Flynn's In (Lexi Frost Series) (30 page)

“Be my guest. I should probably warn you though
, Sophie implied she had poor experiences with foster families before. Part of the problem, in my opinion, is that she’s found a desirable situation and you’re trying to pull her away from it to put her back into a situation she found so intolerable she preferred living on the streets. Granted I just met the child at dinner, but she seems to have her mind made up.”

“You can
’t just go picking up children off the streets like they were stray dogs, Mr. Peterson.”

“Call me Flynn
,” he gave McNally a softer, more sincere smile, trying again to connect with her. “I’m aware there are legalities and protocols. I called our lawyer before dinner and he’s looking into what needs to be done to make everything nice and legal.”

She smirked at him as she stood. “I doubt a judge would agree
, Mr. Peterson. I know who you are. I know you and Ms. Giles aren’t married. I know you can’t have been together too long because your last marriage hasn’t even been over for a year. You’re unstable. That’s not a healthy environment for any child, let alone one who’s lived through the hardships this one has.”

Not a fan
, Flynn decided. He should have held his tongue, and saw his own surprise in her face as he answered her. “What do you know about Sophie and her hardships? Do you even know her last name? Do you know anything of Teri? Of the children she’s raised? For that matter, do you know anything of the three girls I’ve raised?”

His phone rang
, stopping him from saying anything he’d regret. The caller id said it was Dev.

“Hello?
” Flynn answered with concern.

“Flynn
, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to interrupt, but Mom got so mad when we didn’t tell her last time,” Dev started, speaking almost too fast for Flynn to understand.

“Slow down. What happened?
”

“I crashed on my skateboard and broke my shoulder.
”

“Are you okay? Aside from the obvious.
”

“Sure
, I mean it was bound to happen eventually. Only don’t tell Mom that, okay?”

“Of course not. Anything else I should know?
”

“Alicia left for college in
California this morning. Kenny got kind of mad and was speeding and hit a tree. He’s okay, but he totaled his car and now he’s moping and writing ‘she left me’ songs.”

“But he
’s okay?” Flynn frowned. First a broken shoulder now a car accident? He caught himself rubbing a hand across his forehead to ward off the first signs of a headache and forced himself to stop.

“Yeah. Couple of scrapes is all. Jess laughed at him though and fell off the back of the couch and has a concussion. And
Bryan eloped with Brenda. They flew to Vegas a few hours after you left.”

Flynn paused while he digested this. “All right. But you
’re all okay.”

“Yeah. I hope it
’s not a bad time . . .”

Flynn could almost hear Dev blushing. He glanced at Ms. McNally before he could stop himself.

“No, you’re fine,” he said, listening to his voice and hearing the strain of nearly overwhelming stress in it.

“Did you ask her?
”

“Yeah
, it’s a go. We’ll tell you about that later. It’s possible you might have more surprises than we do. We’ll let Nicholas be the judge. You haven’t hidden his phone or anything have you?”

“No. He just thought it
’d be better to wait until morning, but I remember how mad Mom got.”

“I
’ll fill her in. Thanks for the heads up.” Flynn hung up. Teri was hovering over him.

“Who was that?
”

“Dev. Everything
’s more or less fine. I’ll tell you about it later.”

“More or less? What do you mean? What happened?
”

He gazed at her worried expression. This wasn
’t the time, not with these particular witnesses. Good thing he had experience spinning news lately.

“Bryan and Brenda eloped
, I’m hazy on the details. Dev learned his lesson well about delaying information for the sake of disrupting our alone time. I didn’t mention we’re not alone. Nicholas was going to wait until morning. Also Kenny totaled his car, but he’s fine, only a few scrapes.”

“
That’s
an afterthought?”

“What you should be wondering about
, is how you’re going to pitch it to your sixteen-year-old that he’s going to have a little sister. He’s still celebrating the departure of one and a half sisters and you’re bringing home another one.”

That brought Teri up short.

Flynn laughed. “Don’t worry, I speak teenage boy. You go speak pre-teen girl.”

“I hate to be the voice of reason
, but that child is a ward of the state,” Ms. McNally spoke up.

Teri looked at her
, momentarily shocked, then to Flynn who shooed her back to the bedroom.

“Not to make light of your position
, or the state’s,” Flynn said apologetically, “but I have great faith in good lawyers.”

The doorbell chimed again and Flynn moved to answer it
, praying it was Kyle. It was.

“Flynn
, I’m sorry it took me so long to get here.”

“Not at all
, Kyle, come in, join the party.” Flynn let Kyle Mercer’s thin graying figure into the room and closed the door. “This is Ms. McNally of Child Services and Officer Waters.”

“A pleasure.
” Kyle nodded to each. “I’ll make this brief, it’s already late.” He looked around. “Where’s Sophie?”

“She locked herself in the bathroom.
”

“Well that
’s certainly one way of expressing herself. It won’t be necessary. Can you retrieve her? And I suppose Teri’s with her?”

“I
’ll get them both.” Flynn retreated once more to the bedroom. “Kyle’s here. I gather he has it figured out and wants both of you to join us,” he told Teri quietly.

“Are you
sure
?” Sophie pressed.

“Honey
, high paid lawyers were put on earth for a reason, this is part of it. I trust Kyle. I’m pretty sure it’s okay.”

“Go away then. I have to get dressed.
”

Flynn laughed and left.

Kyle eyed him quizzically when he returned alone.

“She has to get dressed
, but she agreed to come. In lawyers she trusts,” Flynn added for Ms. McNally’s benefit.

