by Lexy Timms
Emily kicked herself again over her own indecisiveness and lack of confidence. This was exactly why she wanted to get away from her father and her parents’ house. She left and then what did she do? Fall for the first man who seemed to support her. She mistook love for control. Look what that had got her! Now, with Luke, she had to question what kind of man he was. She couldn’t make the same mistakes again. Once was a mistake, jumping from one relationship to the next without being cautious was just plain stupid.
Ten years was a long time. He admitted to getting into bad trouble after she went to college. Now he talked about not letting her go. This sounded a lot like the other men in her life.
Still, Emily admitted to herself that she didn’t have the full picture. She didn’t know the details of Luke’s life or why he got into a knife fight. The first order of business after she got the restraining order would be to sit down with Luke and get some straight answers.
But first things were first. She needed to deliver these sandwiches before they got too cold, then get herself to the courthouse and get in touch with her boss at one point today as well.
She found herself at Luke’s apartment in no time, and bounded up the stairs, bag in hand. “Hey, Luke,” she said as she opened the door. “I brought—” Emily entered the apartment and saw the back of a woman’s head in the chair by the sofa.
“Emily,” Luke said and made an attempt to get up before giving up. “This is the wife of one of my employees. Helen, this is Emily.”
“Hi, Emily,” said Helen, twisting in her seat. “Well, Luke. Thanks. I guess I should go.”
“I won’t keep Gibs too long at work tonight, Helen.”
“Okay, thanks, Luke. I’ll be in touch.” As Helen walked by Emily she murmured, “It was nice to meet you.”
“You, too.” She didn’t miss the concern and worry lines on Helen’s face. What was going on? “Bye.” When the door shut behind Helen, Emily sat down on the chair Helen had occupied and stared at Luke. “Can’t keep the women away from you, huh?” She winked, trying to lighten the mood and erase the anxiety on Luke’s face as well.
“Guess not. What’s this?” He sniffed the bag Emily set on the table.
“Your breakfast. Bacon and egg sandwiches from the Walkerville Diner.”
“Sounds awesome.”
Emily dug into the bag and pulled out a sandwich. “The rest are yours.”
“Rest?”
“I got two for you. I didn’t know how hungry you were.”
“Two sounds good. So what’s our plan today?” He took a sandwich from the bag and settled into the couch. “I seem to recall you called your boss for the day off. Are you taking care of me? Offering a sponge bath?”
She shook her head and grinned at him. “Sorry, no sponge bath.” The amusement left her face as she thought about what her plans were for today. “I have to go to the courthouse and file papers. Justin, he’s my lawyer, told me it may take a couple hours, but they’ll give me temporary orders and serve the papers to Evan while he’s still in the courthouse.”
Luke’s breakfast sandwich froze halfway to his mouth. He slowly set it down. “What are you talking about? Did that idiot Evan do something else now?”
She hadn’t told him about last night or yesterday morning. “I’m putting a restraining order against him. It’s a temporary one now until I can get a proper one.”
Luke’s face burned red with anger. “What the hell happened? I’ll kill him!”
“It’s fine.” It’s my own fault. “He was waiting for me outside of work yesterday morning and then showed up at my house at the end of the day. I called my lawyer and he told me to wait in my car, not to go inside. So I didn’t. Evan came out and caused a commotion which had the neighbors calling the police.”
“I’ll kill him.” Luke grimaced as he pushed himself off the couch and reached for his leather jacket.
Emily put her hand on his arm. “Maybe save it for another day. I’m fine. Honest.”
“Yeah, but I’m not. Neither will the douchebag when I’m finished with him.”
“You going to hit him with your crutch?” She shook her head.
“I will if I need to.”
“You don’t need to. Luke,” she said sternly. “It’s going to be taken care of. I need to let the law do its job. I want the case he has against me thrown out. This is the best way.”
“He hasn’t laid a hand on you, has he?”
