by Anna Scott
The mother’s ex-boyfriend had snatched her. Though the girl had been frightened, she hadn’t been hurt. Now, I was completely exhausted. I’d been up now for about twenty-eight hours, after getting a few hours early the morning before. I had to get some sleep and then I was going to find Dawn.
Shelly, the civilian employee at the sheriff’s department who manned the front desk, said that a young woman had come in and dropped off a paper bag and coffee for me. I’d been back in my office, talking to Chelsea. Then, Trent came in and said he’d seen her, but she looked freaked, and he’d seen tears running down her face. I had no idea what was wrong, but I needed to find her and figure it out. I’d wanted to find her right then, but I couldn’t
I’d wanted to go by Indulgence to talk to her, but after Chelsea left, I had a meeting and then was scheduled to be at the range. By the time I’d gotten to the store, Aurora and Amber were closing early because of some local flooding and told me that Dawn hadn’t come back in, but Aurora had talked to her on the phone and she was okay. I’d been about to head to Dawn’s house when I got the call to come back in.
The entire day before that had been fucked, all I wanted to do now was find my girl and get some sleep. When she didn’t answer her phone, again, I called Aurora to figure out Dawn’s schedule for the day. She was supposed to work later, but there had been some minor flooding around the store, thanks to a nearby creek that swelled quickly overnight. It wasn’t horrible, but she had to keep the store closed for a day or so with some heavy duty fans to help the flooring dry out. She didn’t want the mold and bacteria take over.
So, Dawn had an unexpected day off. Interesting. Regardless of how tired I was, I drove past her house, no matter that it was a good ten minutes out of my way.
“God damn it!” I shouted, when I saw that her car was not in the driveway. Where the fuck was she? I found a piece of paper and left a note on her door. If she wouldn’t answer her phone, I’d find another way to get my message across. I seriously considered just using the key I had, but sensing there was something more going on here, than just missed calls, I decided not to push my luck.
As I finished writing the note, I noticed a man standing on the porch, looking right at me. Where had he been just a minute ago? I hadn’t seen him. Jumping down from the truck, I made it to him, quickly, freaked as hell that I couldn’t find Dawn and this dude was hanging around.
“Who the fuck are you?” I snarled before the older man had a chance to speak. I took him in, in his late forties maybe, about six-foot, gray hair with a liberal amount of black sprinkled through, pulled back into a pony tail. He looked at least partially Native American, but definitely not full. He was wearing a leather MC cut, and as I got closer, I could see. Fucking shit, it was a Dawning Death MC cut. Jesus Christ, why in the ever loving fuck was this old biker standing on her front porch?
The other man raised an eyebrow and his eyes lit with humor, but nothing else about him changed.
“You don’t know me?” The man asked, apparently recognizing me from the bar, where I’d seen him just a few weeks ago, and I got the feeling I’d seen him somewhere else as well.
“I’ve seen you, but no, I don’t know you. So, who are you and why are you standing on my girl’s porch?”
Now, both eyebrows rose to the sky and a smirk appeared on the man’s face.
“Just dropping by to chat with my friend Dawn, that’s all. Nothing for you to worry about, Deputy McNeil.”
Shit, he was giving me a clear message. He knew her, and he knew about me. I needed to make the time to figure out who this guy was and find out what he was doing.
Raising an eyebrow in question, I moved the keys in my hand, like I was going to open her door and watched as he shrugged and started to walk away.
“See you later, deputy.” The man said, his gravelly voice calling back over his shoulder.
I gave the obligatory head nod, and opened her front door. I hadn’t intended to go inside, but with this guy hanging around, I needed to make it look like I belonged here. Maybe he’d think twice about hanging around.
From the front window, I watched as he walked back toward his bike, swung a leg over and roared off. He’d been parked down by the trail, I’d seen that bike, and I had a feeling that he had no other connection to the neighborhood than Dawn. Did she know him?
