Nailing My Wife

She gives him a weak smile and responds, “Thank you, Officer Davis.”

Once we pull away, I feel the tension in the cab ebb. I take her hand in mine. “Brenda, I’m ready to talk when you are, but first you need food.”

“Can you stop through a drive-thru?” she asks. I can tell she’s exhausted.

“Absolutely, which one?” I squeeze her hand, then intertwine our fingers.

“I could go for some KFC right now. I want something to fill me up.”

My phone starts ringing through the dash. “Oh shit, I forgot about Ben.”

“What the fuck is going on?” he asks through the Bluetooth.

“I’ve got her. We’re on our way back home. It’s a long motherfucking twisted tale, but the fucker is on the loose.”

“I’m halfway to Jones’s place now,” Ben says. I’m so damn grateful for him. He’s the reason I was able to find her so quickly.

“Meet us back at the condo. We’ll talk there. Did you tell anyone about it?”

“No, not even your building manager.”

“I thought he was in the room with you.”

“No, the neighbor lady walked into the condo, and he started talking to her about everything. They are too nosy for their own good. I didn’t want it to get out about her words to the cops just in case that fucker was listening to the scanners.”

“Okay. Meet us there.” I end the call and focus on the road. A variety of thoughts run through my head all surrounding the bastard that did this to my wife.

I hold her hand the whole way there only letting go to get her food. I don’t want to let her go any more than she wants me to let her go, she seems to be getting tenser as we get closer to the condo.

“I don’t know if I can go back in there,” she whispers as we pull into our parking spot.

I turn off the engine, face my wife, and apologize with my whole heart, “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that.”

Her shaky hand comes up and caresses my face. “It’s okay, but please don’t leave my side. I can’t do this without you.” I read the intensity in her eyes. I never want her to doubt her safety ever again.

I jump out of the cab and walk around. I open the door and unbuckle her. She moves to get out, but I stop her, resting my legs on the outside of hers, enclosing her body with mine. I brush her hair back and for the first time notice a bruise on her cheek close to her ear. I place a kiss on that spot, then look into her loving eyes and apologize, “Fuck, Brenda. I’m so damn sorry. This is my fault. If I was home where I should have been this wouldn’t have happened.” I will spend the rest of my life apologizing.

“I have a feeling it would have happened either way. He would have just waited until we were apart. We can’t spend all our time together.”

“Let’s get this over with and then we’ll stay somewhere else tonight.”

“I’d like that.”

Chapter 9

Brenda

We enter the lobby, and there are Ben and the detectives. Dane has me in his arms and Ben takes my bag of food from me without a word. He squeezes my hand before we all get on the elevator to our condo. I’m not too afraid because Dane is with me, but I can’t stop the shiver. Dane carries me into the condo, then Ben locks the door behind us. As we get to our bedroom, I stiffen in his arms.

“Baby, I just want to get you dressed in some clean clothes then we can get out of here. I’ll get your clothes.” He sits me down on our his and hers counter in the bathroom. As soon as he walks out of the room, I’m shaking. I refuse to take my eyes off the door. He rushes in, and I jump back, bumping my head on the mirror.

“Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, Brenda.”

“No. It’s not your fault.” He hands me the clothes, and I put them on. I don’t have the time or the energy for a shower. We walk out, and he sits me down while Ben brings my food to me on a plate with a Pepsi.

“Thanks.” I take a bite of chicken and let out a moan. I didn’t realize how hungry I was. After a minute, I start to talk, “I know you have a lot of questions. I’m not sure I can tell you more than I have.”

“We can try, Mrs. Harris.” I happened to enjoy him calling me that. I love being Dane’s wife.

“Well, I wasn’t feeling too good, so I went to bed early. I don’t know what time it was, but I know that the sun wasn’t up yet when I was startled by a noise. I looked toward my bedroom door which was normally closed, and there was a man standing in my doorway. From the build, I knew it wasn’t Dane coming home early to surprise me. I didn’t have anything to grab to hit him with, so I reached for my phone to send a message. And that’s when I saw who it was. He was too fast and shot me with a taser. I collapsed then he carried me to one of those white delivery vans that you see everywhere. I wasn’t conscious until he tossed me inside and cuffed me. That was when I threw up. He told me there was someone else before me.”