She shook her head. “He’s full of hot air.” She checked her watch. “I need to get going so I can be there before the courthouse opens. Justin said the sooner the better.”
“You’ll be there while he is? I don’t like that, Emily.”
“I’ll be perfectly safe. It’s the courthouse, full of police and guards and stuff like that.” Emily took another bite of her sandwich and slid what was left over to him.
“I’ll go with you.”
“No. You’re supposed to be in bed. Why did you get up? Because of Helen?”
“I had a lot of visitors this morning.”
“More than just Helen?”
“Just the stupid doorbell.”
“How about you rest and don’t answer the door anymore for today? Pretend you’re sleeping.”
“Only if you’ll join me.”
“In bed? Ahhh, then I’ll never get that restraining order.” She smiled. When she was around Luke, nothing seemed as bad as it was. It just sucked that her mind had her questioning everything when she wasn’t with him. “I’ve got to get going, but when I get back we need to sit down and talk about things.” Impulsively she bent down and kissed him, slipping her tongue into his mouth and then pulling back just as he responded. She liked his reaction. He groaned and tried to reach for her as she stepped away and picked up her purse.
“What things?” said Luke, but she was already out the door and avoided answering him.
#
The clerk’s office was a small room with a bank of windows that faced the door. Behind the windows stretched rows of desks filled with people working at computers. Opposite the service windows sat a long counter with some stools. On that wall hung a long two-row rack where court forms were available. Emily stared around the room as she waited her turn.
The court clerk was very nice, though she was a little harried. Emily sat at a seat at a counter against the wall waiting for the woman to come back with the judge’s signature. She looked at all the different forms and was glad she had Justin to fill out the paperwork for her court order.
Different people came and went filing various papers with the court. Checking her watch every five minutes, she grew anxious waiting. What if the judge denied the order? Maybe he would think her complaints weren’t serious enough to warrant an order of protection. The clerk came several times to tell her that the Family Court docket was full today and she was still waiting for the judge to read Emily’s application.
At lunchtime the clerk came out and told her the judge was taking a lunch and that Emily should grab some lunch too. She nodded and sighed. Justin had warned her it would take a while. Emily stepped out of the courthouse and called Luke. “Hey, this is taking longer than I thought. I can’t get you lunch.”
“That’s okay babe. I’ll order a pizza.”
“Again?”
“Yeah, lunch of champions. No problem. I’ll see you when you get here.”
“How’s your leg feeling?”
“It’s fine. How’re you?”
“Tired of waiting. Nothing I can do about it.” She wondered if she should call her boss again. Maybe she should send Justin a text to get him to type up a letter to explain what had been going on. She could do that after lunch while she waited.
She grabbed lunch from a sandwich shop on Main Street. She hadn’t eaten out this much in a long time. Evan never wanted to go out, and Emily would end up cooking for both of them. Not that he liked her cooking. He’d complain most nights about what she served for dinner. She shook her head. How had s
he put up with it? Or not noticed his lack of manners?
At two o’clock she headed back to the courthouse and resumed her wait. After another hour, the clerk waved her to the window.
“Okay, the judge signed the order. I’m going to type up the judge’s order, copy this up and call the marshal to deliver it. I’ve checked and they haven’t called your boyfriend’s case yet so we still have some time. Just give me a few more minutes so I can give you your two copies.”
“Thank you,” said Emily. A feeling of relief settled around her and she finally felt like she could breathe.
The clerk looked at her with concern. “I’ll be right back.”
After a few minutes, a burly looking man in a marshal’s uniform entered the clerk’s office and the clerk came out of the office door. “Here,” she said to the marshal. “He’s in court right now. They just called his case.”
“I’ll go right down and wait for him to come out.”
“Great, Henry. Thanks.”
