Center Mass (Code 11-KPD SWAT 1)

Handing it back to me, I scanned the caller ID and sighed. “Roberts.”

“Your girl’s house was vandalized. No sign of her, though,” Downy’s chilly voice rumbled into my ear.

I froze. “How bad is it?”

Downy hummed for a few seconds before he said, “Not bad, per say. More like the girl won’t be able to close her door for a while. It’s been a while since it happened, though. There’s all kinds of debris and leaves in her house from the wind. Colder than fuck, too. Doors been open for a while.”

“I’ll be right there,” I said and hung up.

“I gotta go,” I said to my parents. “Reese’s house was vandalized and I haven’t been able to get ahold of her all day.”

“Okay, honey. Be careful. I’ll take Katy back to Baylee’s with me. Come get her whenever you’re ready,” My mother said.

I nodded and shook my father’s hand, gave Sebastian a nod at his position on the floor with the kids, and left. All the while I thought about how stupid I’d been to tell her not to come.

I was a dumbass.***By the time I found out where she was, four hours later, I was hot.

She wasn’t answering her phone. Her house was a fucking mess. Her car had been trashed, and I couldn’t find her anywhere.

Then I’d had to play phone tag calling each and every goddamn member of The Dixie Wardens looking for Grayson’s number, just to get ahold of Reese’s sister to see if she was with her.

She was.

And I found myself pulling up into the driveway, still fucking pissed.

The forty five minute drive to Grayson’s place only served to make my anger simmer.

I hadn’t known where she was for four long hours.

How fucking hard would it be to send off a text message and let the man you’re seeing know where the fuck you are?

I got out of my Dodge truck and slammed the door with a flick of my wrist, on a mission.

I was set on my mission, too, until I was stopped by Grayson and his father before I even made it inside.

They both looked worried.

“Thank fuck!” Booney yelled. “I don’t think I could handle one more goddamned second of that shit!”

I blinked in surprise. “What?”

“Her ballin’ her eyes out about how fucking sad she is that no one wants to spend Thanksgiving Day with her,” Grayson sighed. “More cryin’ about how she wants another baby and wants a man to love her like her daddy loves her mom. Jesus, the girl’s probably cried more tears than you could fill a fuckin kiddie pool with.”

The thought of Reese spending the night crying really tore me to shreds. Especially since I was the reason it’d happened. She wouldn’t have spent any of it alone if I hadn’t been thinking about myself.

I put both hands on my head in frustration. “My fuckin’ mom invited my ex. I didn’t know what else to do!”

Grayson shook his head like I was a dumbass, and honestly, I probably was. “You choose her. If you’re getting ass from her, you always choose her.”

He said it slowly, almost as if I would comprehend it better if he did.

“Fuck,” I said, taking the three steps that led up to the porch. “That’s not even why I came, unfortunately. I wish it was.”

I said, glancing through the glass door inside.

Reese and Tru were laying on the floor, a bottle of wine in between them with coffee cups as wine glasses.

They were both facing each other, talking, I assumed.

“And why’s that?” Booney asked as he leaned up against the wooden railing that surrounded the front porch.

I turned my back on the glass door and looked out at my truck.

“Reese’s place was trashed tonight. We’re not sure on the timeline. One of the neighbors that was home said that it happened somewhere in between three and five in the afternoon. Her couches are slit. Kitchen cabinets emptied. Food dumped out. Glasses smashed. Even Rowen’s room was trashed. Clothes were all torn to shreds. Her car was scratched to hell and back with what resembled a screwdriver. It was bad.”

Grayson’s mouth tightened and his hands clenched into fists. “Goddamn bastards. I knew I shouldn’t have allowed Tru to go get her. If she hadn’t, her car would’ve at least been alright. What’s she going to do now? Were there any witnesses?”

I shook my head. “None. The old man that called it in was the same one who gave us the time period. He’s the one that was in love with Reese’s car. Said he used to have one exactly like that when he was younger, that’s why his eyes always stray towards it. He did it when he was letting family in for dinner, he saw it and called the police.”

“Fuck me,” Grayson growled. “Can’t do anything because it’s the day of Thanksgiving, and there’s no way I’m going out in this shit on Black Friday, nor am I letting the two of them go. She can stay…”

“She’s going to be staying with me,” I interrupted.

Grayson shook his head. “She won’t stay with you. She’s got some fucked up rule in her head that says she won’t live with a man until she’s married to him. Only reason I know that is because I heard it for the last four hours.”

Well…we’d just see about that.Chapter 15As soon as this day’s over, I plan on having a nervous breakdown. Feel free to leave me the fuck alone, or you’ll be pulled in with me. On the plus side, there’ll be ice cream, so it won’t be all bad.

-Secret thoughts of Reese

Reese

“I’m not staying with you. There’s nothing you can say that will change my mind,” I yelled, waving my hands in the air wildly.

It was four in the morning and I had yet to go to sleep.

After I’d sobered up, Luke had explained what was going on, and immediately brought me back to my place so I could see the damage.

“Rowen,” Luke said.

One word, and I knew I wouldn’t convince him.