Love Survives (Love's Suicide #2)(81)

“Has your life always been like this?”

I scrunched up my face. “No, sir. This is the first time I’ve had to deal with abusive husbands.”

He laughed at my comment. “We’ll get them out of harm’s way. Once they’re safe you can bring them to the base. We’ll find a place for them.”

“Thank you, sir.” In all honesty it was hard to appreciate what he was saying. I was too concerned about Kat and Brooklyn. They meant everything to me. I kept picturing the worst.

When I made it inside of the hotel, I saw her husband standing outside of the elevators. He took one look at me and backed up, turning his attention to the fact that I’d showed up. “Of course the bitch called you. Let me tell you something, they’re both coming home with me. There’s nothin’ you can do about it. I knew she was here with you. I tracked her with my phone. It wasn’t hard to find her when she was this close to the military barracks.”

His threats meant nothing to me. Before I could shove him out of my face my superior put his hands between us. “Back up soldier. I’ll take care of this.”

“What are you going to do old man?” Bobby wasn’t letting the sarge scare him.

Then I watched him change his tune. “Are you familiar with the penalty for assaulting a soldier? How do you think a judge is going to handle you fighting with someone who had earned a purple heart for his services overseas? You don’t want to do this, son. I can guarantee that it won’t end well for you.”

Bobby threw his hands in the air, at the same time two police officers walked into the lobby. Right away my sarge let them know what was going on, while I made my way over to the elevator.

It took the mechanic a few minutes to get it moving again. As soon as the doors opened I saw her scared face. I didn’t have to ask if she was okay, because I knew she would be, both of them would. “We’re going to make a statement and get some papers drawn up. Are you alright with that?”

I led Kat over to my boss. “Kat, this is my commanding officer, Ferris.”

He shook her hand. “It’s great to meet you, ma’am.” He turned his attention to B. “You must be little Brooklyn. You sure do look like your daddy.”

It made me so happy to hear that. I knew she did, but it still felt amazing.

B got up in my arms and let me hug her. I was so glad she wasn’t acting scared. “You need to go give a statement to the officer. I’m going to go up and get our things. I’ll meet you down here in a few minutes.”

Kat nodded and followed my sarge over to where the police stood. She didn’t have to worry about Bobby. They’d already put him in a car and locked the doors.

The officers would help her get a protective order. It was a good start, but probably not enough to keep him away forever. We’d have to go to court for that to happen.

When I met her back in the lobby with all of our things, she only had one question. “What now?”

“We go back to the base. I’ve got to fill out some forms and then we’re going on a road trip.”

“A road trip?” She didn’t like the sound of it. I could already tell.

“Yeah. I’ll explain later.” I stopped walking before we made it outside. “Give me your phone.”

She looked shocked when I took it and broke it in two pieces. “The thing about cell phones is that they can be traced by anyone. Bobby had an app on his phone that told him where you were. The second you turned your phone back on, all he had to do was follow the damn arrow.”

I could tell she felt stupid, but I didn’t blame her. Everything happened too fast to consider he was that manipulative.

We all rode back to the base together. When the sarge got out of the truck, Kat shook his hand. “Thank you, sir.”

“It was my pleasure, ma’am.”

It wasn’t until we were inside my room packing that she really started pushing about our trip. “So where are we going? Am I not allowed to know? Is there something you aren’t telling me?”

I picked B up just in case Kat planned on wrestling me to the ground to change my mind. “We’re going to my parent’s house, and before you say anything you need to understand that your safety is the most important thing to me. I’ve got seven days before I need to report back, so I can promise you that it’s not forever.”

It was quite obvious that she was in shock. She stood there looking as if she were about to puke. This was going to be a long road trip.





Chapter 40


We’d been driving for a while in silence. It was obvious that she wasn’t happy with me about my decision to go home. What Kat couldn’t grasp was the fact that my parents loved her just the same as they always had. If she hadn’t been so hard-headed in the first place she never would have married that * we were trying to get away from. “I’m getting hungry. Do you want to stop and eat soon?”

She wouldn’t even look in my direction. “I feel like I’m going to puke. Just get something for you and B.”

It was beginning to get dark out. B was steady dozing, in the back, while Kat continued giving me the silent treatment. I reached over and put my hand on her thigh. “Kat, you can’t be mad at me forever, you know.”

“Yes, I can.” She shoved my hand away.