Page 71 of When It Rains He Pours

Tucking my face into her shoulder, I cried. I cried tears that I refused to let out when my father passed, I cried for the fire that almost killed me, I cried for everything I had lost. I cried for the fear of not knowing what our future held and if we'd ever get out of this rock bottom that had suffocated our lives.

And as the tears swept over my face, my mother hugged me tightly. She held me just the same as if I was five years old. She hugged me exactly like I needed my mother to hug me.

Taking a step back, she turned away from me. Sniffling, she wiped her cheeks, but didn't look back at me again. “I'm going to go start dinner, how does pot roast sound?”

“Good, it's sound good, Mom.”

Nodding her head, she waved her hand up by her face and headed downstairs. Plopping down on my bed, the mattress squeaked with rickety springs. Taking in a deep breath, my chest twisted with a sharp pain, making me cough.

I was still hurting, but all in all, I was lucky.

There were a few burns on my arms and calves, my lungs were scorched from smoke inhalation, but someone was watching out for me from above. . . Because I was still alive.

Grabbing my phone, I sent Liam another text.

'I don't know where the hell you are, but please just call me.'

Hitting send, I dragged my feet back and forth across the carpet. It didn't feel right just sitting there and doing nothing.

My mother didn't want me to go by the building, she thought it would be too much for me to handle in my fragile state. And maybe she was right. But I wasn't going to stop seeking answers and justice for what had been done to Liam and I.

Too much shit had gone down for me to turn my head and walk away from it. I was done pretending that things would magically get better on their own, I was done waiting on other people to come to my rescue.

Jacob had done this and he needed to pay for it. I was going to make sure he got exactly what he deserved.

I can't just sit here, I need to stand up for myself and do something about this.

I knew what I had to do. There was no pause in my thoughts about where I needed to go to fix this.

Grabbing my bag, I slipped downstairs, and sneaked past my mother as she skirted around the kitchen preparing dinner. It surprised me that I could still remember where the floor boards were that creaked and cracked if you stepped on them.

I feel like a damn teenager again.

Speed walking up the street, I pulled out my phone and called a taxi. Waiting around the corner, I sat on the curb and watched the cars pass until a silver sedan slowed to a stop in the beak-down lane.

“Take me to the police department.”

* * * * *

Leaning against thefront desk, I waited for the woman to lift her head and look up at me. “I need to talk to Detective Glenn.”

“Alright. . .” she said, placing her pen down and cupping her hands. “And who are you?”

“Glory Daniels.”

“Well Ms. Daniels, Detective Glenn isn't available at the moment, do you want to set up an appointment?”

Angling my head, I did my best to keep my composure and not get too snippy with her. “No, I want to see him today, I want to speak to him right now. This can't wait, it's important.”

“I'm sorry, he's not—”

Holding up my hand, I cut her off. “Look, I've been through a lot of shit, and I'm not leaving until I speak with him. My place was broken into, it was set on fire, and I know who did it. So if you could just get on your phone and tell him I'm here, I'd appreciate it.”

“Ms. Daniels,” the woman said, but a figure caught my eye in the background, drawing my eyes to it.

Holding my breath, I felt my veins ignite as my heart sped up and a cold sweat began to trickle down the back of my neck. Jacob Barnes was shaking hands with a man in a suit. He didn't notice me standing there as he smiled and nodded, slapping the man's shoulder and heading for an exit against the back wall.

“That's him,” I said under my breath, whispering the words to the secretary.

---