Brady Remington Landed Me in Jail(64)

I heard an inflection in his voice. Had someone spoken those same words to him? I was about to ask when he suddenly exclaimed, "Wait a minute. Why was your mom at Frank Stephens' house? How does your mom even know him?"

Um.

I had not foreseen this.

"She was there because of my grandmother. You know Frank Stephens hates her." My soul was going to hell.

Disgust flared across Brady's face for a second. It was gone just as quickly, but he stared at me. Then he stared some more at me. No word was spoken from him.

I heard the clock ticking behind us. It was loud, too loud. And I couldn't take the silence anymore, especially from him. "Say something."

"You just lied to me. Why did you lie to me?"

"I…" I had nothing. I wasn't quick on my feet.

"Don't lie to me again, Rayna. Why was your mother there?"

I couldn't look away from his eyes. They were so clear and demanding. It was almost as if this moment was a make-or-break moment. I didn't know what to say so I opened my mouth and uttered, faltering, "I…I…I don't know. He wouldn't tell me."

Brady's eyes snapped shut for a second and then he cursed underneath his breath. At the same time, he shoved his chair back and stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find out some answers once and for all."

"Wait! Where are you going?" My heart was beating so loudly, I almost didn't hear his response.

As the door closed behind him, I heard him say, "I'm going to see my father."

It took a moment before I realized what he'd just said. Panic slammed inside of me and then I shot to the door. The doorknob was locked so I tried to unlock it from my side. When it wouldn't budge, I pounded on the door. "Hey! Hey! Hey!"

Brady knew.

Brady knew who his father was. And he was going to find out why my mother was there. This was not good. This was not good at all. And Brady was not stupid, not at all.

"Hey, hey, hey!" I pounded on the door until the same irritated clerk came back, even more irritated. She called through the door, "What you want?"

"I have an emergency. I need a phone." And boy, was it an emergency.

She crossed her arms and pointed behind me. "You have a phone in there."

"No, I need…" I gulped for breath and felt everything starting to sway around me. Everything was just too much…and he knew. I couldn't wrap my mind around it. Brady knew…what did this mean? "I need to get out. I can't…he knows…"

She shook her head. "I can't hear you. I'll get Doug. Sit. Sit. Sit."

I stumbled to my chair and bent forward to cradle my head in my hands. Deep breath, one, two, three. Exhale, one, two, three. I kept up my breaths and hoped my heartbeat would slow a little.

Brady knew.

He already knew.

Holy crap.

Then Deputy Doug came back and I shot up from my chair. "Please. I need to go. I have to go. Brady—I have to go."

"We still need to wait for Judge Bailor."

"Please, Doug! Please! I have to go. Brady—" I couldn't tell him what Brady knew. I couldn't tell him because I didn't even know what it meant.

Deputy Doug narrowed his eyes and sat slowly. His hands curled into his desk's edge as he sat forward. "What do you mean? What about Brady?"

"Nothing. Never mind. I just really need to go."

"Rayna, tell me what's going on," he commanded.

"I can't—" But wait, could I tell him? I remembered my grandmother saying, ‘Deputy Doug was working as the dispatcher that night...figured to keep it quiet...Doug had found a family to place him with...’ My mouth fell open as I gasped, "You know!"

He frowned. "Wha—huh?"

I was lost in my thoughts. "All I heard that night was that Brady is Frank's son. Grandmother told me that she brought him to you. You helped her. You got Brady with the Forresters so he'd move next door to us. You've helped all along."

"Oh. Rayna. Oh…"

"You've known all along," I whispered out and wondered how much else I hadn't heard that night. "But every time you arrest Brady, you…" He always tried to help him. "You told me that you thought of him as your own son."

Deputy Doug's voice was soft. "I'm old, Rayna. I knew back then that I'd never have kids. Got something wrong with me, medically speaking. I might act dumb sometimes, but I ain't stupid. I know people call me Deputy Dog. They say it to my face half the time, but it didn't start out as a good nickname. People called me that because they thought they could, I was less than them. I wasn't. I needed to help however I could. I've always helped your grandmother, and I've always looked after Brady like he was my own. I love that kid, more than he knows. If your grandmomma brought me another one of him, I'd do the same thing again."

My eyes closed and I took a deep breath. There was so much going on, so much that had always been going on. I didn't know what was real anymore, but the one thing I did know was real was Brady. Renewed strength flowed through me from some unknown place and I opened my eyes. They were clear and strong. "Brady knows that Frank Stephens is his father. And he's gone to confront him about it."