All In: Betting on a Full House (Gambling With Love) (20 page)

"Could it be possible for someone to mistake a long black flashlight for a gun?"

"I don't know."

"Your Honor, may I approach the witness?" Montgomery asked the judge as was required.

"Yes, you may."

"Officer Evans, I want you to identify what has been marked as Defense Exhibit B and Defense Exhibit F. Could you tell the jury what those items are?"

"Exhibit B is the flashlight I was carrying that night and Exhibit F is the department issued Glock .40 handgun that I carried."

"What colors are both exhibits?"

"Black."

"And how many inches long would you say Exhibit B, the flashlight is?"

"Guessing, I'd say about eight or nine inches."

"What would be your guess to the length of your firearm, Exhibit F?"

"Maybe ten inches."

"So the two exhibits are similar in color and size?"

"Yes."

"Officer Evans, did you shoot the defendant when you approached his car?"

"No, I didn't even have my gun out."

"When did you shoot the defendant?"

"After he shot me, I got back into my police cruiser and called it in, then followed him with my blue lights on until he came upon our police barricade near the Wendover Bridge. He jumped out of his car and ran. I followed. I called out and told him to surrender himself. He kept running and then I didn’t hear him anymore so I stopped and that's when he shot me in my upper leg. I fired at the direction of his shooting, which is when one of my bullets hit him. The other officers arrived at the scene and took over the chase while I was loaded onto an ambulance and taken to the hospital."

"So you were persistent in chasing down the defendant?"

"Yes, I knew he was armed and dangerous since he'd shot me."

"Did you get angry at him?"

"Getting shot did piss me off. Especially since it was only for a minor traffic stop. But I guess he didn't want to get arrested on the warrant for armed-"

"Objection. The witness is giving an opinion," Joe hollered out to stop me mid-sentence. He didn't want the jury to know his man was wanted.  

"Sustained. Officer Evans, keep your answers to what you know unless you're asked your opinion."

An hour later there were thankfully no more questions. I was fucking pissed when court recessed for a fifteen minute break.

"Can you give us a minute?" I asked my parents, then ushered Jess, Lauren and Caleb into a court conference room and shut the door before turning to them.

"How the
fuck
did he find out about our fight?" I asked the three of them. "Did you tell him all that shit?" I asked Jess, and she paled.

"Tyler, calm down," Lauren said.

"That little story that happened hours before the shooting makes me look like a trigger happy, hothead, looking for someone to shoot."

"This little outburst isn't helping," Caleb said.   

"Jess?" I asked again since she hadn't answered.

"You're an asshole for even asking me that," she said before storming out.

"Tyler, you don't really think she'd tell her boss anything about you or us, do you?" Lauren asked before following Jess.

"Damn it, someone told them about what happened between us."

"It wasn't exactly a secret with my black eye and all our scrapes and bruises. Everyone noticed that night at the hospital. One of your fellow officers asked me about it in front of everyone in the waiting room," Caleb told me. I couldn't believe this was the first I'd heard about it.

"And what the fuck did you tell him?" I asked.

"Calm the hell down, Ty. I didn’t know what to say when he commented that it was a coincidence that you’d come to work looking fucked up too. So I told him we were training for MMA. It was the best I could come up with on such short notice."

There was a knock on the conference room door. When I jerked it open Joe-motherfucking-Montgomery was standing on the other side.

"What do you want?" I barked.

"Tyler, you know it's nothing personal. I have to do my job and that’s defending my client."

"Right, because he's so fucking innocent."

"As his attorney I have to believe what he tells me, do my job in court, and let the jury decide the truth."

I sat down in one of the chairs at the conference room table, head in my hands to take deep breaths to try and cool down.

"I saw Jess leave upset," Joe said.

"Are you going to use that against me too?" I asked, not bothering to even look at him.

"No. But just so you know, she's never told me anything about you. This is why I didn't want her working on the case, not just for my client's sake, but for yours as well."

"Then how the fuck did you find out all that shit?"

"You know I can't tell you my sources. But I can tell you that my client was in surgery at the same time you were. His people were in the same waiting room with your people."

"Fuck," Caleb said rubbing a hand through his hair.

"There are eyes and ears everywhere, as you should know from being in the media's spotlight for weeks."

"Right."

"Don't let this case come between you and Jess. It's not worth it," Joe said.

