She took a deep breath before continuing.I clenched my jaw as I listened, already knowing some of their history based on what Charlie had confided in me early on.
“I knew I was going to ask for a divorce, but I needed to buy some time so I could try to put some money away.I wasn’t working, and knowing that no one was going to hire me because I was pregnant, I had to get creative.I was in charge of our weekly grocery shopping and started getting cash back every time I went.It was always small amounts, so he didn’t question it, especially when I started showing him some of the baby stuff I was buying.I bought and installed a secret safe that I kept hidden behind my shoe rack in the closet, and that was where I stored all of the cash I was saving.It was the only way to ensure I had a way out once I filed for divorce.
One day, I came home, and he was sitting on the couch with his face bloody and covered in bruises.He told me that he’d made a ridiculously large bet and lost.Apparently, he had afriendwho was loaning him money to clear his gambling debts, but he got tired of waiting for Jason to pay him back.They gave him forty-eight hours to get the fifty thousand dollars he owed them, or they were going to kill me.”
Charlie stopped and shook her head, clearing the tears from her eyes as they flowed down her cheeks.
“He said he told them not to hurt me because I was pregnant.I don’t know what happened after that, but when I came home a few days later, a man was waiting for me in the garage.He said he was there to collect Jason’s debt by taking my baby.He attacked me and tried to cut her out of my stomach.I fought back the best I could, but I was so helpless.I found a nail on the floor and stabbed him in the eye with it before hitting him in the head with a weight.”
My eyebrows rose in surprise.Fucking hell.I knew she had come here right after they tried to cut the baby out of her stomach, but she hadn’t told me the rest.
“How heavy was the weight?”Ashley asked, completely unbothered by anything she had just heard, which didn’t surprise me, given Ashley’s past.I would never want anyone to have to go through what Ashley did.
“I don’t know,” Charlie said with a sigh as she scrunched her face.“Maybe five or ten pounds.Light enough for me to lift it without straining, but probably not heavy enough to kill him.”
“Would you be able to identify him if you saw him?”Ashley pressed, holding her phone in front of her as she looked down at the screen.
“Yes.”Charlie pulled her shoulders back as she answered with confidence.
“Is this him?”
Ashley turned the phone, and a picture of one of the men who had come in showed on the screen.His eyes were closed as blood pooled around his head.
Charlie covered her mouth and nodded.
“Yes.I recognize the tattoo under his eye and the dragon on his neck.I’m pretty sure the eye patch is from where I stabbed him with the nail.”
Just then, the door opened, and Jo walked in.
“What’s wrong?”I asked, noticing the look on her face.
“They’re part of my uncle’s crew.I immediately recognized the tats.”
My head dropped as I let a heavy breath out.
Fuck.This day just kept getting worse.
“What does that mean?”Charlie asked, standing up as she looked between us.
“It means that you pissed off the wrong fucking people,” Jo said, shaking her head.I knew how hard it was for her to talk about her past, so I could only imagine how this was impacting her.
“She didn’t,” I replied softly.“Her husband did.”
