Sweet Taboo

“I have a man in custody who was outside the residence,” the younger officer announced.

“You saw me pull up. You watched me walk to the door. What is your problem, man?”

I pushed past the cop the minute I heard his voice. “D, what are you doing here?” I was torn. I wanted to throw myself into his arms, but I knew he was still married and I wouldn’t put myself through this again.

“You know this man?” the officer beside me asked.

I nodded. “Yes. We were on the phone when the window broke.” I tilted my head and my brow arched. “Although I have no idea how he found out where I live.”

With a chuckle, DeSean pulled out his phone with his one free hand and showed me the home screen. “I used the class roster to find your address. How do you think you tell me you gotta go after I hear that crash and I’m not going to move mountains to come find you?”

My eyes watered at his words. “You always did make me feel safe,” I murmured.

“No crying, baby girl. We gotta figure this out. Who would do this to you, to your house?” He tucked his phone back in his pocket, then looked at the officer holding him. “Any chance I can get my arm back now?” As soon as he was released, he stepped closer to me and took my hands in his.

“I don’t know who did this.” I shook my head. “But I’ve been getting threats for months. They’re just getting worse.”

“I found some spray paint on the house,” the officer announced.

I glanced up. “What’d it say?”

“We’ll have to take pictures in the morning, but it says ‘I’ll kill you bitch.’” He glanced at me. “There was no punctuation at the end, no comma before ‘bitch’…”

I huffed. “Well, there’s the real crime.” I threw my hands up in the air. Then I shook my head and wandered into my office. “I have these,” I began as I pulled out the file where I kept all the letters.

“Good. We can check for a handwriting match,” the older officer commented.

“Impossible,” I muttered as I held the open file up. “Cut and paste. No handwriting.”

“Do you have problems with anyone? Neighbors? Co-workers? An ex?” The young male officer eyed D.

“I don’t really have any enemies,” I told them with a shrug. “I’m not that interesting.”

“What about Trent?” D asked with a grim face.

“How’d you know about him?” I asked, my heart pounding a little harder.

“Tegyn, we may not have been together, but I never stopped caring, never stopped watching out for you.” DeSean smirked. “I don’t know how to let go of you and believe me I’ve tried.”

I eyed him, studying every bit of his demeanor for some hint of a lie, but he seemed so sincere it made my heart ache. Once, I’d thought Trent was the one guy I’d never get over, but then I met D and he healed me so much more than he hurt me. He was the reason I had the strength to leave my marriage. He’d shown me I could have better. He taught me I didn’t have to settle.

“How can we get in touch with Trent?” The older officer asked as he pulled a notebook out of his front pocket and a pen from the inside one.

“I guess he’s still in our old house,” I murmured before sharing the address. The whole time I spoke, I could feel D staring at me.

“Okay, so where will you be staying tonight if we need to get in touch with you?” The officer asked.

I frowned. “Here.”

“No.” DeSean shook his head. “Absolutely not. I run a security company and I promise you this is the worst idea. Your house isn’t secure, not to mention that it’s freaking February.”

“Yeah? Your point is?” I scowled. I hated being told what to do, even if it might make sense. Trent had taught me to dig my heels in. It was probably my least attractive quality and it was about to be on full display for D.

“Girl, you’re gonna freeze.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Well, I’m not leaving my stuff unattended.” My chin jutted out.

D took a step closer to me. “I’ll have Tommy come camp out here. You can come home with me.”