Page 69 of Dibs
He shrugged out of my hold. “What do I do? He won’t let my kids out.”
I turned my attention to Santiago. “You have thirty seconds to get his sons out here or I’m calling the cops.”
“Go ahead and call the police.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
I pulled out my phone and didn’t hesitate to dial 9-1-1. Once I had the dispatcher on the line, I told them the situation and they replied that they’d be sending a couple of officers over. “All right, they’re on their way. This is your last chance.”
“Don’t fucking threaten me, Matthewson.”
“Why are you doing this?” Gage questioned. “And where the fuck is Lisa?”
“Lisa is withherkids. Don’t worry about that,” Santiago clipped.
“Her kids? Are you fucking serious right now?” Gage’s temper flared.
“Dad!” Jase called from the rental car. I held up my finger for him to hold on but he repeated, “Dad! Come here.”
“Not a good time,” I called over my shoulder.
“Dad!” he yelled again. “Come. Now.”
I finally looked at my son and he was waving me over. I jogged to him. “What?”
He lowered his voice. “Dylan and Tyler are going to come out the back.”
“What?” I balked.
“Dylan texted me they are going to go out the back door and come around the side.”
“What about their mother?” I wondered.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Didn’t ask, but he said they’ll be out soon.”
“Okay.” I walked back toward Gage, keeping the information to myself. As soon as the boys came around the side, I was going to get them in the car and lock the doors.
“Just give me my kids. You knew we were flying here,” Gage pleaded.
“No.” Santiago shook his head. “We knewyouwere coming. Not your butt buddy.”
I wanted to throttle my former teammate, to punch his fucking lights out, but I refrained. Not only for my son who was watching, but also to stop Gage from doing anything stupid that could result in him losing his children.
“Do you think the cops are going to let you keep my boys?” Gage questioned.
Before he could respond, Dylan and Tyler ran out from a side fence. They didn’t have any belongings, and I raced to them, needing to get to them before Santiago had a chance.
“Get in the car,” I bellowed.
“Stop!” Santiago ordered.
When I was within reach, I ushered both of them to the car. What sounded like a tussle hit my ears and I turned to see Gage blocking Santiago. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a police car turn onto the street.
“Cops are here,” I called back.
Gage moved to the side, causing Santiago to stumble forward. The door to the house flew open and Lisa appeared in the doorway.
“You were supposed to keep them inside,” Santiago yelled at Lisa.
“They slipped out the back,” she advised.
