Good Wood (38 page)

Draven threw his right without delay and Joe trapped the arm in a similar manner. From the shocked look Draven gave Joe, this move was unexpected. The expression was gone in a second and he drew his head back and tried to smash it into Joe’s face. Joe leaned back and at the same time wrenched Draven’s arms out to either side. Draven dropped to the ground and writhed there, holding his right arm which hung at an odd angle. It was at that moment that I heard the sirens.

My feet began moving without me giving it any further thought. Throwing the door wide I rushed down the stairs. By the time I got down to the stoop, three cop cars were in front of the building. One officer was leaning down over Draven, another was leading Joe to the side. I started for Joe, but an officer intercepted me.

“Ma’am? Can I speak with you, please?”

It took the better part of fifteen minutes, and the manner of questions being asked painted a horrible picture. I could hear enough from Joe and Draven to see where this was headed. The cops had no sympathy for Joe; two of them seemed to have had past run-ins with him. Draven was playing the injured victim to the hilt. The ex-husband who was beaten by a jealous boyfriend when he came to drop off a check. Draven could obviously tell things were slanting his way and even managed to give me a cocky grin when no one was looking. He mouthed the words ‘You’re mine’.

“This is bullshit. He’s been texting me and I’ve been telling him to go through my lawyer. Go look at my phone…” I trailed off, remembering it was broken.

It felt like a nightmare. I tried to explain what had been going on and the officer listened but when she asked if I’d ever reported Draven and I said no, she didn’t seem to be on my side any longer. The officer with Joe took out hand cuffs and motioned for him to turn around. Joe didn’t resist. He spoke softly to the officer and kept looking back and forth between me and Draven. The officer shook his head and started leading Joe toward one of the squad cars when another officer stepped into his path.

Joe’s sorrow filled eyes sought me out. He looked deeply troubled before he glared over his shoulder at Draven. The bastard flipped him off and actually laughed. Tears were blurring my vision and I felt like my chest was going to break open. I shot Draven a deadly look and he winked and blew me a kiss.

The officer who had been taking Joe into custody returned to him and took his arm. The officer who’d intercepted him stepped over to Draven.

“Sir, I need to ask a few clarifying questions if I may?” Draven gave the officer a pained look from his spot on the pavement and nodded.

“Sure officer. I’m glad to help in any way that I can.” The cop crouched down, flipped open a notebook and pulled out a pen.

“Thank you, Mr. Cirone. I appreciate the cooperation. I understand that you arrived to drop off a check to your ex-wife?” Draven nodded.

“That’s right. The proceeds from the sale of our old house.” Draven winced. The officer made note.

“I realize that you are injured, sir. I won’t take up too much more of your time. This check, do you have it with you?” Draven pulled his wallet out and with one hand pulled out the check. The officer looked at it and nodded. “And this is for the lady there?” Draven nodded and the officer stepped over and handed me a check. “There we go, just wanted to make sure that your trip wasn’t for nothing sir. To summarize, you were attacked by that gentleman over there?” He gestured at Joe.

“That’s right. He threw me down the stairs and then came after me. He attacked me without provocation. I hate to think about what might have happened if you hadn’t arrived in time.”

“Of course, sir. So your statement of record is that he attacked you with no provocation when you were here at the invitation of your ex-wife to drop off a check?” Draven nodded. If I’d had my kitchen knives with me at that moment, I’d have cut his nuts off. I wanted nothing more than to throw myself on Draven and rip his lying tongue out with my bare hands. The officer turned and beckoned to someone behind me and an older man stepped forward.

At first, I didn’t recognize him. Then it hit me. The man standing in front of me, in a pale blue polo shirt, khaki slacks and boat shoes was someone I had been feeding almost every day since I opened my truck. Francis. He looked pretty far from homeless. He stopped next to Joe and nodded at him.

“Well Mr. Cirone, it seems we have a witness here that has a different story to tell.” The confident look on Draven’s face slipped for a moment. He put his hand up on his shoulder a moment later.

“Sorry, this really hurts. I’m not sure why he would be telling a different story. Maybe he’s a friend.” Francis nodded and I felt the twinkle of hope that had been kindling in my chest start to fizzle.

