7 Months (Time for Love 8)

When her breathing became even I asked, “What happened?”

Natalie took a deep breath and replied, “I was watching New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on TV, when he started pounding on my door. I told him he wasn’t coming in, that this isn’t his home anymore and that I needed him to sign the papers. He said, this was his house and I was his wife, and no piece of paper would ever change that. I told him I was calling the police and he needed to leave.”

She paused, sat back on the bed and took a drink of water.

Nat’s eyes sought mine and she continued, “He started screaming, unlike anything I’d heard before… He was in a total rage. He said if I didn’t let him in, he was going to kill me, but if I did, he wouldn’t hurt me too bad. I called 911, then I grabbed the bat I keep in my closet and shut myself in my bedroom. I heard glass breaking and knew he was coming in through the window, then I heard crashing … Everything happened so fast, it’s like a dream…”

“I’ve got you,” I said, sitting next to her and grabbing her hand in mine. “Go on.”

Her body kept trembling as she said, “He kicked down the bedroom door and knocked me down. Before I could get up, he was on me, kicking and punching my body. I swung the bat with as much might as I could and even hit him once I think, but he grabbed onto the end and ripped it out of my hands, then he slapped me hard with the back of his hand.” Nat pulled back and brought her hand to her cheek, her eyes glassed over as she recounted what happened.

“I’ve never been hit before, not even a slap. It took me by surprise, I didn’t think he’d ever hurt me that way … Um, then he grabbed my wrist and dragged me back to the living room. He said I needed to come with him, that he’d found a place and we were leaving this shithole forever. I said no, that I was never going anywhere with him again, then he started twisting my arm. I was crying, screaming, begging him to stop, and then I heard a snap and felt a white-hot pain. I almost passed out … He was ranting, saying how it was my fault that he’d gotten this way, that he was only hurting me because I made him.”

Nat took another drink of water, and she took in a shaky breath as her eyes filled with tears.

“I served him with divorce papers, I sicked the cops on him, and I was the reason he’d had to hide all those months. While his back was turned I saw the gun tucked into his waist band, and I didn’t think, I just grabbed it with my good hand. My first two shots were wild, and I could see that I’d surprised him, but when his face turned ugly … just mean and ugly … and he started charging toward me, I knew if I didn’t stop him, he was going to kill me. So I shot him … Then I dropped the gun and ran to my room. I could hear the sirens getting closer, but I just huddled down between my bed and the wall and waited to see what would happen next.”

“You’re okay now,” I assured her. “You did the right thing, Nat.”

“Did I kill him?” she asked, her voice low and full of fear.

“No, sweetheart, he was looking right at me when the paramedics took him away.”

Natalie sagged against me with relief, and I gave her a few moments to before I explained what would happen next.

“First, we need to get you to the hospital. Get you looked over, fixed up, and get everything on record. We have to call our liaison from the battered women’s program, who will come talk to you and give you guidance. Finally, we’ll have to get you a lawyer.”

“A lawyer?”

“Yes, a lawyer. You are going to press charges against Zeke, aren’t you? You know now what he’s capable of, so you need to take the necessary measure to make sure he doesn’t come after you again. We need to keep him off the streets.”

Natalie was quiet for a minute, her eyes wide as the wheels turned in her head, and I worried that she wasn’t going to press charges, then I let out a swift breath when she slowly nodded.

“Good,” I said with a small smile, then took her by her healthy arm and led her out to the living room, where the other cops and a new set of paramedics were waiting.

“Everything good?” Doobie asked, his eyes shining with a rage that I knew was mirrored in my own.

I nodded, then handed Nat over to the paramedics.

“She’ll press charges,” I told Doobie and the first responders when Natalie was ushered out of the trailer. “I’ll call Marsha to get in touch with Rachel, the liaison for battered women, and stop by the hospital to check on her in a bit. Did you already get her statement? What about his?”

Once we had everything worked out, I left the first responders to record the scene and walked out with Doobie.

“You okay, Irish?” he asked, and I knew he was concerned that I was too close to this case. Too close to Nat.

“I’m good,” I assured him, but added, “I’m just pissed that he got by us. We’ve been looking for this guy for months, and he just walks up to her door on New Year’s.”

“Yeah, I know,” Doobie said, his face full of regret. “I know it’s no consolation, but it could have been a lot worse. I didn’t know she had it in her, but she defended herself.”

I nodded, but didn’t reply, instead thinking, she shouldn’t have had to defend herself.

“All right, well, if that’s all you need from me, I’m gonna head out. I’ll check in with you to

morrow.”

“Yeah, okay, thanks, Doobie.”

“Oh, and Irish, I hope you know a lawyer, because she’s gonna need a good one.”