Page 33 of No Strings

“I’m coming back.” I can hear rustling on his end of the phone call.

Before he can get too carried away, “I’ve got it sorted.”

“Rhys.” He sounds pained.

“She is okay. She’s in bed with the fucking pup, both sleeping soundly.”

“Pup?”

“Yep, your fucking sister rescued a dingo pup and named it Esky.”

“Esky is a dumb name.”

“That’s what I said!” I don’t tell him her retort because he’ll only laugh at me. “Look honestly, she’s doing good. I’m going to teach her to fight and self-defence.”

“If you need anything…”

“Yeah, find the fucking ex.” And with that I hang up.

I can’t help but check on her before I take myself to bed. I’m not long asleep before I’m woken by whimpering and scratching at my door. Then I hear it.

“Fuck.” I get up and walk to Morgan’s room. She is screaming while thrashing and pulling at the sheet and quilt.

I’m an idiot for not staying with her. This has quickly become a nightly routine. Not that she knows that.

As soon as I lay next to her and pull her into an embrace. The moment her head is on my shoulder, her screams taper off. She sighs and nestles deeper into me.

God, I am not the cuddling type, I’m barely a spend the night with a girl type.

I fall asleep at some point, not sure when or how much sleep I got, but I’m awoken by the sound of my alarm in thedistance. I slowly remove myself from Morgan and slink out of her room. Esky, who is curled up next to Morgan, raises her head, sees it’s me and then tucks her face back under her paws. She knows the routine by now and thank god she can’t talk because I’m confident she would have ratted me out by now. Looking down at the side table I decide to take her phone and the alarm clock. She needs to rest after the bullshit of last night.

I go through the motions of my morning, get dressed, brush teeth, and coffee. Stepping outside, coffee in hand, I take in the sun starting to break the horizon. I suck in a deep breath enjoying the scent of the fresh morning air.

There’s not a cloud in sight. The sun’s glow matches the one growing in my chest, and a sadistic smile breaks over my face. When I spot Beau and Davis approaching, I greet them. “Perfect day for a murder.”

“Threw him in one of the back sheds.” Davis informs me.

I nod and continue walking in that direction. The closer we get, the more clearly, we can hear the noise the asshole is making. Unlocking the door, we step in and almost choke on the smell, “Fuck it stinks in here.”

“What the fuck man!”

I rest my rifle on the panel of the shed. “You were choking her. Tried to rape her.” A thought had crossed my mind this morning, so I called Shane and got him to run his name, three sexual assault reports against Trent showed up immediately. They were all thrown out, for various reasons. That’s when I knew I needed to make sure he never did it again.

“It’s not what it looked like.” He makes himself seem small and weak.

I try to breathe through my rising anger. “No? So, your cock was just out for what? Shits and gigs?”

“She kneed me in the balls!” he shouts at me.

“To protect herself.”

“I was just trying to talk to her.” He almost sounds convincing.

“Was that the same case with Emily Thatcher?”

I watch his eyes grow wide as he noticeably swallows.

“What about Bridgette Smith? Or maybe Lisa Griffen?”