Written in 56 minutes.

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Already having second thoughts about driving over to Harborview Towers, Elizabeth entered the lobby with a slight hesitation in her step. She had no idea how security had changed since Jason had last lived there. She was vaguely aware that Sonny had moved back into his own penthouse. Would he have updated the security list for the top floor?

She headed for the security desk, then noticed the elevators down to the parking garage sliding open and Jason stepping out. He spied her almost immediately, furrowing his brow. They met in the middle of the lobby.

“What are you doing here?” he wanted to know.

“Jake sent me a text,” Elizabeth said, following him over to the residential elevators. “It was vague, just a 911 text and said to come as soon as possible—did he call you?”

“No, Danny did.” Jason’s mouth was pinched as he jabbed at the elevator button. “Drew said he’s selling the penthouse. Scout apparently ran upstairs, locked herself in her room, and Danny called me.”

They stepped on to the elevator and Jason punched in the access code for the top floor. She watched the numbers climb as the elevator rose. “I imagine that’s why Jake called me. Maybe he was worried what you might do.” She flicked a glance at him. “It’s not really a mystery where Drew’s bruises came from.”

“I’m not going to punch him again,” Jason muttered. “Not in front of the kids.”

“No, of course not, but Jason—” She touched his arm. “Let me be the one to fly off the handle if we have to, okay? You be all calm, cool, and logical. The you used to be with Taggert.”

“Yeah, Taggert was a cop. Can’t punch a cop every time they piss you off.”

“And Drew’s an elected member of Congress. Can’t punch him whenever you want either. No matter how much he deserves it,” Elizabeth added.

The doors opened, and Jason headed around the corner, leaving Elizabeth barely enough time to catch up with his longer strides. He shoved the door open to find a red-faced Danny glaring at Drew, his hands fisted at his side.  Jake was standing at the base of the stairs, Drew just a step below him.

“Dad, good. You’re here.” Danny scowled, jabbed a finger at Drew. “Tell him he can’t sell the penthouse.”

“He can’t, not on his own,” Jason said, stepping between Drew and Danny. “Which is what Molly told you when we filed an injunction.”

“And Alexis and I are handling that.” Drew looked to Elizabeth and lifted his brow. “Why am I not surprised to see you trotting after him?”

Elizabeth ignored the obvious bait, looked to Jake. “Where’s Scout? Is she okay?”

“My daughter is just fine, and if your son would let me go upstairs—” Drew shot Jake a dirty look, and to Elizabeth’s relief, Jake just rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, now that you’re pissed at me, I’m her son, but five minutes ago, you were all, we used to be a family—” Jake shook his head, pulled out his phone, made a show of scrolling through it as if he were bored. “You got that politician bullshit down.” He lifted his gaze to his mother. “She’s upstairs, locked in her room. You know, the one she hasn’t been in since her mother died,” he said to Drew with a sneer. “In case you forgot why we were here.”

Drew scowled. “You have no right to bar me from my own daughter, and the only reason I haven’t pushed you out of the way is because of our past relationship—”

“Emphasis on past, right? And don’t try to lie. You know if you put a hand on me, my mother will kill you, and my dad will hide the body.”

“Is that a threat?” Drew demanded. Before Jake could say something else, Jason stepped quickly between them, climbing two steps to do so.

“Back up. Now,” Jason said, and Drew must have recognized the tone or the murderous glint in his brother’s eyes because he obeyed. Jason pushed Jake gently to one side, looked at Elizabeth. “Take the boys, go upstairs and check on Scout.”

“Gladly,” Elizabeth said, ushering Danny in front of her to use the small pathway Jason had created.

Jake looked like he wanted to argue, but then made a face and followed after his mother, tossing another glare at Drew just before he went around the corner of the landing.

When they were gone, Jason climbed another step to put a bit of space between them. “You know you can’t legally sell this place without my signature on the papers. Why would you tell the kids anything else?”