“Yeah, I know Joe. I work for him and live in the apartment across the hall.” Francis announced.

The conceited look of confidence was firmly back on Draven’s face.

“See? His boss and landlord. Of course he’d feel the need to perjure himself to help him out. It’s only human to do what is in his best interest.” The officer nodded as if pondering this and gave Draven a look of sympathetic understanding.

“That is true. It is not unusual in our line of work to see people working in their own best interest. But lucky for us there are a few new ways to clear up these kind of misunderstandings.

For example, this witness wasn’t just giving a verbal statement. He recently got a new cell phone and was trying out one of the features. Specifically, the video recording app.” Draven’s look of confidence slipped and he grabbed his arm again.

“This really hurts. Can we take care of this after I go to the hospital?”

“Well, we’re just waiting on the ambulance to take you. It should be here in a few minutes. When it gets here, an officer will accompany you to the hospital and make sure you receive the necessary care. After that you will be taken to booking.” Draven whipped his head up and glared at the officer.

“Booked for what?”

The officer gestured to Francis who turned the phone around and showed a video of Draven beating on the outside of Joe’s door and threatening me.

“Oh,” the officer said, no longer looking friendly. “Lots of different charges, Mr. Cirone. But first on the list would be making a false police report. Then assault. We can sort out the rest of the details once your arm gets treated. First, let me read you your rights. You have the right to remain silent…”

The officer standing with Joe grudgingly removed the handcuffs and I sped across the distance between us. He saw me coming and opened his arms with a welcoming smile. When I reached him, the rest of the world just disappeared. He embraced me so tightly I could hardly breathe. Then he released me and took my face in his hands.

“You okay, baby?” He wiped my tears away with his thumbs and looked me over with a furrowed brow. His voice dropped an octave. “He didn’t touch you, did he?”

“No, how ‘bout you?” I looked at his hands to see if he’d injured himself while pummeling my jackass of an ex-husband. He looked completely unscathed.

“Not a scratch on me.” I saw someone lurking in my peripheral vision and figured it was a cop. Frustrated at the intrusion, I turned with a frown and saw it was Francis. At the sight of his casual grin, I lit up with joy. I stepped away from Joe and pulled Francis into a hug.

“Come here you adorable man. I could kiss you on the mouth.”

“Yeah, let’s not and say we did.” Joe chimed in and I chose to ignore him.

“Thank God you were here. And the video! Brilliant!” I continued.

Francis shrugged with his typical self-depreciating flair. “Joe called me. He said if anyone turned up here besides you I was supposed to call 911. The minute that lunatic banged on Joe’s door I called the police. While he was raving like a loon, I popped open my door and started recording him.”

“I owe you dinner.” Exhaustion overcame me as I plummeted from my adrenaline high. Joe threw an arm around me for support.

“Not tonight you don’t. Let’s get you inside.” Joe’s words were like a caress as he murmured them against my ear. I nodded, feeling too drained to reply. We all three climbed the stairs and with a final wave Francis vanished into the other apartment.

“Did he hurt the door?” I glanced at the outside of the door and saw a few marks on the wood. Joe glanced at it and looked at it from the side.

“No. This is solid oak. The deadbolt goes into a four by four. I make things to last. He wouldn’t have been able to get through with an axe.” He gave me a cheeky grin and pulled the door shut behind us, shooting the deadbolt.

I stooped to pick my broken phone up off the floor and dropped it on the table. I heaved a giant sigh and we exchanged a sober look.

“So Francis is your employee and tenant now, huh?” I deadpanned, but couldn’t contain a cheeky grin for long. “A homeless man you barely know? Are you sure that’s using sound judgment, Joe?”

The corners of his mouth twitched, but my words boomeranged back on me. The fact that I’d put us both in harm’s way avalanched down on me and wiped the smile from my face. Joe’s expression changed to a worried frown.

“Hey.” He enveloped me into a protective embrace. “I know that look, Molly. Stop doing that to yourself. You couldn’t have known.”

“I
should
have known, Joe.” I replied. “You think by now I’d know what he’s capable of.”

