Love Survives (45 page)

Before leaving the area, I had one more stop. I’d managed to get in with the doctor at the Bethesda medical center to evaluate my injury. I wasn’t in there for more than fifteen minutes and had enough information to know that I wasn’t going to regain full use of my hand. My injury was permanent. I’d never be cleared to operate military issued weapons again.

The drive was difficult since I hadn’t slept at all, and I got news that would basically end my career.

I stopped three times to get a fresh coffee. By the time I made it to base the sun had gone down. I pulled out my phone before exiting the vehicle.

My mom answered Kat’s phone. “Hello?”

“Hey, mom. Is Kat around?”

“Are you there safe?”

“Yeah, I just pulled in.” I yawned. “That drive is hard alone.”

“I bet. Here she is.”

“Hey you. I guess you’re there.”

“I am. I miss you already. Is that crazy?”

“No. They released me to go before lunch time. I’ve been sitting here wanting to call you all day. B misses you. I can tell. She keeps looking in your room and asking when you’ll be back.”

“If I could, I’d drive all night to get back to you.”

“It’s only a few days, Brooks.”

“I know you’re in good hands. Just take care of yourself so you can get home to me. We’ll figure everything else out together.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Don’t make me worry, Kat. I love you too much to hear you having doubts.” She could deny it all she wanted. Something was different. She was holding back, and I hated it.

“I love you, Brooks. I always have and I always will, no matter what happens.”

Her words made me feel sick to my stomach. I had to end the call before I got upset over it. “I love you too. I’m counting down the minutes until we’re together again. I’ll call you later to tell B good night.”

When we hung up I carried my things into my room and plopped down on the bed. I was exhausted and couldn’t wait to sleep. After setting my alarm to get up and call my daughter, I changed out of my fatigues and climbed under the covers, wishing I was back in my larger bed surrounded by my girls.

Chapter 53

Twenty-four hours
after leaving Kat back in D.C., I was miserable. She couldn’t realize how hard it was to be away from them. It was like giving a child a candy factory and then taking it away. I wanted my girls with me. I needed them.

It was so nice to get an early call displaying her number. I’d been sitting at my desk going through my phone looking at pictures from our week together. Each one made me smile a little more. Maybe I was partial because she was mine, but I swore I had the most beautiful little girl.

I answered professionally since I was at work. “Sergeant Valentine.”

“Hey, it’s me.” I already knew it was.

“Are you okay?”

I wasn’t upset for her calling. If I could have kept her on the phone all day I would have.

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Kat, please tell me you’re not calling to give me bad news. I’m having a terrible time being here when you’re both there. I can’t take much more this week.”

Not only had I been missing them like crazy, but I’d been by her house, and from  looking in the windows it was obvious she wasn’t going to be happy when she got home. From the one room I could see, Bobby had paid the house a visit before going after her. Furniture was turned over and items were strewn all over the floor. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that, not yet at least.

“I’m not. I’m calling because I’m coming home. Your mom is going to drive us and stay with me. She wanted me to call and tell you that we’ll be home late tonight.”

I didn’t know what to say. Above being highly excited, I was also worried. Why did my mom have to suggested her to call me? “She wanted you to call? So you weren’t going to?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Yeah. You didn’t. So, do you want me to head over to your place when I get off?”

I needed to clear out as much mess as I could. If Kat walked into that mess she’d lose it. Her perfect house was now damaged, and I was determined to assess the full damage for myself. “Yes. There’s a hidden key attached to a magnet underneath the fender to the riding mower. It’s in the shed. That key opens the front and kitchen door. I have no idea what’s there to eat, but help yourself. We’ll call when we get close.”

“I can’t wait to see you. We’re going to get through this, Kat.”

She was quiet when she replied. “Okay.”

Kat was withdrawing. If she thought she could push me away she had another thing coming. Nothing would stand in my way this time, especially not a dead guy. “Don’t you dare give up on us. I know what you’re doing.”

“I’m not doing anything,”

“You’re pushing me away because you think it’s the right thing to do. You think you caused all of this to happen. Kat, you didn’t make him put that bottle to his mouth. You didn’t make him raise his hand to a woman. He did all of that himself. I know you feel guilty, but he could have chosen other paths. He didn’t have to viciously hunt you down and you know it. If he found my parents address, he very well could have gotten their phone number. Please, Kat, just think about it. We all know you’d never hurt someone intentionally. You did what you had to do to get free. You said it yourself.”

“He’s dead because of me. Nothing you say will change that. Now, I’ve got to come home and face all  the people that loved him. They never believed he did those things to me, so they’ll never understand that this was an accident.”

“He was drunk. It was confirmed through blood tests. Those people can say whatever they want, but they can’t deny the damn truth.” I hated fighting with her, but didn’t see an end to it. Kat couldn’t let herself heal. Instead she was determined to keep punishing herself because she felt it was the right thing to do. I would convince her she was wrong. I just wasn’t sure how to do it yet.

“I love you, so much,” I whispered into the receiver.

