One You Can’t Forget
“I’ll be right there. I’ll bring Justin, don’t worry, Em. It’s just a big mistake, some crazy misunderstanding.”
Justin was Angela’s boyfriend, and an attorney. Sure, he was just out of law school, but he passed the Connecticut Bar, and was working for a Hartford law firm.
Finally, a guard led her out of the cell they had put her in to where Angela and Justin waited.
“Emily, are you okay?” Angela hugged her.
“No, no, I’m not. I don’t understand what happened.”
“Why,” Justin asked as he went through a file, “would the police think your car was stolen?”
“What?” Emily punched the table. “Oh, that asshole!”
“Pardon?”
“I broke up with Evan last night.”
“Is Evan the titled owner of the car?” When Emily nodded, Angela scowled. “What a jerk.”
“I don’t understand,” said Justin. “Why is Evan’s name on the car?”
“It’s stupid.” Emily felt her cheeks burn. “I’ve so many student loans I couldn’t get a decent rate on a car loan. He offered to ‘help’ me by getting the loan in his name. So, of course, the title’s in his name too.”
“But you make the payments on the car?” Justin scribbled everything down.
“I have a record of every payment.”
“Good. That’ll help.”
“Help?”
“In court. What started all this?” asked Justin.
“I found him in my apartment last night. He got the landlady to let him in.”
“He doesn’t have a key?”
“No. I never gave him one.”
“What was he doing there?”
“Going through my things. He accused me of cheating on him.”
“What a creep!” muttered Angela.
“Please, can we just get out of here?” Emily was terrified to go back into that cell.
“Yeah, just wait until I tell Mom and Dad.”
“Don’t! Please don’t. Dad never approved of me getting a car loan through Evan. He was ticked and said nothing good would come of it.”
“Emily, I think you have bigger problems than Dad’s I-told-you-so.”
Justin insisted, especially after seeing the “you’ll be sorry” text from Evan, in stopping by the Wakefield police department and filing a stalking complaint against Evan. Emily didn’t want to do it, but Justin was firm.
“The sooner you document everything, the better it is,” he said. “The police can’t do much now, but Evan has got to understand that he has to drop the charges against you if he wants to stay out of trouble himself.”
“But it looks like he said, she said.” Emily hated arguing with Justin, but it just seemed like the police and court were going to throw her in for five to ten.
“Let the courts decide that, Emily. What he did was shitty. Not illegal. Just shitty. But the threats? Those will get him in trouble.”
Emily was mortified to tell the entire story to Grayson Franks, the desk sergeant who took her complaint.
Grayson was a deacon at their church, and his eyebrows raised as he heard her account. “Don’t you worry, Emily. We all know your family and know you wouldn’t do something wrong like this. I’ll send some extra patrols down your street to drive by your apartment. If we see him around there, we’ll have a talk with him.”
“Thanks,” said Emily tonelessly. She was wrung out and tired. What time was it anyways?
“Come on, honey,” Angela said. “Let’s get some things and you’ll sleep at my place tonight.”
“But—”
“No buts. I’m not leaving you alone in your apartment with that maniac running around.”
CHAPTER FOUR
A Trick of Fate
“That was a great ride.” Gibs poured himself a cup of coffee. It was Monday morning, two days after the latest Saturday ride. They drove down by the Connecticut shore, stopping at Hammonasset State Park and took a walk on the beach. Of course, it was still too cold to do much other than walk around, but it was still nice to hear the waves on the beach. Some of the club walked out on the jetty, a line of boulders that jutted out in the water, which was a small adventure. The rocks are huge and uneven spaced so it did not make for an easy walk. Plus, you had to keep an eye on the tide. If you stayed on the rocks too long the water would roll in and cover the furthest end of the jetty.
“Thanks.” Luke reached for a mug as well. “I think we should think about going out on one of those fishing boats for the day.”
“I don’t know if the guys would go for that.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. We should do something different.”
Gibs sniffed. “That’s a sweet ride you got there.”
Luke smiled. He was proud of his new bike, a 2015 CVO Road Glide Ultra. It was the perfect touring bike, and with a solid “bitch” seat with a backrest, he hoped Deirdre would give up her fear of riding to come out on a road trip with him. Things were still shaky with her, but he was hoping they could work things out. If she shared a little more of his world he thought they could.