Page 10 of Summer Heatwave
“Husband?”Audra jumped on the word.“You never mentioned an ex.”
Yeah.And there was a damn good reason for it.“I never open a friendly conversation with my failure as a wife.”
Audra pointed her finger at Kam.“You didn’t fail, I’m sure of it.Since I have several classes in psychology, we’ll come back to that statement.First, though, was he the reason you didn’t complete your degree in one swoop?”
Oh, yes.Kam took a sip of her beer before she spoke.“I was always good in school.I breezed through the police academy since I grew up around law enforcement officers.My uncle Bobby, he’s the detective, encouraged me to enroll in the associate program at the community college.I only had one semester left to go when I married Brody.He convinced me to play house rather than finish that first degree.”
Liquid courage was needed for the next part, so she downed half her beer.“The next semester, I knuckled down, intent on finishing.He’d be out partying with the other new recruits while I was home studying or in class.He wasn’t a happy drunk.”Kam decided to leave it at that.
“How long did it take you to finish?”Emilee looked so serious as though she were setting her own personal goals based on Kam’s experience.
“Years,” she admitted.“At first, I thought I’d stop with the associate’s degree.Brody wanted kids right away, but I wanted to get established in my career.When we ended up working different shifts, pregnancy rarely came up.Neither had Brody.”She took a deep pull on her draft before she raised her gaze to her friends.“That was the first time I caught him cheating and the first time I threw him out of the house.”
“Good for you,” Audra cheered.
“He didn’t fight you for the house?”Noellyn asked.
“No.My grandmother had willed me her home, so it was mine.I never added his name so he couldn’t do anything but leave.I hated sitting around at night, so I went back to school, mostly online.”
“Is that when you finished your bachelor’s?”Emilee prodded.
“No.Brody and I reconciled several times over the next few years at the encouragement of my parents.Well, mostly my dad.He loves Brody.”And still did, choosing to believe him over her.Kam wasn’t sure she’d ever forgive her father.
“Okay, so the on-again, off-again relationship paralleled your studies,” Audra confirmed.
Kam simply nodded then washed away the lump in her throat with a big swallow of beer.
“How did you end up in human trafficking?”Noellyn’s attempt to change the subject was obvious and welcome.
Kam gave them a small smile, this time it was genuine.“An ICE agent was teaching one of my criminology courses and I had a few questions for her after class.We became friends and she invited me to ride along on a bust.I was hooked.She encouraged me to 'apply as soon as I finished my bachelor’s.I doubled-up on courses, taking them online and in the classroom as fast as I could.”
“I’ll bet your ex hated that.”Audra was correct.
“We were separated during a lot of it,” Kam admitted.“I think he was more shocked than anyone else when I resigned from the force.He had no idea I’d already been offered a job with Immigration.”
“Were you parents proud?”Emilee looked pensive and Kam simply wondered if she was getting the emotional support she needed.
“Not really.”Kam looked at the scarred table and ran her finger through the wet circle made by her mug.“Mom made noises that she was happy I was no longer in the line of fire until my dad pointed out that border patrol could be just as dangerous, if not more so.When I told them I was going into the new Homeland Security Investigations for Human Trafficking I thought my family was going to lose their minds….especially Brody.”
Noellyn slapped her hand over her mouth.“You never told him what you were considering?”
Kam held her gaze.“No.We’d become more like roommates than husband and wife by that point.Hell, I didn’t even know where he slept half the time, just that he wasn’t in bed with me.”
By then, she’d realized they wanted two very different things in their lives.He was content to be a local cop and she had much higher aspirations.He was happy putting in his forty hours a week and partying with his bachelor buddies when they weren’t at work.
Unconsciously, she touched her uninjured cheek.
A few hours after her announcement was the first time he’d actually hit her.Before, he had grabbed her by the biceps or shoulders and slammed her against a wall, getting nose to nose with her to make his point.
That night had been different.She’d fought him, hurting him before she locked herself in the bedroom.He’d slept off his drunk on the couch, so apologetic in the morning, swearing he’d never smack her again.
Kam was a cop through and through.She knew every one of the signs of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.She also knew it wouldn’t stop until she got away from him completely.
When he woke up the next morning, she had his bags packed and sitting next to the couch.Sporting a bruise on her cheek where he’d backhanded her, she told him he needed to get out and the next time he tried to come intoherhouse, she’d shoot him.
Brody knew she’d do it, too.
As soon as he left, she grabbed the screwdriver and changed the locks.
