Chapter 14
Someone needed to shut that damn cell phone up.
Wait. It was my damn cell phone.
I opened my eyes to bright daylight and picked up my phone and saw it was ten a.m.? I hadn’t slept that long or that peacefully in a long time. It must’ve been that date with Becks. I smiled to myself, answering the phone flashing Paul at me.
“Sup, man? Needing out of the house and away from all those girls?” I teased him.
“Lucas,” Paul interrupted.
I jerked, immediately sitting up straight. This was his cop voice. Something was wrong. I stood, scrambling for my shoes even as I started firing questions at him.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, grabbing my keys.
“I know it's your day off, but I also know you’d kick my ass if I didn’t call you.”
“Just tell me what the fuck is going on, Paul,” I ordered.
“Monica and I brought Nat and the car back to Becks, this morning and…”
I was through my front door and outside, sprinting to my truck as I kept trying to get him to tell me what the hell was happening, “What the fuck is it Paul? Is Becks ok?”
“Calm the fuck down, Lucas and let me talk! She answered the door and it looked like she hadn’t slept all night, man. She was pale and shaky. She wouldn’t respond to me at first, so I let Monica go in and talk to her. She wouldn’t even look me in the eye, dude. She got weird phone calls all night. Then around five thirty this morning, she said that someone had tapped on her window. She’s a mess. We got the girls in Nat’s room watching a movie to distract them, but I think it’d be good if you came.”
“I’m already on my way,” I said, pushing the gas pedal down further, “Give me an address.”
He recited it to me and hung up. My mind was racing. Prank calls could be scary. Let alone hearing something outside your window along with them. My heart was pounding, still calming from thinking something horrifying had happened. I’d only known this woman a couple of weeks, been in her presence a handful of times, and she had this effect on me. This uncontrollably desperate need to protect her was all consuming.
Pulling into the complex’s lot, I saw Paul waiting for me. He waved as I whipped into a parking spot and threw the truck into park before jumping out.
“Slow down, man. I think she’s calmed down some, Monica made her some tea,” Paul stated, too calm for my frazzled nerves.
I nodded, “Okay, okay. Did she say anything else?”
He shook his head, “She just said they kept calling every fifteen minutes and there was heavy breathing…”
“And?” I said, knowing he was holding back.
“Monica said Becks told her she thought the last call sounded like a man getting off. Then it ended and the window tapping happened immediately,” he explained.
My entire body was frozen in rage. Sick fucks. They could hide behind blocked numbers in the shadows terrifying women, but probably wouldn’t try shit in broad daylight. The window thing was alarming. Was it someone she knew? I didn’t even know her entire story. I pushed past Paul and opened Beck's door, stepping in. She looked like hell, and she was still the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen. I hated seeing her like this. She was pale and had dark circles under her eyes, and she was trembling so badly I could see it from where I stood across the room.
She looked up and startled as I entered, followed by an angry groan. “MONICA!” she chastised.
“What?” her friend replied. “You were shaken up, my husband and Lucas are cops. They can help, Becks. After everything you’ve told me…what if it’s him again?”
Becks looked at her, glancing over at me, “I don’t want to be a nuisance,” said Becks sighing and putting her head in her hands to hide her face.
“You're not a nuisance, Rebecca,” Paul cut in before I could even reassure her. “This isn’t something to just brush off. This is serious. I’m going to head into my shift now that Lucas is here. I’ll look around before I go to see if anything was left,” he strode over to Monica, kissing her gently on top of her head, “Love you, hon,” he nodded at me, walking out the door.
Monica looked at me, then back at Becks who still had her face hidden in her hands, “I’m going to go check on the girls,” she stood, looking at me imploringly before leaving the room.
I walked over and dropped to my knees in front of Becks, my hands grabbing her wrists gently and pulling them away from her face. Fuck. She was crying. The sight killed me.
“Baby. You know you could’ve called me,” I said softly. “I’m a cop and you are kind of dating me after last night,”
She laughed, although tearfully, “I’m surprised you still want to date me with all this drama. First the asshole at the bar, and now some perverted prank caller?” She was going to try to brush this off, and I wasn’t going to let that happen.
I stared into her eyes, “Listen to me. Shit happens. No matter what’s happening, I want a call. You shouldn’t have had to lay here all goddamned night, wide awake, scared out of your fucking mind.”
“It was just a few prank calls,” she whispered and it sounded like she was trying to reassure herself, more than anything.
“Some man was getting off calling you, Rebecca,” I returned, clenching my jaw. “I think you need to start telling me a little bit about your story, sweetheart. Is there anyone? Any history of someone that would want to harm you in any way? Whoever Monica was talking about?”
She shook her head, acting like she could wake herself up from a horrible dream. “I have an ex. Nat’s father,” she whispered.
My entire body tightened.
“He wasn’t a good guy,” she looked towards the hall wearily, blinking like she was in a daze, she shook her head, eyes swinging back to mine.
“He didn’t want to divorce me. He doesn’t know about Nat, but he finally signed the papers. He used to find me where I lived. He hadn’t in the last place we were, I thought. So we moved one more time to be sure. I thought it was okay and we were safe. He can’t know about Nat!” she started crying again. “I promised Nat we wouldn’t leave another home,” she started shaking again.
“Hey,” I said softly, panicking slightly at the thought of her packing up and running. “You’re safe. Even if he did find you or has found you. You’ve got a friend who’s husband is a cop and you’re seeing a cop. You’re safe. Please, Becks. Please promise me you won’t run. Please promise me you’ll stay here? Let me help you? Both of you.”
She was looking at me like she didn’t believe me, tears still streaming down her face. It was breaking my heart in two. “I promise. I’ll keep you safe. Nothing will happen. I’ll start an investigation and check into your ex’s whereabouts right fucking now. Let me protect you,” I pleaded, still on my knees before her.
She hesitated, seeming to weigh things in her mind before she nodded, “I promised Nat we would stay here. This was going to be our home,” she drew in a shaky breath, seeming to steel herself. “Ok. Maybe it’s time I let someone help,” she sighed. “Nat would be devastated if we moved again.”
“Mom?” a voice squeaked from the hallway, “What do you mean we're moving again?”