Hunting Haven

Haven

Gabe walked over as I tied up the garbage. “You done?”

“Yep. Just gotta take this out to the dumpster and then I can roll.”

“I’ll take it,” he offered.

“I got it. It’s not heavy.” I pulled the bag out of the can and caught a glimpse of his expression as I straightened. He looked uncomfortable, almost panicked. The run in with his ex must have bothered him more than I’d initially thought. He seemed fine when he was flirting with me and pretending we were together to piss her off, but he did not seem okay now.

I lifted a shoulder carelessly and let it fall. “Whatever floats your boat. We have to go out the front, though. You can’t come through the kitchen to go out the back way.”

Relief colored his features as he took the trash from me, his other hand flattening on my lower back. I didn’t pull away. His ex wasn’t in my line of sight but, if he was still acting like we were together, I assumed she was still around.

After I led the way around the building and Gabe tossed the garbage into the dumpster, we walked over to the squad car. He opened the door for me. Even when he was mentally checked out, his mind clearly a million miles away, he was still a gentleman.

When he climbed in and started the car, we both spoke at once.

“I’m sor-”

“Are yo-”

We both chuckled awkwardly as he threw the car in reverse.

“You first,” he offered.

“Are you okay? Running into your ex-wife couldn’t have been easy.”

His posture was rigid, shoulders stiff as he started the drive to my house. “I’m okay. Julie is ancient history. She seems to forget that whenever we bump into each other, though. We just… we used to work together, and she was trying to get me to go back to that... department. I thought if she believed we were together, she’d just leave and drop it. Sorry I put you in that situation. That was unfair of me.”

“Don’t worry about it. Not the first time I’ve helped a friend piss off his ex. No big deal. I’m just glad she isn’t still your wife. I’m not interested in being the other woman, even if it’s just pretend.”

He snorted humorlessly. “I really can’t believe she called me her husband. We got divorced nine and a half years ago.”

“Well damn, Crenshaw. How old are you?” I teased, nudging him playfully with my elbow in the hopes he’d loosen up some.

“I’m thirty-four. We got married right out of high school like idiots.”

It was my turn to let out a self-deprecating snort. “I felt that.”

“You got married right out of high school?”

“A year later. I was nineteen. Still, I was an idiot, and he was… let’s just say I’d rather be stuck with Julie as an ex.” My jaw clenched as thoughts of Jesse filled my mind. My hands balled into fists, and suddenly I was the one that was a million miles away.

I should have run back then while I still had a chance, but I didn’t. If only I had known the kind of man I was marrying. I could have avoided so many mental, emotional, and physical scars. I could have avoided so much pain.

“Haven,” Gabriel’s voice was almost a whisper in the silent car. It was like he knew I was being tormented by the ghosts of my past. His calloused hand reached out and grabbed mine, squeezing gently. “Is he the reason you hate your last name?”

I jerked my head to the side and stared at him, eyes wide with shock. “How did you-?”

“Being observant is kind of my job. You recoiled when I called you by your surname last night and insisted I call you by your first instead. Add that to the fact you clearly didn’t just move to Illinois two weeks ago? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize you were leaving someone or something behind.”

His radio squawked, a feminine voice followed by a male responding. I honestly wasn’t even mildly paying attention to what it said, but I pretended I was with all my might as I pulled my hand away from his, my emotional walls shooting back up between us. He was easy to open up to, and that was dangerous for the both of us. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I just moved here.”

He placed the hand that had held mine in comfort back on the steering wheel. “I’m not going to change your report or anything. Deputy Crenshaw isn’t in the car. Consider me your friend Gabe right now. I’m just trying to understand you better.”

“My friend? We just met yesterday, dude.” I scoffed, incredulously. Yeah, I’d snapped at him, cried in front of him, and flirted with him, but still. We had just met.

“Well, I’d like to be your friend,” he shrugged.

I didn’t have an answer to that. Speechlessness wasn’t something I experienced often, but he had a way of throwing me off my game. Thankfully, misdirection was a skill I had in spades. “Besides, we’re literally driving in your squad car right now. How am I supposed to forget you’re a cop?”

“I’m always in my squad car, so I guess you’ll have to get used to it if we’re going to be friends.”

“Who said I’m interested in being friends?”

He flashed a grin that seemed all knowing but didn’t acknowledge my question. It made my eyes narrow in annoyance, and I redirected once more. “Why are you always in your squad car? Don’t you get days off?”

“Of course I do. The higher ups like us to drive around in our squad cars whenever we need to drive anywhere in the county. As long as we’re not drinking, of course.”

“Even when you’re not working? Why?”

“High visibility. People are less likely to commit a crime if they see me in a squad car versus me driving around in my truck. Plus, the department pays for my gas, so why not?”

I opened my mouth to respond when a voice came through the radio once more. The words meant nothing to me, but the way he held his hand up for silence and listened intently told me that it was important. He spouted off a reply and suddenly the lights of the squad car were flashing as the muffled sound of the siren filled the space.

“Sorry, Haven. I’m the nearest unit. I have to respond.”

“What’s going on?” I asked, the idea of going on a pseudo-ride along exciting me. As someone who watched true crime shows religiously, the prospect of potentially visiting an actual crime scene was thrilling.