Once he was gone, I decided to look around. I was searching for something, looking for a clue as to why Dawn had all of a sudden stopped talking to me, and where she was now. Tuesday night had been amazing. I had been ready to drop to one knee right there and then.
Making love to Dawn had been perfect, which wasn't a surprise. The way she'd been able to play with me in bed and out, having fun with me, and she got off on it when I went all possessive on her, had surprised me. I absolutely loved to control women, to overpower and dominate them in bed, I wasn’t into any lifestyle stuff, though I’d tried a fair bit of it. I loved to hold her down, and I wanted to take her further over the edge than she’d been before. I’d held back some with her, having no idea what kind of experiences she’d had, but I couldn't wait to investigate. I had a feeling she'd really enjoy some experimentation.
She’d been amazing when I’d been called in, she found food and drinks for me, even had those cold coffee drinks I took sometimes. She was supportive and sweet, and even fucking helpful. It was like she’d been a cop’s wife for fifteen years already. Damn, she should have been – maybe. Well, maybe six years or so anyway.
It had been incredible, that she’d gone out of her way to bring me food at work, she knew how crazy my day was, I’d told her about it. She got it and knew I hadn’t eaten. Whatever happened to change things, seemed to have happened between the time I talked to her on the phone and the time Trent saw her in the parking lot.
I was way too tired to give it serious consideration, I’d have to figure it out later on, right now, I needed to sleep. Once I got home, I fell onto my bed, I had just enough energy to untie my boots and kick them off, before falling asleep.
I’d been able to sleep for five hours, before my work phone started blowing up. The ringer was so loud, I jolted awake disoriented. It took me a second to pull the stupid thing to me, and get my eyes to clear. Answering the call, I heard the disembodied voice of the automated SWAT call-out message. I thought they should just have the computer tell us to get our asses to work, instead of the thing telling us what was going on.
Tripping over my boots, as I stumbled out of bed, I made it to my closet and pulled on my SWAT gear. It was going to be another fucked up night, another night of hurry up and wait. Another night that I couldn’t talk to Dawn. I was fucking this whole thing up and I knew it. With me basically MIA since she’d come to the station, she’d think I didn’t care about her, which was the farthest thing from the truth.
As I rushed into the station, I made it to line up a few minutes ahead of some of the other guys, so I found my personal phone and checked it. I had a text from Dawn.
I didn’t know why, but a feeling of foreboding rushed over me as I opened the text to read it.
Dawn: Hey, sorry, but I can’t go to the beach this weekend. TTYL
Was she serious? No explanation, nothing? Did she think that I’d just let it go at that? She was out of her mind. Glancing around the room, I noticed that we had a few more minutes. I pulled on the rest of my gear, then replied.
Gavin: What’s going on? Are you okay?
I wanted to scream, to beat my chest, but I couldn’t; not right now. This was the weekend I wanted to put it all out there. I wanted to tell her just how I felt. I wanted to promise her the world. She was mine, that was it. She was my one in a million, she always had been. I’d fucked it up eight years ago, but I’d be damned if I’d do it again.
The commander came into the room, to brief us before she sent another text. For the next twelve hours I waited, we were called to a crime scene and the perp was still inside, armed. Thankfully, he was alone.
We w
ere attempting to make contact, but he was unresponsive. We’d cleared the area, in the event of shots fired, we’d never put the public in danger. It had been a long, cold night of tension.
Two years ago, at a scene way too similar to this one, we’d lost two officers. They’d been shot upon entry to the house. I’d been there that night and a hundred others. There was always that chance, and though we came into this life, knowing the risks, most of us wanted to help, to make a difference. It was the same in the military, and I’d seen way too many lose it all.
The command staff was gun shy these days, which was sometimes good, but all too often hindered us from doing our jobs effectively. Our lieutenant was good, but had been there that night too. None of us wanted to see another officer fall.
Finally, he gave the order for four of us to gain access through the upstairs balcony at the back of the house. We knew that the suspect was downstairs in the hallway. We’d been able to see his boots, though they weren’t visible now, we hoped that he hadn’t moved far.
