Cries in the Night(4)

The grandmother nodded. “There is an aunt …”

Julie held up her hand. “No, don’t tell me. Don’t tell anyone. Just get her there and keep your mouth shut. And don’t let her bail him out … again.”

“I’ll do everything in my power to keep her away from him.” She gave Julie an awkward hug. “And thank you.”

Julie smiled and shrugged off the gratitude. She watched until the grandmother’s car turned out of the parking lot and headed toward Speer Blvd. Her shoulders drooped. She hoped this was the last time she had to rescue Gloria and Danny, but statistics weren’t in her favor. Gloria could be the poster girl for someone caught in the abused wife syndrome. One minute he was beating her senseless and the next he was bringing her flowers and begging for forgiveness. Sadly, Gloria was more likely to take him back than she was to kick him out.

Julie had seen it all too often in the last five years. Ever since she had taken over as the head of the Victim’s Advocate Department, she had seen so much tragedy. Her duties included showing up whenever there was a death or an accident or a domestic dispute. Any kind of an incident that left someone vulnerable and needing a friendly face and a calm, logical voice. Emotions were always high. The police were there to deal with the actual event, not to offer comfort. Julie or one of her volunteers were there to help the victim ease to the next step in their acceptance and healing process, as well as tell them where to find legal advice when necessary.

She wasn’t there to see the victims recover and heal. She was there only when things were at their worst. Julie rarely saw happy endings.

That didn’t bother her as much as being called out to the same address again and again, especially for a domestic or child abuse case. That meant she had failed in her earlier attempt to help the victims escape from their dangerous situation. It was almost a sign of success when she didn’t hear from them again.

Julie shivered and pulled her coat tighter around her. She turned to go back inside and see if she could talk one of the cops into taking her back to her car. A horn honked behind her, and she jumped.

“Hey, need a lift?” a cheerful voice called out.

She whirled around and saw Rusty, smiling at her out the open window of his red Explorer. “What are you doing here?”

“Just got off work and figured I’d swing by and give you a ride back to your car.”

“How did you know I was still here?” she asked, then waved her hand to stop his answer. “Never mind. It’s the brotherhood thing, isn’t it?” Cops and firefighters were notorious for how quickly news spread. “I’m sure I can get a ride from someone …”

“What am I, chopped liver? I’m here and the heater is already warmed up.”

“Your heater or the car’s?” she was compelled to ask.

“It’s eight o’clock in the morning, and I just finished a hard night’s work. Right now, all I’m offering is vehicle heat. Maybe next time …?”

“You are doing nothing to mitigate your reputation.”

His handsome face creased into a crooked grin. “Good. Wouldn’t want to change something that’s taken me years to build.” He leaned over the seat and opened the passenger door. “I’m letting all this wonderful heat escape.”

As tired as she was, she had to smile. It was pretty ridiculous to be standing in a snowstorm discussing something as unimportant as whether or not he was a player. “Give me a minute to log out.”

He nodded and pulled the door closed to keep the warmth inside. She could feel his gaze on her as she ran back into the building. It actually took a couple of minutes to log out and lock up her office, but soon she was back in the parking lot and climbing into the Explorer. As promised the blowing heat on her chapped skin felt wonderful. She took off her gloves and rubbed her hands in front of the vent.

“Thank goodness it’s Saturday and I can sleep in,” she said.

“Lucky you’re off on the weekends.”

“Yeah, lucky me. But I’m not really off. I usually take the night shifts on weekends because it’s so difficult to get the volunteers to commit.”

“On call or in the office?”

“On call.” The warmth swirled around her like a caress and she realized how very tired and hungry she was. It had been well over eighteen hours since she had grabbed a bag of Doritos and a Diet Coke out of the machines in the break room. Her stomach growled in protest. She pressed her hand against it and slid a look over at Rusty, hoping he hadn’t heard it.

Of course he had.

“Tom’s is right on the way. Why don’t we swing by there for breakfast?” he offered, almost successfully hiding his smile.