“Good for her
,” Kyle nodded his approval.

Sophie came out a few minutes later
, being pulled along by Teri. Her fluffy yellow robe was big on her, and her blond hair a mess of dried tangles. Teri handed Flynn a brush.

“Right. Come here
, Sophie, let’s get the tangles out of your hair. You can’t sleep on it like that, you’ll get dreadlocks.”

“Tommy has dreadlocks
,” Sophie shrugged.

“It
’s not a good look for you.” Flynn sat and pulled Sophie onto his lap. “This is Mr. Mercer, he’s a very nice lawyer.”

“Don
’t you believe him, Sophie, I’m not a nice lawyer at all. I’m a good one.” Kyle smiled at her. Sophie giggled.

“And this is Ms. McNally and Officer Waters
,” Flynn continued. Sophie glanced at them, then curled up in Flynn’s lap and hid her face against his chest. He put his arms protectively around her for the moment, postponing the task of brushing out her hair.

“Well
, since all the relevant parties are here,” Kyle started, then noticed Teri hovering protectively behind where Flynn sat with Sophie. “Sit down, Teri, this shouldn’t take long.”

Teri sat on the arm of the chair next to Flynn. She started to fiddle with the ring that was now back on her finger now that Sophie was out of the bathroom. Flynn noticed and took her hand in his
, stopping her immediately.

“I took the liberty of speaking to Judge Miller on your behalf
, Teri. Since Sophie has previously been under the supervision of the state and decided to sever that relationship, successfully and at an early age, in preference for self reliance, Judge Miller sees no harm in allowing Teri to maintain temporary custody until sufficient information is gathered to support the petition for permanent custody I filed earlier. There will be an informal hearing in his chambers in no more than two weeks where he will review the situation further.”

“That
’s outrageous!” Ms. McNally protested.

Kyle handed her a copy of the papers. “No
, it’s simply more expedient than you’re accustomed to. The same decision would have been reached through the normal, slower, process but by then there was an excellent chance the subject matter would have run away again. It seemed in the child’s best interest to bend to her desire and keep her in a safe environment. You’re familiar with Judge Miller, he handles many of the cases for Social Services.”

“You bought him off!
”

“Don
’t be absurd. I’m not foolish enough to try to bribe a judge, I’d be disbarred. And I suggest you don’t level any accusations along those lines against him, he’d have your head on a platter. Miller is above reproach and you know it.

“Now
, you have the necessary paperwork. Go find something useful to do. Your work here is done.”

Kyle stepped aside to allow Ms. McNally a clear path to the door. Officer Waters
, taking the hint, stood and gently took Ms. McNally’s arm to assist her on her way. He turned at the door and nodded to Teri and Flynn.

“Good luck to you both.
” Then looking at Kyle, he smiled. “Well played.”

“Thank you.
”

Officer Waters left with Ms. McNally and Kyle turned back to Teri. Flynn prodded Sophie to sit up and started gently brushing her hair.

“Of course that was just a stalling tactic. Peter Miller and I belong to the same club and share drinks on occasion, although professionally we’ve never crossed paths. Separate realms. I laid the whole thing out for Peter and he seems amicable to letting Brandon Mayhew sign over paternal rights and letting you adopt Sophie, but we have to be careful. We can’t pay him or give him any sizable gifts or the promise of a reward. Nothing from the two of you, lest it be considered a transaction. Selling children is, of course, illegal.

“Tim
’s got a very good investigator on the payroll, well, actually he’s not on the payroll officially, which is what makes him particularly useful. We’ll handle Mayhew. I don’t want either of you trying to find him, clear?”

“Leave it to the professionals. Check
,” Flynn agreed.

“And Sophie can
’t leave New York until this is legally resolved. So even though you’ve got custody, Teri, you can’t take her back to Seattle.”

“But the boys
—”

“I
’ll go get them,” Flynn said.

“I hope that ring means what I think
,” Kyle gestured to Teri’s left hand.

“Officially engaged. How soon do you want us officially married?
” Flynn answered.

Teri looked at him suspiciously.

“That was in my pocket at dinner, you just sprung your surprise first. What’s the point of a long engagement if it’s an obstacle to getting Sophie back to Seattle?”

Teri gave him an approving nod.

“Peter’s old fashioned. I told him I was pretty sure you two were getting married, but I’d check on it. He would have felt better if you’d already been married a year, but we can’t have everything.”

“Then aren
’t elopements romantic? I’ll even argue it was my plan all along.” Flynn smiled.

“All right then. I
’ll let you two put Sophie to bed. She looks tired —”

“I
’m not,” Sophie protested, then unsuccessfully tried to stifle a yawn.

Flynn handed Sophie off to Teri and walked Kyle to the door. By the time he thanked him and locked up
, Teri already had Sophie tucked in and she was groggily incoherent. He kissed Sophie’s forehead and left to find something to keep him busy. He hadn’t planned on sleeping alone tonight and he was still struggling with the concept.

Teri
’s bags were still against the wall in the living room. Flynn felt like they were mocking him, there was little doubt she planned on sleeping with Sophie tonight. It was reasonable, he admitted to himself. Sophie was a little girl who’d had a long day and was in an unfamiliar place. It’d be good for a night or two to have someone there if she woke up.

Wandering into his bathroom
, he tossed towels in the hamper and collected Sophie’s toothbrush and toothpaste. He took them and put them in the smaller bathroom that connected to the extra bedroom. Gathering her clothes, he quietly entered her room again and laid them on the dresser. Teri followed him out, leaving the bedside lamp on and a book on the nightstand.