every person who helped you hide will go to jail.”

Josie’s hands shook.

Shae stepped forward. “Stop trying to bully my client.”

Rogers stood and looked the petite attorney in the eye. “I’m trying to get her to make the rational choice. A conspiracy to commit fraud is what I see, with a whole lot of people helping to make it happen.”

“Speaking of conspiracies, how much is Stone paying you?” Shae asked.

“Excuse me? Lady, you aren’t even licensed in this state. I could have you disbarred for trying to practice without a Pennsylvania license.”

“You could have her nothing.” Matthew stepped between Rogers and Shae. “If anyone should be worried about their career, it’s you. You have an election coming up…you better hope to hell you picked the right side. Or hope that Stone is paying you enough to cover a very early retirement.”

“You better be careful what kind of accusations you toss around,” Rogers said, leveling a stare at Matthew.

With a shrug and a grin, Matthew said, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to hit a nerve.”

“You didn’t hit a nerve, you feckless little squib. We’ll see who’s on the right side when this case is taken to the Attorney General.  The people of Pennsylvania cannot allow spiteful, spoiled children to fake their own murders as revenge for getting dragged home from a party. Isn’t that what you did, Ms. Stone?”

Shae placed a hand on Josie’s arm. “My client has nothing to say to you.” Shae maneuvered her toward the door.  “We’re done here. We’ll need a police escort out the back, since you guys seem to have let every reporter in the area know she was coming in.”

“Who says she gets to go? We’ll have to hold her until bail is set.”

Shae and Matthew both charged at the man, pointing out the terms of surrender. While they argued, Tucker looked to Josie. Reaching out to her, he took her hands in his and pulled her to him. Her body trembled. He wrapped his arms around her and held her.

“Tucker, I’m scared.”

“It’s okay. Everything will be all right.” His words sounded solid, though his heart was breaking.

Shae and Matthew won the battle. Tucker wrapped an arm over Josie’s shoulder and protected her from the press as they made their way to his car. Tucker drove in random turns and circles until he was sure he lost all the reporters trying to follow them.

The couple didn’t make it to Tucker’s mom’s house until after dark. Tucker was never so glad that no one in his family shared a last name. As of yet, the press hadn’t tied him to the Morgans, and they hadn’t figured out that his mother was an Adkins, so there was no one camping outside the single story ranch he grew up in.

“Ready to meet my mom?” Tucker asked. Linking his fingers in hers, his thumb caressed the smooth skin on her hand.

“I’m not sure. I thought that was supposed to just be a drop-in at the police station and leave. I thought they were going to put me in a cell.”

“Thank God for Shae. I could’ve kissed her.”

“Now, let’s not go that far.” Josie laughed.

Coming closer, his lips found hers. “Figure of speech. My kisses are only yours.”

“Good. I’d hate to have to fire the best attorney ever.”

“She did go right at him, didn’t she?” Tucker asked with a chuckle.

Josie nodded. “She backed him right down. I don’t know why I was shocked that they tried to renege on the deal. I figure they are all on Jeb’s side.”

“You really think he bought off everyone in Applewold?”

“He is the richest guy in town—heck most towns.” Pressing her forehead to his chest, she added, “This is going to be harder than I imagined.”

“We’ll make it.” The porch light flipped on. Tucker sighed. “That’s my mother. She’s not overly patient.”

“Yay,” Josie said weakly.

She climbed out of the car slowly. Tucker came around to her side and wrapped an arm around her waist. As they approached the porch, his mother stepped out. Josie’s brows popped up when she saw her. Tucker was used to the reaction since he looked nothing like his mother.

”Geesh, I was wondering if you remembered how to get in the house,” Marlene Adkins said as she waved them in. “What were you doing out there?”

“I was prepping Josie on how to deal with my mother,” Tucker said.

“Tucker,” Josie scolded, instantly red-faced.

“Probably making out, knowing you,” Marlene said with an eye roll.

Josie gave him a look. Tucker shrugged.

