Page 19 of Her Only Salvation

The officer arched a brow that said he didn’t believe his story, but wasn’t going to press him about it. “Well, whoever wrote this note seems to think otherwise.”

“It was my husband,” Terri said tonelessly. She had been telling them that since they arrived, but they kept telling her the same thing, that it was all circumstantial.

The officer shot her a withering glance, as if she were a child he had run out of patience for. She shrank under those gray eyes. “As I said before, Mrs. Cunningham, the evidence is circumstantial. I can’t make an arrest on someone for writing a note. In the eyes of the law, no crime was committed here tonight.”

Stiffening, Luke stepped closer to the officer. “The guy didn’t just write a note,” he said scathingly. “He broke into her home with a knife and threatened her, and me, if that note is indeed referring to me.”

“Sir, please step back.” The officer’s hand twitched toward his gun seated in the holster that hung from his hip.

Luke narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth, but eventually did as he was told.

When the officer was satisfied, he continued. “As I was saying, there is also the problem with the fact that you two are still legally married,” he said, addressing Terri directly. “Technically, this is his home too, and I can’t arrest a guy for breaking into his own house.”

Terri gaped, though she couldn’t say she was exactly surprised. “But I bought this place myself. With my own money. How can he have a claim on any of it?”

“It’s all a matter of paperwork,” the officer said simply. Clicking his pen closed, he tucked it and the small tablet of paper he had used to take notes, into his breast pocket and moved toward the door. “When you get that divorce, Mrs. Cunningham, we’ll be able to do more. Until then, you might want to think about finding someplace else to stay.” He tipped his head at them both. “You two have a good evening.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Luke snarled, closing the door behind him. He stood rooted in that spot for a long time, watching Terri, until she had to look away from the discomfort his steady gaze wrought. When he finally broke the silence all he said was, “Pack your bags.”

Terri’s eyes snapped up in confusion. “What?”

“I said go pack your things. You’re not staying here.”

“What are you talking about? This is my home,” she protested.

Luke stomped across the living room and stood in front of her. Looking down at her, he narrowed his eyes. “You heard the jackass,” he said, pointing at the front door where the officer had just left. “This might be your home, but until you get the divorce finalized, it’s his home too. Now go pack your things. You’re not staying here another minute.”

Again he used that tone that said any argument on her end would not be tolerated. Terri found herself rising slowly from the couch to do as she was told. Would she ever break this habit of following orders like some helpless child, she wondered as she pulled a duffle down from the shelf in her bedroom closet and started placing her life inside one piece at a time.

Probably not, she thought sadly, because old habits were tough to break.

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