“It’s a domestic dispute. I want you to sit in the car and lock the doors when we get there. It shouldn’t take long. Another deputy is on the way, too. He’ll take over when he arrives. I just want to make sure she’s okay.” We’d just merged onto the highway a mile or so back. He pulled up to one of the divides that were for emergency vehicles and made a sharp u turn that threw my body against the door. “Sorry.” His apology was barely a mumble, his eyes laser-focused on the dark highway as he raced to the destination.

The way he drove made me think he knew exactly where he was going and who the victim of the domestic was. It likely wasn’t the first time he’d had to respond to a call there. There was always a first time, but I’d learned from experience that the first and last time had numerous incidents in between.

My palms began to sweat as feelings I’d tried to bury long ago started to resurface. Any ounce of intrigue that I’d felt at the thought of responding to a call with him died, turning into dread. I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to see another woman in a helpless position. After being there, after having my power taken from me, I had no desire to see another victim in the same situation.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t like I had a choice. What could I do? Ask him to ignore the call? To drop me off on the side of the dark, deserted highway? As much as I wanted to avoid any reminder of my past, I also refused to delay her only saving grace.

I gave myself a pep talk as we raced to the victim. Gabe was different. He wasn’t like the officers my ex had all but owned back home. He cared. He clearly cared. From his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel to his rigid posture and the fear etched on his face, you could tell. He was a good man, and he wanted to help. He wouldn’t leave her stranded, broken. He wouldn’t make the police reports she tried to file disappear. This is different. She’ll get help.

Before I knew it, or at least before I’d mentally gathered myself, Gabe pulled up to a house on the corner of a sparsely illuminated, deserted street. Not really surprising, considering it was past one in the morning now. My thoughts were a chaotic mess. I didn’t noticed when we exited the highway. I didn’t even register the fact that the siren was no longer wailing. Talk about unobservant.

“Lock the doors,” he ordered as he turned off the lights and exited the vehicle.

I did as he said, watching as he passed the corner house and two more before heading up a walkway and out of sight. A part of me wondered why he’d parked so far away from the house, but mostly I was just grateful. While keeping him or delaying him from responding to the call weren’t options, I still didn’t mean I wanted to see anything.

I wasn’t the same woman that got her ass beat without fighting back anymore. I grew, evolved, and took my power back as much as I knew how. But that didn’t mean that I needed a tangible reminder of my past, of the pain I endured.

Plus, seeing another woman in that situation wouldn’t help either of us. I remember what it was like to have others see the bruises, to ask questions and give pitying looks. It was easy to see abuse from the outside and condemn the victim for not leaving. It was a whole different beast to suffer through the mental and physical torment and still find the will to leave.

It’s hard to believe you deserve better when you’re constantly reminded that you have no worth or value as a human. Having another person see that, judge you for that, it hurt a hell of a lot more than a broken cheekbone.

I dropped my face into my hands, rubbing it vigorously, as if it would scrub my memories clean. My gaze returned to the house Gabe had approached as I watched and waited for a sign that everything was okay.

A shadow in my peripheral pulled my attention away from the ranch-style house, and I turned to look out the passenger window. My heart lodged itself in my throat as I laid eyes on the figure. A large man with shoulder length hair stood a few feet from the car, staring at me, and I flinched away out of terror.

His facial features were masked, but his eyes seemed to almost glow, the iris a bright, shocking red. I wasn’t one to freak out about strangers, but his eyes held so much malice. I struggled to break our stare to call for help.

Where did this guy come from? I grabbed my phone to call Gabe, hesitant to tear him away from the woman he was helping, but fear was a powerful motivator. Shivers ran up my spine as I looked up from my phone screen back to where the man stood, but he was gone.

My breaths became shallow as I tried my best to remain calm. I turned in my seat repeatedly, looking around for him. He couldn’t have just disappeared. He was somewhere. My heartbeat pulsated in my ears, a cold sweat beginning to coat my body.

A stranger staring at me was creepy, but that didn’t account for the intensity of my reaction. I couldn’t calm myself even as I unbuckled and turned fully in my seat to look out the back window. Where was he?

A light knock rapped on the driver’s window, a scream tearing from my throat at the unexpected sound. I jumped as far away as I could in the car, my back slamming off of the glovebox. I listed to the side and elbowed the window to my left as my heart lodged itself in my throat.

“Haven! It’s just me,” Gabe’s voice sounded from outside as I scrambled to unlock the door. He opened it and I reached out, pulling him in as best I could. “Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Calm down. It’s okay. Everything is okay. What’s wrong?” He grabbed my hands gently as he coached me through a few deep breaths.

“The guy. There was a guy,” I managed to stammer. His eyebrows drew together in a deep frown as he leaned closer, his gaze intense.

“What did he look like?”

“Long hair, dark. Wide shoulders. He looked big. Uh,” I hesitated, afraid he’d think I was off my rocker if I mentioned the freaky ass glowing eyes.

“Go ahead,” he prompted, as if he knew I was hiding something from him.

“His eyes. He had some weird contacts in. They were red, but they glowed. Like they were illuminated. He didn’t approach the car or anything. Just scared the shit out of me.” I blew out a deep breath. “I’m okay.”

I was totally not okay, but I definitely tried to convince the both of us because I felt insane.