Donovan
God, you’re like the annoying little brother I never had.
I laughed, but a pang of guilt hit me like a ton of bricks. Was I truly the tipping point for the whole thing? Audra said that this behavior was new. I knew she mentioned she thought the trigger was me, but I didn’t comprehend the gravity of that statement. In theory, I suppose it could have happened with anyone she would have been with next, but it was me. I hated that.
Donovan
But question for you, Murphy. How did he get access to under the hood of her car?
Murphy
The easiest way would be he has a key. Audra’s had that car forever, so he could have kept it from when they were dating. He could have used jigglers or upped the ante with something techy. It was clearly not an accident, but I don’t know what the end game there would have been. For her to call him? He’d be the absolute last person she called.
Donovan
He was on her porch last night when I went to drop her off. I bet he was banking on her taking an Uber home.
Bennett
Holy shit, man, that’s fucked up. I’m glad it was you who found her.
Bennett attached a Batman logo to the text, and a laugh escaped my lips. It was so unexpectedly funny.
Donovan
Yeah-I’m glad she agreed to go and at least report the harassment to the cops today. She can’t get a restraining order. We’ll see what happens next.
Maverick
Damn. Keep me posted.
Murphy
Keep yourself posted. Get your ass home.
Maverick
You guys are the fucking worst.
I let out a breath as I walked into my kitchen. It was a long and productive day, but I was looking forward to just relaxing. Making a quick dinner, I turned on the TV. It wasn’t my usual way to unwind, but I just needed to zone out for a little. Within thirty minutes, I had dozed off on the couch.
My phone vibrating woke me. Audra. It was 10:30 p.m. and I’d been asleep for like two hours.She called, I thought as I smiled.
“Hello?” My voice was groggy as I picked up, but when I heard her voice, the smile and all my cobwebs disappeared.
“Donovan…” she said in a panic. “It’s …” She couldn’t even get the words out. I was already up, moving towards my garage.
“Audra, where are you? I’m coming to you right now.” Fear surged into my system, not knowing what was happening, only that she had terror in her voice.
“Home. I’m at home. In my car. Police are coming.”
“Are you hurt?” Working hard to get that question out ascalmly as I could, I hoped the answer was no. Because Lord help Theo if she were hurt. I would forgo going to comfort her to hunt him down like a fucking animal.
“No,” she said in almost a whisper.
“I’m on my way.”I’m surprised I didn’t just bust out of my closed garage door,I thought as I thought about how very Batman-like this was. Flooring it through the streets, I made the ten-minute drive in seven, despite the storm. There were already two cop cars, with their lights flashing, on the street.
Throwing the car in park, I got out like a bat out of hell. She was sitting on the porch, sheltering from the rain, talking to the police. As I skipped the two steps and jumped right on the porch, I noticed glass everywhere. Three windows had been shattered. What the fucking hell happened here? Her eyes caught mine, and she stood up, running over to me.
