Overcoming Fear (Growing Pains #2)(114)

“Uh huh. Well.” The police man put his notes away and looked around, ending with looking at Jim in the back seat of the cop car. Jim was looking out at Krista with hatred.

“Assuming everything we have against him sticks, he will be going back to prison.” The cop looked at Krista pointedly. “He will have a set bail, though. He would be on his second strike, not third. He’ll probably go back, but not for as long as you would hope. Restraining orders are only good if the perpetrator is caught. I have seen cases like this before. I have every reason to believe he’ll go after you again.”

Krista’s heart sank. It was obvious when he pointed it out, but she had chosen not to think about it. Now, though, she had no choice.

“I can’t really afford a bodyguard, so what can I do?” Tears came to her eyes.

The cop’s face softened. Even severe men, maybe especially severe men, hated seeing a girl cry. “First thing, make sure you’re not listed with an address anywhere online. Make sure your number is unlisted. Make sure your Facebook page can only be viewed by friends, and none of those friends share an acquaintance with that man.”

Krista nodded. She doubted that would stop Jim. It looked like the cop shared her view. He continued with, “The best thing you could do, and it isn’t ideal for you probably, is to move and change your name. It is the only way to be absolutely safe.”

Krista sighed again and looked at Sean, who was still lying on the sidewalk with his face against the cold concrete. “I did move. He still found me.”

The cop nodded, but she could hear his unsaid comment. She needed to move again, and this time follow through with everything else he’d said, including changing her name. Still looking at Sean, lying on the cold cement peacefully, she nodded with tears starting to obscure her view. It would mean she’d be moving away from the guy she loved. She had only just reconciled with him, and now she would have to move away.

She knew her luck was too good to be true.

“That bitch!” she said to herself.

“Who, ma’am?” the cop asked, half reaching for his notepad again.

“Oh, nothing.”

The cop just looked at her, but it was enough for her to continue with, “Lady Luck. She’s a bitch.”

The severe-looking ex-Marine smirked and snorted, but didn’t comment. He probably agreed. Most people did.

The police finally got around to deciding they had enough paperwork to do with Jim, and would let Sean go with a warning. Being that he was protecting his girlfriend, the warning wasn’t all that harsh.

“Sean, we need to look at you,” Ben said when they walked into the house. “Maybe take you to the hospital.”

“He didn’t break anything. Just bruises. I’ll be fine,” Sean said, grabbing for Krista.

“We need to look at her, too,” Ben replied, eyeing her throat.

She hugged Sean, who winced. With Krista now subject to the same scrutiny, Sean relented.

“I have a salve that might help.” Ben took off down the hall. He was back in a flash with a complete first aid kit that had been taking up room in the cabinet that held Krista’s makeup. He opened it up and dug around, coming out with a small brown bottle.

“Sean, take off your shirt, please,” Ben said, looking closely at Krista. He shook the bottle and took the lid off. He veered in toward Krista’s throat. “This will reduce the appearance of the bruising. It doesn’t smell great, but it works pretty well. It works better on darker skin, but it’ll still help. I use it from time to time when I bang my arm or leg or something.”

Krista let Ben rub the weird-smelling liquid on her throat, then her arm, then hand it to Sean for the upper thigh. Sean, shirtless and looking like a cast aside piñata after the kids had been through, finished up.

“Wow,” Ben said, eyeing Sean’s lateral muscles. “It’s a good thing you’re so heavily muscled. Some of those bruises look deep. If it was me he would have broken a rib on each side.”

“If it was you we would have run together,” Krista stated.

Ben administered the salve to Sean, then gave him some ice. Sean took it, argued when they made him sit on the couch with the ice for a while, and finally begged to head to bed—Krista’s bed.

Once there, he picked her up like a baby and laid her down. He got in beside her immediately. They cuddled for a quiet second before he whispered, “Foolish girl! What were you doing with a man like that?”

“I don’t know. I was a foolish girl. A stupid one, actually. He was tall, dark and handsome, like all the story books say. When I met him he was extremely charming.”

“He is extremely dangerous.”

“That was another attraction. Dangerous to a young girl means exciting.”

“Then young girls are stupid,” Sean said in a whisper with a kiss.

“Oh really? And where did you learn to fight like that?”

“Touché.”

“But really, where did you learn to fight like that? Not many people can hold their own with Jim.”

“Yeah. That guy is huge. Trust you to have giant ex-boyfriends.”

Krista waited for a second, thinking he was contemplating an answer. Instead, he just cuddled closer.

“That didn’t answer my question,” she prodded.