"I could lose my job, my badge because of this case."

"None of that has anything to do with her."

"I have her and three kids to support now, so yeah it does have to do with her."

"You'll be fine. But if you hurt my assistant and don’t make it right, I'll kick your ass."

"I've got to try and find her."

"There's no time right now. The judge will be back any minute," he said before pulling the door open and leaving the room.

"Shit. I can't wait for this damn trial to be over," I told Caleb as we headed back to the courtroom. Lauren was standing with my parents but Jess was nowhere in sight.

"She went home," Lauren answered, before I could ask. I pulled out my phone and sent her a quick text apologizing, then turned it back off before the judge came in.

My parents looked disappointed. I hated seeing that look on their faces, and being the cause of it.

"Ty, what were you thinking? Lashing out at your wife because of your own stupid decisions?" my dad asked, apparently figuring out what'd happened.

"I know. I fucked up, but I'm stuck here for at least three more hours."

"That should be plenty of time for you to figure out how to make it up to her," my mom said with a frown. "And don't even get me started on how disappointed we are about what you did to poor Caleb. He's been like your brother for twelve years Tyler, and you let a girl you just met come between you? No offense, Lauren."

"Thanks, Mrs. Evans, but I forgave the bastard," Caleb responded with a playful punch to my shoulder.

"I feel like this is gang up on Tyler day. Shit, everyone is going to know how I fucked up once the media releases this tonight."

"Good thing you got all that positive PR with Jess," Lauren said, reminding me of how happy we'd been then, and how I'd managed to hurt Jess with just a few words.

"As a man who has twenty-four years of fuck-ups under his belt, I'd suggest flowers and a lot of begging on your knees for her forgiveness," my dad offered. I only remembered him doing any of that once. The year I was about nine and he had forgotten my mom's birthday.

"We haven't been married but two weeks and I've already screwed up with her."

"But the good thing about having arguments with your spouse is that they love you and will eventually forgive you. If you're lucky," my mom said.

"Jewelry always works too," Lauren added, and I noticed she had a new charm bracelet and earrings I'd never seen on her before. I smiled, glad to know Caleb fucked up sometimes too.

"What did you do?" I asked him.

"Nothing," he said, and instead of a blow off to the question it sounded like that was actually the problem. He'd done nothing when he should have done … something? I had a feeling Lauren was getting impatient waiting on a ring from him.

Tyler

Three and a half hours later I finally pulled into our apartment complex. I headed up the steps with roses and strawberry short cake. Unlocking the door I tried to push it open but it caught. I pushed again and realized she'd chained the damn door

"Fuck," I mumbled as I leaned my forehead against the wood. It was worse than I'd thought. "Jess, baby, please let me in. I'm so sorry."

Nothing but silence.

"I was a jackass because I'd just been humiliated and ruined, but instead of blaming myself like I should have, I took it out on you."

Nothing.

"Baby, what can I do to make this up to you? I've got flowers for you and strawberry short cake. You've been craving it for days, right?"

I heard a sniffle through the crack in the door, which made me feel even worse. I sat down with my back against the wall since it looked like I was going to be out here a while.

"God, Jess. This has been the shittiest day ever. Everyone knows I fucked my best friend's girlfriend, while he was off serving our country. Then we beat the shit out of each other, which makes me look like a hotheaded, asshole cop. The shooting wasn't my fault and I can't lose my job over this bullshit. I've got you and our family to take care of. But worst of all I hurt you. I'm sorry baby. I know you didn’t say anything, and wouldn't ever say anything. Damn it, I just snapped. I couldn't believe he knew about all of my personal shit. Joe said the defendant's family or friends overheard about it all in the waiting room that night and told him. The trial should finish up tomorrow afternoon, and then go to the jury. Twelve people are going to decide if that bastard is guilty or if I fucked up. God, I need you baby, even though I don't deserve you after what I said. I need you so much right now."

I heard footsteps coming up the wooden steps but didn't move to stand up. I didn't care who saw me sitting outside my own damn apartment.

"Hey, Ty. What the hell are you doing out here?" Jon asked when he came up on the landing, wearing his bookbag.

"Hey, Jon. How was school?"

"Same old. Are you locked out?"

"I screwed up. Said shit without thinking."

"Bad day in court?"

"Oh yeah. Don't turn on the news."

"Oh-kay. So am I allowed inside?"

