Through the Storm (The Montclair Brothers) (5 page)

"Mr. Tyler Montclair, from Montclair Pharmaceuticals," Emma enunciated her words. "Was fishing off of the
pier. He'd had a business venture in Florida, and was spending a couple of days in Miami before heading back to Michigan." She could just picture his tanned skin, gorgeous blue eyes, and warm smile, as he introduced himself.

"He literally grabbed my hand and had me off of that pier in minutes. Next thing I know, we were sitting down at a restaurant, and I was spilling my guts to him. I don't know why I did it, but Tyler's very easy to talk to. He doesn't judge. When he told me he had to catch a plane and get back to Southfield the next morning, he asked me to come with him. At first, I was really scared, but then I found myself looking at my choices. Things were pretty bleak in Miami. I had no money, and no place to go. A seventeen year old girl isn't safe on the streets. Anyways, I went with him. Tyler rented me the apartment
I'm in now, and gave me a job at the company doing filing. With an actual address, I was able to get my transcripts and other records transferred. He enrolled me in high school so I could graduate." She got up and sat next to Brian on the bed.

"I took the bus to school every day, but Tyler would bring me to and from the office. For my eighteenth birthday, the Montclair brothers pitched in and bought me a small car. I began working at the company full-time as a secretary, and when I learned the ropes, Tyler hired me as his assistant. One day, I told him that I owed him my life. This is what he said to me: "Be the best person you can be, try hard in life, never lie to me, enjoy what this world has to
offer to you, and never ever allow anyone to bring you harm again. You come to me. This, Emma, is what you owe me.""

"That totally sounds like something he'd say!" Brian was beaming.

"And you know what? He'd say the same things to you. We're your family now, Brian. Tyler is a great guy. All of the Montclairs are wonderful men, but if they ever cross paths with your parents, you'll really see those guys in action."

"I don't ever want to be near my parents again.
Ever. You can understand that, can't you? I'd do anything necessary to get away." Brian was serious, and Emma knew it.

"We all adore you, Brian. No one is going to hurt you."

All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door. Emma got up to answer it, knowing it was the nurse coming to check on Brian.

But it wasn't.

"We're here to speak with Brian," said the detective, as he walked past Emma to his bedside.

"Not without us," said Vincent, as he and Tyler walked into the room behind them.

Tyler walked around Vincent and the detectives, to the other side of Brian's bed. Emma knew Tyler wanted to face everyone, yet still be close to the kid he'd vowed to protect.

Tyler leaned down to look him in the eyes. "Brian, we're here and we're going to be with you every time someone, other than hospital staff, comes in to talk to you. Vincent's your attorney, and if he feels that their questions are overwhelming you, or inappropriate, he'll stop this interview and make them leave. You don't have to be afraid of anything. Now, they're going to ask you about your parents and you have to answer them. That's the only way we'll be able to prevent the hospital from discharging you to their care. Vinnie and I aren't going to let anything happen. You'll be safe under our watch."

Brian creased his forehead and stared at the detectives. Emma could see the numbers on the heart monitor go up and knew that he was getting upset. She walked around, stood next to Tyler, and held Brian's hand.

Brian glanced over at the doorway." Okay, let's get this over with. I'm obviously not in any position to run. I'm injured, and that officer outside is making sure I stay put."

"I'm Detective
Delcan, and this is Detective Joy. The officer outside isn't here to keep you prisoner, he's making sure Robert Preston, or anyone else, doesn't try to harm you again. If you start getting tired, or aren't feeling well, just let us know and we'll come back later." He got out his pad of paper and a pen. "I need you to tell us your full name."

Brian looked at Vincent, who nodded his head.

"…My name's Brian Johnathan Waters."

Emma squeezed his hand tighter.

"How old are you?" asked the detective.

"I'm fourteen. I'll be fifteen on August the eighth." When Brian took
a deep breath, Emma could see what appeared to be a look of defeat cross his face.

"Could you give me your address?"

"It's in Southfield—" Brian abruptly stopped himself.

"Brian," began Vincent. "You have to tell them the truth."

"Why? They're just going to contact my parents. Don't you guys understand that they'll come here? Besides, my parents don't give a shit about my health!" His eyes began to water.

"We'll come back to that, Brian. We aren't here to upset you. Now, do you know who shot you or who started the fire?" Detective Joy asked.

"I heard the gun fire, but I didn't see who was shooting. The smoke was too thick. There's someone chasing us named Robert Preston, Renee's husband. He has shot at us before, on the freeway. I'm positive it was him," he blurted.

