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Tayia returned with two pregnancy tests in her hand. My eyes were glued to them, and I couldn’t look away. She raised both sticks so I could see. Both only had one faint line, no double lines. No double lines!
“Negative?” I whispered, and Tayia nodded her head. I sunk down to the floor and covered my face with my hands. I felt so many things at once, relief for not being pregnant, heartbreak that I wasn’t carrying Mack’s baby, longing because I missed him, and sadness that he had no idea that any of this was going on right now.
****
I was locking up the back entrance to the restaurant when what sounded like footsteps on gravel caused me to turn my head. The light from the streetlamp illuminated a figure, and I blinked several times trying to identify who was standing there. Then a glare flashed over a pair of glasses and I knew it was Detective Rollins.
“What do you want?” I called out, not at all masking my dislike for him. Rollins stepped forward but didn’t speak. He just placed one foot in front of the other methodically as he closed the distance between us, and I couldn’t seem to make my feet move. Maybe it was the look in his eyes that terrified me.
“You seemed like such a nice girl,” he murmured, ominously. Looking around, I realized I was all alone. Carina took off at least a half an hour ago, and I’d watched my parents pull away as I was locking the front doors.
“A pretty girl.” Rollins continued speaking. “Such a shame.”
“Wha?.?.?.?what are you doing here, Rollins?” I stammered as panic crept up my spine.
“I just wanted to get a good look at the woman who would stick by a piece of shit like King.” He was so close that I could smell liquor on his breath. I took a step back, and he followed, well staggered, to stay in front of me. While he was older, I still knew that I couldn’t overpower him even if he tried to grab me.
“Let me tell you a little story of the King family, and we’ll see how you feel about your precious man afterward.”
“I don’t want—” I started to say as I tried to step away, but Rollins grabbed my arm firmly. I shrieked loudly as he jerked my chin in his direction with cold fingers, forcing me to look at him.
“Nobody gives a shit what you want. Hell, nobody ever gives a shit what I want. But somebody better care about what my Laurel wanted.” His eyes were glassy and wild as he studied my face. “My Laurel was beautiful just like you. Her hair was golden and her eyes were so blue.” I jerked my head away and tried to pull free of his hold, but he squeezed my upper arm causing me to yelp. “I said that I have a story to tell you and you better damn well listen, you hear me?” He shook me a couple of times as if he expected me to answer, so I nodded my head. When he seemed satisfied, he loosened his grip but still held my arm firmly.
“Good. Now, where was I. Oh, yes. The Kings.” His face curled up with disgust, and the wrinkles around his eyes and forehead became much more pronounced. “Patrick King. The drunken bastard. I can’t tell you how many times I pulled him over for drunk driving when I was on patrol. I knew him from school so I kind of felt bad for him. The last time I pulled him over I drove his sorry ass home instead of locking him up. God, I was so stupid back then.” Rollins’s bloodshot eyes focused on something in the distance as if he were seeing the story play out in his mind.
“I got a call the next day that my Laurel was in the hospital. She was driving home from teaching ballet class. Laurie loved to dance. She was such a beautiful dancer.” His voice cracked and then with his free hand he pulled a bottle of something I hadn’t noticed he was holding to his lips and took a long swig, then twisted his wrist and swiped the back of his hand across his mouth. “I thought for sure she’d been killed. I was relieved when they told me she was alive. The doctors said she was paralyzed from the waist down, but I didn’t care as long as she was still breathing. ‘Laurie, thank God, you’re alive,’ I say. And you know what she says to me?” He threw his head back and laughed like a madman before turning his face to me, his eyes flaring with anger. “She said she wished she’d died! Instead of wanting to live for me and our boys, she said if she couldn’t dance, then she wanted to die.”
“Listen, I—”
“Did I say you could fucking speak? This is my story, and I’m going to tell it!” he snarled, spraying spit as he spoke, and my body went still. “I found out that Patrick King was the stupid motherfucker who crashed into my wife’s car. But I knew that it was my fault. If I’d taken his ass in like I was supposed to, he would have been locked up instead of driving around that day. My beautiful Laurel would still be able to dance and she would be happy. She would still be mine.” Rollins’s eyes lowered to the ground, and I thought he was done with his story but he kept speaking.
“Laurie couldn’t take it. She just couldn’t take it anymore. I found her in our bed. Her skin was so cold. There was an empty bottle of pills on the nightstand, and I knew. I just fucking knew she was gone. My beautiful Laurel went to be with the angels where she could dance just like she used to.”
I didn’t know what to say. What happened to his wife was awful, but I didn’t understand why it was Mack’s burden to bear. My voice struggled to the surface and my throat was dry, so I swallowed several times.
“B-but Patrick King is in jail. He’s paying for his crime. What does it have to do with his son?”
“Adam King.” He let out a loud and bitter laugh. “He’s a cocky bastard who has no respect for the law, much less innocent people on the road. He hasn’t learned a thing from his father’s mistakes, and I felt it was my duty to make sure I put him where he belonged. So I made sure to start the investigation all on my own. I knew if I looked deep enough I would find what I needed. Nobody wanted to believe me. They told me to drop it, but I refused to give up. And see, I was right.”
Oh. That’s when I realized this man was obsessed. It was beyond doing his job, it was about revenge. His face was worn and haggard, but judging by the strength in his grip he wasn’t as old as I first believed. Heavy drinking and, perhaps, depression aged him prematurely.
“I just want to hold her again,” he choked out in a whisper and released my bicep. Then he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me against him. As much as I struggled, I couldn’t break free. “Stop now, Laurie. Just let me hold you for a while,” he mumbled as he squeezed me tighter.
“Let me go!” I screamed and thrashed my arms with all my might as I tried to break free. “Help!”
“Stop it, I said.” Rollins barked into my ear. “It’s been so long since I felt you against me, Laurie. Felt your legs around me, darlin’.” He shoved a hand under my T-shirt and roughly squeezed my breast.
“No, no, nooo!” I cried as tears began to spill down my cheeks. Then out of nowhere Rollins was shoved away, and I looked up to see Woody standing over Rollins, who tried to get to his feet.
“Stay the fuck down or I’ll put you there again,” Woody growled as his fist clenched and unclenched at his sides. Rollins sputtered and swayed as he tried to awkwardly get to his feet.
“You just assaulted an officer of the law, motherfucker. Turn around and put your hands behind your back,” he slurred. His legs wobbled but managed to support him as he stood.
“Yeah, well I just caught you assaulting my sister, so I’ll make sure that your ass is in the cell right next to mine.”
“I am the law! Who’s going to believe you? You’re a piece of shit with a gambling problem and a rap sheet.”
“I don’t know, let’s find out,” Carina called as she stepped forward, her bright red hair flowing behind her as she led two police officers our way. When her eyes landed on me she immediately hurried over and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. I didn’t realize until th