"I'm sure you are."

"Hey sis, you going to let me in and take pity on your sad looking husband, or do we have to sleep out here tonight?"

The door shut and we heard the chain being undone.

"Yes, we are in!" Jon exclaimed.

"You're in. I don't think I'm welcome. Will you take the flowers and cake to her for me?"

"Sure," he said, scooping them up and heading inside. I knew I could've just gone in with him, but if she didn't want to see me I wasn't going to push her.

"Come on Ty, she said you could come in too," Jon came back and told me.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. So come on before she changes her mind." He held the door open for me, and I jumped up to go inside.

Jess wasn't in the living room or kitchen where the flowers and cake sat on top the bar, so I headed to the closed bedroom door. I tried the knob and it turned so I pushed it open and stepped inside, closing it behind me. Jess was curled up on her side of the bed closest to the door, her back to me.

I took my shoes off then climbed up on the bed, wrapping my arms around her, burying my face in her hair. I exhaled the breath I'd been holding when she didn't try to pull away.

"I love you baby, and I'm so sorry I hurt you," I told her. We laid there in silence until we both fell asleep.

…

Jessica Evans

I woke up and it was still dark outside. Tyler's arms were wrapped tightly around me like they'd been all night long.

I knew yesterday had been a terrible day for him. When Joe brought up the fight with Caleb my heart had stopped. I'd known then that Tyler would think I'd been the one to tell Joe. I'd hoped he trusted me more than that, but I'd ended up being wrong.

There was a lot on the line with this stupid trial, and I couldn't imagine how bad he felt having all his dirty laundry aired in front of everyone. By my boss. Of course he was pissed at me for working for Joe, knowing he'd tried to make him look bad in front of everyone. I knew how he felt.

After our honeymoon, the media found our marriage license with our full names, put that out in the world, and dug up the fact that'd I'd been a stripper when Tyler and I met. I'd gone from a sweet, pretty pregnant woman to the slutty stripper that'd been knocked up by a police officer. The dust was just settling on that whole ordeal and now there was this to deal with.

I'm sure the media had told it all by now. Oh and I bet Tyler hated his parents finding out what he'd done. He had so much stress on him and I'd gone and shut him out because he’d hurt my feelings in a momentary outburst of misdirected anger.

I rolled over to face Tyler and watched him sleep. He was so beautiful he could've easily been a model instead of a policeman. There was a crease between his eyebrows like he was thinking too hard in his sleep. His short blonde hair was messy and sexy, and his perfect full lips were parted. He'd come to bed still in his uniform last night, and fell asleep before taking it off.

I started working on undoing the buttons of his shirt. I ran my fingertips along the badge that was over his heart, then the "Evans" on the nameplate on the right side of his chest. His job meant so much to him, and I didn't want him to be forced to give it up.

I finished with the shirt buttons, spreading it open to show his white cotton under shirt, then headed for his pants. Undoing his belt I slid his zipper down and popped the top button. My hand teased his sexy stomach up under his t-shirt before dipping into his boxers. Sure enough he was long and hard, just like every morning. My touch woke him up, and his hips thrust forward into my grip. Those dark blue eyes I loved blinked at me a few times before he grabbed the sides of my face to pull my lips to his. He kissed me frantically, pressing his body against mine as he pushed me onto my back.

"I'm so sorry. I love you so damn much," he said between kisses.

"I know. I love you too," I told him.

Tyler's hands went urgently to my panties, jerking them down my legs then sinking his cock into me, all the rest of our clothes remaining in place while we made love. It was a reminder of how right it felt to be together, no matter what challenges or obstacles we faced.

As we caught our breath, he was still in me when the nausea suddenly hit. I pushed against his chest and he finally realized what was wrong, moving away for me to run to the bathroom and lose all the contents of my stomach.

"Oh baby, I hate seeing you sick," Tyler said, when he kneeled down behind me and held my hair back while I hugged the toilet. "Why don't we ask the doctor at next week's appointment if they're something they can give you to help with the morning sickness?"

I nodded and grabbed toilet paper to wipe my face before standing up to turn the shower on. While the water warmed I brushed my teeth, then Tyler pulled my nightshirt over my head. I pushed his uniform shirt down and then pulled his t-shirt off. He worked off his pants and boxers, then we climbed into the shower together. We took turns washing each other, and then dried off to climb back into bed.

