Page 98 of Speechless
“It was denied, because you currently don’t reside in Colorado. They spoke to Hadley and told him they were submitting the petition here in Montana. He managed to get them to agree to delay the submission; in return, they wanted to see you. They told him they would give him—me—time to persuade you.”
“I don’t like this, Connor.”
He barely stopped himself from fisting her hair. “I know, baby. Me either. Your parents filed the petition this morning, early this morning, before Hadley was aware. They’ve made a claim that you’re…” How the fuck did he put this delicately? “Mentally unstable. Normally, you’d be given a psych exam to establish any mental illness, but the judge decided that due to the circumstances of the case and open investigation, it was in your best interests to be—”
“No.” And here came the little. “Daddy, no.”
“Jenna, baby, you need to listen to me now. Carefully. Do you understand?” His voice cracked in response to the whimper of her own. He cleared it forcefully, tried to soothe the shudders ripping through her. “The judge ordered you be taken into psychiatric care, under the guardianship of your parents. That’s why Hadley’s here, baby.”
“No!”
She wriggled away from him, rolling onto the floor in her haste and crawling across the floor, the duvet dragging behind her. Luna followed in an instant, whining and licking at Jenna’s face.
“Zeke knows some people. He’s trying to overturn the order, Jenna. He’s working hard to stop this.” Fuck, she was crying. Big gulping sobs. He stood and went to her, pausing when Luna whirled on him. “Luna, halt.”
The dog stood her ground as Jenna collapsed in the corner, her back to him. He snapped his fingers and pointed at the dog, exerting his authority. For several long, fraught moments, the dog denied his demand for obedience and did exactly what he’d bought her to do.
She guarded.
“Luna,” he said again, softer this time. “Halt. I won’t hurt her.”
When she laid down, he breathed a sigh of relief. Fighting took too much energy, energy he didn’t have right now, and Jenna’s mournful howls sucked what little he had left. He hated seeing her in distress.
His heart bled when he picked her up, duvet and all, and carried her to the recliner. He found it easier to cuddle her there, keeping her tucked firmly against him as she cried like the damned.
“I will do everything I can to bring you home again if they make me let you go. If I have to fight the courts, your parents, the fucking devil and God and the goddamn universe, you will come home to me, Jenna. I promise.”
“I’m not crazy.” Hell, that tiny voice stirred his Daddy instincts.
“No, you are not. We know that, Jenna. Anyone who talks to you will know you’re not. This is a ploy, a mean one, to get you where your family wants you. Unfortunately, they’ve taken it down the legal road, so we have to do the same.” He rubbed his cheek over the top of her head. “Believe me, baby, if I could I’d shove you in my truck and drive a thousand miles. But they’d find us eventually, and this would all begin again.”
“Connor.” Sarah whispered his name from the doorway. “Can Zeke come in?”
One look at her stricken face was all the answer he needed. There would be no reprieve, no miracle. This was the end of the line.
His stomach dropped into his feet, and his heart wasn’t far behind. Arms tightening around Jenna, he acknowledged the apology in Sarah’s eyes and nodded. She stepped inside and hurried to the couch, sitting quietly as Zeke ducked his head and entered, instantly shrinking the room’s proportions with his sheer size.
He sat carefully, the couch creaking under his weight as he perched on the edge, his hands dangling between his spread thighs. He twisted the cell phone agitatedly between his fingers. “I’ve spoken with my father, Connor. Not an easy conversation, considering the senator is livid at this turn of events. We added Judge Swinton into a conference call, and we’ve hashed out some points.”
Judge Swinton, Connor noted numbly, not Uncle Bobby. “And?”
“The senator and the judge are meeting this afternoon to go over the case in detail. They’re prepared to take your statement, and ours,” he added with a pat on Sarah’s thigh, “into consideration. My father won’t leave a stone unturned, he’s one of the most methodical men I know. But as a sign of good faith toward her parents, the judge has ordered Jenna to be taken to the psych facility as originally planned. Short-term stay only—a day or two at the most. He’s requested a full psychiatric assessment to add to the data already gathered.”
Jenna started to wiggle again, trying to slide out of Connor’s hold. “I won’t go. I won’t!” She nearly screamed it.
Zeke sighed. “The judge apologized for making a rash decision this morning. Apparently the Abernathy family were quite adamant, and he honestly felt the judgment he made was the right one. It’s not the outcome we wanted, not entirely, but it is a step in the right direction.”
Connor gripped Jenna tightly as she thrashed. Panic sweat soaked through his sweater, the padded thighs of his pants. “No, Jenna. Don’t fight me. Nobody’s going to hurt you.”
Her weeping escalated again before he cupped her head against his chest, pressing her ear to his heart. A moment later, her thumb took up residence in her mouth and she sucked around the sobs.
“Her parents asked that Jenna be removed from your care. The judge is standing by that decision. They feel your connection with her is clouding her attitude toward them.”
Connor grunted. “Maybetheirattitude is the root of the problem.”
“That’s my guess. You and Sarah will not be allowed to travel with or visit Jenna during the duration of her psych exam. Hadley has been assigned to transport her to the hospital and he’s assigned men to stand guard. Mark and Andrew will be responsible for her care until she reaches her destination, then she’ll be under the supervision of a doctor and a team of specialist nurses.”
“Fucking ridiculous. Did you tell them how far something like this will set her back? How much progress she’ll lose because of their idiocy?”