Jack sighed heavily and plopped his ass on one of the shop stools. “Bro… you have no idea.”
I looked between the two of them. “What are you guys talking about?”
Jack immediately shook his head. “Nothing, Avery. I’ve just been doing some cleaning. Everything's fine…” Jack was talking to me, but he turned and locked eyes with James. “I promise.”
James nodded. “Thank you.”
“What do we do now?” Jack asked after a moment.
James shrugged. “Business as usual. It’s a quarter ‘till, and I know Mrs. Flanagan is gonna be real antsy to pick up the Prius. Should probably get that tire changed out. Need to finish that tune-up today, too.” He shouldered out of his jacket and held it out to me. “Babe, would you mind hanging this in the office? I imagine you’ll want to hang out there, anyway. I know you’re not a big fan of how loud it gets back heresometimes with all the machines.”
“I’ll hang your jacket up, but I’d rather stay here with you, if that’s okay.”
“I would love that,” James replied with a smile.
James’s attitude and tenderness were such a contrast to the way most men had spoken to me my entire life. He was the first man I’d ever been around where I had the confidence to express my wishes. If David had told me to go wait somewhere, that’s exactly what I’d do—whether I wanted to or not. There was always the fear that I’d make him mad.
With James, that fear was nonexistent. We’d only known each other in person for several days, but I was completely unafraid to express myself around him. I was comfortablebeingcomfortable.
James had told me at least 10 times that he’d never hurt me, and I believed him. With every fiber of my being, I trusted that man. Despite my faith in him—inus—I was more nervous than I’d ever been. I knew how dangerous David was, and I tried not to think of what other atrocities he was capable of.
I was trying to convince myself that there was nothing David could actually do to us, but it didn’t seem to help. My stomach was beginning to turn itself over. The guilt I still felt for David being a problem for James was bad enough as it was, and every minute that ticked by, I became more and more convinced we should have taken James’s original idea and hopped aplane to Calico Springs. Or whatever the fuck he was talking about last night.
I was tempted to call my dad, but, after the way the conversation with my mom went, I wasn’t sure I could physically handle that conversation.
The guys worked away on their prospective projects, and I had finally allowed myself to get lost down a TikTok rabbit hole about Vatican conspiracy theories. Every once in a while, I’d look up and catch James staring at me from across the garage. Every time I did, he’d smile and then quickly return to his task.
The shopwasloud. Between the compressors, lifts, and the radio, I was relying on captions to get through the reels. James had been right—normally, this would be way too overstimulating, but I was still nervous to be too far from him.
The bell for the front door would ring here and there, and Jack would stop what he was doing and head to the customer lobby to take care of whomever had entered. Every time the bell went off, the three of us would look up and stare at each other.
A silent ‘is this it’?
A little after 11:30, James killed the radio and asked if everyone was ready for lunch.
I opened my mouth to answer when two patrol cars and three black SUVs came racing up the back drive, stopping just before the open roll-up door.
My heart fell into my stomach. I jumped up from where I’d been sitting as David exited his patrol car. James looked back at me and shook his head. “Stay back, please. I don’t want him touching you.”
“That’s rich, considering Avery belongs tome.” David sneered as two other officers filled in the space behind David. I recognized one of them, but I’d never seen the other. Several other people started piling out of the black SUVs, but they were wearing suits and collared shirts. They were obviously law enforcement, but they weren't Emberford Police. They were all wearing gloves, and I barely noticed David taking a step into the garage.
“How many times do I have to tell you that the customer entrance is around the front?” James said; a cold chill lacing his voice. “And Avery doesn’tbelongto anyone. Especially not a cheap piece of shit like you.”
“We’ll see about that,” David laughed as he pulled some folded papers out of his jacket pocket. “We have a warrant to search the premises,” David began as he held the papers up to James’s face. “Got an anonymous tip that this shop is operating with stolen car parts. This is also a known drug den. That’s why I’ve asked the fine members of Emberford’s forensics and narcotics team to join me for our little adventure.”
James laughed. “Sure, bud. Whatever makes you feel better. You can tear this place apart. Burn it to the fucking ground for all I care…”
“JR,”Jack said nervously under his breath, but James ignored him.
“It doesn’t matter what you do, Avery willnevergo back to you as long as I’m alive.” James glanced back over his shoulder at me and then continued. “You’re a fucking monster. It takes theworstkind of human to put your hands on someone as sweet and loving as Avery. To abuse anyone! But especially someone you claim to love. You’re an absolute fuckingpig,” he spat. “And it hasnothingto do with you being a cop. You are fucking swine.”
David’s face was as red as a tomato. My heart was beating 1,000 times per minute. James smiled, took two steps back into the garage, and opened his arms out to the sides. “Do your fucking worst, mall cop.”
Not being able to stand myself any longer, I took a few steps forward and James wrapped an arm around me. I watched as David ground his teeth together. If this had been a cartoon, steam would have started coming out of his ears. Of all the times he’d hurt me, I’d never seen him seethe like this. For a split second, I worried he might just take his gun out and shoot us both.
Fortunately, he didn’t. Instead, he just gestured to the people around him. “Turn it upside down, boys. The three of you will need to step outside while the search is being conducted. I’m happy to put you in handcuffsearlyif you don’t want to comply.”
James tilted his head back and laughed again as theagents and other officers started to move in around us. Then he looked down at me. "Come on, baby. Let’s go get some lunch. I’m starved. Lock up when you’re done, eh?” James told David as we walked past him.