As the marshal exited the door he’d just come in from, the clerk turned to Emily. “These are your two copies. Keep one on you at all times so that you have it should he show up, and keep the other one in a safe place. Here also is your court date for the hearing. Show up on that date regardless of anything else. If you don’t, the order of protection drops.” The woman put her hand on Emily’s. “I know how difficult this all is.”
“You do?”
The woman nodded and she smiled sadly at her. “You are doing the right thing. Don’t let anyone tell you that you aren’t. Guys like this need something to stop them. They stopped listening to the women in their lives a long time ago. Here are some numbers for you. Don’t hesitate to call any of them. Believe me, this is just the first step from getting out from under.”
Emily blinked. “Th-Thank you. You’ve been very helpful.”
“No problem. Good luck, Emily.”
“Thanks.” Emily walked out of the clerk’s office to the elevator that would take her to the first floor. On the ride down she stared at the numbers. The first one was the number for the National Domestic Abuse Hotline. The second was a pamphlet for a support group for domestic violence victims.
Emily stared at them, shocked. She didn’t consider herself a domestic violence victim. She just had a shitty ex-boyfriend who was trying to make her life miserable. Sure, Evan had gone too far, but he wasn’t an abuser, was he?
She stepped out of the elevator, staring at the pamphlet, and nearly jumped back inside the closing door when someone screamed her name.
Chapter Twelve
A Turn for the Worse
Luke decided into the second slice of pizza that staying at home was a drag. He didn’t normally watch television and there weren’t any good sports games on. A short nap after all the visitors in the morning helped stretch out the day, but after Emily’s call woke him, he couldn’t get back to sleep. What would make him feel better was a good ride on his bike, but that wasn’t happening any time soon. He was about to call the shop when there was some loud angry pounding on his door.
“What now?” thought Luke. “Just a minute!” he called out.
“Open up! Search warrant!”
“What the hell?” he thought.
“Give me a sec. I’m on crutches here.”
Luke moved as quickly as he could to the door and tore it open. “What’s going on?”
Detective Anglotti pushed a piece of paper toward his face.
“Search warrant,” he growled.
“What’s this about?”
“Step aside and let us in,” said Anglotti. “Otherwise, we’ll have to arrest you for obstruction.”
Luke moved aside, gripping the hand rests of his crutches so tight his knuckles turned white. The two detectives and three uniformed officers entered his apartment and started tearing through it. It was a small apartment, just the kitchen, living room, bath and bedroom but they took their time as they opened every drawer, cabinet and closet. They tossed everything on the floor and rattled dishes. When they began to overturn furniture Luke opened his mouth to say something but Anglotti turned and glared at him.
“Detective, I found this,” said a uniformed officer coming from the bedroom holding the manila envelope Gibs brought him earlier. Anglotti opened it and whistled. “What’s this? Three, four grand?”
“It’s five grand,” said Luke. “The employee I bailed out repaid the money I gave the bail bondsman.”
“You must pay your employees well.”
“Well enough. Is there any crime in having cash?”
“It is if it’s money derived from selling drugs.”
Luke set his jaw and stared at Anglotti. “I don’t sell drugs, detective.”
Everything Luke ever owned; books, pictures, and clothing were strewn on the carpet or floors of his apartment. The furniture was overturned and the pieces that were against the walls were pulled away.
“Find anything else,” Anglotti said to the other officers. One by one they shook their heads.
“Maybe they’ll find something at the business,” one of the uniformed officers said.
“Wait. You’re searching my business?”
“My partner is there now. Does that upset you?”
“It upsets me that you’re disrupting my business.”
“Oh, I plan on disrupting your business, Mr. Wade.”
Rage burned through Luke and it took every ounce of control not to do something stupid that would land him in jail. “I don’t know where you are getting your information, but my business is repairing bikes. Period.”
“So you say, Mr. Wade. Our informants say otherwise.”
“What informants?” growled Luke.
“Confidential informants, Mr. Wade. Come on, boys. We’ll let Mr. Wade clean up the mess here.”