“It’s hard to think like a psychopath when you aren’t one.” He insisted guiding me to the couch. He sat down with me and tugged me to him. I collapsed comfortably into the crook of his arm. He stroked my hair in a soothing manner, and a comfortable silence fell.

I moved so that I could read his expression. “I got your message.”

His eyes flickered though a myriad of emotions, but they never left mine.

“You wanted to talk and I didn’t let you.” I added, when I wasn’t sure he’d speak. He took a deep breath.

“We don’t have to do this now if you don’t want.” I blurted hurriedly and he shot me a look of reproach.

“No, we do. But you’ll have to shut up for at least five seconds.” I opened my mouth to reply and the telling look he gave me almost sent me into fits of laughter. I raised my hands in mock surrender and made a locking motion over my closed lips.

“Molly…I love you. I shouldn’t have said that for the first time on a voicemail, but it just came out. I don’t love an idea of you or love you because I’m lonely. I love every ragged and smooth part of you, inside and out.”

The intensity was unbearable, and I started to say something saucy and he pursed his lips. I could see in his eyes he wasn’t kidding and clamped down on my need to crack a joke. I sat back quietly and waited.

“I was lost in my head for years. Tamryn kicked my ass enough that I stopped waiting around to die. But even she never really understood how bad it was. No one did. I just didn’t care about anything. I didn’t care about myself. I was too proud to burden anyone else with my bullshit. I spent all of my time just existing. Moving from one day to the next like a ghost. Until that day I ran into you.”

The lump in my throat would have made it hard for me to talk even if I wanted to. He had this achingly sad look in his eyes. He gave me a melancholy smile as he brushed the back of his hand gently down my cheek.

“I didn’t realize it at the time, but you changed everything that day. I went from wanting to get to the end of my day to wanting to see you again. Instead of existing, I was surviving. I suddenly wanted things for myself again. I wanted you. I was completely numb and you made me feel, Molly.”

His hands trailed down either side of my back and he gently pulled me onto his lap. I fought back the tears that were threatening to spill from my eyes and locked my gaze on his. The air around us was charged with the energy feeding back and forth between us.

“I don’t know when you decided that you weren’t worth anything. But I can see you believe it. Maybe Draven’s to blame, maybe not. But I’m here to tell you you’re wrong. You mean everything to me, Molly. If you will let me, I’ll spend every day trying to show you how wrong you are.”

I ran my hands over his stubbled cheeks unable to stay silent for another second. “I love you too, Joe. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t.”

I stated the uncomfortable truth and felt as if a giant boulder had simply rolled off my shoulders. His expression shifted subtly, and his hands were in my hair, capturing my mouth in a gentle, lingering kiss. His grip held my face steady, and his eyes refused to release mine.

“Move in with me.” His eyes held the raw excitement of a kid on Christmas morning. “I know it sounds insane. I realize we’ve only been together for a couple of months. But we’ve known each other for years.”

“Joe…” My cautious tone wasn’t open to interpretation.

“Molly…” He replied, sarcasm dripping from him in a very un-Joe-like fashion.

“Can I just say something?” I huffed in exasperation.

He waved his hand for me to continue.

“This isn’t…it isn’t because of today, is it?”

“No. I was about to ask you when you said we should call it quits.” He was unflinching and no trace of humor remained on his features.

I felt my stomach drop. My eyes stung. “Really?”

His eyes never left mine. “Really.”

“I don’t know, Joe.” I whispered, my eyes darting back and forth franticly. “This is…huge.”

He shrugged, all nonchalant. “We’re together 5 nights a week as it is. And I can’t sleep worth a damn when you aren’t in bed with me.”

My face was on fire and my eyes were like saucers. “People will say we’re nuts.”

“I don’t care what anyone thinks. This isn’t about them. It’s about you and me. Right here, right now. Life’s short, baby girl. I don’t want to waste another minute without you.”

I pulled away and climbed off of his lap. Frowning, I paced the length of his living room, while Joe sat calmly, watching me sort through his proposition. My thoughts raced, trying to find a logical argument. Neither the business side of me nor the swooning maiden in me could come up with anything that wasn’t about all about other people’s opinions.

“Let me ask you this.” He cleared his throat. I stopped pacing and waited. “On the nights we aren’t together, what makes you stay home?”