“Because Alexis and I will outvote you. We may not agree on custody of my daughter,” Drew said backing down a few steps of his own until he was back on the floor. He folded his arms. “But we both agree that there’s no point in leaving this penthouse empty. Scout’s moving to DC with me, and Danny will have all the room he needs at her place—”

“And I can tie you up in court until Danny is eighteen and old enough to make his own decisions,” Jason interrupted. “What the hell is wrong with you? They just lost their mother. They haven’t even been back here, and you’re talking about selling the place?”

“It’s called being a realist. Sam is dead. This place is gathering dust. Alexis agrees with me—” Drew broke off. “I don’t know why the hell I’m explaining myself to you. I’ll deal with you in court. I’m getting my daughter, and we’re leaving.” He waited, but Jason didn’t move. “Get out of my way or I’m calling the police.”

Jason didn’t want let him past, but knew he didn’t have a reason to hold him anymore. He reluctantly stepped aside, but as soon as Drew was out of sight, he pulled out his phone to call his lawyer.

—

Once they’d gone upstairs, Danny directed them to the room at the end of the hall. Elizabeth reached it first, lightly tapping. “Scout? It’s Jake’s mom, Elizabeth. I’m out here with Danny. Can we come in?”

There wasn’t a sound at first, and Elizabeth looked at Danny. “Can you—”

Danny knocked a bit more roughly. “Scout? Let me in, okay? Or I’ll tell Elizabeth where to find the key—”

They heard the click of the tumblers, then a little sliver of light when the door cracked open. “D-Danny?”

“Hey, kiddo.” Danny pushed it all the way open, and Scout moved backwards, crawling back on her bed, clutching a large teddy bear and a black sweater tightly in her arms, her big brown eyes looking miserable, her cheeks tear-stained.

“Hey, honey.” Elizabeth sat next to her on the bed. “I’m sorry this is so hard.” She touched the sweater. “Is this something special you left here?”

“It was Mommy’s.” Scout held it more tightly. “It smells like her.” Her face crumpled and she started to cry again. Elizabeth slid closer, and Scout didn’t make a protest when Elizabeth gathered her in her arms, the little girl’s sobs only growing louder.

“I should have punched him,” Danny muttered pacing the room angrily. “Dad can’t let him take Scout!”

“He won’t have a choice,” Jake told him. When Danny just shook his head, Jake grabbed his arm to keep him one place. “Hey. I don’t like it, but Dad can’t do anything. Scout’s his niece, not his daughter. And Drew hasn’t done anything but be a massive asshole. It’s not illegal.”

“But—” Danny started. “He—” He looked at at his sister. “He doesn’t even care that Mom is gone.”

“I don’t—” Jake grimaced. “I don’t know if that’s true, but—” They heard the thudding footsteps too late. By the time Jake got to the door to close it, Drew was already coming through it.

“Scout, we’re leaving. Now. We’ll come back for your things later.”

Scout burrowed into Elizabeth’s side, hiding her face, crying harder. Elizabeth stroked her hair, then glared at Drew. “Can’t you just give her some time to calm down? What is wrong with you?”

“I don’t think you have any right to ask me that question.” Drew came forward, and for a horrible minute, Elizabeth thought he was going to rip Scout of her arms, but he seemed to stop short. “Let her go.”

“I’m not letting her go like this. Just give me a minute to calm her down, okay? She’s devastated—”

“She’s not your daughter, damn it, and you don’t have a right to keep her from me.” Drew reached for Scout’s arm, started to pull. Reacting without thought, Elizabeth slapped at his hand.

“Don’t touch her!”

“Let her go—” Drew switched to Elizabeth’s arm, yanked her arm and she fell off the bed.

“Hey, don’t touch her!” Jake came forward, but Elizabeth was already on her feet, shoving at Drew to force him away from her. And maybe in another minute, the situation would have calmed down—Drew might have taken a breath and thought before he moved again.

But Jason was in the doorway just as Elizabeth was pushing Drew away, trying to get him to let her of her arm, and then Drew was gone, shoved up against the wall, with Jason’s first wrapped around his throat.

