Tortured Beginning (7 page)

I clear my throat, "Um, yeah. This is Jaylah, um Dean."

"Yes, hi. Is everything okay?"

"Actually, no. I saw my ex, Ben today."

"Did you talk to him or just see him?"

"I actually talked to him. He was the one parking down the street from my house."

"Alright. It will probably be a good idea that I talk to you in person and get a statement. Are you going to be home tonight?"

"Um, yeah."

"Do you mind if I stop by tonight? This way we can talk and I can check out your house, to make sure you're safe."

I smile, "That would be great. What time?" I'm actually excited at the thought of him coming over.

"How about around 8pm?"

"Sure. Thanks again Detective Ryan."

"Trevan and your welcome. I will see you later."

Before I can reply, I hear the phone click. My heart skips a beat and I frown at myself. "What is wrong with me?" I say out loud. I shake my head. I need to stop all this shit. First I don't act like this with guys and second I need to stop talking to myself.

After I clean up my lunch dishes, which helped to calm my nerves. I walk into the living room, to see if Anne is home yet. I see Wyatt's truck in the driveway and decide to leave them be. It will be a few hours before Trevan comes over, so I decide to take a nap. I turn on the TV, grab the afghan off the back of the couch and lay down. I flip through the channels for a while, until I decide to put it on Food Network. I fall asleep to the sound of rain hitting the window.

I could hear the worry in Jaylah's voice. It took all my will power, not to run to my car and go to her house right then. I was thankful she agreed to let me come over tonight. I can't help the excitement I feel with the idea of seeing her again. I only wish they were for better circumstances. I haven't been able to keep her out of my thoughts and dreams.

The dreams I'm having about her are making me crazy. I have never been like this with any woman. She is not who I normally would date, she has a wild side. Not that I don't like to spice things up, but I am usually attracted to a more clean cut woman. Maybe that's what my problem has been.

I shake my head at where my thoughts have gone. I can actually hear my mother in my ear, asking when I'm going to find a nice girl and settle down. She wants more grandchildren, before her and dad can't enjoy them, as she likes to remind me. I smile at myself, I love my mother but she can wear on anyone's nerves. She has eight grandchildren, already. My sister Jennifer, has five kids, she always wanted a big family. And my brother Mark, has three kids. 

Being the baby of the family, I thought my mother would lay off. But I guess that was wishful thinking on my part. I've only had two serious girlfriends, that I actually took home to meet my parents, Sylvia and John. My mother wasn't to fond of either one of them. So once I turned thirty, she hasn't let up on asking me every chance she gets about marriage. I turned thirty-two in March and it only got worse.

I try to clear my thoughts of my mother and look to see that it's almost 6pm. I really need to finish up my paperwork and get home to shower and change to see Jaylah at 8pm.

As I finish the last of my paperwork, I clean up my desk. I look up to see Jason Turner, walking towards me. He is a great guy and we use to be partners when we started off on the force.  I nod my head to him.

"What's up, Jason?"

"Not much. You leaving early today?"

I chuckle, "If you call leaving at 6:30 early, then yes."

"You want to go get a drink?"

"Sorry man, I can't." Jason raises his eyebrows at me in question. I wave my hands at him, "It's nothing like that. I have a case that I need to go get a statement from the woman."

"Woman?"

"It's not like that. She has an abusive ex and I want to make sure her house is secure, as well."

"Wow, she must be something."

I slug him in the arm, "Come on, it's really not like that." He rubs his arm where I hit it and gives me a skeptical look. "Hey I'll get a drink with you tomorrow night, alright?"

He shakes his head at me as I grab my suit jacket and start walking out the door.

"Be safe," Jason yells at me as I leave.

I run down the steps to the parking lot, shaking my head. Damn, if he doesn't know me better than I thought. But when you are partners with someone, you become very close. He is my closest friend and I should have known he would see right through me. I jump into my car and start to drive home.

I pull into the driveway of my three bedroom, brick ranch house. I bought this house when I first got promoted to detective. I was dating Tami at the time, we picked out the house together and she moved in with me. We were happy for awhile and then things fell apart for us. That was almost four years ago now.

I hit the garage door opener, park the car and walk into the house. The entrance from the garage leads right into the kitchen. I have a bowl on the small table and I put my keys in them. It's not a large kitchen, but enough for me. There is a closet on the other side of the table that holds, the washer, dryer and hot water tank. The wall to the right is a door wall, that leads to the patio and backyard.

I walk to the left and there is a step up that leads into the heart of the kitchen. I haven't done much in this room, it's still decorated how Tami did it. With olive green walls with a tuscan wine theme. We had bought new appliances all in black.

Before I walk any further my calico cat, Gus comes to greet me. Tami and I got him when we first moved here. I kept him, because this is the only home he knows. He was the runt of the litter, not that you could ever tell now. I am grateful I have him. He rubs up against my leg and I bend down to pet him behind his ears.

"Hey, Gus-Gus. Have you missed me?" He purrs in response to my question and let's out a little meow.

I check to make sure that his bowl of food and water are filled. Once I have Gus squared away, I walk to the hallway, on the right that leads to the master bedroom. If you walk straight it leads you to a large living room with a huge picture window, my large TV and comfy furniture. There is another hallway with two bedrooms and a full bathroom.

I walk into my room and strip my clothes off and throw them into the hamper. It's a large master bedroom, with a king size bed against the far wall. A walk in closet on the opposite side from the bed. I walk into my attached bathroom. The bathroom was what made me want to buy the house. It has a tiled stand up shower with dual shower heads. There is a garden tub and a large counter with double sinks. I get into the shower and feel the stress of my job, wash away with the water down the drain. I lean on the wall and put my head down and enjoy the warmth.

I pull into Jaylah's driveway, and notice that the house is very dark. I see her car parked and hope that she is home. I get out of the car and look at my watch to make sure that I'm not to late. It's quarter after eight, so I should be okay. I could kick myself for taking such a long shower, but it felt to good.

I grab my notepad and hurry up the path to her house. I notice light flashing from the window, must be her TV. I knock on the door and wait. I knock on the door louder this time and wait. I start to get worried, as I start to pound on the door. Just as I was about to try to call her and make sure she is actually home, the door opens.

Jaylah opens the door, wide eyed and looking confused. When she sees me standing on her porch, a look of realization crosses over her. She immediately wipes the sleep from her eyes, and runs her fingers over her hair. I smile to myself, she looks beautiful. She obviously just woke up and her hair is a mess.

"I'm sorry to wake you. Is it still okay for me to be here?"

"Of course, I'm so sorry. I fell asleep on the couch and... well you just woke me up," she smiles at me. "Please come in."

She opens the door wider and waves me in.

I was having such a wonderful dream about Trevan and me. He had me in his arms and was about to kiss me. When I hear this knocking, then pounding. I get up very irritated with whomever is at my door, when I open it to see that it's Trevan. I'm completely at a loss, am I still dreaming? When it hits me that he was coming over here at eight. I feel like such an asshole, standing here staring at him. I start thinking about what I must look like and fidget with myself, when he breaks the silence.

As he is talking, I can't get my dream out of my head. I must sound stupid when I answer him, and finally invite him in. He looks around the living room, as I turn on some lights.

"Can you excuse me for a moment?"

"Sure," he replies as he smiles at me.