that?” The green Rusty Cent rap album was covered with animal stickers. She flinched as she tried to peel them back off.
“Hey, it looks nicer that way.” Joe winked at Justin in the mirror.
She scratched a little pink pig from the corner. “It’s Keith’s. He left it in my car, and I keep forgetting to give it back to him.”
He would want it back when he remembered that she had it, and he was going to be mad at Justin for messing it up. She scraped off as many stickers as she could, then shoved the CD into the closed compartment between the front seats with the others. She could worry about that later.
For now, worrying about the box was plenty. If Keith was now sending her hate mail, it meant he was really, really angry. She shouldn’t have moved out. She shouldn’t have let Sophie talk her into it. Nobody knew how Keith got with his temper. Wendy clenched her jaw as a headache started behind her eyes. Everybody was trying to help. They didn’t understand that they were making things worse for her.
She’d made Keith mad, and now there would be a reckoning. She had to figure out how to defuse the situation. Deescalate, deescalate, deescalate.
Joe’s phone rang, and he took the call. His responses were, “Yes,” “No,” “Okay.”
“Trouble at the station?” She was ready to be distracted.
But he shook his head. “Usual police business.”
They didn’t discuss the package any further as they drove home. She wasn’t sure how much Justin would understand, and she didn’t want her son to worry. Instead, she turned on the CD player and helped him sing along with the Dancing Sheep.
He was growing fussy by the time they got home, so she put him down for a nap. By the time she came downstairs, Bing was sitting in the kitchen with Joe.
“How are you doing?” He pulled his notebook. “I have a couple of questions.”
Joe swallowed the last bites of his sandwich, then stood with his plate. He hadn’t had lunch at the diner. “While we have the captain here, I’ll run by the apartment to see if Keith lifted that wig from there.”
Bing nodded.
“Thanks,” Wendy said and gave Joe her keys, looking after him as he left.
“He’ll take care of it. He’s a good friend to have,” Bing said, echoing Eileen’s words.
“Yeah.” Truth was, Joe Kessler did make a good friend.
He’d only been here with her for a day, but he’d listened to her, played with her son, helped her, protected her. She could see him as a friend. God knew, she didn’t have many.
Too bad their tenuous friendship was going to end once she told him her secret. Then Joe was going to be as mad at her as Keith.
Chapter Seven
Joe stood in the open doorway of Wendy’s apartment. The night he’d been here, he’d been so focused on her he barely noticed the details. And now the details had been obliterated. Better that she wasn’t here to see this.
He kept his cold anger in check as he scanned the smashed pictures and broken furniture. Justin’s cracked high chair lay at his feet, antique tiger maple, probably a family heirloom. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket, dialed 911, and gave them the address. Neither he nor the captain had jurisdiction here.
After he reported the break-in, he called Wendy, glad that his Philly undercover gig was over. Now that he’d seen the destruction in her apartment…. He needed to stick by her as much as he could.
“He’s been here,” he told her. “Made a mess.”
The small sound of her catching her breath came through the line. He’d only committed to watching her for the next day or two, but right there, on the spot, he made a resolution. He was personally going to make sure that she was safe from her ex on a permanent basis.
“How bad is it?”
He catalogued the broken furniture and the couch that had been sliced open. “Couple of thousand dollars’ worth of damage.”
A long pause followed. “I need to come over there.”
“I can take care of
“Hey, it looks nicer that way.” Joe winked at Justin in the mirror.
She scratched a little pink pig from the corner. “It’s Keith’s. He left it in my car, and I keep forgetting to give it back to him.”
He would want it back when he remembered that she had it, and he was going to be mad at Justin for messing it up. She scraped off as many stickers as she could, then shoved the CD into the closed compartment between the front seats with the others. She could worry about that later.
For now, worrying about the box was plenty. If Keith was now sending her hate mail, it meant he was really, really angry. She shouldn’t have moved out. She shouldn’t have let Sophie talk her into it. Nobody knew how Keith got with his temper. Wendy clenched her jaw as a headache started behind her eyes. Everybody was trying to help. They didn’t understand that they were making things worse for her.
She’d made Keith mad, and now there would be a reckoning. She had to figure out how to defuse the situation. Deescalate, deescalate, deescalate.
Joe’s phone rang, and he took the call. His responses were, “Yes,” “No,” “Okay.”
“Trouble at the station?” She was ready to be distracted.
But he shook his head. “Usual police business.”
They didn’t discuss the package any further as they drove home. She wasn’t sure how much Justin would understand, and she didn’t want her son to worry. Instead, she turned on the CD player and helped him sing along with the Dancing Sheep.
He was growing fussy by the time they got home, so she put him down for a nap. By the time she came downstairs, Bing was sitting in the kitchen with Joe.
“How are you doing?” He pulled his notebook. “I have a couple of questions.”
Joe swallowed the last bites of his sandwich, then stood with his plate. He hadn’t had lunch at the diner. “While we have the captain here, I’ll run by the apartment to see if Keith lifted that wig from there.”
Bing nodded.
“Thanks,” Wendy said and gave Joe her keys, looking after him as he left.
“He’ll take care of it. He’s a good friend to have,” Bing said, echoing Eileen’s words.
“Yeah.” Truth was, Joe Kessler did make a good friend.
He’d only been here with her for a day, but he’d listened to her, played with her son, helped her, protected her. She could see him as a friend. God knew, she didn’t have many.
Too bad their tenuous friendship was going to end once she told him her secret. Then Joe was going to be as mad at her as Keith.
Chapter Seven
Joe stood in the open doorway of Wendy’s apartment. The night he’d been here, he’d been so focused on her he barely noticed the details. And now the details had been obliterated. Better that she wasn’t here to see this.
He kept his cold anger in check as he scanned the smashed pictures and broken furniture. Justin’s cracked high chair lay at his feet, antique tiger maple, probably a family heirloom. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket, dialed 911, and gave them the address. Neither he nor the captain had jurisdiction here.
After he reported the break-in, he called Wendy, glad that his Philly undercover gig was over. Now that he’d seen the destruction in her apartment…. He needed to stick by her as much as he could.
“He’s been here,” he told her. “Made a mess.”
The small sound of her catching her breath came through the line. He’d only committed to watching her for the next day or two, but right there, on the spot, he made a resolution. He was personally going to make sure that she was safe from her ex on a permanent basis.
“How bad is it?”
He catalogued the broken furniture and the couch that had been sliced open. “Couple of thousand dollars’ worth of damage.”
A long pause followed. “I need to come over there.”
“I can take care of
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