The man had beat his pregnant girlfriend, left her broken and bleeding, and gone and held up the liquor store down the street, shooting the store owner. Thankfully, the girlfriend would survive and the store owner would too. The woman had confirmed that the suspect was high, he was a heroin addict. The man would be volatile, and completely unpredictable.
We found the balcony door locked, but Trent was able to pick it quickly and quietly. He held up his hand, showing three fingers, two and then one. He opened the door and we slipped inside. This wasn’t an instance where we could announce our presence. Our goal was to take the man alive, if he started shooting, that would be almost impossible.
Clearing the upstairs of the small house, we found a lot of trash, clutter and absolute filth, but no one else. We crept down the stairs silently, and as I got to the bottom, everyone stopped behind me. I held my hand up and peeked around the corner, gun up and ready.
Immediately, I saw him. The young, thin man was crumpled on the floor, a needle sticking out of his arm, the cloth he’d used to tie his arm off above, still there. He was unconscious, hopefully. But the odd angle of his head and absolute stillness of his body gave me serious concern.
I hit the red button on my radio and whispered “ambulance” into the shoulder mic. I looked again, before heading toward him, he hadn’t moved. Guns raised, we walked to him in formation. There was a gun just inches away from his right hand, but he didn’t even flinch when we called out to him.
Trent grabbed it, quickly dealing with the weapon as Nate and I bent down to check him. I carefully removed the needle, capped it and bagged it for the doctors at the hospital. Checking for a pulse, I found one, but it was weak and thready. This guy was out and he didn’t look good.
Relaying the information to the team outside, Justin opened the front door, allowing the team inside. The ambulance crew arrived quickly and rushed him to the hospital, under police guard.
I watched my fellow SWAT team members as the tension faded away. Everyone was okay, and hopefully the perp would be too, he’d have to pay for his crimes, but I prayed he’d find the help he needed and that his girlfriend would too.
By the time I made it home, the sun was shining bright in the sky. My phone had died hours before, thanks to my frequent checks to see if Dawn had texted me back. She hadn’t.
Exhausted, I got back to my place, stripped and passed out. I was supposed to be at work right now, but I couldn’t even remember what day it was. Obviously, I wasn’t going in, which wasn’t an issue, my sergeant knew already and would actually be pissed if I showed up, unless of course, there was another call out.
Opening my eyes to complete darkness, I glanced over at the clock. It was one in the morning. Damn, I’d slept for almost twelve hours. Thinking back, I couldn’t believe how insane the week had been.
I picked up my phone, but it was still dead. I’d forgotten to charge it before I fell asleep. Rolling over, I plugged it in, then went into the bathroom for a shower.
Feeling better, I came back to the phone and powered it on. I stared at it, waiting, hoping, expecting, but nope, no response from Dawn. I had a call from my mom and a text from my brother. That couldn’t be good. Opening it, I was relieved to see that he was just telling me he would be in town the following weekend, knowing Chelsea would be here, apartment hunting, he asked if we all could get together.
It was strange for Zach to be initiating a family gathering, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt – as usual. Probably I should stop doing that, but it was difficult, he was my older brother after all. I’d looked up to him for a long time. I still remembered the protective brother, the nice guy, I wasn’t sure when he’d changed, but I rarely saw that same person in him anymore.
I sent a quick reply, not caring if I woke him up. I fought the urge to call Dawn, to drive to her house, it was the middle of the night.
Unfortunately, since it was the middle of the night, and I was wide awake, I couldn’t stop myself. I got out of bed, pulled on a pair of track pants, a long sleeved T-shirt and slipped into my shoes.
Driving the twenty minutes to her house, I tried to convince myself over and over again to turn around, to go home, to stop this, but I couldn’t. I had to know that she was home, that she was safe, that the motorcycle wasn’t anywhere around.
Turning onto her street, I slowed and parked in front of her house, leaving the truck running, I turned the lights off, so I didn’t attract attention. I scanned the area, I’d noticed her car right away, but I looked for any others that might be here, at her house.
