Page 74 of The Disputed Legacy

I dropped the lid to the toilet, plopped onto it, and closed my eyes.

In and out.

In and out.

Counting and steadying my breath required more work than it should have, but I stuck with it. Focused on calming down the best I could, I shut out any other thoughts and tried to decompress and vent out all this stress with a rhythm of breathing.

Repeating the facts that would bring me back down was all I could allow in my mind.

They’re not taking Oscar.

They’re not punishing me.

They’re not here for us.

It’s not happening.

It won’t happen.

I swallowed hard, opening my eyes as I sat up more.

Oscar isn’t gone.

He’s okay.

He’s here. With me. Like he always will be.

He’s not gone.

He’s there with Saul.

I blinked as my heart slowed more.

Saul.

Hewas there, at the booth, and without having to ask, I knew he’d be there to protect Oscar. He’d proven he would. He’d taken a bullet for him.

Furrowing my brow, I let it sink in that my mantra, my usual repertoire of reassurances, now included him.

Whether I wanted to bring him all the way in and tell him my secrets or not, hewaspart of the security I could depend on where Oscar was concerned.

I didn’t know how.

I had no background on him to figure out why he’d be so protective and good with my son.

But will he always be like that?

Can he?

He vaguely skirted around the fact that his job had to do with consultation and security. That was a good thing. It was a solid step in my ability to trust him. Yet, how would that work against the law? Would he fight the cops to help me with Oscar? Or would he be duty bound to turn us over?

“Fuck.” I hissed it in a whisper, worried all over again at a new condition I’d been blind to before. Maybe I’d never thought hard about it because I didn’t want it to be true.

But what if?—

I ground my molars at the double meaning those words held down.

If Saul’s job is to do with security and he’s on the same side as these cops, maybe one undercover himself, then…