Chapter Eighteen
Avery
“James, I’m scared.” The words sounded pathetic, even to my own ears, as the words fell out of my mouth.
“I know, sweetheart,” James replied as he wrapped his arm around my back.
I nestled in against his side as we walked towards the employee entrance of Grady’s Garage.
“But there’s nothing in this world strong enough to keep us apart.
We’ve already proven that.” He placed a soft kiss against my temple.
“I’m always going to protect you, Avery. ”
“I know, but I’m not sure if I can protect you.”
“You’ve protected me more than you’ll ever know.”
As we stepped into the garage, Jack emerged from the customer side. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked exhausted.
“Brother,” James said by way of greeting.
“Brother,” Jack responded with a nod of his head.
“Long night?” James asked.
Jack sighed heavily and plopped his ass on one of the shop stools. “Bro… you have no idea.”
I looked between the two of them. “What are you guys talking about?”
Jack immediately shook his head. “Nothing, Avery. I’ve just been doing some cleaning. Everything's fine…” Jack was talking to me, but he turned and locked eyes with James. “I promise.”
James nodded. “Thank you.”
“What do we do now?” Jack asked after a moment.
James shrugged. “Business as usual. It’s a quarter ‘till, and I know Mrs. Flanagan is gonna be real antsy to pick up the Prius. Should probably get that tire changed out. Need to finish that tune-up today, too.” He shouldered out of his jacket and held it out to me.
“Babe, would you mind hanging this in the office? I imagine you’ll want to hang out there, anyway.
I know you’re not a big fan of how loud it gets back here sometimes with all the machines. ”
“I’ll hang your jacket up, but I’d rather stay here with you, if that’s okay.”
“I would love that,” James replied with a smile.
James’s attitude and tenderness were such a contrast to the way most men had spoken to me my entire life.
He was the first man I’d ever been around where I had the confidence to express my wishes.
If David had told me to go wait somewhere, that’s exactly what I’d do—whether I wanted to or not.
There was always the fear that I’d make him mad.
With James, that fear was nonexistent. We’d only known each other in person for several days, but I was completely unafraid to express myself around him. I was comfortable being comfortable.
James had told me at least 10 times that he’d never hurt me, and I believed him.
With every fiber of my being, I trusted that man.
Despite my faith in him—in us—I was more nervous than I’d ever been.
I knew how dangerous David was, and I tried not to think of what other atrocities he was capable of.
I was trying to convince myself that there was nothing David could actually do to us, but it didn’t seem to help.
My stomach was beginning to turn itself over.
The guilt I still felt for David being a problem for James was bad enough as it was, and every minute that ticked by, I became more and more convinced we should have taken James’s original idea and hopped a plane to Calico Springs.
Or whatever the fuck he was talking about last night.
I was tempted to call my dad, but, after the way the conversation with my mom went, I wasn’t sure I could physically handle that conversation.
The guys worked away on their prospective projects, and I had finally allowed myself to get lost down a TikTok rabbit hole about Vatican conspiracy theories.
Every once in a while, I’d look up and catch James staring at me from across the garage.
Every time I did, he’d smile and then quickly return to his task.
The shop was loud. Between the compressors, lifts, and the radio, I was relying on captions to get through the reels. James had been right—normally, this would be way too overstimulating, but I was still nervous to be too far from him.
The bell for the front door would ring here and there, and Jack would stop what he was doing and head to the customer lobby to take care of whomever had entered. Every time the bell went off, the three of us would look up and stare at each other.
A silent ‘is this it’?
A little after 11:30, James killed the radio and asked if everyone was ready for lunch.
I opened my mouth to answer when two patrol cars and three black SUVs came racing up the back drive, stopping just before the open roll-up door.
My heart fell into my stomach. I jumped up from where I’d been sitting as David exited his patrol car. James looked back at me and shook his head. “Stay back, please. I don’t want him touching you.”
“That’s rich, considering Avery belongs to me.
” David sneered as two other officers filled in the space behind David.
I recognized one of them, but I’d never seen the other.
Several other people started piling out of the black SUVs, but they were wearing suits and collared shirts.
They were obviously law enforcement, but they weren't Emberford Police.
They were all wearing gloves, and I barely noticed David taking a step into the garage.
“How many times do I have to tell you that the customer entrance is around the front?” James said; a cold chill lacing his voice. “And Avery doesn’t belong to anyone. Especially not a cheap piece of shit like you.”
“We’ll see about that,” David laughed as he pulled some folded papers out of his jacket pocket.
“We have a warrant to search the premises,” David began as he held the papers up to James’s face.
“Got an anonymous tip that this shop is operating with stolen car parts. This is also a known drug den. That’s why I’ve asked the fine members of Emberford’s forensics and narcotics team to join me for our little adventure. ”
James laughed. “Sure, bud. Whatever makes you feel better. You can tear this place apart. Burn it to the fucking ground for all I care…”
“JR,” Jack said nervously under his breath, but James ignored him.
“It doesn’t matter what you do, Avery will never go back to you as long as I’m alive.
” James glanced back over his shoulder at me and then continued.
“You’re a fucking monster. It takes the worst kind of human to put your hands on someone as sweet and loving as Avery.
To abuse anyone! But especially someone you claim to love.
You’re an absolute fucking pig,” he spat.
“And it has nothing to do with you being a cop. You are fucking swine.”
David’s face was as red as a tomato. My heart was beating 1,000 times per minute. James smiled, took two steps back into the garage, and opened his arms out to the sides. “Do your fucking worst, mall cop.”
Not being able to stand myself any longer, I took a few steps forward and James wrapped an arm around me.
