Page 24 of Justice for JoElla

“Yeah?”

“There’s something I should tell you.”

Oh, holy hell. What now?“Yeah? I’m listening.”

“Remember when I told you what happened to me? With the shooting?”

“Yeah?”

“I wasn’t fired. I quit.”

“Why?”

“Because I was suspended for two months.”

He couldn’t stop the snort he let out. “Two months? Try a year.”

“I know. But I felt like they’d just pretty much told me to go fuck myself, so I quit.” There were a few seconds of silence before she said, “And there’s something else.”

“What?”

“I don’t do huggy-lovey-cuddly. I never have. I never will. I’m just not that type.”

That time, he let loose a sigh. “If you think I’m used to huggy-lovey-cuddly, you’ve obviously never met Maria.”

“The reason I don’t… I was a domestic violence victim.”

If she’d been looking for a way to capture his attention, that definitely did the trick. “With what’s his name? The police chief?”

“No. My ex-husband.”

“Oh! So you were married before?”

“I was married when I was eighteen.”

Whoa. That’s crazy, Brandon thought, but he knew it happened all the time. “So what did your parents think about that?”

“My mom died when I was little, and my dad was a workaholic and alcoholic. He was never home, and when he was, he was useless.”

“Was he abusive?”

“God, no. Passed out. No abuse. Just neglect. Honestly, Roy and Brenda did a lot of things to help me when I was a kid. If anybody else had asked me to come to work for them, I would’ve told ‘em to stick it up their ass, but not Roy. They’re wonderful people. I was lucky they took pity on me.”

“How did you meet them?”

“During what we call ‘Shop with a Cop’ at Christmastime. Roy was a young man with a young wife and two kids, and yet he took time to take me, and he even spent some of his own money. They rotate officers every year, but even though he didn’t get to take me again during an event, he still made sure I had a couple of presents and a little tree. He and Brenda would invite me over to make cookies with their kids, and sometimes we’d make little ornaments. Then I married Boyd and lost touch with them.”

“And where is he now? Boyd?” God, he hated that name. There was a guy named Boyd who’d picked on him and Landon all through high school.

“Yeah. Boyd Baker.” Yep. Same guy who’d made his and Landon’s lives a living hell. “He was in prison. I don’t know where he is now.”

“In prison for abuse?”

“No. In prison for meth.”

“Oh. One of those.”Not surprising, a voice in his head whispered.

“Yeah.” Then she fell silent.