Page 49 of Second Chances

“Shh, I’m fine and you weigh next to nothing.” He kissed her again and then walked towards the stairs.

By the second landing, she could tell he was a little breathless.

She smiled. “Put me down now before you fall over.”

“Damn.” He sighed and set her on the ground. “So much for the grand romantic gesture.”

She chuckled. “Next time.”

He took her hand and continued walking up the next set of stairs. She noticed instantly that he’d made the space his by moving the large bed that had been in the downstairs room up there. It sat opposite the wall of the windows so one could simply lie in bed and see the water.

There was a large gray chair in the corner of the room and what appeared to be new distressed gray nightstands and a matching dresser.

“I like what you’ve done with the room,” she said as he pulled her into his arms. He kissed her again while his hands moved over her body, removing her clothing slowly, as if it was a dance.

She couldn’t remember ever being as moved or treated as delicately as Todd was treating her now. She didn’t know what she was going to do when this was over. How she was ever going to return to her normal life once he tired of her. And she knew, deep down in her gut, that he was going to tire of her. After all, everyone she’d ever loved had discarded her after a while.

Chapter 14

Falling asleep with Olivia in his arms was by far the best thing he’d ever felt. He’d been exhausted after the good meal and knew that if he planned on a full recovery, he needed downtime to let his body recuperate.

He hadn’t planned on falling asleep before sunset though and, when he woke up shortly after one in the morning, he was slightly surprised that Olivia hadn’t woken him up or left.

He lay there, after checking his bedside clock for the time, and wondered why he’d woken up in the first place. He couldn’t hear anything, but still, something was off.

Gently nudging Olivia from her position lying halfway over his chest, he sat up and looked around.

He still couldn’t hear anything. He almost tripped on his jeans on the floor, then pulled them on and walked over to his window to look down over the front of his house.

He could just make out Olivia’s car parked out front, and then he spotted movement behind it. It took him only a moment to pull on some shoes and get a gun from the safe in his closet.

When he hit the back door, he flipped on the flood lights, knowing it would scare away whoever was messing with her car. Still, he figured it was better than confronting a possible armed burglar or, worse, her crazed ex.

He moved quickly, feeling completely in control, as he rushed down the sidewalk. He could see a dark figure running away from the back of Olivia’s car. He stood in the middle of the road and watched a man of roughly six feet wearing cargo pants and a black jacket run towards the main road.

Pulling out his cell phone, he called 911 and relayed the information to the dispatcher as he looked at the destruction left behind.

When the patrol car finally arrived, Olivia was dressed and standing beside him, angrier than he’d ever seen her before. She was on the phone with her insurance agent and a tow truck, since both of her back tires had been slashed. The entire back side of her car was destroyed.

Two local officers by the names of Tom and Scott, who Olivia introduced him to, arrived and informed them that they had pulled over Eric Torre a few miles away. The man was wearing cargo pants and a black sweatshirt. He had a sledgehammer in his trunk and a large hunting knife, which was no doubt used to slit the tires.

Scott said, “He claims he was just out for a walk,” Scott said. “With a sledgehammer.” He chuckled. “He claims that he hasn’t had any contact with Brock in weeks.”

Olivia hung up with her insurance company the moment the police had arrived.

“Why does it sound like you don’t believe him?” she asked Scott.

“Because I went to school with them and know for a fact that those two have remained in contact since the moment that we arrested Brock,” Scott answered.

“We’ll take him in, charge him with the destruction,” Tom added as he handed Olivia a report. Todd had found out that Tom was the chief of police. “Scott here will take some pictures of the damage for the report. I’d suggest you take some yourself for your insurance company.”

Along with her tires being slashed, both of her brake lights had been broken. The sledgehammer had been used to dent in the trunk and rear side panels. The rear window and back side windows were shattered. It was as if Eric had started on the back, afraid that if get got too close to the house, he’d set off the flood lights. Which he would have, if he’d moved to the front of her car.

“Yes.” Olivia sighed. “They’ve requested I send them some pictures.”

By the time the police left, the sun was just coming up. The tow truck came an hour later and hauled her car to the local repair shop. The man who met them seemed to know Olivia well, and she explained that her car had been in for repairs a few times that winter. He even offered to take the junker off her hands instead of her paying for repairs.

“I really need to get a more reliable car. But I only drive it in town.” She had shrugged. “It’s not like we go far.”