Tough Love Page 2

  Richards bared his teeth. Even after seeing that Jack could easily swat him away with one hand, his bravado was still there.

  “You can’t make me.” He sneered.

  “Can’t I?” Jack picked up his cuffs from beside his keyboard and stepped around the desk. “Turn around, hands behind your back.”

  “No! I didn’t contact them! And they’re my kids!” Richards tried to pull away as Jack grabbed him and neatly spun him around. He jabbed an elbow back, almost catching Jack in the ribs. “Fuck off, you bastard! Why would you keep a family separate? I never did anything to them!”

  “You’re trying to tell me that after all the evidence and the plea deal you took?” Jack had the cuffs on Richards before the other man realized what had happened. “Nice try. You violated what you agreed to, so back into jail you go, and this time you’ll serve out the rest of your sentence.”

  “Fuck you!”

  Richards kicked back, catching Jack just below the knee. Jack felt his leg buckle and went down, dragging Richards with him. They hit the floor, and Jack yanked a little more on Richards to make him slam into the carpet a little harder. Richards yowled.

  “You bastard! You’ve busted my elbow!”

  “Shut up, you’re fine.” Jack struggled up and shoved Richards onto his front. “Don’t even think about getting up.”

  He barely looked around as the door opened and his partner came hurrying in.

  “Jack, you okay?”

  “I’m fine, Josie.” Jack gestured at Richards, who was wriggling and snarling on the floor like a pinned snake. “Richards here didn’t like the idea of following the rules. Would you call the precinct and ask them to send a car? In the meantime, put him into our holding cell.”

  “Sure thing.” Josie reached down and yanked Richards up by the cuffs. “Come on, you.”

  Richards whined and yowled as he was brought to his feet before being frog marched out of the room. It always amused Jack that Josie, a five-foot-nothing redhead who looked like she was a hundred pounds soaking wet could have a man on their knees unable to get up just by twisting their wrist. It was a sight to see, certainly.

  His knee was throbbing as Jack slowly pushed himself to his feet. Richards had missed kicking his knee backwards, but he had still caught just under the patella. Jack balanced on one foot as he bent and straightened his leg. Sore, but it wasn’t going to cause him any problems for now. Not unless he had to go sprinting after someone. Jack preferred to avoid that as much as he could.

  “Nice to see things are as lively as always in here.”

  Jack wobbled and spun around. Mark was leaning against the doorframe, hands in his pockets as he watched Jack with a slight smile. He hadn’t even heard him come in. His mouth dry, Jack managed to clear his throat.

  “Mark. I... What are you doing here?”

  “I needed to talk to you.” Mark’s smile faded. “It’s important. Is now a good time?”

  “More than good.”

  For Mark, Jack would happily give him any time if possible. Just the sight of the six-foot, dark-haired CPS worker who always seemed to have a glint in his eye and a smile on that handsome mouth. He had shaven recently, having sported a goatee beard for the last six months. Now he was clean-shaven. Jack liked that look on him.

  When Mark had first walked into his office regarding one of his parolees, Jack was sure he had been punched in the gut. Mark Washington was just...wow. That was all he could say in the beginning. Jack had been drawn to him immediately. Pretty much anyone who came into contact with him was drawn to him; Mark just had that magnetism. Jack had certainly seen women drooling over him, Josie included. But he barely gave them any thought.

  When they were in the same room, it might as well have just been the two of them. Jack barely paid anyone else any attention. Damn, his crush on Mark was embarrassing. At least nobody seemed to have noticed yet.

  Remembering where they were, Jack picked up the chair from across the room and set it upright. Mark gave it a bemused look.

  “What did the chair ever do to you?”

  “Richards didn’t like it being in the way. I prefer it was my furniture he kicked instead of his wife, though.” Jack went around his desk and sat down. He was a little relieved now there was a physical barrier between them. It would certainly hide the erection he was now starting to sport. “So, what’s this about?”

