I cracked the window a little to hear what was going on, and Garrick’s head turned in my direction like an owl’s. No other part of his body moved, and even in the dark, with his body language, arms crossed over his chest, legs spread, I could imagine what his eyes looked like and followed his command to roll the window back up.
GARRICK
I was scared the fuck out of my mind. When I got the call, I didn’t even know she was out of the house; my bad, that shit will never happen again. I was set to tell the lieutenant who called me that he had the wrong person, meaning my wife since Brady knows me very well.
Her name had been given, and he recognized it as mine, plus by now, everyone knew who the tank belonged to because of the license plate. I don’t know how I got here; I don’t even recall what he said the problem was. All I knew was that there was an accident, and she wasn’t hurt and where she was.
I left the house, barely remembering to slip my foot into a pair of boots, and called the team I’d hired to protect her when I reached the car. Since we’d only returned today and had no plans on leaving the house, they weren’t supposed to go back on the job until the next day.
After I got her taken care of in the safety of my car, which was bulletproof with no way in or out except with the key fob in my hand, I was ready to hear what the cops had to say. “It looks like vandalism, more than anything. Someone used an um, tampon, which they left behind to smear blood all over the door and handle then took a key or some other sharp object to the side.”
What the hell was he saying? If it had been an accident where someone else was hurt, I would’ve been a lot more helpful, but since I had a pretty good idea where this was going and who was responsible, I played along with the idea the cops had that it might be hard to find a suspect.
I got her stuff out of the truck and had it towed away after the cops filed their report. There was a lot of talk about kids, and maybe someone was jealous of the truck; it could be anyone who’d done it and yada-yada-yada. I didn’t say a word when they asked if I knew of anyone that might want to do this to my wife.
Once I was given the all-clear, I looked at the two men who were part of my security detail. They nodded their understanding and headed back to their vehicle while I went back to mine. I pulled her out of the driver’s seat where I’d left her and into my arms for a hug before walking her around and letting her into the passenger side. I strapped her in before walking back around to get in.
I didn’t speak all the way home, just held her hand, squeezing her fingers every once in a while whenever the memory of that first flash of fear hit me in the gut. I was pretty sure who was responsible for this, but my gut wouldn’t get me very far in a court of law. Besides, I have a better way to prove it.
I got her inside with her packages and put the stuff away more for something to do with my hands than anything else. She sat at the kitchen table looking shocked and a little bit scared, and I realized what a dick I was for not telling her anything. All I’d said after hugging her by the car was that no one was hurt, and everything was fine.
“Was it a deer then? What exactly did I hit?”
“You didn’t hit anything, sweetheart. The cops think it may have been kids playing around. I had the truck towed anyway to get it looked at.” She’s never getting back in that thing no matter what. I’ll just come up with an excuse for why she had to get a new one. It’s going to be another couple of months before it can be custom-made like this one, but in the meantime, she’s got plenty to choose from.
I leaned over her with my arms closing her in with one on the table in front of her and one on the chair. “You’re okay. I’m going to go upstairs and run you a bath, okay.” She nodded, and I went to take care of it before coming back to lift her in my arms and carry her upstairs. I got her settled in the mountain of bubbles she likes with her water.
“Aren’t you going to join me?”
“Not right now, sweet baby; I have some things to take care of. I’m right in my office if you need me.” I hurried back downstairs to let Diego and Baptiste inside. I didn’t want her seeing the men because I don’t want her knowing that she’s being watched over because I don’t have time for that argument that would get her nowhere; why waste time?