Sweet Taboo

19

DeSean

“Tommy,I need you to cover me. Tegyn. Keyon.” I spluttered out an explanation that I knew made little sense. My mind was elsewhere.

“Go. I got you. Marvin will understand.” Tommy practically shoved me out the door.

This was some bullshit. I was in security and I couldn’t even protect my house. I rushed across the parking lot to my truck, unlocked it, hopped in the cab, and started racing toward the house. While I drove I tried to process Tegyn’s text. There was a woman with a gun and a garage remote. I swallowed hard. Maybe Camilla wasn’t as stupid as I thought. Maybe all those nights that she’d been alone in the house, she’d been plotting and planning how to hurt me, how to completely ruin me. Somehow, she’d figured out the combination to the safe. I swallowed hard. It was set to the six-digit date of my first kiss with Tegyn. How could she possibly guess that?

I grabbed my cellphone from the cup holder, determined to call Camilla. There was a still a chance I could talk her down. I used to be able to reason with her. That was the only way we’d lasted as long as we did. I hit the button and the phone rang and rang, but she refused to pick up. On the off-chance she’d actually listen to a message, I decided to leave one. And I chose my words carefully.

“Camilla, I know you at the house. Think of our son. Don’t wreck him. Don’t hurt the person taking care of him. Please.” I could feel my throat closing up. I didn’t want to get all choked up on the phone so I ended the call.

None of this made sense.

I arrived at the house in record time. As I pulled into the neighborhood, there were cops pulling in right behind me. Obviously, Tegyn had managed to get through to 911. Still, as long as she’d been alone with Camilla, I feared the worst. My ex was crazy and ruthless.

I pulled in behind her vehicle, parked outside the garage. If I could prevent an easy escape, I was going to do it. The garage door was stuck less than two feet off the ground. I hopped out of the vehicle, scanning the area and seeing no one, listening but hearing nothing. I wasn’t sure whether that was bad or good.

As I started toward the house, an officer raced from his car in an effort to stop me. “Sir! Sir!”

I paused and turned to him. “My ex-wife is after my new girl, and my baby boy is in there. Let me try to talk her out.”

“I can’t let you do that, sir.” He shook his head.

“Oh, I’m not asking.” I took a few more steps toward the house. A second later, I saw my son crawling out from under the garage door and felt hopeful for the first time since I’d received her text.

I rushed to him and snatched him up. Then I rushed back to my truck where the other officers waited. Though he wore winter jammies, he didn’t have anything on his feet, evidence that Tegyn hadn’t had much time to try to get them out. “Where’s Tegyn?” I asked him, even as I stared at the door, willing Tegyn to crawl out next.

“T garage.” Then he looked at me with wide eyes. “Mommy here.”

I sighed. “I know, buddy.” The cop car was still running. “Can he wait in here?” I asked. “I need him safe and warm.”

One officer nodded. “I’ll stay with him.”

There were three other cars and countless other officers to enter the house and stake out the exits. “I’m going to crawl under the door,” I announced. “You can go in through the front door. This is the key.” I passed them my key ring with the house key held up. “Camilla is unbalanced. Check the police reports. About a week ago, she broke in here and tried to kill herself. I can’t let her hurt anyone I love.” Then I strode down the driveway to the garage.

“Sir.”

I ignored them. I had to. Tegyn was my everything, and Camilla was determined to take her away from me. At the garage door, I listened carefully. Camilla seemed unaware of the commotion outside. To their credit, the cars had pulled in lights only, which meant no sirens gave them away. I took a deep breath and pulled the gun from my holster and hid it in the back of my pants, then pulled my shirt over it. Inside the garage, I could hear Tegyn trying to keep her calm.

“Camilla, Keyon shouldn’t be out in the street by himself. Please go check on him. You can tie me up. I’ll wait. I just don’t want anything to happen to him,” she pleaded.

“Shut up!” I could hear a thud and I suspected Camilla had hit Tegyn with a blunt object. “I need to get rid of you before DeSean gets back. Then everything will be fine,” Camilla muttered. She sounded even crazier than she did the night she broke the glass door in the basement.

“What good will that do? I don’t think getting rid of me will solve the problem.” Tegyn sighed.

There was another sound. This time I recognized metal and I guessed she’d resorted to pistol whipping Tegyn. “Maybe now you shut up. I gotta think.”

“If you want to get on his good side, try loving his son. Take care of your boy.”

I swallowed hard. That woman was more worried about Keyon than she was her own life. I couldn’t take it anymore. I shouted under the door, “Camilla, I’m coming in.” I had no idea what I’d find, but I couldn’t stay out here when Tegyn was being hurt in there. Slowly, I crawled under the door so I could be in there with them. When I managed to get inside the garage, I found Tegyn bleeding from her temple and her mouth. She looked slightly dazed, but calm, despite having her hands and feet taped together with duct tape Camilla had taken from my workbench in the garage. Damn, I made this too easy on her. She was using all my stuff against me.

“Keyon’s okay,” I told Tegyn. “He’s in the police car.” I watched Camilla for a reaction. Her eyes widened. “It’s not too late to get out of this, Camilla.”

She glanced back and forth between me and Tegyn. “It was always too late, wasn’t it? From the minute you two met.” She shook her head. “I knew. I always knew.”

“Camilla, we had agreed to separate. You were living in the basement family room. I wasn’t cheating on you.” I sighed.