  Mark settled into the chair across from him and stretched his legs before sitting forward. His jovial appearance had stopped and now he didn’t look happy. If anything, he looked troubled.

  “It’s about Lucas Banfield.”

  Jack frowned.

  “Lucas Banfield? He’s following his conditions. His mother’s been very accommodating in making sure her son gets to his appointments on time. And he’s never failed a drug test.”

  “Well, that’s about to change.” Mark rubbed his hands over his face. “You know that his sister is currently fighting the custody of her kids in court?”

  “I do. Lucas has been talking about how he’s concerned that his ex-brother-in-law is abusing them. That he wishes there was something he could do.”

  “And you believed him?”

  Jack shook his head.

  “I believed you. I met Mr. Swarbrick when I went to let him know about his brother-in-law. He didn’t strike me as the type who would abuse his kids. His ex-wife’s family, on the other hand…” He shrugged. “They’re a different matter.”

  “And they’ve been accommodating, have they?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  Mark took a deep breath.

  “Ms. Banfield admitted in court when she was confronted that she had allowed her children to be in her brother’s presence since he got out of jail.”

  “What?”

  Jack thought he must have heard wrong. Banfield had been to his office every week and promised that he hadn’t been around children. His mother even said they had to move him into her place because of his close proximity to a playground. And they were doing the right things. That was what Jack had been told.

  Why did he trust them?

  “But...you’re from CPS. Wouldn’t you have investigated this?”

  “I tried. God knows how many times I tried. But they pretended not to be in and refused to meet me at a neutral location or even my office. Said that they had nothing to hide, but still wouldn’t come and see me.” Mark scowled. “I was planning on going later this week with a deputy to get myself in, but now it’s been confirmed out of Ms. Banfield’s mouth, it’s your territory now.”

  Jack felt like a fool. He hadn’t believed Banfield’s declarations of innocence, but he had believed him when they all said he wasn’t seeing any children. If he was seeing his niece and nephew when that was expressly forbidden, how many other children was he seeing without his knowledge? And Jack thought he was on top of it all. He liked to think he was keeping his parolees on track.

  Clearly not. And he found child molesters to be the worst offenders. They just wouldn’t stop. Something in their brain said it didn’t apply to them, and Jack had a hard time getting it through their thick skulls, if it got there at all.

  “Shit.” He had screwed up. He knew it. Jack rubbed his hands over his face. “Do you think he…?”

  “I don’t know. Joe’s kids have said nothing about it, so my gut says no right now. But the fact Banfield is around them at all is enough for me to be concerned. Especially when Ms. Banfield knows about it and still leaves her children in his presence while she wanders off to do fuck knows what.”

  How the hell did supposedly rational people think it was okay to bend the rules because it was someone they loved? Jack had never figured it out. He found himself standing and pacing. Even with his knee throbbing to the point that Jack had to limp, he paced.

  “Lucas Banfield knows that he’s not to be in contact with any children at all. He looked like he was going the right way about it. His mother promised that she was keeping him away from kids.”
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  “Well, they clearly ignored what they were supposed to do.”

  Clearly. Jack had thought Denise Banfield was a little overprotective and hovered around her son like he was six years old, but she had been adamant in that her son would follow the conditions of his parole. How had she missed this, seeing as she was watching Banfield like a hawk? Jack didn’t like the idea of a woman in her fifties being complicit to a child molester.

  “I’ll go and talk to them.”

  “Good luck with that. I couldn’t get to see them at all.”

  “They wouldn’t do that with me. They know if they block me, I can take Banfield back to jail.” Jack began to gather his things, getting his gun out of the top draw and clipping the holster to his waistband. “Apparently, they don’t think a CPS worker is in the same category as a parole officer.”

  “I can raise all sorts of shit for them as well.”

  Jack grinned.

  “I’m sure you can. They don’t see it that way, though. You’ll probably get the spiel that you should be looking at the ex-son-in-law instead of them.”

