Page 12 of The Book of Wrath

“It’s unlocked, was unlocked when I came home. I knew I should’ve changed the damn locks when she refused to give me back the key. No lights are on, and clearly I didn’t go inside to see where she is at,” I said leaning back on my car.

“We got you man. We’ll get her out of here and if you want to press charges, we can take her in,” Roark said with a grin on his face. He never liked Sandra. Always said she gave off bad vibes and the universe was screaming at me to run for the hills before she ruined my life. I guess I should’ve listened to him.

“Alright man, just do me a favor and make sure she didn’t take anything. There are as a few things that belong to my grandmother that she wanted, I don’t trust her not to pocket them,” I replied, remembering the ring and necklace that she wanted. It was a matching set my granddad got my grandmother when they started dating. The plan was to give her that set when we got married, but clearly that isn’t fucking happening.

Roark and Andy headed up the front steps and into the house, they flicked on the lights as they walked through the house. I could only sit outside and watch as every light got turned on. The last room that they needed to check was my room and I swear if she is in there I am burning the bed first thing in the morning. The light clicked on in the room and I heard a female scream come from inside my house. Fuck, she was in there.

Chapter 11

Roark

“Do you think she is really in here or that he is just being paranoid because he forgot to lock his own door?” Andy asked me. I shrugged my shoulders as I turned on the light to the kitchen. Modern minimalism, white cabinets with black countertops, all silver appliances. No wonder he never invited anyone over. There was no sign of Sandra downstairs, I motioned for Andy to check the basement. He nodded, shutting his mouth for once and doing as he was told.

Andy climbed the steps from the basement, “All clear down there. All clear on the whole lower level of the house,” Andy looked up the stairs and we both had a feeling where we would find her. We looked at each other for a moment.

“Bedroom.” We both said together.

We knew her antics, she’s trying to get back with Max and I don’t put anything past her at this point. It’s just more on the side of how long she’s been here and what the hell she’s been doing this whole time.

We took the steps slowly; Max really needs to put carpet or some type of protection on these wooden steps. We went up as quietly as we could. We checked the two rooms on the right side of the hallway first, an in-home gym and an office. The other room across from the gym was the bathroom, leaving the last room on the left to be the bedroom.

Soft moans came out from under the door. I really hope she’s just watching porn and that’s all I’m hearing. I knocked on the door and the moaning stopped. I heard her giggle like a fucking schoolgirl about to get caught by her crush. I turned the knob on the door and pushed it open. Sandra was laying spread eagle on the bed, pussy fully exposed to us playing with herself, her eyes closed. When we turned on the lights, she opened her eyes and screamed at the top of her lungs. We were not who she was expecting.

“Sandra, you know you’re not allowed to be here. Get up and get your clothes on,” I said adverting my gaze. Andy looked like he was about to puke from what he just saw. Something tells me this is going to scar him for quite a while.

“I’m not leaving until Max gets home. We have some business we need to take care of,” She threw the blanket over her and glared at us.

“Sandra, he called Rick. Do you think that we would be inside Max’s house without reason?” I found her clothes on the floor and tossed them at her. “Get dressed.”

“You’re going to regret this Roark. I’ll report you for sexual harassment. Walking in on a girl in her home,” Sandra shouted. I could hear her shuffling her clothes back on,

“This isn’t you’re house, and you know it. Max had you evicted and told you to give him back the key,” I stated. “You are trespassing and ignoring a direct order by your Captain to stay away from Max, you didn’t so now you’re going to have to deal with the consequences.”

“Are you threatening to arrest me?” She squawked at me, thankfully Andy chimed in.

“What do you think Sandra? You broke into Max’s house and before you say anything, yes it’s breaking in because he told you to give him back his key and you refused. So that’s breaking and entering. So, yes you are under arrest. I can either read you your rights now or I can just take you to Rick and let him deal with you.” Andy gave her the ultimatum but failed to tell her that she was going in cuffs regardless. She chose to go to Rick’s office and tried to fight the handcuffs. I was surprised that Andy didn’t put up with her shit. He got her out of the house and in the back of our patrol car within minutes.

Max was in the living room when I got down the stairs. “Burn your bed and all the sheets dude.” I said as I walked out the door. I’m going to need to wash my eyes out to get that image out of my head. I’m gonna fucking puke.

Chapter 12

Megan

I looked at the clock on the tv box, eight forty-five. Should I text him and ask how his day went? Max was there for me basically daily when I was in the hospital, I kind of feel obligated to check in on him like he did me. I sighed loudly, frustration settling into my chest. I stood up from the couch and made my way to the kitchen. I knew which house was his. The lights were on, at least he was home.

I grabbed my phone from the kitchen counter where it was plugged in and opened my messages. Ethan left only ten minutes ago and already I have several voice messages from him. I’ll listen to those later. I tapped on my thread with Max, my thumbs hovered over the keyboard, I wasn’t sure what I was going to say. “Hey, how was work? Have you eaten?” I’m not his girlfriend. That’s something that girlfriends say to their boyfriends after a long day.

I set my phone back down on the counter, finally deciding that I’m not going to be weird. I open the fridge door and stare into the now fully stocked fridge. The damn courthouse kept us there for hours, but thankfully the judge agreed that I needed the protection order, and that Ryan has two weeks to get his things out of my home, only he isn’t allowed to come get his things. His brother, Alan, was coming tomorrow to start picking things up. Ryan gave a list to the judge of his things; it was handed to me and my lawyer to go over. He wasn’t asking for anything that wasn’t his. He also knew that most of the expensive stuff was destroyed.

After we left, Ethan went with me grocery shopping and going for some clothes. A lot of my stuff was destroyed. I still need to order a new bed, but I have a couch. That’s all that matters. The couch is soft and comfortable, large for just me. I still am trying to figure out what I want to eat for dinner as I hear my phone ding from the counter. I close the fridge door and walk to the counter where my phone is sitting. I looked down at the screen, a missed message from Max awaited me.

I grabbed the phone and opened it, looking at the message. “Hey, hope you had a good day today.” His message was nice. It let me know that it was safe to talk to him now. I quickly tapped out an “It was long. Hope you’re day was good.”

As if that was confirmation that I was available to talk, my phone rang a few seconds later. I hesitated a moment before answering him. I didn’t want him to think I was going waiting by the phone to talk to him. After the second ring, I picked up. “Hey.”

“Hey, how was your day? How did everything go at court this morning?” Max asked almost immediately. He sounded tired; I hope that wasn’t my fault for keeping him up late last night texting. I walked from the kitchen to the living room and plopped down on the couch.

“The judge granted the restraining order, his brother is going to be the one to come get his things,” I said, curling a strand of hair around my finger.

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