"And the fire?"

"I have no idea. The house was old though, so I don't know exactly how it started." Brian appeared to be relieved that the questions were not directed towards his past life.

"Why are you here, in Castle Lake?" Detective Delcan briefly glanced at Tyler.

"I was homeless, okay? Renee Preston and Emma, here, got me off the streets. If it hadn't been for those two, and the
Montclairs, I'd still be eating out of trashcans." Brian tried to laugh, but failed miserably.

Tyler and Vincent looked at each other. Their sad expressions spoke volumes.

"We're glad your friends kept you safe. Did you know Robert Preston before you met Renee?" asked Delcan.

"No, I've never met him before. I still haven't, other than his deadly introductions with guns. Renee had already told me how horrible her husband was, but I got to see it firsthand. We all ended up having to hide from him, especially after he tried to blow our brains out once before. We were literally running for our lives. We had to find a safe place to go. I mean, it's not like we could
have hung out in Southfield. We drove up to Castle Lake to get far away from the psycho. The big house, that caught on fire, belonged to the Montclairs. We figured that Robert wouldn't find any of us up here." Brian winced in pain.

"Are you doing okay, buddy?" asked Vincent.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he replied as he tried to adjust his body.

"The doctors who are treating you, Brian, need to contact your parents to get their consent, and to obtain some medical background on you. You're a minor," began Detective Joy. "Can you tell me how we can contact them?"

"What if they come here!? Brian raised his voice.

"Let's move on to another question," interrupted Vincent. "Make it an important one, because my client needs to get some rest." Emma could see the irritation on Vincent's face.

"According to our sources, you may have been a witness to a crime that took place in Southfield, involving Tyler Montclair."

"You're done," said Vincent, as he turned and held open the door.

∞  ∞  ∞  ∞

Tyler waited until the detectives were gone before telling Brian what a great job he'd done. While Vincent and Emma stayed with him, Tyler walked down to check on Renee before heading to see Jacob. Sean
was with his twin, but was probably exhausted. Renee's door was closed when he approached, and he could hear a nurse talking to her, so he patiently waited out in the hallway. He was still trying to calm himself down from the detectives questioning Brian.
Why would they even bring up the witness topic
? Tyler was grateful that Vincent had intervened. His brother was very protective of his clients, and he was a shark inside of a courtroom. He'd be Brian's first line of defense against his parents.

The nurse stepped out into the hallway. "Hi, I'm Diana, Renee's nurse. I don't think we've met before."

"I'm Tyler Montclair," he held his hand out and shook hers. "May I see her?"

"Now would be a good time. She's awake."

When the nurse walked away, Tyler slowly opened the door.

"Oh my God, Tyler, you're okay…" Renee held out her hand and started to cry.

Tyler went to her.
We almost ended before we even got a chance to begin,
he thought sadly. Looking at her like this, was breaking his heart.
If I see Robert, I'll put him in his grave.

"I'm okay, Baby. I was so worried about you." Tyler held her face. "I didn't think we were going to get everyone to the hospital in time."

"I'm so glad you're here! I haven't really talked to anyone. The nurse said that you guys were stopping by, but they've been keeping me medicated. I sleep a lot." Renee motioned for him to bend down so she could give him a kiss. "I heard that Brian and Jacob made it out of surgery okay. I was in such a panic when I woke up. I didn't know where I was, or if anyone was alive."

Tyler knew he had to change the topic. "Have the detectives come in to question you yet?" He wished he could clone Vincent.

"No, but they left their card with the nurse."

"Okay, don't talk to them unless Vincent is with you. He's now your attorney. He's representing all of us
because the detectives are making their rounds. They just got done questioning, Brian." Tyler didn't want to bring that up, but knowing how close she was with the kid, he knew she'd be angry if he withheld information about him.

"Oh God, Tyler.
I need to see him!" She began to cry harder.

"No, you both need to stay in bed and heal. Brian's just a couple of rooms away, down the hall. When you guys are feeling better, you can see each other."

"How did you find out that they'd questioned, Brian?"

"Vincent and I were in the room with him at the time. We were walking in the hallway, after checking on Jacob, when we spotted
the detectives heading towards his room. We took off and were on their heels before they got the chance to speak to him alone."

The nurse came back into the room. "Renee, you can have some pain medication if you need it."

"No, I'm okay as long as I lay still, don't laugh, yawn, cough, or do aerobics." Renee winked at Diana.