  Mark rolled his eyes.

  “I’ve been getting that each and every time. Joe’s file has been flagged as one to not open again as all the claims were unfounded and my boss is in the process of getting things together to have Tracey Banfield arrested for filing false reports.”

  “She won’t get much from that.”

  “Maybe not, but it should be enough for her to stop.”

  Jack grunted, finding a spare pair of cuffs in his drawer and shoving them into his back pocket. Then he picked up his wallet and keys.

  “Knowing my experience with people who do petty things like this, it’s going to take something incredibly drastic to get them to stop.”

  “Especially if they think they’re being sneaky about it.”

  “I won’t argue with that. But in my job, there are no second chances. You scrub up or go back to jail.” Jack rubbed at his eyes. “Most of these guys can do as they’re told because they want to get back to what is normal, but then there are those guys who you shouldn’t be anywhere close to. In spite of his behavior lately, Lucas Banfield is one of them.”

  The guy had been out for eighteen months now, and Jack thought they were getting somewhere. Just another more eighteen months and Banfield would have finished his parole conditions. He would be okay after that, apart from still not being allowed near children. The guy just needed to keep his head down, and if he wanted his freedom, he should have done something about it instead of hiding away the things that would get him arrested again.

  Then again, some convicts were just stupid.

  “His sister is still allowing him to see her kids when she knows he’s not allowed around them. That’s what I can’t get my head around.” Mark ran his hands through his hair with a heavy sigh. “It’s like she wants him to go back to jail.”

  “To me, it sounds like they don’t think the rules apply to them.” Jack checked his cell phone. “I’ll go over there now. You want to come?”

  “Best not.” Mark rose to his feet. “I asked my neighbor to keep an eye on Stevie for the moment. I don’t want to take too long.”

  “Stevie’s home?” Jack looked at the clock. It was nowhere near the time for kids to get out of school. “He’s been fighting again, has he?”

  “More like he’s been getting beaten up again.” Mark shook his head. “His parents were the awful ones, and yet he’s bullied due to the association. He never did anything wrong.”

  “Mentality doesn’t often work as well as we want it to. It gets twisted at some point.”

  Mark grunted.

  “You got that right. You’ll let me know what happens?”

  “Of course.”

  They stared at each other for a moment. Then Mark turned and walked towards the door, closing it behind him. It was then Jack was able to breathe a little more clearly. Damn, Mark Washington could make him feel all warm in some parts of his body and very hard in others. It was going to take him a moment to get his senses back.

  Jack had experienced attraction like this before with his wife. Back then, he had been confident enough to act upon it. But with Mark, it was two years on and Jack couldn’t bring the courage to say anything.

  You’re such a wimp, Jack. A wimp.

  Chapter Two

  Denise Banfield lived in Encino, just off the Encino Reservoir. Jack had been to their house previously and had been very impressed by it. Her husband’s family had been very wealthy people and Denise was very successful in her job. When her husband passed away ten years before, he left pretty much everything to his wife and kids. And it showed with their home. Jack had no idea how many extra renovations had been done on the place, but it was easily the nicest house on the street.

  Better than his comfy but much smaller apartment, certainly. This house did look like a good place to have a family in. Just like Mark’s house. He and the children lived in a nice part of Winnetka. Jack had been over several times, and he was impressed. For a bachelor with two pre-teen children, he certainly knew how to keep the place clean. And he was very strict on making sure the kids ate healthily and they had clean clothes all the time. Jack had never seen a single parent that well put together.

  Jack felt a slight pang in his chest as he thought about that. A family. His parents were always pestering him to find someone and have children. His wife Tessa hadn’t been able to have children, and Jack was okay with that. When she died from cancer, Jack had been devastated. He couldn’t even think about having a family after losing the woman he loved. It had resulted in cutting contact with his mother for nearly a year because all she would do was pester him about giving her grandbabies. She finally understood that she needed to back off.