They followed Marlene into the living room. Ed Adkins stood as they approached.  “Tucker,” he said. “Glad to see you home. This must be Josie. Nice to meet you.” Ed gave Josie an awkward side hug. “I’m, uh, happy to see Tucker look so…well, happy.”  Shy, tiny Josie looked like she could be Ed’s daughter. They were both short, small-framed, and prone to rosy cheeks.  

After introductions and news of their drive, Ed was out of conversation. He mumbled something about it being Shark Week and wandered back to his chair.

Marlene frowned. “I swear to God, I hate cable. He sits in that damned chair and flips between National Geographic and Discover. Good of you to be sociable, Ed. Nice way to get to know Tucker’s girlfriend.”

“Leave him alone, Mom. Ed is fine.”

“Maybe if he’d been more of a dad, you wouldn’t have had to go looking for your own and not ended up in this mess.”

Tucker pulled Josie closer. “I’m not in a mess. But I am tired, and Josie is worn out. I’m taking her to bed, and we’ll talk more about all of this in the morning.”

“So soon? Seriously Tucker, you owe me an explanation. I’ve been through incest, pregnancy, stabbings, legal trouble, and crap all over the media. I deserve to know what the hell is going on.”

Tucker didn’t want to fight with his mother, not now. Josie had seen enough drama for a lifetime, so he relented. “Let me get Josie settled, and we’ll talk.”

“I don’t need to get settled,” Josie said.

Tucker looked down at her, and Josie nodded. “Fine,” he said.

“Fine,” Marlene echoed. After seating them around the kitchen table, she made them cups of cocoa and set a plate of homemade banana bread in front of them. “So Josie, are you absolutely certain you’re pregnant?”

Josie’s hands slid from her mug, off the table, to her lap.

“Yes, she’s pregnant. We went to the doctor a few days ago and heard the heartbeat,” Tucker said.

“Okay. So, what are your plans? I’m not saying you have to get married. I never married Tucker’s dad, so not pushing that. Just asking.”

“We’d be married now if it weren’t for them arresting her,” Tucker said.

“Without even talking to your mother?” Marlene asked.

“Things are chaotic right now, if you haven’t noticed.”

“Oh, I’ve noticed. It’s all over the TV. Seems you’re breaking new ground faking your own murder to get someone sent up the river. “

“That isn’t why she did it,” Tucker snapped, pushing his chair back from the table.

“I only know what I see on the news. It’s not like you’re giving me information.”

“I’m not in the mood for this tonight. I’m going to get Josie settled in, take a hot shower, and then we’ll talk.”

He held out his hand to Josie and she took it. Turning to Marlene, she said, “It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Adkins. And uh, thanks for the cocoa.”

Tucker pulled her along. Flipping on the light to his bedroom, he wished his mom had redecorated. Josie sat on his Pittsburgh Steelers comforter and looked around his room. “Was your obsession with cars or the naked women hanging on them?”

Tucker sat beside her. “It was the cars. Definitely the cars.”

“Liar.” Josie laughed.

“I got those when I was twelve. Won them throwing basketballs at a fair. How about tomorrow, you can wash my car in your panties, and I can get some poster replacements?”

Josie leaned into him. “Not going to happen.”

He kissed the top of her head. “I didn’t figure.”

They sat quietly a moment, then Tucker cleared his throat. “Let’s get you some sleep.”

“I am so tired.”

“You go to the bathroom. I’ll make sure there are no cooties in the bed,” he said.

“Good deal,” Josie said, standing. Tucker pointed to a door. Dragging her overnight bag, she disappeared into the bathroom.

Tucker pulled the blankets back and fluffed the pillows. Then he made a quick sweep of his room, hiding or destroying anything that could be humiliating or questionable. In his top desk drawer, he had a stack of half-nudes from Holly. He ripped them into dozens of pieces and shoved them to the bottom of the garbage can. On his bulletin board, there were prom pictures of him and Holly. Seemed cruel to leave them up when Josie didn’t ever get to go to a prom. There was also a picture of him and Ash standing arm and arm in front of a Humvee. He moved it from the corner to the center of the board. “I miss you, you dumb son of a bitch.”

