Cries in the Night (17 page)

A cold chill raced down her spine. For every victim of domestic abuse, there was an aggressor who usually spent at least one night in jail. Another consistency was that the abusers never blamed themselves. They blamed their wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, kids, boss, God … and the victim’s advocate. Could someone whose partner she had helped be planning a payback? Had they somehow found out where she lived and were watching her, waiting for their chance to ruin her life like she had ruined theirs?

Nervously, Julie looked up and down the narrow street. There was no sign of the white car which might mean they had given up. Surely if they had been hanging out yesterday they would have noticed all the activity as Rusty beefed up her security. Maybe they just wanted to frighten her, to make her aware that they didn’t like for her to interfere in their life.

Julie spent most of the morning going through old files of past cases, trying to remember which abusers she had met. On the drive over, she had decided that it was unlikely someone would have held a grudge on her personally if they hadn’t actually come face-to-face. They might be angry at the system, but probably didn’t blame her.

However, she remembered many angry glares as the men or, in a very few cases, the women were taken away in handcuffs while Julie stayed behind with the victim, often helping them get medical or psychological treatment, hire a handyman to replace locks or broken windows or doors and sometimes even finding the victim a safe place to live that would cut the abuser out of their lives forever.

It was easy to understand the abuser’s misplaced assignment of guilt. As they sat in jail or worked through the emotional and financial burden of a trial, their anger and resentment against Julie would grow until she had somehow
become the cause of all their troubles. In their twisted minds, she became the villain of their homemade drama. If it wasn’t for Julie, their relationship would be happy and normal just like before the incident. Of course, there were also men, like Carlos, who had never been caught.

She tucked the files in her briefcase so she could study them at home after the meeting. Reluctantly, she pushed the white car out of her mind and forced her focus back on finalizing the schedule so she could pass it out tonight and making sure everything was ready. Maybe she was worrying about nothing. After all, it was just a car. It could have belonged to someone visiting one of the other neighbors or, even though it wasn’t a cool vehicle, it could be a kid who had borrowed his dad’s car for a date.

By the time Julie was heading toward the meeting room at the end of the day, she had almost completely dismissed the threat. After all, it was unlikely any of the abusers had been able to find her address. She had zero presence on any of the internet websites, had no landline phone at her house, a blocked cell phone and her vehicle’s license plates had a security shield on them, just like that on all personal cars of most civil servants. Besides, she had a world-class security system now.

Thanks to Rusty.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Everyone was in good spirits. The lights from the small artificial Christmas tree in the corner of the meeting room twinkled merrily. Julie knew that while her staff was interested in hearing about the speaker’s emergency room experiences, they were all ready to party.

They stuck to their usual agenda of going over activity sheets, discussing unusual cases and results, listening to stories of success and failure and passing out the schedules for January. Julie introduced the ER nurse, and she talked about patients she had treated, especially those who had some sort of domestic violence or child abuse history. There was a lively discussion of what the victim’s advocates could do to cut down the recidivism rates and a general disappointment that they couldn’t do more.

Julie finally called the meeting to an end and started the white elephant gift exchange. As usual, there were very popular items that got passed around until all the gifts had been opened ended with everyone laughing and milling around the food and drink table. Alcohol was prohibited, but that didn’t keep everyone from having fun socializing. Of course, there was a lot of shop talk especially when some of the cops they’d worked with dropped by for a cookie and other goodies. Julie mingled, glad to spend some down-time with her staff. The work they did was serious and so often tragedy-centric that it was a pleasure to see them smile and hear their laughter.

After about the dozenth time, she realized she was keeping an unusually close watch on the door. She actually heard his voice in the hallway before he entered the room and she tried to ignore that funny little flutter in the pit of her stomach. She would have dismissed it as a hunger pain if she hadn’t been nibbling on the hors d’oeuvres for the last half hour.

Rusty and four other firefighters entered the room. They apparently were on-shift because they were all dressed in their navy blue cargo pants and t-shirts. The refreshment table caught their attention, and they filtered into the crowd, heading for the food.

Except for Rusty. He stood in the doorway, taller than everyone around him, his gaze searching the room. Julie was riveted in place, unable and unwilling to turn away. She hoped he was looking for her, and she was not disappointed. As
soon as his eyes met hers, he smiled, that sexy crooked grin that took her breath away. Without further hesitation, he walked straight toward her.

“Nice party,” he said as he stopped in front of her.

“I’m glad you made it.”

His blue eyes twinkled. “I was hoping the boys and I would be able to slip away for a few minutes … to spend some time with your crew.”

“I’m sure it means a lot to them that you all are here. It’s so much nicer to spend time around a Christmas tree rather than a burning building.”

“In so many ways,” he agreed. “How’s the alarm system working?”

“So far, so good. I slept like a baby last night.”

“Are you taking shifts this weekend?”

“Yes, until the end of the year, then I’m just going to be a back-up. I think I need to take a break from the drama.”

“Yeah, well that’s the line of work we’re in, isn’t it?”

