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“I was just wondering how you would know if anything was missing in the first place considering…” His words trailed off, leaving the obvious left unsaid.
The room was an organized mess to be sure. It housed a queen sized bed, two dressers, an armoire, big screen television, lamps, a towel warmer she hadn’t been able to fit into her new bathroom and a ton of other stuff she hoped to one day rediscover once she found the money to move into someplace bigger.
“I think I would know if someone tried to take anything out of here,” Terri said confidently. Then, with a firm hand to the center of his chest, she pushed Luke back into the hall so she could close the door again.
“How do you figure?” he asked, the doubt in his voice evident.
Terri shrugged as they entered her bedroom. “The body buried under the rubble would be a pretty good indicator.”
Luke laughed heartily and Terri smiled, and then laughed too. It had been a long time since she had heard the sound of true laughter and been the cause of it. Normally she seemed to effect the opposite reaction: screaming, yelling, fists through walls. It was a nice change of pace that left her longing for more.
After sobering up a little, Luke asked, “Do you see anything out of place?”
Terri looked around the room seeing her bed, dresser, closet and open bathroom door. Nothing seemed out of place at first, until her eyes landed on the pad of paper resting on the nightstand.
“I don’t remember that being there,” she said, and pointed to the paper.
Like a fearless adventurer, Luke crossed the room in three long strides and scooped up the tablet. After reading it, he looked up at her, his expression unreadable, and motioned her to him.
“I think you should read this.”
Terri shook her head adamantly. “I don’t think I should.”
Luke let his arms drop to his sides and looked at her. “Terri,” he said in a tone that brooked no argument.
She shivered under his hard stare and could just imagine the fear he could instill in a small child if she, an adult, was moved to follow his orders. Her feet carried her reluctantly across the carpet, her eyes locked on Luke’s in an effort to garner some of his strength for her own, her heart hammering away as she accepted the pad of paper he held out.
Biting her lip, she dropped her gaze to what would normally be a harmless scrap of paper, but now seemed capable of destroying her entire life.
What she found was a note, barely legible, but she recognized the writing almost immediately.
“Oh, God.” Dropping down onto the mattress, Terri read the words through blurry eyes.
You didn’t think I would just let you go did you, love bug? It will never be over between us. Enjoy your lover, love bug, because when I come to collect what’s mine, there’s going to be hell to pay.
“I assume that note is from your loving husband?” Luke asked wryly.
“He’s not my husband,” Terri murmured, her eyes fixated on the note.
“He is until the divorce is final,” Luke reminded her. “Terri.” Tugging the paper free of her grip, Luke seated himself beside her and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. “Don’t let him get to you. We’ll call the police, tell them he broke in and they’ll arrest him.”
Tears streamed down Terri’s face as her past came back to haunt her. “No, they won’t. Don’t you see?” she cried, tipping her face up so she could look at him directly. “The police do nothing. They’ll just say there isn’t enough evidence to prove it was him. At most, they’ll track him down and ask him if he knows anything, and when he says no, they’ll leave him alone. Randy never pays for his crimes.”
Grabbing her by the chin, Luke forced Terri to maintain eye contact. “Not this time, Terri. The guy just got out of jail, proof that he isn’t immune to the legal system. They’ll take this seriously and he will go back to jail, I promise you that.”
Terri just shook her head. Luke didn’t understand. Randy was good at getting off with a slap on the wrist. If he hadn’t almost killed her the last time, he never would have seen the inside of a cell in the first place.
“Let’s call the police,” Luke urged.
With no strength left inside her to care one way or the other, Terri just nodded. Let Luke see for himself what it was like to be the victim. The criminals always got off, at least in her world, and now that Luke was a part of her world, it shouldn’t take him long to come to the same conclusion.
She listened as Luke spoke to the 911 operator. He was calm, like she had been that night when Randy beat her to within an inch of her life. He relayed all the necessary information, and when the police arrived an hour later, he took charge of the situation then too, showing the officers the door and the broken knife blade he had found, and the letter.
The officer reading the note looked from Terri to Luke questioningly. “Are you the lover?” he asked Luke.
Luke spluttered in response. It was the first time Terri had ever seen him caught off guard or seemingly nervous. He was usually so composed, it surprised her.
“No. I’m her boss,” he explained.