I watched as David ground his teeth together.
If this had been a cartoon, steam would have started coming out of his ears.
Of all the times he’d hurt me, I’d never seen him seethe like this.
For a split second, I worried he might just take his gun out and shoot us both.
Fortunately, he didn’t. Instead, he just gestured to the people around him. “Turn it upside down, boys. The three of you will need to step outside while the search is being conducted. I’m happy to put you in handcuffs early if you don’t want to comply.”
James tilted his head back and laughed again as the agents and other officers started to move in around us. Then he looked down at me. "Come on, baby. Let’s go get some lunch. I’m starved. Lock up when you’re done, eh?” James told David as we walked past him.
“You can’t leave,” David huffed.
“Bullshit, we can’t. We haven’t done anything to justify detainment. A search warrant and an arrest warrant are two different things. Even I know that, David,” I countered.
Just as we continued past him, Markowski called out from behind the shop, “Kirkton, we got somethin’ in the back storage garage.”
David’s face split into an evil grin as he looked over at me. “You’re not going anywhere. You are now being detained pending investigation.”
I felt James tense up a bit next to me as he turned his head around to lock eyes with Jack. Jack immediately put his hands up and shook his head in innocence.
I could feel myself begin to sweat under my jacket and I cozied up to James a bit tighter. I had never been to the back storage, but I knew that’s where my car was parked. James had Jack move it there the other day, so David wouldn’t find it.
Everything seemed to stop and no one moved as David re-emerged from around the building. “Arrest all three of them for possession of an illegal substance with intent to distribute,” he announced.
As he said it, Markowski came up behind him carrying a large black duffle bag.
“What the fuck are you talking about, David?” I yelled.
David smiled as another officer grabbed James’s arm and cuffed his hand.
“No! No please,” I screamed as the officer pulled James’s other hand from around me.
“Don’t fucking touch him,” James yelled a millisecond before David grabbed a crushing hold on my arms. I struggled against him as he cuffed one hand. “I’ll fucking tase you if I have to, you fucking brat…”
“Only if you want a bullet to the back of the skull,” a confident, familiar voice rang out from behind me.
You could hear a pin drop as the entire scene stopped and everyone looked over to my father.
“Dad!” I cried.
“Chief,” David said, “I’m sorry you had to find out like this, but Avery is in some serious trouble.”
My father frowned, and then his face turned icy as a glacier. “If you don’t get your fucking hands off my son, I will kill you in front of God and every other person here.” My father took two strong steps forward and placed his hand above his holster.
David let me go, and I ran over to where the other officer was holding a handcuffed James.
“I know he’s your son, sir, but, with all due respect, the law is the law. I found three kilos of cocaine in the trunk of Avery’s car. They’d stashed it in the back storage garage.”
I could see my father’s fingers clench into fists as he ground out, “I don’t think I can handle you saying another fucking word. Shut the fuck up, and I’ll deal with you in a minute.”
My father let out a deep huff as his whole body seemed to shake with rage.
He walked over to where James and I were standing and pulled the handcuff key off his belt and unlocked the one cuff David had managed to secure before my father interrupted him.
Then he looked to the officer holding James. “Let him go at once.”
“Dad, James didn’t—”
I stopped speaking when my father held up his hand. “Avery, please.” My father’s hands were still trembling; I’d never seen him this angry before. It was scary.
I bit my lip and watched as my father walked up to James.
As soon as the officer had freed him from his cuffs, my father extended his hand.
“I owe you an apology, son. I didn’t want to hear what you’d told me at the station yesterday.
I was callous and dismissive, and I hope one day, you will forgive me for the way I behaved.
You obviously care a great deal about him.
You tried to warn me about David and how he was hurting my son, and I called you a liar.
Shortly after you left my office, David came in to request permission to petition a judge for a search warrant.
It didn't take long to piece together that it was your family's shop he wanted to sniff out.”
Then, he turned to me. “Avery. My boy. I don’t know if you’ll ever forgive us.
When your mother told me that you wanted to leave David because you’d gotten into a fight, I thought you were just being overdramatic, and so did she.
” I could feel my eyes welling up with tears as he cleared his throat. “He… he hurt you?”
I took a deep breath as my fingers found the hem of my shirt and I lifted it up, showing the bruises along my ribs.
My father choked and turned back to face David. “You motherfucker. You are under arrest for falsifying police records, pulling a fictitious warrant, and planting illegal substances to set my son and this young man up.”
David began to protest and then beg, but my father pulled his arm back and clocked David right in the mouth. David groaned as the force knocked his head back, and he knelt over to spit blood.
“I told you, I couldn’t handle you speaking anymore. The right is to remain silent; exercise it!”
“You can’t prove I planted drugs anywhere! You can’t prove any of this,” David screamed as two officers began to wrangle his arms to cuff him.
“Yes, I can, because I followed your stupid ass here last night when you came to plant drugs in my son’s car.” My father gestured to the officers holding David. “Get him out of here before I shoot him, for the love of God!”
The two officers hauled David to one of the squad cars and, once he was securely out of sight, my father shook his head and looked around at all the other agents.
They all looked as stunned as I felt about what I had just witnessed.
I hadn't even registered that James had wrapped his arms around me.
My father cleared his throat and then addressed the other officers and agents.
“Ladies and gentlemen, as always, thank you for your service and everything you do. Bringing you all out here and wasting your time will be an embarrassment to my department, and, for that, I apologize. Forgive me, but I needed to be sure. Sniffing out a dirty cop is messy business, and I’m proud to have each one of you on my team, working for the good of Emberford’s citizens.
Please pack up and head on with the rest of your day. I’ll take it from here.”