Julie nodded toward the food table. “You should get something before it’s all gone. I highly recommend the spinach artichoke dip.” God, what an inane conversation. She wouldn’t be surprised if he decided the cupcakes were more interesting. Julie shook her head. And what difference did it make whether or not he stayed with her? She was shocked to realize that it actually did matter. She liked being with him and was truly glad to see him.

“Did you make it?”

She laughed. “Now you’re making fun of me. You’ve seen my kitchen. Does it look like I cook much?”

“The only refrigerator I’ve seen that has less in it is mine.”

“I’m actually going grocery shopping tomorrow after work. As you recall, I was sort of busy last Friday,” she said.

“Yeah, me too. I was all tied up,” he teased, but the sparkle had left his eyes.

Julie noticed that he seemed a little uncomfortable talking about it. “Have you had a chance to talk to the department psychologist about it?”

“Not yet,” he admitted, lowering his voice. “I thought I could work through it, but I’m still having nightmares.”

“Any time you want to talk, no matter how late, just call me.”

“Actually, it occurred to me today that I don’t have your cell phone number. I asked around, but I could get the president of the United States’ number easier than I could get yours.”

“That’s good to hear,” she told him. “I had a little panic attack this morning when I thought one of my cases had come back to haunt me. It’s good to know that
I’m not that easy to find.” She took her phone out of her pocket. “While we’re at it, what’s yours?”

They exchanged numbers, adding them to their Contacts’ lists.

“Good, I’ll give you a call. How about dinner tomorrow night … after your grocery trip?”

“Only if you let it be my treat,” she said. “I owe you for all your work the other day.”

“If that’s the only way I can get you to agree to dinner, then okay. I’ll pick you up around seven?”

Julie smiled. She would have expected a little anxiety and not the relief she was feeling. “Sounds good.”

They split up and circulated, but until he and his fellow firefighters left a half hour later, every time Julie searched him out with her gaze, she found him looking at her. It didn’t escape her notice that all the single women, regardless of their ages, and most of the married ones gravitated to him. He was literally a babe magnet. But she was the only one who had a date with him tomorrow night. She felt like she was back in high school.

 

The giddiness stayed with her the rest of the evening and the entire next day. It had been years since she’d been on anything even remotely like a date. A voice in the back of her head told her she shouldn’t go. There was absolutely no future in any relationship. She held her phone in her hand. It would be so easy to find his name and call him to cancel. Instead, the phone went back into her pocket as she got out of her car in the grocery store’s parking lot. She was looking forward to the date. She’d worry about the consequences later.

It had been a several weeks since she had done some serious grocery shopping. Normally, she just ran in and out, grabbing up a couple of things at a time. It wasn’t because she didn’t have the money; she just didn’t have the time. Or rather, she had better things to do with her time because she really hated shopping. But tonight, she pushed her cart up and down every aisle, picking up everything from staples to a dozen fresh croissants from the bakery. Then when she got to the check-out, there were long lines. Apparently, she wasn’t the only person stocking up for the weekend.

The entire process had taken much longer than she expected, and she was running a little late. She helped the boy bag her groceries into the canvas sacks she
had brought with her, then she quickly pushed her loaded cart across the parking lot to her car. The bags filled her trunk and she even had to put the paper towels and toilet paper in the back seat. It felt good to know that her refrigerator and pantry would be well-stocked at least until Christmas.

Julie opened the driver’s door and sat down. It was cold outside, so she hurried to shut the door. After fastening her seatbelt, she started the car and carefully backed out of the space. It was six forty-five. If she hit absolutely no traffic, she could make it home in time. Unfortunately, it seemed like all of Denver was on the road tonight.

She sat at a traffic light only a few blocks from her house, her fingers strumming on the steering wheel as she waited for the light to change. Suddenly, something crawled over her foot. She automatically kicked out and leaned over to see what it was. The light blinked from red to green and the cars around her started to move. Behind her, an impatient driver leaned on his horn, and she jerked upright.

Her instincts were to drive on and check out what it was when she reached her house. But she hadn’t gone half a block until she felt it crawling up her leg. She flinched, her foot pressed down on the gas and the car lurched forward. She tried to steer, but was distracted by the icky sensation of something slimy on her leg. It was impossible to tell what it was, but she definitely didn’t want it touching her. Afterward, she couldn’t remember what happened. The next thing she knew, she had plowed into a telephone pole and her air bag was slowly deflating.

The air bag plate had hit her in the chest, knocking the air out of her. It took her a couple of minutes to catch her breath and clear her head enough to remember that feeling of something crawling on her. She opened the door and tried to get out, but was held back. It took another few seconds to realize she hadn’t unfastened her seat belt. Her fingers fumbled with the latch and finally she was able to crawl out of the car, almost falling over a pile of snow left when the sidewalk had been plowed. She had to cling to the door to pull herself to her feet.

Someone must have called 911 because the sounds of sirens pierced the night, getting closer until she could see red and blue lights chasing each other around the buildings as the emergency vehicles approached from opposite directions and stopped at her accident scene.

An ambulance parked at the curb, the closest to her car and two paramedics jumped out. She recognized the man as Rusty’s brother which reminded her that he must be thinking that she had stood him up.