AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“But it doesn’t mean we need to argue about these kind of things because we’re scared. We’ll muddle through this together. Like we agreed earlier.”
He wanted to rush to her side and force her to look at him, yet he stood frozen in his spot, waiting with bated breath. She finally granted his wish, meeting his gaze. A tentative smile emerged. Before she could respond, a knock sounded on the door.
“That’s probably Duke. Why don’t you pack a bag, and we’ll go back to my house.”
He turned without waiting for a response. Duke retrieved the prints he’d pulled from the windowsill and left as quickly as he arrived. Eve packed a small duffle bag, showing Griffin she had no intention of spending every night at his house. That was fine. He didn’t mind sleeping at her house some nights.
The rest of the evening was pleasant, as if they hadn’t spoken one harsh word to each other. They woke up with laughter and sunshine. When he told her he’d call the alarm company, she didn’t protest. Perhaps the conversation had helped last night.
A whole week passed with nothing happening besides Eve getting a cell phone, an alarm on the house, and them taking turns where they slept. Darrian didn’t reach out, not even via a lawyer to protest the order. Griffin wasn’t sure what to make of that, but he knew it put Eve on edge. As long as she didn’t leave town, she’d be safe. While he couldn’t be around her twenty-four-seven, everyone else in town had her back.
The prints he’d pulled from her windowsill had proven to be useless. Only Eve’s prints came back. Which meant nobody had broken in and touched it, or they had used gloves. Griffin wasn’t sure which one he believed more, but since Eve didn’t appear too concerned about it any longer, he chose to put it on the back burner. For now.
“Hey, Chief, Darlene’s having problems again.”
Griffin looked up from his desk to see Sherry standing in the doorway to his office. “How bad?”
“Well, she says Dicky is drunk again and making a scene in the yard since she won’t let him in the house.”
Griffin stood up, shoving the papers he’d been working on in a folder and to the side. “I’ll take a ride over there.”
They had two officers on duty every shift, but he had to assume they were busy with other things if Sherry wanted him to handle this issue. No one ever enjoyed responding to Darlene’s calls. Her son Dicky was a hothead who always ended up in jail because he didn’t like following directions. When he was drunk, it made every situation even worse.
He made it to their house within a few minutes since she didn’t live far from the main drag. Dicky was pacing in the yard, holding a bottle of whiskey, chugging every few steps.
“The bitch had to call the cops, uh! If she’d just let me in so I could take a nap, it’d be all right.”
“Dicky, your mother asked you to leave and sleep it off somewhere else. I’ll drive you to Dwayne’s house.”
Dwayne was his brother, and if it wasn’t Dicky causing problems, it was Dwayne. But when one was off their rocker, the other one was usually levelheaded. Dwayne would let Dicky in and sleep it off. He’d be able to handle him better than Darlene ever could. Neither had ever hit their mother, but they’d been known to throw and destroy stuff in the house.
“No.” Then Dicky spit in his direction, missing his boots by a few inches.
Griffin had no desire to arrest Dicky because it would involve him resisting.
“If you don’t leave on your own, you know where you’ll be sleeping it off. Judge Rider is always busy on Mondays. He won’t get to you until tomorrow. You and I both know how much you’ll hate that.”
Dicky slammed the bottle to his lips, draining the last of the whiskey. He tossed the bottle in Griffin’s direction, forcing him to duck. That sealed the deal. He wouldn’t be leaving without cuffs on his wrists.
“Turn around, Dicky, hands behind your back.”
Instead of listening, which Griffin knew he wouldn’t, he grabbed a plastic candy cane decoration from Darlene’s garden and wielded it like a sword.
“Come make me.” Then Dicky spit at him again, this time hitting the toe of his boot.
Griffin’s mind veered back to this morning, lying in bed with Eve, kissing her and loving her so thoroughly she had whispered they should call out sick. He wished he’d given in to that simple request. Because then he wouldn’t about to be in a battle with a drunken idiot.
A car drove by blaring music. “Jingle Bell Rock” of all tunes. But it motivated him to take a step forward and show Dicky he wasn’t playing around today.
12
Eve putthe last of the Danishes she made into the display, then stood up, flinching when Bob appeared on the other side of the counter. There was a short line. Theresa kept up a good pace helping customers. Yet he wasn’t in line; he was standing in front of her.
“Hi, Eve.”
She forced a grin out. The way he looked at her unnerved her for some reason. She saw him around town here and there, especially if she drove through any road work where he usually held the sign, directing traffic. He always made it a point to wave and smile at her.
“Hey, Bob.”