Elizabeth gestured frantically at Danny who moved like lightning to scoop up his sister and get her out of the room before Scout could really understand what was going on. Drew’s eyes bulged when he saw Scout being moved from the room, still crying.

“Let him go, Jason. Please. It was—” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “It was all just a mistake, okay? Drew, right?” She looked at him, the man she’d known so well once. The man she’d thought she knew. “We’re okay. The kids are okay.”

“He was threatening Jake, putting his hands on you, trying to drag his own kid out of the room-” Jason forced himself to lower his hand, let Drew’s feet hit the floor, his brother shoved him hard. Not expecting it, Jason fell back a few feet and might gone for the other man again if Elizabeth hadn’t flew between.

“Stop it. Stop it,” she hissed at Drew, who finally seemed to realize the situation was out of control. “Jason didn’t put a hand on you until you were threatening a woman and your own daughter, so don’t you dare think you can use this against him.”

Drew rubbed his throat, glaring malevolently at them. “Still defending him, huh? A violent thug who only knows how to hurt people—when I tell the cops about this—”

“It’ll be your word against everyone else’s,” Jake said, and all three of them looked over, almost as if they hadn’t realized he’d remained behind. “And the only person who might take your side, Drew, is Scout.” He tipped his head. “And you know, a little kid like that? She gets confused about what she sees right? Isn’t that you told her?”

Drew’s hands went to his side, and his face changed. Seemed to lose its colors. Elizabeth looked back to her son before looking at Jason, who seemed mystified.

“What are you talking about?” Drew said carefully.

“I’m talking about how little girls don’t always know what the truth is, right? And they need to be really careful what they say and to who. Because people will be mad if she lies.” Jake’s tone was almost careless, but his eyes were cold, his entire body taught with tension. “It’s a really shitty thing to do to your own kid, make them think no matter what they say, they won’t be believed.”

“Jake—”

“You’re going to walk out of here right now. You’re going to leave Scout here. My parents will calm her down, and we’ll take her home or to her grandmother’s. But you’re going. Right now. Or I’ll keep talking.”

Drew fisted his hand, then released it slowly. “You don’t know what you’re doing right now—”

“You heard him,” Jason said, stepping in front of Jake. “I’ve already called Molly. I told her to contact Alexis. They’ll be here any minute—” He paused, and they all heard it at the same time — the rush of voices, the sound of Scout crying, Alexis’s panicked voice. Then footsteps on the stairs.

“This isn’t over,” Drew said. “This—” He stopped when Molly appeared in the doorway, slightly flushed.

“We came as soon as we could. Is—” Molly looked from Drew and his flushed face to Jason and Elizabeth standing by the closet, her gaze honing in on the red mark left on Elizabeth’s arm from her brief tussle with Drew. “Is everything okay?”

“Where’s my daughter?” Drew asked, looking from Jake to Molly. “I’m taking her home now—”

“She’s upset, Drew. Let her stay here with Alexis a little longer,” Elizabeth said, and Drew looked at her. “With her mother’s things. There’s no harm in that. Jason and I—we’ll take the boys and leave. Or maybe Danny will want to stay here. The kids are what matters. Okay?” She touched Jason’s arm. “Right? We’ll all leave if Drew will give Scout and Danny the time they need here.”

“Yeah.” Jason cleared his throat. “We’ll go.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Molly told Drew. “You know Scout will be in great hands with my mom, and we—” Her eyes swept over the room, and it seemed to change the air a little. “It’s hard, Drew. Being here. For me, and I’m an adult. Sam and I painted this room when we found out she was pregnant again. She wanted a little girl so much, and now—” Molly picked up a picture from the night stand, of Sam and Molly at the beginning of the school year. “Let her have some time here. We’ll take bring her home tomorrow.”

Drew closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then nodded. “Yeah. Yeah. I’m not a monster,” he muttered. He dragged a hand through his hair, then left the room. When he was gone, Molly looked at the trio, then carefully set the picture back on the night stand.

“I think you’d better tell me what happened. And don’t leave anything out.”

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