Finding none, I let out a breath of relief. She was alone, I hoped, she didn’t have an overnight guest. It would have killed me if I saw another man’s car parked in front of her house, that had been my greatest fear. The bike wasn’t anywhere nearby either. She was alone, she was safe. I didn’t want her to be alone, but I wouldn’t use my key now.
The truck still running, I climbed down and left her another note. I put this one under her windshield wiper. She’d have to see it. She’d call me.
Seeing her car, settled my panic, that and not seeing any others, but now, I had to figure out why she wasn’t texting me back, why she’d looked so freaked when she came into the station the other day. She hadn’t answered any of my calls. Something was wrong, I just hadn’t had two fucking seconds to figure it out.
I headed back home, then paced the small space of my room, trying to figure out what had happened. I’d thought things were going well, Dawn and I had come into our friendship with relative ease, we started dating, we’d made love, it was perfect. With every breath I breathed, I craved her, I needed her in my bed every night, even if I wasn’t in it. When I came home, I needed to crawl into bed and be able to pull her to me, not be alone.
It was a long, lonely night, but when the light of dawn started to peak through the blinds, I watched it. The light slowly crept into the darkness and overtook it. Dawn overpowered the darkness, my darkness. It wasn’t long before the room was filled with dawn’s light, tossing all the darkness away. Seeing the metaphor for what it was, I knew in that moment that I would stop at nothing to have Dawn shine her light and fill me with it, she and only she could take all the darkness and pain of my past and make it bearable. Dawn was absolutely my one. I would do whatever it took to make her see that. If it took fifty years, I’d never, not ever stop trying to win my Dawn, the girl who should have always been mine.
When ten am finally ticked over, I grabbed my now charged phone and called her. I was off this weekend, since we were supposed to be going away, I had nothing to do, but pursue her.
“Fuck!” I shouted into the silent room, when her phone immediately went to voice mail.
Looking at my screen, searching for answers it couldn’t give, I noticed a missed text. Jesus, how did I miss that?
Dawn: Yep, fine, the store had a little flooding, I am going to work to help get it cleaned out.
That message was about as disingenuous a
s it could be. Sure, I wasn’t surprised that she’d help clean up the store, but there was a hell of a lot more going on than she was telling me. Well, at least I knew where she would be, I had nothing better to do than help, and she wasn’t blowing me off anymore.
My heart lightened at the thought, that all this misunderstanding would be put to rest; thanks to the storm, her power outage and my crazy-ass work schedule, things had been strange.
Throwing on a pair of old worn jeans and a long sleeved tee, I found my work gloves and a pair of waterproof boots. I had no idea how bad the damage was, but I’d come prepared. I shoved my phone and wallet into my pocket and purposely left my work phone at home. I was on vacation this weekend, which meant that unless the world came to an end, I was not on call.
Parking my truck near the rear entrance of the store, I decided to head down to the coffee shop the girls loved and grab something. Walking through the door, I noticed a pair of familiar wide shoulders bent over, trying to talk to the pretty owner. She was blushing and avoiding eye contact with him. His finger traced the line of her jaw as she tried to look away, but I noticed the smile in her eyes. I hoped, for Reed’s sake that he’d have an easier time of things with Gillian, than I was having with Dawn.
Chuckling, I walked over and slapped him on the back.
“Hey, man, looks like you had the same idea that I did.”
“Doubt it,” he muttered under his breath, low enough that the pretty blonde couldn’t hear.
“You come down to help?” Reed asked as he straightened and looked my way.
“Yep, how bad is it?” My smile was wide, I felt happier than I had since Dawn had been upset on Wednesday. Realizing that there wasn’t anything I couldn’t fix, and having a plan made all the difference.
Reed told me about the wet floors and the boxes of damaged merchandise. It didn’t sound like a huge issue, just some simple clean up and stuff. Thankfully, the water hadn’t gotten into the walls, that would have been a major pain in the ass.