“Who’s a son of a bitch?” Josie asked. She was dressed in her pajamas, looking soft and ready to snuggle. Tucker wished she didn’t have dark circles under her eyes, or he’d talk her into delaying sleep for ten, fifteen minutes. But he doubted she’d be awake for five once her head hit the pillow.

“It’s Ash.” He pointed to the picture. “That’s us posing like a couple of tourists. Ash wanted to make a poster that said Bagdad or bust, but we didn’t have any paper.”

“You guys look like you’re having too much fun to be at war.”

“Ash was like that. I don’t know that he had a bad day. Well, until he got shot in the heart.” Tucker sighed, his body feeling as heavy and tired as Josie looked.

Wrapping an arm over her shoulder, he pulled her in for a hug.

“I’m sorry, Tucker. I know how it feels to lose your best friend,” Josie said.

“That you do, baby. That you do.”

Scooping her off her feet, he carried her to bed, and laid her down. Pulling the blankets up to her chin, he brushed her hair back from her cheeks. “It’s all going to be all right. Today was rough, but you made it.”

“We did. Thank you for sticking by me.”

“Where else would I be? I love you. I love my peanut. Speaking of which, how’s he doing?”

“Fine. I guess.” Josie’s hand moved to her belly.

Tucker kissed her. “You go to sleep now. I’ll see you in the morning.” He kissed her one last time before backing out of the room. He flipped off the light and closed the door.

He made his way back to the kitchen. His mom was on her laptop. She turned as he came in the room.

“What are you doing?” Tucker asked.

Marlene closed the lid on the laptop, looking guilty. Tucker reached over her shoulder and flipped it open. Jeb Stone’s construction page.

“I was only curious. What kind of monster does what he did?”

Tucker sat beside her and scrolled through all his holdings from warehouses to garages. Tucker wondered if the police ever searched these places. Several were isolated from everything but trees and grass. Perfect places to hide something. The last page of the site was an “About Stone Construction” page. There was the
happy
family. Jeb, Amanda, and Ariel. Tucker slammed the laptop closed.

“You’d never guess from that perfect picture, would you? People would hire them to build their house and never know they were hiring a monster.” Marlene said with a shake of her head.

“What did you always tell me about perfection?”

“Never trust it,” Marlene said with a sigh. She got up and got herself and Tucker a cup of coffee. Carrying it to him, she said, “She’s awfully pale. Did they check her iron?”

“I suppose. They took blood. This is just a lot of stress on her.”

“Did she really fake her murder?”

“She was scared and ran away. She just wanted to hide from her stepdad.”

“On the news, they’re saying she’s crazy. That she set the whole thing up. The murder. The alleged rape. That Stone guy? He says it was a mutual relationship.”

“He’s a liar.”

Marlene was quiet a minute. Then she scratched under her eye. “Can you imagine what it’s like to get screwed by your own stepdad?”

“No Mom, I can’t,” Tucker said, his brows furrowing together.

“Don’t get mad. I’m just sayin’…that’s got to be one of the worst. And seriously? If I was her mother, I’d have ripped that jerk’s balls off. I still can’t believe how her mother acted. Oh my God…do you think me sending Ed to her with that picture of Josie is why she and that guy came and tried to kidnap her? Is that what got you stabbed? I was trying to be nice to a woman I thought was suffering. She wasn’t suffering…that greedy, hateful whore. I wish she hadn’t killed herself. I’d go back to her house and I’d string her up myself. But I’d punch her in the face first.”

“Easy there, tiger. Slow up and calm down. Be nice to Josie. Be a little less out there, all right? This has all been hard on her.”

Marlene nodded. “I’ll treat her with kid gloves. It’s just so bizarre. I mean things like this only happen on TV, not real life. At least not in our lives.”

“Thank you,” Tucker said, giving her a big hug. “I think I’m going to hit the hay too.”

“I made up the spare bed.”

“I’ll just bunk with Josie.”

“Seriously? Not even going to pretend?”

Tucker rolled his eyes. He could always count on his mom to be a moral wild card who played her hand as she fancied. “I’m not planning to have sex with her, Mother. I’m just going to sleep with her. Besides, what are you worried about? That I’ll knock her up?”