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“Wake me up when you’re done playing god.” I took a few deep breaths and imagined Jen. Her perfect hair. That warm smile. What Jen might look like underneath those scrubs. Helping her undress after a long day and putting her into the shower. Soaping up her skin, inch by inch. Rinsing her off in the hot steaming water and then getting her all dirty again.
“I’m nowhere close to being finished. I’ve only begun.” His heavy footsteps marched across the hardwood. The groans of the floorboards softened as he grew further and further away. The door slammed and I slipped into unconsciousness with only one face floating before my eyes. Her.
Chapter 15
Jennifer
The police were completely useless. Not that I expected much. My experience with police has never been excellent. They processed the car and looked for prints, but I knew they wouldn’t find anything. Tim is a lot of things, but he’s not stupid. Especially now that he has taken to covering his face. A bold risk-taker, yes. An idiot, no. Since I don’t have proof that he did it, all they did was take my statement and tell me that they would call me once the results came back. They also said I would need to come down to the station at some point to give my fingerprints for comparison. What a crock. He was going to get away with it. All of it. He always has.
How does that help me now? My crazy ex-husband has torched my car and now I’m supposed to live normally and go about my business. I’m going to need to call a cab to daycare and then what? How am I supposed to get to work? Riding an Uber every day is impossible. Fuck, the fucking car seats. I’m going to have to get new ones. And the insurance. I’m going to need to contact them and tell them my car went up in flames. Somehow, I know the insurance is going to get over on all of this. They are always on the winning end of things. How am I going to have time to handle all of this? And buy a new car while I’m at it? Who could watch the girls while I took care of all of this? It wasn’t like I was swimming in girlfriends before we got here and now…I couldn’t remember the last time I went on a girl’s night or invited anyone over. I’m all alone.
I pulled out my phone to call an Uber when I saw several text messages from Jared. And a half a dozen from Frank. And two missed calls from Wes. Did they hear? Or did something happen to Frank when he got home? How could they have known about the car already? The media vultures were only starting to gather after the police were nearly finished processing the car. How would they know about this? Or maybe they didn’t. Maybe they are calling about earlier. I did sort of not even say goodbye to my patient of nearly a month. I hit the button to call back Wes. He picked up immediately.
“Jen. Where are you? I’ve been trying to reach you.”
“I’m still at the hospital. Is everything okay?”
“Okay? We’re freaking out over here. One of my friends is in the fire department. He told me about your car. Are you okay? I was scared to death.”
Why would his fire department friend tell him about my car? And how would he have known it was mine. Did they spread that sort of information around?
“No, I’m fine. Although I can’t say the same for my car.” I forced a laugh.
“Listen, I’m here for you. Whatever you need.”
Why didn’t I think about it before? I didn’t really want to take help from people I snubbed hours earlier, but you know what, why not? “Well what I need right now is to go pick up the girls. Do you think you’re up for it?”
“I’ll be at the hospital in five.”
“You have no idea how grateful I am.”
“Promise you won’t get mad?”
I guess beggars can’t be choosers in times like these. “You can bring the bike. I know how to ride”
“Really?”
His shock made me giggle. I never thought I would be on the back of a motorcycle again. I also swore off bikers forever. But Tim never would have taken time out of his day to call and see if I needed him. He wasn’t reliable like that. Maybe I was wrong. It’s not like people can’t surprise you. Maybe one day I would even fit into those leather pants again. Walking to the main entrance, I giggled at the thought of my fellow medical professionals seeing me take off in scrubs on the back of a Harley. A month ago, everything felt bleak and hopeless. Like there wasn’t any sunshine left in the sky. Now, despite the fact that Tim was back, and the blackened skeleton of my car was being towed away, I felt light. For the first time in as long as I could remember, things felt like they were changing for the better. Instead of fighting my past and future, I was going to embrace it. Conventional was what I wanted to be, but not who I am. Maybe I can figure out a way to be a responsible mom that wears leather pants and rides on occasion. I owed it to myself. These past few weeks were a reminder of how I used to feel and who I used to be. Why should I have to give that up? Hiding didn’t work. The automatic doors opened to reveal a chilly but sunny day. One I missed while dealing with the stupidity that erupted over my vehicle’s destruction.
An empty bench was a few feet over from pick up lane. Parking my ass right in the middle of it, I leaned back a bit and looked up at the light blue sky. I was never going to live this down. Hospitals were toxic gossip pits in most parts of the country and this one was no different. Eager to float under the radar, I always stayed out of it. However, with Tim back on my trail, I was going to have to run. Again. He almost convinced me it would be different this time with his nice guy act at the house. I should have planned something that would have gotten him out of my hair. But what? I’ve never had the stomach for violence. The legal system couldn’t help me. And I was running out of options. This was by far the most drastic thing he had ever done. What if it was only a matter of time before he did something worse? The rumble of an engine interrupted my thoughts. I looked up to spot Wes with a fifty-thousand-dollar bike between his thighs. Instead of a Harley or generic bike like I expected, he was on a Kawasaki Ninja H2R. This was one of the most expensive bikes around. Did their bike shop clear that kind of cash? It has to be illegal or something shady right? But, oh my God, it was beautiful. And I was going to get a chance to ride it. Although I knew I was going to have to ask him a lot of uncomfortable questions later, I needed to get to my girls, and fast. He could have picked me up in a car, but instead he brought the bike. What did that mean? I decided that after the day I had, I was going to simply take action and stop thinking. I swung one leg over the bike and wrapped my arms around his waist. The bike vibrated and hummed between my thighs. Inhaling deep to release some of the butterflies in my stomach, I breathed Wes in as he took off down the street. He smelled like smoke and bourbon.
Chapter 16
Jared
Despite being a complete idiot, Tim did exactly what I said. Wear a mask, do it during the shift change, and get the hell out of there. He took some creative liberties with the job at hand, but that’s to be expected. Even if he was afraid of me, destroying his ex-wife’s car was personal. Tim had it out for this woman and my hold on him wasn’t going to last very long. He was due for something stupid. I just needed more time. He was bad news and a waste of space. He was going to be a pleasure to eradicate. But I needed to figure out how we were going to get rid of him and be able to take credit for it without scaring her. For now, we needed to stoke the fires of her fear. Make it urgent. I gave Tim the address of a safe house and told him to lay low for a few days. That at least got him out of our hair. Now, it was time to pour on the charm. I called my buddy to see how he could help.
“Listen I need a car. Today. Mini-van or equivalent. Clean.” Dunnaway helped in most situations. He was a fixer, but he specialized in getting ahold of things in a hurry. Definitely a useful guy to keep on your speed dial.
“Do you have any special color or requirements other than that?” Dunnaway jumped straight into business. We were beyond pleasantries at this point.
“It’s for a woman with two children. And the sooner you get it here, the sooner she can get back to business as usual. It’s personal, not business.”
“Now you’re just teasing me. I need to see this one.”
“Not a chance.” Dunnaway was more charming than I was. Introducing Jen to a viper like him would be suicide.
“You’re killing me. The one woman that you get something for in all the years that I have known you and you’re gonna keep me in the dark?” His voice was full of mirth. He was enjoying this.
