She was about five foot one, maybe a hundred and twenty pounds soaking wet and just about the sweetest thing you’d ever meet.
Krisney went flying to the floor, and I moved Audrey out of the way by swinging her up and around, depositing her behind me before I turned back to the woman who used to make Jay and I cookies when we hung out at their house.
There was no sign of that woman in the one that was standing before me.
Especially not when she balled up her fist and hit me.
I let her.
I could’ve moved.
I probably should’ve moved, but I didn’t.
Her balled up fist hit my eye, and a starburst of pain came and went just as quickly.
My head didn’t even rock with the hit, but I could tell that Mrs. Shaw was proud of herself.
“I let you have that one hit for your son, Mrs. Shaw,” I said very carefully. “But that will be the last one you get. Shaw - Jay,” I corrected since the Shaws hated it when I called him Shaw, “was your son. I realize that, but what you don’t seem to understand is that he committed the ultimate act of violence against my sister. He did it repeatedly and right under my nose for years. I walked in on him in the act of raping her. Trust me when I say that he deserved what he got, and I’d never change what I did, even given the option. My sister’s gone. Your son’s gone. It’s time for you to stop acting like a raving lunatic over something that you know can’t be changed. I’m sorry that he did what he did and it has led to where we are now. I’m sorry that this happened to all of us. But it’s time to stop taking it out on me when you know in your heart that you’d have done the same damn thing had you been in my situation.”
Brenda didn’t reply, but I could tell that she wanted to.
Her angry eyes were practically brimming with accusations that she wanted to scream at me.
But luckily, Ghost saved her from looking like a fool.
“It’s time to go. Cops are here.”
Brenda’s head whipped around.
“Ma’am, sir,” said the cop, a young rookie who looked to be in his early twenties. “I’ll be escorting you out now.”
“Why not him?” Brenda hissed.
The cop looked to where she was pointing. “I saw you hit him, ma’am. I’ve already questioned a few of the patrons about what they witnessed, and they’ve told me that this man only came over here to defend his girlfriend.”
“He’s dressed like a thug,” Brenda growled, gesturing toward my cut. “I just wanted to come eat here, and he offended me. He’s in a biker gang, for Christ’s sake. Who do you really want to believe here?”
“He’s in a motorcycle club,” Ghost corrected. “And he’s a police officer. He’s been one for years now, and before that he was a Navy SEAL. Trust me when I say that you’re barking up the wrong tree. And don’t think I didn’t notice the multiple complaints you file against him, his house, his fucking dog. I also saw you check his mail…which I might add is a federal offense.”
That was news to me. I hadn’t realized that they were doing that.
It didn’t, however, surprise me.
Brenda viciously yanked her purse back up over her shoulder and turned around, only to turn back around and glare.
“You better be careful, Officer Hail. I hear it's bad out there for cops right now.”
With that she was gone.
Audrey, who’d been standing silently behind me, tried to move past me, but I caught her around the waist and yanked her to me. “Don’t,” I growled. “It’s not worth it.”
“She just threatened your life!” she cried out in indignation. “You heard that, didn’t you, Officer Tooch?”
Tooch?
The officer who’d watched Brenda and Ephraim Shaw walk away just shook his head. “I can file a complaint, but that’s really all I can do. You know that.”
His last statement was directed at me, so I nodded.
“Just remember if I call on you as witness, to remember what she said,” I said darkly.
Officer Tooch nodded solemnly. “Ma’am, can I help you up?”
He offered Krisney his hand, but before he could even extend it all the way out, she scrambled to her feet.
Her reddish blonde curls bounced with the movement, and she offered me an apologetic smile. “I’m so sorry, y’all.”
I smiled at her, offering her a shrug.
“I know that you can’t control her…or him,” I added. “Don’t worry about it.”
She grimaced. “I told them that I was transferred to a different post, and they flipped a freakin’ lid.”
Krisney was in the military. The Army, to be specific. The same branch that Reed had gone in, and was still in.
I had a sinking suspicion that the reason behind Krisney joining the Army, instead of the Navy like she’d always said she was going to do, had a lot to do with the fact that she was still in love with Reed, despite my brother’s idiotic behavior.
“So that was what that was all about?” I asked.
She sighed.
“I told them that while I was stationed out of the state, they needed to behave. You can obviously tell how that worked out.”
I just shook my head.
“Audrey, this is Krisney Shaw.” I introduced them. “Krisney, this is my girlfriend, Audrey.”
Krisney held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
The smile that she gave Audrey was a genuine one.
Audrey took it hesitantly. “You’re Reed’s girl?”
Krisney’s face flamed. “Negative, Ghost Rider.”
I started to laugh.
“You keep telling yourself that, girl. Let me know how it works out for you.”
Krisney grimaced. “See you in a few months.”
With that she walked out and didn’t look back.
“You know,” Audrey started to giggle. “I haven’t really had a chance to get to know Reed yet, but I can already tell that he’s going to have trouble with that one.”
I gave her a look that she couldn’t quite read. “You have no idea.”
Chapter 17
If your girl is having a bad day, then surprise, so are you.
-Fact of Life
Tobias
Life went somewhat back to normal after that day in the restaurant.
I went back to work.
Audrey started her job and continued to live with her brother despite the fact that she was ready to find something else. Though, I had to admit, she was finding fault in every single place she looked at, citing it unsafe, or too small. My favorite excuse had been, ‘it probably has ants like that first apartment.’
The first apartment we’d looked at had an ant. One. Singular. And it’d been on the sidewalk outside the door.
Which started my dilemma.
Was it too early to ask her to move in? Would her brother kick my ass for extending an invitation to move in without asking her to marry me first?
I couldn’t ask her to marry me. Though we’d known each other for over a year, we’d only started showing our feelings for each other a few short months ago.
Although, we did share one drugged up kiss in the hospital room the day that I was shot in the neck.
Audrey fiddling with the vest again had me sighing in frustration.
“You have to wear the vest,” I said to her for the third time since we’d started walking to my cruiser.
She harrumphed. “This is so stupid.”