“I love you, too.” I could hear her sniffling on the other end of the call. It tormented me.

“I’ll be there waiting for you tonight. We’ll get through this together. I promise.”

When the call ended, I was set on getting my workload done early so I could make my way over to Kat’s place. Unfortunately, from being gone for a week, I had a pile to sift through. Hours went by before I was able to finish up. My intentions of getting to the house in time to clean up anything out of place was turning to crap.

I rolled in probably an hour before I expected them to arrive. Nothing could have prepared me for what I found inside. Things hadn’t just been thrown around. The pungent smell of gasoline filled my nostrils. I opened all the windows and doors before searching for where it was coming from. When I found which room it was I almost wanted to throw up.

Gas cans were laying sideways on the carpet. I picked them up and carried them outside, hoping to alleviate some of the stench. When I came back in to reassess the damage I still couldn’t believe my eyes. He’d set fire to their bed. A giant charred black spot was all that was left of the mattress.

In the corner I saw an extinguisher. He wanted her to know that he’d only burned this item. This was all intentional. It took everything I had in me to not break more shit because I was so irrefutably angry.

Since I knew I had to get some of the mess cleaned up, I started with what I could get out of the house. I threw away the bedding, placing it in garbage bags. I tossed out the area rugs, thinking maybe they still had remnants of gasoline on them. I closed the bedroom door to keep the smell confined to one room.

Then I looked around the rest of the house. Plates had been thrown in the kitchen, leaving shards of sharp porcelain everywhere. Curtains had been torn down. The couches were flipped. Tables were tipped over, and everything that had been on top of them. He’d trashed the entire house with the exception of B’s room. I didn’t know whether to even be grateful for it since he’d damaged so many other things.

Since I knew B was going to have to walk around the house, I began the task of picking up the shards, one by one. Though daunting, I felt the need to do everything I could to prevent from Kat freaking out, which I knew she was still going to do. One can only take so much before they reach a breaking point. This was clearly not going to go over well.

After nearly thirty minutes of picking up the larger pieces, I started looking for a vacuum. Before I turned it on I got a call from my dad.

“Hey, it’s not a good time,” I said as I answered.

“I was calling to see if the girls got there safely.”

“Not yet, but I’m glad they haven’t. Dad, her ex trashed the house. He set their bed on fire, destroyed her property. It’s a damn mess. I don’t know what to do.”

“Have you tried cleaning some of it up?”

“Yeah, but it’s not a one-man job. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“I can’t believe she got involved with someone like that. I hate to say it, but I’m glad he’s no longer going to be around to harm her. She doesn’t need that kind of role model around Brooklyn.”

“I wouldn’t let him near her even if he was around. The only male influence my daughter needs is from her real family.”

“Listen, Katy was a mess yesterday. She made a few calls to notify Bobby’s family. I’m guessing it didn’t go very well. Apparently they didn’t know the side of him that you saw.”

“I figured.” It wasn’t to help me though. “Listen, I better get off of here. I need to at least clear a path for when B gets in the house, otherwise she’s going to have to be locked in her room.”

“Do the best you can. Once they’ve arrived pull your mother aside and get her to help with replacing whatever is damaged. She’ll know where to find everything, and how to have it delivered. You know there is a positive to this, Brooks.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“You’ll have all new things that he didn’t use. If I were you I’d buy a new bed anyway. In fact, it’s the first thing I would replace.”

We both chuckled. “Yeah, you’re funny. I don’t think Kat would be laughing though. I’m pretty sure this is only going to break her heart.”

“Brooks, try not to push. Katy is a good girl. She’s just having a rough time. I get why you’re upset, but you’ve got to put yourself in her shoes. She obviously cared about him whether you want to hear it or not. They were married, son. This is something she’s going to have to deal with for the rest of her life.”

Of course my dad was right. It wasn’t fair to blame Kat for being so irrational. For two years she’d given herself to Bobby. As much as that hurt me, I had to accept it, or else I’d never be able to handle the way people were going to look at us as a couple. “Let me know about the house next door. I think the sooner we get out of here the better.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow. Have your mother let me know they’ve arrived safely. Give Brooklyn a kiss from me.”

“I will. Thanks, Dad. Thanks for everything.”

“Just make sure you two keep coming around. It was a pleasure having everyone home again.”

When we hung up I felt a little better. I just needed to prepare for Kat’s arrival, and her upcoming nervous breakdown.

Chapter 54

I knew they’d
be tired when they arrived, and  Kat would be stiff from the long ride. From the moment the vehicle pulled up in the yard I started to worry. I looked behind me at the mess that I couldn’t manage to make any better. It was going to be a long night.

When I heard the car doors opening I rushed to greet them. Kat seemed pleased to see me standing there waiting to pull her into my arms. “I missed you.” We kissed first before she walked into the mayhem.

“Daddy. Me get out.” B wanted to be freed from her car seat, and I couldn’t wait to be the one to do it.

“There’s Daddy’s bug. Did you miss me?”

She took my hand immediately, making me feel like a million bucks.