Page 20 of Break

“Ethan…” he responds, snickering after he mimics Ethan’s pause.

“You meet with a woman just before coming out here? Holding a blue folder?”

“Umm, no? Why?” he asks, checking for traffic before we cross the street.

Ethan grunts instead of answering. He’s always fucking grunting ever since he came back, like using his words is too much work.

“Why do you want to know?” I ask him.

I catch his shrug as he passes the two of us to walk in front. “No reason, just curious.”

Deciding not to try to figure out what’s going on in his head, I stay silent for the rest of the walk and finally feel my shoulders relax when we’re seated at a table and looking at the menu. I really am fucking hungry.

Chapter 10

Turning Gears

Max

~ Present Day ~

Groaning, I roll over in my bed to pick up my phone that’s still emitting a high-pitched ring. I just silenced the damn alarm ten minutes ago. I had planned to take advantage of snoozing for an hour this morning since I have nothing on my schedule until later this afternoon.

Picking it up, I squint my eyes and read the familiar numbers of the police station. I sit up quickly, flicking my thumb over the ‘answer call’ button.

“Hello?” I croak out. Clearing my voice of sleep, I add, “This is Maxwell Bennett.”

“Hey Max, this is Jenny. Listen, we’ve got a woman down here that’s just come from the emergency room and Cooper thinks we’re going to need your services. He asked me to give you a ring and see if you would stop by this morning.” Jennifer Kim’s gentle voice greets me and is filled with concern.

Jennifer’s a new officer in training, working with Kevin Cooper, a lieutenant that’s been with the department for over twenty years now. He’s a decent guy even though he comes across as being rough around the edges. He’s gruff and doesn’t deal with bullshit; one of those ‘tell ‘em like it is’ kind of men.

Sitting up and swinging my feet off my bed, I scrub the tiredness out of my face. “Yeah, I’ll come down. Let him know I’ll be there in thirty.”

“Sweet, I’ll tell him.” She hesitates, then asks, “Is Ethan around this morning? Coop didn’t say, but I think he’ll want you to bring an extra body for this one.”

“Not sure, but I’ll pull him if I can. What’s the situation down there?” I ask, pulling on a pair of jeans with my phone pressed between my ear and shoulder. I fish through my laundry basket for a clean shirt, smell one that looks clean, and then place my phone on speaker and drop it to my bed to pull the t-shirt over my head.

“25-year-old female was beat to hell last night. Hospital staff reported it because it looks like a domestic situation, but she wouldn’t confirm it. They pulled her in for questions and to take her statement, got her to spill about her husband and the shit he’s been doing. It doesn’t look good, especially for us. Someone fucked up around here because she tried to report it more than once, but someone dropped the ball. Coop is taking this one and wants to make sure we can get her into a safe place as soon as possible,” she explains.

“They arrest the husband yet?” Moving into the kitchen, I nudge Walter in the side to get him moving. “Come on Walt, outside.”

“They’ve got a team heading to the house to pick him up now.”

I fill Walter’s bowl of food and pat him on the head, pick up my keys, and lock up my house. “Let me get off the phone. I’m heading over now, and I’ll text Ethan on the way.”

Jenny breathes out a relieved sigh. “I’ll see you when you get here.”

Sitting in my SUV, I let it idle as I message my partner. Ever since Ethan joinedBreaking Barriers, the company I founded less than a year after my sperm donor assaulted and killed my mom, we’ve seen fewer complications during our relocations.

Me: Can you meet me downtown in 15?

Ethan: Police station?

Me: Yeah, Jenny called - Coop has another one for us.

Ethan: I’m just checking on Allard’s location. Can be there in 30.

Tyler Allard has been stalking a senior high school student. The student has only been 18 years old for less than two months and used a fake ID to go clubbing where he met Tyler, and the infatuation began. Allard became obsessed and assaulted the student outside his home. His parents are negligent at best, and don’t seem to care about the trouble following their kid around town. He came to us asking for help and we’ve got him holed up in an apartment near his school until he graduates while Allard is investigated.

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