Chapter 4 - The Blitzkrieg
Z
Within ten minutes of the police call, two black patrol cars pulled up the long driveway of Beckett’s Paradise Valley estate, their red and blue emergency lights flashing silently against the desert night. My heart plummeted into my shoes. Panic, raw and unadulterated, choked my throat as I looked out the floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
"Stay here," Beckett commanded, his hand resting briefly, reassuringly, on my shoulder. The heat of his touch lingered even after he pulled away and walked toward the front entrance.
Tessa was already on her phone, firing off directives to her legal associate. "File an emergency response to the Maricopa County Sheriff's office right now. Attach the mother's full legal custody decree from Caleb Ellison’s probate. Douglas Mercer has no existing court order for guardianship yet. He just committed filing a false police report."
I hurried to the living room, where Lila was rubbing her sleepy eyes, confused by the flashing lights bouncing off the ceiling walls.
"Mommy? Are the ninjas here?" she asked softly, clutching Mr. Button tighter to her chest.
I dropped to my knees in front of her, wrapping my arms around her tiny body, breathing in the scent of her baby shampoo. "No, baby. Just some people talking to Mr. Shaw. Everything is okay. Mommy is right here."
Out in the grand foyer, Beckett opened the massive mahogany door. Two Maricopa County officers stood on the threshold, looking slightly uncomfortable to find themselves at the residence of one of the state's most prominent business moguls.
"Mr. Shaw," the senior officer began, checking his digital notepad. "We received an emergency welfare check call regarding a child, Lila Ellison. The caller, Mr. Douglas Mercer, stated the child was taken without authorization by her mother, Mara Ellison, who he claims is currently unstable."
Beckett stood tall, his posture regal, his face completely devoid of emotion. "Officer, Douglas Mercer is currently under investigation by my corporate legal team for corporate fraud, financial harassment, and making false statements to law enforcement. Ms. Ellison is my Senior Vice President of Creative Strategy. She and her daughter are my invited guests."
Tessa stepped into the foyer beside Beckett, holding out a digital tablet displaying an official court receipt. "Officer, I am Tessa Monroe, counsel for Ms. Ellison. As you can see from these filed documents, Ms. Ellison holds sole physical and legal custody of Lila Ellison. Douglas Mercer possesses zero legal rights over the child. If you attempt to interfere with a legal guardian's rights based on a fraudulent phone call from an unverified third party, I will have a federal civil rights lawsuit filed against your department before sunrise."
The senior officer looked at the tablet, then at Beckett’s stone-cold expression, and let out a long breath. "We just need to visually verify the child is safe, sir."
Beckett stepped aside smoothly. "Of course."
I walked Lila to the foyer, holding her hand tightly. She waved sleepily at the officers.
"Hi," Lila said. "We’re having fruit."
The officer smiled gently, looking thoroughly embarrassed by the assignment. "She looks perfectly safe to me. Mr. Shaw, Ms. Monroe, Ms. Ellison... we apologize for the disturbance. We will be having a firm conversation with Mr. Mercer regarding the misuse of emergency services."
As the patrol cars drove away into the night, the immediate danger passed, but the air remained thick with tension. The battle lines had been clearly drawn. Douglas wasn't just trying to manipulate the legal system; he was trying to break me psychologically before tomorrow's initial court appearance.
"He's getting desperate," Beckett said, closing the door and turning to Tessa. "Which means he knows we are getting close to his real vulnerability."
"The buyout," Tessa agreed, walking back toward the study. "If Mercer Supply Corp’s financial audit hits the public domain before the equity group signs the deal on Friday, the family faces complete bankruptcy—and potential federal prison time for wire fraud."
"Then we don't just defend tomorrow morning," Beckett said, his eyes narrowing with a dangerous, calculating intensity. "We launch a blitzkrieg."
He turned to me. "Mara, you need to sleep. You have a master bedroom upstairs. Lila can stay in the adjacent guest room."
"Beckett, I can't stay here," I protested softly, feeling overwhelmed by his boundless generosity. "You've already done so much. If the media gets wind that I am staying at my boss’s estate overnight, Douglas will use it to spin an affair narrative to the judge."
Beckett took a step closer to me, his tall frame blocking out the rest of the room. The scent of dark cedar and amber surrounded me. He looked down into my eyes with an intensity that made my heart race for an entirely different reason than fear.
"Let him spin whatever narrative he wants," Beckett whispered softly, his voice rich and deep. "My public relations team controls the top three media outlets in this state. If Douglas so much as whispers your name to a reporter, I will buy out his company's debt by morning and fire him from his own board. You and your daughter are safe here, Mara. For the first time in three years, let someone else hold up the wall for you."
Tears pricked the back of my eyes, but for the first time since Caleb died, they weren't tears of helplessness. They were tears of immense relief.
I looked up at this man who had been nothing more than an intimidating shadow in a navy suit for three years, only to become my shield in my darkest hour. "Why are you doing this, Beckett? Truly?"
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Beckett reached out, his thumb gently catching a stray tear on my cheek before he quickly pulled his hand back, as if realizing the intimate nature of the gesture.
"Because three years ago, I watched a brilliant woman walk into my office with heartbreak in her eyes, working herself to the bone while asking for nothing from anyone," Beckett said softly. "And because today, a six-year-old girl told me I was too handsome to be alone... and for the first time in my life, I thought she might be right."
