It Goes On - Book l

The Arrest

Simon's Point of View:

Tensions were high between Baler and I, and I was desperate to ensure that he was on a strict schedule. School, working at the ranch, then coming home for dinner and going straight to bed. All of his devices were taken away, and I was shocked to see him willingly give them up when the time came.

I sat on the edge of Kiera and I's bed, listening to her hum a soft melody to the twins as she bathed them as I continued to scroll through Baler's messages, compiling evidence of planned drug deals for over a thousand dollars. I had also seen in his text messages that he had broken up with Holly over a text, saying some crude and inappropriate things to her also.

We had been back home for going on three days now, and I had talked with my Chief about the program our station had for troubled teenagers – showing them what jail was like for them if they continued down their path. Baler needed it, but I was going to up the ante after I was given permission. I was going to make sure he learned a lesson with this, even being charged and having to attend court as if he had gotten caught.

Baler didn't think I was going to do anything except make his chores a lot harder, but he had no idea what was coming to him.

"Evie! Get back here! You don't have any clothes on!" Kiera shouted from the bathroom, Evie entering the bedroom with a wide smile on her face, leaving a trail of water behind her as if running away from her was a game. "Simon! Can you get her? I'm not leaving Jacob until he gets out of the tub!"

"Already on it, love," I assured her, getting up off the bed to put my body between Evie and her assumed destination. "Where do you think you're going, lass?"

"I'm going to bed, daddy!"

"You're as nude as the day you were born!" I scoffed, shaking my head as I got a folded blanket from the shelf nearby. Kiera always had a thing for blankets, organizing all of her seasonal blankets and extra blankets on a decorative shelf. "Here, keep this around you and I'll go get your clothes, yeah?" I explained to her, putting the blankets around her shoulders before she followed me back into the bathroom, Kiera sitting on her knees beside the tub as she patted Jacob dry with a warm towel. He was copying her smile, and she was now wiping his cheeks dry with the towel to keep stray water from getting into his eyes.

"Her Pull-Up is over there," She pointed, and I followed to see that her fresh pajamas were folded on the counter. "Come on, lass. Let's get you ready for bed."

"But...But I'm not even sleepy, daddy!"

"It's almost ten o'clock. You have to get up early for daycare tomorrow, and your mum and I have to work tomorrow."

"I don't want to go to daycare!" She pouted. "I want to stay here with you!"

"I just told you that your mum and I had to work tomorrow. You and your brother have to go to daycare, love."

She groaned in irritation, which was adorable to Kiera and I. Jacob complied with his bedtime as he acted just like me when it was time to go to bed – groggy.

Kiera had been struggling to get into a comfortable position since she had laid down for the night, her main complaint being that her hips were aching and that she was burning up. But since I had gotten temperature-controlled satin sheets, her hot flashes seemed to appear at a bare-minimum since. "Simon?"

"I'm here, love."

"Can I lay on you?"

"Lay on me?" I chuckled, my arm extended to where it was under her head – where it always was. "You never have to ask me for that."