Page 29 of I Saw Mommy Kissing Biker Claus

“Ma’am. You need to stop yelling and leave. Or we will be arresting you for calling the police under false pretenses.”

“You’re all worthless,” Loraine spits out and stomps off muttering to herself.

“Okay, I have a feeling there’s more to this,” the officer says.

I sigh. “Before my best friend died, she had a baby. Her parents wanted nothing to do with the baby or Kayla. I don’t know why she wants the baby now. She doesn’t even know if the baby is a boy or girl. But that’s another story. So I have custody of the baby. And this is his daddy.”

“Where is the child now?”

“He’s with my parents,” Valentino answers.

“Do you have the paperwork for custody?” the other officer asks.

“My lawyer here does. We can go there now if you need to see the papers.”

“No, we believe you. But I would keep the papers with you. I don’t think she’s going to give up.”

“Thanks. I won’t be here long.”

“Good luck,” both officers say as they leave.

I turn to everyone.

“Why does it feel like she’s going to be a real problem?”

“We should keep an eye on her. Francesco and I will see what we can find on her,” Sebastiano says.

Francesco nods. “Yeah, I don’t like her and I have a bad feeling about it.”

We head back to my apartment to finish packing and loading the trailer. It feels more urgent now that we hurry and head back to Lake Renegade. I call Lynton and let her know what happened. I worry that Loraine will go after my sister if she can’t find me. Why now? Why is she coming after Davis now? It’s so frustrating not knowing whats’s going on.

Valentino

We’ve been back in Lake Renegade for a week now and there have been no issues. Leighton and I have settled into a routine with Davis. I’ve even started to move some of my stuff into the house. As we’re getting dinner ready, there’s a knock at the door.

“Hey Enzo, is everything okay?” I ask as he comes inside.

“I need you both to stay calm. Salvatore is on his way, he called me a few minutes ago. Somehow Loraine’s lawyer got a judge to sign an arrest warrant for Leighton, saying she kidnapped Davis. The warrant says she had something to do with Kayla’s accident.”

“She would never…how the fuck did this happen?”

“From what I can tell, she knows this judge. We’re contesting it now because if she knows this judge personally, that’s a conflict of interest and we will get him disbarred. But the first step is Sal needs to take Leighton and Davis. Mirabelle is waiting at the station to take Davis. We asked her to be there and she of course said yes. She’s going to make sure he’s okay. And your mam has her foster care license, so she’ll be taking over Davis’ care. The only catch is that Leighton can’t be near Davis till this is over.”

“Wait. Are you fucking kidding me? What about all the paperwork we have for Davis? Leighton has custody of him.”

“Am I going to lose him?” Leighton asks as she comes into the room.

I walk over to her and wrap my arms around her.

“No. You’re not going to lose Davis. But we need to do this the right way. Your papers are in the system, but because they’re not finalized, it’s not technically legal. Since we had a court date for the judge to sign yours and Valentino’s petitions, we’re in good standing. But we still need to do it this way. I don’t know how much you heard?—”

“I heard everything. Mirabelle, is that Niccolò’s wife? She’s the social worker?”

“Yes, that’s her. She’s going to make sure no one touches Davis and that he goes from Sal to her to Caitríona. Then back to you and Valentino. But again, you can’t be around Davis, so I need you to stay away from the main house until this is over.”

“How long are we talking about?” I ask.

“I’m hoping not more than a few days. We’re pushing the court date up to tomorrow. Once the judge signs the custody papers, you’re good and Davis can come home. We’ve already proven that’s what Kayla wanted. Also, Carl is on his way here to help us if needed.”

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