“Who are these two?” Officer Darnell asked, ignoring both Reid and Shaun. Preston and Paige had walked up to stand next to Ashley, and the officer checked them and had them sit down next to Shaun, while Reid got to return to his curb space on the other side.
Preston raised his hand. “I’m Preston Ford, Shaun’s friend. I was there with Shaun and Ashley when we went to get Reid to leave her apartment the first time. I believe she was the one paying rent and working, and he was just ... there.”
“I paid rent,” Reid muttered.
Paige lifted her head. “I’m Ashley’s sister, Paige Parker. I always suspected something was wrong, but then the night Ashley met me to look at wedding dresses, she had a split lip and finally admitted it was Reid. I made her come home with me.”
Ashley suddenly realized she was holding the most obvious evidence on her phone, the angry texts from Reid after she’d gone home with her sister that night. She pulled out her phone again. “Officer Darnell, I haven’t seen Reid in more than a year up until this week. And the last texts he sent me right before we broke up were these.”
She pulled up her messages from him, and sure enough, the last texts before,We should catch upwere his angry threats from over a year ago, warning her if she didn’t come home she’d regret it, plus some not so nice things about Paige.
Officer Darnell gave Reid a hard stare, sizing him up for the first time.
“Hey, is everything okay? Who’s parked in my spot?” Lina left her car idling behind the police officer’s and ran around her hood, taking in the sight of everyone on the porch. Lina was dripping wet, down to her sopping shoes. Before Officer Darnell could ask, she volunteered, “I’m Lina James. I live here with Ashley. Is everything all right?”
“Do you know this man? Reid Kelley?” Officer Darnell asked.
Lina looked him over. “I know of him. I’ve seen his picture, and Ashley told me if he ever showed up here not to let him in.”
Officer Darnell waved toward her car. “Go park somewhere else, Reid’s not leaving just yet.”
Lina saluted and went to do as he asked, but she stopped before getting in her car and looked behind her. “Um, Ashley, I think that’s Chase pulling in. I better go talk to him before he freaks out about the cop car in front of your apartment and Reid being here.”
Ashley stared up at the porch ceiling. Just one big party. All they needed was Lina’s famous spinach dip and a cake. Her heart gave a little flip-flop when she realized this meant Chase had come after her. But whatever he’d come to say would have to wait.
Paige reached up for Ashley’s hand and gave it a small squeeze. “At least Mom and Dad aren’t here,” she whispered.
“Or Aunt Terrie.”
Reid was glaring at the two of them, and Ashley stared back, trying not to enjoy the fact that this was now getting more awkward for him than it was for her.
Lina ran back with Chase right behind her. She gave Ashley a wink and headed inside their apartment. Only Lina would not be phased by coming home to find a cop, all her friends, and her roommate’s ex-boyfriend on the front step.
“So Reid showed up here?” Chase asked, coming forward to let the cop frisk him before joining Ashley’s support group on the curb.
“And what’s your relationship to these two?” Officer Darnell asked, looking slightly annoyed. Not that Ashley could blame him. He’d called for backup with the continual stream of people showing up to have a say in the matter, though the second cop stayed in the car nearby and just watched them, looking bored.
Chase lifted his chin. ‘I’m Ashley’s coworker.”
“I thought you were Ashley’s boyfriend,” Reid said, crumpling up a leaf in the gutter.
“It’s not possible to be both?” Chase turned to look at Ashley with just a bit of mischievousness in his eyes. “But if it hasn’t been mentioned yet, I came out to find Reid wandering around our work parking garage on Wednesday. He said he was hoping to ‘surprise’ Ashley.”
Officer Darnell’s eyebrows raised, and he turned to Ashley. “Okay, let’s finish this up. Obviously, Reid here has a hard time taking a hint, or being honest. I’m going to get you an emergency order of protection for the weekend, and then Monday you go have this little get-together with a judge, okay? I’ll make sure Reid goes home tonight.” He turned to look at Reid, who was turning an ugly shade of red in the face. “Reid, what this means for you is that the next time you decide to visit Ashley at her home or work, you’ll leave in handcuffs. Understood? No calling or texting her. Come with me while I get the paperwork from the car and make a phone call. The rest of you stay here.” He led Reid over to his car and stuck him in the backseat before going around and working on his computer mounted in the console up front.
Tears pricked Ashley’s eyes. She hated to admit it, but Shaun had been so right. Fighting this alone wouldn’t have been brave or smart. Without all of them butting in, the officer never would have seen the truth.
