Just Breathe

Chapter Twenty-Nine Gavin

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

What the fuck is happening? Everything Bailey just told me… What the fuck? How could someone, no, fuck that, how could a parent do that to their kid? Fuck, I thought my father was fucked. No, I’d take getting disowned a hundred times than what Bailey went through.

I know I shouldn’t have left her, but I just need a minute to breathe. I can understand her hesitation to tell me, but I can’t help to think that if I didn’t see that fuckin paper, she probably wouldn’t have told me. That’s what’s eating at me from the inside. She didn’t trust me enough to tell me on her own, not until she was forced to.

I’ve done everything to prove myself to her, I’ve gone slow, shown her how much she means to me and how much Logan… Logan… Fuck! That kid has already been through so much in just his five years of life. Everything she did was for him, to protect him.

“What am I going to do, boy?” I whisper as Zeus and I reach the front doors of our building. What if that fucker is already here? I pull out my phone and dial Hunter’s number while making my way to my truck. Zeus barks a couple times to get my attention. I look back and notice he’s still by the doors as if standing guard.

“Don’t tell me Bailey finally realized she wants me, instead of your ass.” Hunter’s smug voice comes through the line.

“Is uncle Marcus on duty tonight?” I bark into the phone as I open my truck door and call out to Zeus.

“Zeus! Zeus! Let’s go boy!” I yell out to him again, but he still doesn’t move. I don’t have time for this shit!

“Yeah, I ran into him at the grill, just before I headed home. What’s going on?” Hunter’s voice turned serious real quick.

“Zeus! Get in the truck! Now!” Finally, he comes over to me, but before jumping in, he looks back towards the doors and the main road. I look in that direction but don’t see anything.
“Meet me at the station in ten minutes. And call uncle Marcus.” I hang up without a goodbye and pull out heading to the station. Zeus can’t seem to stay still in the back seat.

“Settle down, boy. We’re gonna get help fix this fucked up shit for Bailey, alright? We’ll back in no time.” He barks in response, but something is just off with him.

I pull into the first parking space I see, and right when I’m about to open the police station doors, Hunter pulls up in his jeep. I wait for him and then we head inside to meet with Uncle Marcus, who I’m praying can tell me how to keep Bailey and Logan safe.

“You wanna tell me what the fuck is going on, and what we’re doing at the police station?” Hunter whispers as we take a seat and wait for the receptionist to get Marcus.

“It’s a long fuckin story, and since I have to tell Uncle Marcus, I rather just say it once.” Hunter doesn’t say anything, he only gives me a head nod. I look over at the front doors and notice that Zeus is standing there, pacing, ears facing forward in alert, and wagging his tail. He is definitely on edge. I feel you buddy.

Uncle Marcus leads us inside an empty office and we take a seat. I don’t waste any time and get right into it. Hunter is cursing up a storm by the time I’m finished while Uncle Marcus takes notes.

“You said she kept a journal dating every abuse?” Uncle Marcus questions.
“Yes, that’s what she told me. With pictures as well. She said she tried the best she could to take photos of the… bruises…” I shove my fists in my jean pockets to refrain from punching something or someone and get myself arrested.

“If she’s willing to hand that over, it’s definitely a good start in the right path to putting him away, and to grant her at least temporary guardianship of the boy.” Uncle Marcus states as we begin to walk back into the hallway.

“I’m heading back to her place right now and I will let her know everything you’ve mentioned. I’m sure she will be on board.” As I come into view of Zeus, he begins to bark in hysteria. Something is definitely up with him tonight.

“Zeus doing alright?” Uncle Marcus asks cocking an eyebrow. Uncle Marcus knows the type of dog Zeus is. Zeus used to be a military dog. He was Travis’s military dog and his partner in crime. After Travis passed, Zeus was let go since he suffered from PSTD, it doesn’t happen just humans apparently. Travis’ General came to me and asked if I would be willing to adopt him. If I said yes, he would take care of everything so Zeus could be with people he was familiar with. So here we are, seven months later.

“He was there when Bailey told me, I think he’s just stressed with how I reacted and left her.” I say regretfully. Uncle Marcus doesn’t quite believe what I’m saying and starts making his way over to Zeus.

“Tell me how Zeus was the moment you left Bailey’s apartment.” Uncle Marcus turns to face me again as Zeus continues to stay by the front doors waiting anxiously.

“What?” I’m so confused by his question and have no fucking clue why this is important right now.

“Just tell me.” He insists.

“I don’t know. When I headed to her door to leave, he was hesitant and needed a bit of coaxing to follow me. Once we stepped outside of the lobby doors, he didn’t follow me to the truck, like usual. I was on the phone with Hunter, so I didn’t notice much else, only that he wasn’t beside me. When I turned back, he was at the doors and barked a couple times and kept looking towards the empty road. And since we’ve gotten here, he hasn’t left his spot by the front doors, as you can see.” I’m confused by his behavior as he’s never reacted this way, but I’m just guessing he’s anxious because of what happened earlier tonight. He’s gotten attached to Bailey and Logan, and his protective nature towards them is probably at an all-time high.

“You said Bailey had a white piece of paper in her hands when you got to her place, right?” He questioned.

“Yeah.”

“When you showed her your paper and told her that she could go to jail if anyone else noticed it before you got to it, what did she say to you?” Marcus continued to question.

“She said that she would be gone by sunset.” I was so fucking confused.

“She either senses that he’s close, or he’s found her already. Let’s go!” Uncle Marcus calls out some orders, and Zeus barks even more frantically to get out. The moment I open the doors, Zeus flies towards the truck.

Fuck! He’s known all along that danger was close. I just hope that we get back in time, before that fucker decides to strike. You should have never left her. You should have left Zeus with them.