“How long are you here for?”
“Well, dear, you and your father need to figure out what to do about Damien and I’m going to take care of you.”
I fight the urge to roll my eyes. “I’m fine, mom. Ever since that night, Damien hasn’t been around.”
“I know, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t waiting for you. Lurking out there like the sick man that he is.” She closes her eyes, clearly remembering the night that I came home battered. I will never forget the look on her face when I walked into the house or when she sat with me in the emergency room while the police took pictures, pictures that they never did anything with.
“I wouldn’t know. I’m being held captive.”
Josie scoffs in the background.
“It’s true. This is the Westbury jail. I’m not even working and I hate that.”
“With more people watching now, you can go back to work.” Liam’s voice startles me. I turn away from my mom to find him and my dad behind me.
“Is that why you called my parents, to babysit me?” I ask, trying not to laugh. He shrugs. “Well, thank you,” I say, giving him a hug. “I really needed them here,” I mumble into his shirt.
“I know.” He rubs his hands up and down my back. “We just want you safe.”
I nod, biting my lip to keep from crying. I can’t keep crying at the drop of a hat. I know I’m emotional, but it’s getting to be too much. I’m going to dehydrate myself if I’m not careful.
“We need to talk, Jenna,” my dad says, motioning toward the table. I follow him, pulling out the chair across from him. He slides papers over to me. Everything moves in slow motion. The last time we did this, I ended my marriage. What will I be doing this time?
I flip through the pages. Each page detailing previously told incidents from the diary I kept. I can’t read them. I don’t want to relive those nights in my life. When I married Damien, I was happy, I was in love.
“Sign on the back there.”
“What am I signing?”
“It’s a restraining order. It’s a long shot, but we’re going to try it. I can’t practice here, but Liam says he already has someone that I can work with to get this squared away.”
“What does
this mean, dad?”
He folds his hands on the table and leans toward me. “It means, if the judge accepts this order, Damien won’t be able to come within two thousand feet. It’s far-fetched, but we’re hoping to pull some strings.”
“And what happens if the judge doesn’t go for this?”
My dad leans back and scratches his belly. I stifle a laugh. He won’t like it if I’m not taking this seriously. “The worst case scenario is we get thrown out, but I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that.”
“We don’t even know where he is.”
Dad flips though the papers sitting in front of him. “Officer Baker has been keeping tabs on him. He placed a GPS beacon under his car. It’s illegal, but it allows Baker to track Damien’s whereabouts.”
“Is he waiting for me to leave the house?”
“Yes,” Liam says, coming into the room. “This is why Paul was adamant you stay in the house. He’s waiting to bust him and was hoping he’d trespass, but he hasn’t. So now Paul wants you to return to work.”
“I’m the bait.”
Liam shrugs. “Or the solution. Your dad will file the restraining order tomorrow, asking for an emergency hearing. Your ex doesn’t have to be at the hearing, but Paul will serve him when he sees him.”
It sounds too complicated. I do want to go back to work, but seeing Damien is not something I want to do. I sign my name and leave the table. I have to trust that my dad, Liam and Paul know what they’re doing.
I take the stairs to my room. I need to lie down and try to sleep off this headache I’m developing. My mom is in my room, well now her room, putting away her clothes. She smiles when I walk in. I sit on the bed and watch her for a minute.
“Have you been sleeping well?”