"You have your call light if you need anything," she said, closing the door behind her.

When they were alone again, Tyler leaned over and kissed her forehead. "I love you. I was so scared, Renee." He held her hands and looked down at her. If anyone had died, he'd have lived out the rest of his life crippled inside.
My brother, Renee, and Brian, were almost killed. I was busy running out to the driveway, while they were being shot at. I should have been the last one to leave the house, so I could have helped them.
Guilt was creeping through his veins.

"Tyler, I love you with all of my heart, but I'm not going to let Robert hurt you guys, any more than he already has. I hope you understand that you can't hide me anymore. Two innocent people almost lost their lives, because the psychopath was trying to get to me."

"Listen to me! I'm not letting you go off by yourself. It's not happening, Renee. I'm not budging on this." Tyler's gut twisted at the mere thought of her out there alone and being hunted.

Renee lay silent for a minute. "We can't escape him forever. He'll come for us again, Tyler. He's not done."

"No, we're not going to run. I'll put you guys in hiding until this is over. Vincent is hiring investigators to find Robert. If the police don't get to him before I do, he's a dead man." Tyler meant every word he said.

∞  ∞  ∞  ∞

Robert was livid. The stupid doctor hadn't even fixed his arm.
The bastard
. What the hell good were they anyway? "I'm a big fat doctor and I'll charge too much money not to fix shit!" he yelled out loud. It felt good to finally be able to make some noise. His damn wife sure was causing him a shitload of work. He could be in his apartment, watching ESPN, but
noooo
. His useless wife had decided to walk out on him, all because he asked her to go pick up some beer and snacks for poker night.
What the hell?
Now his arm was busted, and he needed to find out who'd knocked him out…
Who drove that big ass van
.

The girly designed doctor's office was going to open up soon, and then his little stupid patients would see their dead hero. Robert could just picture Dr. Viva Las Vegas reaching for that metal bowl so he wouldn't mess up that clean floor. He laughed at images of the
hole in the doctor's throat. It was the same size as the pansy's eyes.

He'd checked upstairs to dig around and see if the doc had anything clean he could put on. But the stupid
Ripoff Doctor was a puny, boney-faced man.
Was
. Robert laughed. The fridge was stocked though, and Robert could smell the baked chicken and beans he'd heated up in the microwave. Even though he was starving, Robert had to get out of dodge before someone showed up. He wasn't scared of the stupid hick folks, and he knew he had plenty of bullets in his rifle, but Robert hated to waste them on anyone other than his prey.
That's me, King of the Jungle
! He laughed out loud, causing his swollen arm to hurt.

Not that it
creeped him out or anything, but he didn't want the bone that was sticking out to get caught on anything. It was still bleeding some, so Robert had found some gauze and dressing, and wrapped up his arm. "That'll be sixty bucks!" Robert couldn't help but mock the doctor again. His arm wouldn't be very useful in this condition. Hell, he'd had trouble lifting the beauty to shoot the idiot. In a way it was worth it. Now he had a great story for his next poker night. "So this one night, I got hit with a bowl…" He'd never been hit with a bowl before.
Who the hell swings a bowl
? Robert was tempted to get off on an exit, just to tell the patients at that stupid wanna-be doctor's office, how ignorant the man was.
Yep, go ahead and pay the Bowl Slinger.
Robert busted out laughing so hard, it was difficult to keep the car on the road.

Robert's stomach was growling loudly, and that chicken he'd wrapped up and placed in the backseat, smelled better and better by the second. He'd have to find a place to pull over soon. The next exit was to Maryville. As he came to a red light, he was tempted to pick up his rifle and blow the brains out of that stupid blonde who was giving him dirty looks in the next lane, shaking her head, and rolling her eyes.
Who does that Stupid Bitch think she is
?
I'm a killer. Who makes fun of a killer
?
The freakin' King of the Jungle
!

Instead of shooting the twit, Robert pulled into a shopping plaza parking lot and got his meal out of the backseat. He wasn't very happy that it was no longer warm, but it tasted good.
He cooks like a girl.
Robert giggled and stuffed his mouth full with chicken and beans. When he was done eating, he wiped his hands on his jeans and then tossed the empty plate on floor next to him. As he lifted his stretched-out shirt over his large belly to wipe his mouth, he spotted a hospital sign. A new plan struck him immediately. Robert started the car and headed up the road. He grabbed his wallet out of the console, and shoved it under the seat. Concocting a story was going to be simple; doctors are idiots, nurses are women. This would be easy.
Easy peasy
!