Page 56 of A Little Bit Uncertain

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 as calmly 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.

I grabbed her and held her tight. “What happened? Are you ok?”

She took a deep breath. “When I got home, I saw the windows shattered and glass everywhere. Then I ran to my car and locked it, called the police, and then you. I was too scared to go inside. Gosh, Donovan, I didn’t think the first time I used your number was going to be for something like this, though,” she laugh-cried with no humor.

“You did the right thing, Audra. I’m so sorry this is happening to you. I’m so sorry that I am causing this.”

Her body recoiled as she pulled away with furrowed brows and unspoken questions. “What are you talking about? If anything, I should be apologizing to you. I’m pulling you into this mess.”

“No, it sounds like…” I began, but was cut short by a cop.

“Audra, let’s finish talking, and we can wrap up.” It was the same guy we had talked to at the police station, so he already knew the bulk of the situation. By the time everything was done, they didn’t think anyone had tried to enter the house; bricks were just thrown through the windows. What a fucking prick. We hadn’t broached what was going to happen, but she sure as hell would not stay there. I mean, ideally, she’d just come home with me, but if she was more comfortable somewhere else, so be it, I’d take her there. Just not her house. Thankfully, our cop friend beat me to it.

“Can you stay somewhere tonight, Audra? We still have some things we have to do here. If you’re okay with it, I’m going to put a call out to my brother to come board the windows up as a favor. He owes me for watching his demon spawn last week,” the cop laughed, and I appreciated the small-town camaraderie. “You’re welcome to stay here too if you want, but it would probably be better if you stayed somewhere else.”

“Stay with me tonight,” I said to her, and she nodded in agreement. “Can she get clothes?” I asked as I turned to the cop.