  They weren’t getting any younger. And Jack would like to oblige - he loved kids - but he hadn’t found the right person.

  Maybe he should do what Mark had done. Register to be a foster parent so he could help out kids on a semi-permanent basis. But then his job was dangerous and that might work against him. Jack didn’t want to bring his work home where there were children, and some of his disgruntled employees had been known to follow him home to harass him.

  Perhaps that wasn’t such a good idea.

  Jack pushed the thought of kids out of his head and pulled into the driveway of Denise’s house. Her car was still there, as was the car she let her son drive. At least both of them were home. Although that would make the conversation a little tense if Denise were hanging around; she tended to try and speak for her son.

  Jack had looked up enmeshment when Josie had told him about it. These two would be a picture next to the definition.

  Denise answered the door once Jack rang the bell. She was one of those few women who didn’t need to crane her head back to look at him. Denise Banfield was easily six-three, as tall as her son, and built like an Olympic athlete. She did look good for fifty-eight, Jack had to admit, her black hair cropped into a pixie cut and her makeup delicately applied.

  She looked harmless enough, but Jack’s previous interactions said she was like a coiled snake waiting to strike if someone said a bad thing about her children, especially her son. Now she was looking up at Jack was slightly bewildered look, which turned into a bright smile.

  “Mr. McGuire. I wasn’t aware we were having a visit today.”

  “I am entitled to do inspections without warning, Mrs. Banfield. It’s part of the parole conditions.” Jack glanced into the house. “Can I come in? I need to speak to your son.”

  “Of course.” Denise stepped aside. “Lucas is out on the patio. We’re about to get the barbecue out.”

  Jack’s stomach growled. He loved a good barbecue. Mark was pretty good with the grill as well. On good days, they would always be out there doing the grilling.

  Not now! You’re on duty, you idiot!

  Jack followed Denise through the house and onto the patio. Lucas was there, laying out the burgers on the grill. He
was a huge solid hulk of a man wearing a pale lilac apron. Jack couldn’t help but smile at the sight of a thirty-five-year-old man almost as tall as him and built like a weightlifter wearing a frilly apron.

  “Looks good on you, Banfield.”

  “Oh, Mr. McGuire.” Lucas’ face darkened as he fumbled to take the apron off. “I wasn’t expecting you. Mom and I were just about to have a late lunch.”

  “So I noticed.” Jack stepped aside as Lucas went into the kitchen. He waited until Lucas had washed his hands. “I’ve got some disturbing news, Lucas. And I need to hear it from you. This will affect your parole.”

  “That sounds ominous.” Lucas dried his hands. “What’s up?”

  “It’s probably that bastard Swarbrick again.” Denise said with a scowl. She folded her arms and pouted. “He’s always saying things against my family. Did it during their hearing today. Tried to drag our name through the mud. Tracey’s furious.”

  Jack could imagine. He was furious that this had been admitted in court and he hadn’t been made aware of it. And it was like the Banfields hadn’t clicked.

  “You think she should be given full custody?” He asked. “Even though it’s clear that she’s not in the right stable condition to have them? She’s been very erratic and her outbursts were concerning.”

  Denise smarted, her lips pressing tightly together.

  “My daughter is of sound mind, Mr. McGuire. She’s a good mother.”

  “If she was a good mother, Mrs. Banfield, then she wouldn’t be leaving her children here with you when her brother is in the house.” Jack turned to Lucas. “Especially when she’s more than aware that he’s not allowed around children at all.”

  “So what?” Lucas shrugged. “I was never left alone with them.”

  That threw Jack a little. He was half-expecting them to deny, as they had done before. The two of them said they wouldn’t allow Lily and James to come in at all, and that Denise would see her grandkids elsewhere. He stared at them.

  “Are you actually telling me that you were in contact with Lily and James Swarbrick? In this house?”

  “He was in the same room as them, Mr. McGuire.” Denise corrected. “He was never in actual contact. And he was never left alone with my grandbabies. I was always here.”