Since Tyler was in trial he didn't have to report at six a.m. like usual. We had until nine-thirty before we had to be in court, three hours from now.

We laid on our sides awake and facing each other, content to just be in each other's arms.

"I'm sorry Joe brought up everything yesterday. But even with all that they're going to find Richardson guilty. Everyone knows he's a lying sack of shit," I assured him.

"I hope so."

"Besides there are seven women and only five men on the jury. The women have been checking you out the whole time, even when you weren't on the stand."

"So you think that's why they'll find the asshole guilty?" he asked.

"No, they'll find him guilty because he is guilty, but it won't hurt that they think you're hot."

"Like that will matter, now that they know what I did to my best friend."

"That doesn't have anything to do with the shooting."

"The judge thinks it does, since he made me answer the questions."

"Don’t worry about it, it's going to be fine, you'll see. The interns at work think it's a lost cause for our client, but he didn't have anything to lose going to trial. That's why Joe's representing him."

…

The jury started deliberating later that afternoon and the judge gave them the weekend off, adjourning until Monday morning. By lunchtime on Monday afternoon they had a verdict. The bastard was guilty of course.

Our client was taken away to a long, long prison sentence. Tyler's job was perfectly safe, and on Tuesday we headed back to the doctor for the twelve week chromosome abnormality ultrasound.

"So Mr. and Mrs. Evans, are you ready to see your babies again?" the cheerful technician asked. She had short dark hair and was older than the last woman that'd done our ultrasound at around nine weeks. On a side note, I loved being referred to as Mr. and Mrs. Evans.                                                                

"Yes, we can't wait," I told her.

"Alright, here we go," she said, moving the paddle around on my growing belly.

"At least it's not a vaginal ultrasound. That thing was scary," Tyler joked.

Soon our two babies were showing on the screen, even bigger than before.

"So how does everything look?" I asked as she measured various parts of them.

"Great. I don't see any apparent chromosome abnormalities. Do you want to know the genders or is it going to be a surprise?"

"Oh we definitely want to know," Tyler told her.

"Well in that case, meet your daughters."

"They're girls? Both of them? You're sure?" I asked, completely stunned. I thought it was too early to tell.  

"Yep, girls. And I'd say my guess is about eighty-five to ninety percent accurate. I've been doing this longer than the other techs and haven't been wrong but once or twice. Boys that were late developers."

"Oh my God," Tyler said. "We're having two little girls!"

"You're okay with girls?" I asked him.

"Of course I'm okay with girls. They are going to be a helluva lot easier than boys," Tyler said with a kiss.

"Girls. Wow," I was still in shock when the ultrasound tech handed us the roll of pictures and left the room for me to get dressed.

"You okay, baby?" Tyler asked. "I thought you were sort of leaning towards wanting them to be girls."

"I-I was. I'm happy they're girls."

"So you're just still in shock?"

"I'm ready," I told him.

"Okay, let's go. I can't wait to tell everyone."

"No, I mean I'm ready. To take out charges. Have my father arrested. We're having girls and I don’t want to bring them into a world where a man like him is free. I wouldn't want to bring boys into the world with him free either, but I feel like I
need
to do this before they're born. What if he was to find us? I’ll feel safer with him locked up."

My dad deserved to be punished for what he did, and even though I knew it was going to be a tough road, it was one I was finally ready to take. For my and Jon's sake, and our girls. Our sweet, innocent girls. I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing my father was out there and could find us, or them. I knew Jon would feel safer too, and was almost certain he still had nightmares. Maybe seeing our father go off to serve a long prison sentence would give us both the closure we need to finally put our past behind us.

Tyler hugged me tight. "I'm so proud of you. I know it's going to be like being in hell all over again, but he shouldn't get away with what he did to you and Jonathan."

"Will you go with me? To talk to the prosecutor?" I asked.

"Of course. I'll be there the whole time, through it all, okay? And we can meet with one of the female prosecutors if you think that'd make it easier for you."

"Yeah, I think I'd rather talk to a woman."

"Then I'll set it up for late one afternoon, so you won't have to take time off from work."

"Okay. Let's do it." I could do this. With Tyler's love and support I was strong enough now, and ready to take my father on. I wasn't a scared little girl anymore. I was a mother, and I was determined to do a better job raising and protecting my kids than our mom had done for us.