Luke watched the officers walk out of his apartment. At the last minute Anglotti turned and flicked the manila envelope at Luke. It landed at Luke’s feet.”
“Enjoy your legal cash, Mr. Wade.” Anglotti drew out the word ‘legal’ in a way that made it sound like it was anything but legal. Luke wanted to smash the manila envelope in his face. “You might want to put it to good use, like hiring a lawyer. You’re going to need one.” Anglotti slammed the door shut.
Luke stood in his entryway staring at the hell the police made of his home. He turned over the smallest chair, though it strained his sore leg when he put weight on it. He flopped into it, and winced. He pulled his phone out of his pocket but knew calling the shop would make things worse instead of better. Luke would have to wait until one of them called him.
He considered whether or not to call Emily, but considering what she was going through, he decided against it.
His phone rang. His shop’s number displayed on his cell phone. With a mixture of relief and apprehension, he answered the call. “Hey.”
“Hey, boss,” said Gibs.
“How bad is it? The police were here and tore my apartment to shit.”
“It’s a little messy, but Saks and Pepper are straightening it up now.”
“Good, after that’s done, close up the shop and come over here and help me with my apartment. It’s a total disaster.”
“Sure thing, Luke. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
#
Gibs and Saks showed up at the apartment, but Pepper begged off.
“What a fucking mess,” said Gibs.
“Yeah,” said Luke.
“Here,” said Saks. “The time cards and the checkbook.”
“Got any beer,” asked Gibs. “It’s been one helluva day.”
Luke glared at him. “As far as I’m concerned you’re still on the clock.”
“Okay, fine,” grumbled Gibs. He walked around the apartment and stuck his head in the bedroom door. “They didn’t spare a thing, did they?”
“No,” said Luke glumly. “What did they do at the shop?”
“Same thing, just there isn’t that much stuff to go through,�
� said Saks.
“On the other hand, boss,” said Gibs with a grin, “all the inventory is nice and ordered now. Even found those items you thought was missing.”
“You did the inventory?” Luke said in wonder.
“It was the least I could do,” said Gibs.
“Pepper helped him.”
“Besides, I didn’t trust those cops,” said Gibs.
“Yeah, I didn’t either,” said Saks. “What’s going on, boss? We all know you’re as straight as an arrow. Why would the cops think you’re crooked?”
“They got some bad information. And I think it was from the Rojos.”
“Rojos?” said Saks. “That Latin motorcycle club?”
“Gang is more like it.” Luke shook his head. “This is fucking ridiculous.”
“Why? Did a Rojos go after you?” Saks picked up a picture and went to hang it back on the wall.
“A bunch of years ago I was an associate with the Rojos.”
Gibs nearly dropped a picture. “You?” he said in disbelief.
“I was young, stupid and had nowhere else to go. I was in foster care until I turned seventeen, and then, well, you’re out. The Rojos let me crash in their clubhouse, and they liked me pretty well, or at least I thought they did. They recruited white members because sometimes a white face can go into a neighborhood that another color would draw interest from the police.” He waved his hand, dismissing the past. “The chapter I hung with was mostly junkies. One morning I woke to find one of the brothers dead next to me. I caught a glimpse of my future right there and saw it wasn’t a healthy one. I got my things and high tailed it out of the clubhouse.
“What I didn’t know was that the police were getting ready to raid the club and that shit went down the same day I left. The president of that chapter thought because I left that day, I was the snitch who had turned them in. Nothing was further from the truth. But from what I know, he hasn’t changed his thinking on that. Stupid. I know.”
“Shit, Luke!” Saks shook his head.
“There’s more. He put the word out on the streets that he was coming for me. I was a dead man if I hung around. That’s when I joined the Navy. I didn’t like the idea of following orders and going to sea, but from what I could see it was going to take me far from home and away from the gangs. I won’t lie. It was a struggle for me. But I straightened my shit out, saved my money and learned you didn’t have to be a criminal to get by in the world.”