She was tempted, more for the food than the companionship. Breakfast sounded heavenly, but Tom’s was a well-known cop hangout, and the last thing she wanted was to be seen there … with a firefighter. At this time of night, or rather morning, she could only guess what assumptions would be made. She had gone five years without accepting a date or even a casual dinner from any of the cops and firefighters she worked with, and she wasn’t going to open that door now.

“No, all I want right now is a long, hot bath and some sleep.” She kept her gaze focused out the windshield as if the flurry of snowflakes was mesmerizing.

“Some other time, then,” he offered vaguely.

The rest of the drive along the almost deserted streets of Denver was in silence. Surprisingly, it wasn’t uncomfortable as neither felt compelled to keep the conversation going.

Gloria’s house was a dark hulk in the otherwise well-lit street. Rusty pulled up next to Julie’s Sportage and stopped. She gave him a grateful smile and opened the door. The acrid smell of burned lumber, plastic and chemicals hung in the air, overwhelming the clean, crisp scent of fresh snow.

“I’ll follow you home.”

She shook her head. “I’ll be fine.”

Rusty reached out and grabbed her wrist. “He still hasn’t been arrested.”

He didn’t have to go on. Julie knew all too well that if Carlos was out there and saw her, he would be probably be angry and possibly want revenge. She would be the easiest target. He couldn’t go after the police or the firefighters, but the woman who was advising his wife to take his kid and leave him was a person who deserved to be punished. Victim’s advocates often became the recipient of transferred emotions because the abusers didn’t like losing control. Instead of accepting blame, they held the advocates responsible for the loss of their families.

She shrugged and nodded her acceptance. He let her go and watched as she got into her car, started it and pulled out. He stayed behind her, his headlights providing a comforting glow in her mirrors as they traveled through the dark roads of sleeping neighborhoods until they reached her small two bedroom bungalow on Grape St. He followed her into the driveway and waited while her garage door opened, and she drove inside.

The garage was not attached to the house, so she had to cross a short covered breezeway to get to the back door of her house. She had left in such a hurry that she hadn’t turned on the back porch light, so she was actually grateful for the illumination of his SUV’s headlights. The garage door eased closed behind her as she turned the key in the lock and opened her back door. She reached inside and flipped on her lights, then leaned back out and waved at Rusty.

The headlights blinded her, but he gave her a quick flash of his high beams before backing out of her driveway. She was about to close the door when a flash of gray rushed out of the darkness and pushed its way inside, then began winding its way around her ankles.

Julie smiled as she closed the door and snapped the locks into place. “Bet you were about to give up on me tonight, weren’t you?” She leaned down and stroked the tiger-striped cat’s cold back. The loud hum of his purring welcomed her home. She hadn’t chosen to have a pet, but he had chosen her. The old tomcat had showed up on her doorstep a couple of years ago and she had shared her tuna fish sandwich with him. He had stayed, sleeping indoors during the day and running outside to roam the neighborhood at night. On cold nights, he often finished his travels early and appreciated his warm perch on the ottoman in front of the floor vent.

She snapped the top off a can of cat food and dumped it in his bowl before she opened the refrigerator and stared inside. After deciding it was too much of an effort to even microwave a frozen dinner, Julie finally settled on string cheese and an apple. It was too late and she was too exhausted for anything more complicated. She poured a glass of wine, turned out the lights and took her picnic to her bathroom where she ate it as she relaxed in the tub. A shower would have been quicker, but she preferred a hot bubble bath after a cold, stressful night. Besides, it wasn’t easy to enjoy a glass of wine in a shower.

Her mind drifted back to Gloria. Danny was already a veteran in the war between his parents. Now there was going to be a new victim. That is, if the baby survived.

Julie had been shocked that Gloria was pregnant … shocked and horrified. It was bad enough that Gloria chose to put herself and Danny in constant danger. The poor unborn infant had no idea it was about to be born into a hostile world where its father was likely, sooner or later, to kill its mother.