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A welt was already forming on Mettner’s cheek. Josie said, “You okay?”
“Yeah.” Touching his face, he muttered, “That son of a bitch.”
Anya stepped forward, reaching for him. Holding the back of his head with one hand, she probed the abrasion with the fingers of her other hand.
“Ouch,” he said.
From the doorway, Vance snarled, “You son of a bitch! Don’t touch my wife!”
Josie noticed a shiver work its way through Anya’s body as her eyes moved to the door, watching as Vance finally disappeared, his wriggling form sandwiched between Noah and the uniformed officer. She released Mettner. “I don’t think anything is broken,” she murmured. “But you should get an x-ray and ice it up.”
“Thanks, Doc,” Mettner said. “But I don’t need an x-ray. Not my first scuffle. How about you? Are you okay?”
Josie saw her hands tremble before she jammed them into the pockets of her jeans. “Yes,” she said. “Thank you for coming. All of you. I wanted to call 911 but I was afraid that would make him even more agitated.”
“You did the right thing,” Josie said.
“What happened?” Mettner asked, taking his phone out and bringing up his notes app.
Anya looked around the room. “I was about to leave for work. I got outside and he was on the porch. I panicked. I haven’t seen him in nearly a decade. I’ve been safe here all this time. I stopped looking over my shoulder a long time ago. I mean, I had the protection from abuse order when I left Bly, but that’s just a piece of paper. It wouldn’t have stopped him from trying to hurt me. For years I expected to see him at every turn, but he was never there.”
“PFAs are good for three years,” Josie said. “Did you ask for another one after the initial PFA expired?”
Anya nodded. “Of course I did. But after six years without so much as a peep from him, I figured he had moved on, or at least stopped obsessing over me.”
Josie thought of the wedding photo on Vance’s dresser. They had no way of knowing whether or not he had ever tried to locate Anya or if he’d ever had plans to make contact with her again, but it was clear that his obsession was still there.
Anya added, “Not me. He was never obsessed with me. He was only obsessed with possessing me and then later, he was obsessed with getting back at me for what he perceived as me having wronged him.”
Mettner looked up from his notes. “He clearly believes that you had some ill effect on his life because you turned him in for what he did to you and then left him. These guys can never take responsibility.”
Getting back on track, Josie said, “You went outside, he was on the porch. What happened after that?”
“I rushed back inside here, and he came right in after me before I could even react. It happened so fast. I think he pushed me, but I can’t be sure. It was a blur. My heart was pounding so hard—”
“It’s okay,” Mettner said. “You can apply for a new protection from abuse order here in Denton. You asked him to leave, and he didn’t. He can be charged with trespassing.”
“Which only carries a ninety-day sentence in this case because it would be considered simple trespassing,” Josie said. “Still worth it, but—”
“It’s only going to piss him off more,” Anya said. “It will make things worse.”
“Then we charge him with assaulting a police officer,” Mettner said. “I’ll press charges. It’ll keep him busy for a while, hopefully in jail as well, and we can try to get a handle on this Sharon Eddy case. I don’t think his father is going to have the kind of pull here that he does in Everett County.”
Josie said, “Anya, you should still press charges against him for the trespassing. Especially if you’re going to ask the court for a new protection from abuse order.”
Anya shuddered. “I know, I know.”
Mettner said, “If you’re not comfortable staying here at any point, you can come stay with me and Amber.”
“Or with us,” Josie offered. “I’m sure that Gretchen would also be happy to have you.”
Anya reached over and squeezed Josie’s shoulder. A tear slid down her face. “I know. I know you’re all there for me. Thank you. I will give it some thought.”
Turning to Mettner, Josie said, “You might need that x-ray after all. Document your injuries.”
Mettner sighed. “Yeah, yeah.”
As he walked out the door, Josie said, “Speaking of the Sharon Eddy case, I need to ask you some questions about a case from Bly that might be connected.”
