Sanctuary Found (Pelican Bay 2)

“What?” I whispered.

“It’s all part of Gary’s strategy. Even if we get you out of the kidnapping charges, he’s probably going to fight to get Newt back. He’s going to use whatever ammunition he can against you.”

“How did he even find us?” I asked as I sat down on the cot.

“It looks like Trey might have had a hand in it,” Maddox said.

“What?” I asked, completely stunned.

“Trey hired a PI to try and find you… probably so he could get back at you for turning him in for the thing with the violin. If Trey noticed you’d taken Nolan’s old violin, he probably figured you might try to return it to Nolan at some point. It would have been easy for his PI to find you here.”

“So what, he called Gary? How did he even know about him?”

“You said all you had to do was google Newt’s and your names, right? Did Trey know Newt’s name?”

I felt my stomach drop out. I nodded. “I told him once.” I shook my head. “God, I’m so stupid. I even told him about the Isaac Newton thing.”

Maddox sat down next to me and ran his fingers over my hair.

“So Gary came up here to check if it really was me and Newt?” I said.

“Yeah. Jimmy Cornell recognized your picture and sent Gary out to the sanctuary.”

“Who was the guy with him?”

“We’re not sure,” Cam said. I looked up to see him standing outside the jail cell. “When Gary came here to tell us where you were and that there was a warrant out on you, the guy hung back, like he didn’t want anything to do with it. Since he wasn’t the one filing the complaint, we had no reason to ask him who he was. When I served the protective order against Gary earlier tonight, the man wasn’t with him.” He paused and looked at Maddox before saying, “The arraignment’s tomorrow at nine.”

Maddox put his arm around me. “Can I… can I stay with him?”

Cam seemed to think about it a moment, then gave Maddox a quick nod. “I’ve got some calls to make. I’ll need to lock you in,” he said as he motioned to the door.

“That’s fine,” Maddox responded. “Thank you.”

I couldn’t help but jump when the door slid shut with a heavy clang. I suspected it wasn’t exactly within the rules for Maddox to be in the cell with me, much less stay the whole night, but I certainly wasn’t going to complain about it. I leaned into his side as the exhaustion began to overtake me. Newt was safe. That was all that mattered.

“Come here, baby,” Maddox said as he lay down on the cot and pulled me up against him so I was lying with my back to his front. “Get some rest.”

I could feel the tears threatening to start all over again as the uncertainty of it all hit me. “I really can’t see him?” I asked.

“No, Isaac, I’m sorry, you can’t. But hopefully it’ll just be for a few days until we get this all straightened out.”

“But he’s okay,” I murmured.

“He’s missing you and he’s worried, but Dallas and Nolan will take good care of him.”

“Will he have to go into foster care?” I asked. It was one of my biggest fears for Newt besides Gary getting him back. Tears leaked from my eyes at even the thought.

“His lawyer is going to fight for Dallas and Nolan to get temporary custody. Not only does Newt know them, they’re familiar with his medical condition, so the lawyer thinks that will sway the judge. Family Services might not even fight the placement, and with the protective order in place, Gary doesn’t have a leg to stand on. But, Isaac,” Maddox said as he turned me over so I was facing him. “If there’s a custody hearing, you’re going to need to tell everyone what Gary did to you. And if you end up going on trial for kidnapping Newt—”

“I know,” I said with a nod. “I’m ready. Even if they don’t believe me, I’m ready to say it out loud. He didn’t have the right to do what he did to me. Makeup, girly clothes, liking boys… none of that gave him the right to ever lay even a finger on me.”

Maddox carded his fingers through my hair. “No, it didn’t.” He used his free hand to wipe at the dampness of my cheeks.

My chest felt tight as I whispered, “I’m scared, Maddox.”

“I know you are, baby. I am too.” He leaned in to kiss my forehead. “But you’re not alone anymore, okay?”

I sighed and snuggled against his chest. He held me and kept pressing kisses to my head and urging me to sleep for a bit.

Which was exactly what I did.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Maddox

While the arraignment had been a simple process that had literally taken a few minutes, everything else was just a fucking mess.