“I’m so glad you’re ok,” Sophie cries as Dani pulls her harder against her chest.
I make my way past the girls and take a seat next to Tank while giving Jared and Ashton a nod. I glance over at Tank to see him watching Sophie, looking as relaxed as ever. “You convinced her to move in with you,” I say.
He turns to me with a grin. “Fuck off. Like you didn’t do the same thing.”
I grin back at him. “Fuck, yeah,” I laugh, looking over at the girls to see them both suddenly squeal and start jumping up and down. I guess they’ve just told each other. I catch Dani’s eyes and she gives me a brilliant smile and I know without a doubt that I would do anything in my power to see that smile every moment of every day.
Officer Samuels pushes through a door into the waiting area and immediately gets all of our attention. “Thank you all for coming down this morning,” she says, then steps back and gestures to the door. “Please, come on through.” She turns on her heel and leads us all down the hallway and into a small meeting room. There are only four chairs so the girls, Jared and Ashton all take seats while Tank and I stand behind our girls.
Officer Samuels takes a quick drink of water and takes a seat on the opposite side of the table, facing us all. “Thanks again for coming down,” she starts. “First of all, I know you all gave your statements last night but as it was the middle of the night, I just wanted to check if there was anything you wanted to add?” she asks looking around. We all shake our heads and she gets back on with it. “Ok, great.”
“Now, unfortunately, due to the fire, your home is not liveable and will most likely be demolished in the very near future,” she says giving the girls a regretful smile. “The fire chief has completed his inspection and has come to the conclusion that this was arson which makes your home a crime scene. So, this morning we will be heading over there to commence our investigation. Once we have been through, we will escort you into the home to collect your possessions,” she explains.
“So, with that in mind,” she continues looking towards Dani. “With the restraining order being served yesterday, we believe we might already have a suspect. We will be bringing him in for questioning and with any luck, our search warrant will come through today,” she explains.
Her gaze turns towards Sophie and Jared. “Do either of you have any reason to be suspicious of anyone else or have anyone in your lives who wants to cause harm towards you?”
Jared scoffs then speaks up. “Well, where do I start?” he says. “I’m gay and these two are currently dating the campus celebrities. It could have been anyone. A hate crime against me, or a sick way to get the girls out of the picture to eliminate the competition for Tank and Miller's affections.”
Officer Samuels glances towards me and Tank with a raised questioning eyebrow. “We have a bit of a fan base at the moment,” Tank explains. “But I haven’t noticed anything to be alarmed about,” he says glancing at me.
“I agree. I don’t think it’s a Dragon’s fan,” I comment.
“Never thought it was,” Sophie mumbles under her breath.
“What was that, babe?” Tank asks, placing his hands on her shoulders in support.
“I said, I never thought it was. We all know it was Brett, especially after serving the restraining order yesterday. We just need to prove it,” she says, then turns to Dani and takes her hand. “Sorry, babe, but your crazy, psycho ex tried to kill you and nearly succeeded,” she says, causing a shiver to sail down my spine and my hands to clench into the tightest fists.
Dani looks up over at office Samuels. “What’s going to happen if it is him?” she asks.
“Ultimately, it’s up to the judge. However, we are pushing for attempted rape and with arson charges on top of that he will most likely be looking at a few good years behind bars.”
“Good,” she says.
Officer Samuels gets us all to sign some paperwork and asks us to meet them at the girl's place in a few hours to go through their possessions.
We head out together and have lunch down at Micky’s so I give Dani a few drinks to help prepare her for what we’re about to see. As instructed, a few hours later, we arrive at the girl's place to inspect the damage first hand.
Dani climbs out of the truck and stands firmly in the grass before the house, looking up at it in horror. I reluctantly rip my eyes from hers to the house and find it barely a skeleton of the home that was here just yesterday. The structure is black and smoky, the whole front burned to a crisp. I can’t imagine what the inside looks like, let alone what the girls and Jared must be feeling right now.
Sophie hops out of Tank’s truck and walks over to Dani, reaching out to take her hand. They both stand in silence as they take in what’s left of their home. I glance over to Jared to see him making his way over to the girls. He wraps his arms around them both and pulls them into his chest. The girls cry into him and he does his best to soothe them. I desperately want to go to Dani and tell her it’s ok, but she needs this moment with her friends.
Officer Samuels comes out of the house wearing a grim expression, followed by a few others, all sporting bright yellow hard hats. Her eyes land on our group and she makes her way over. She reaches out to Sophie and places a gentle hand on her shoulder.
Sophie turns around as Jared drops his arms and the three of them concentrate on whatever she is saying. A few moments later, Dani turns around and walks over to us. “We’re going in,” she says, looking down at the ground. “We need those hard hats.”
“Ok,” I say, taking her hand and leading her over to the truck that holds all the equipment. I grab a few hats and help her to put it on. I knock her on the head and smirk when she finally smiles up at me. I put on my hat and lead her over to the others. I hand Tank two hats and then hand two to Ashton.
Once we're all suited up, we follow Office Samuels into the house.
Dani gasps as we bypass the living room and tightens her hold on my hand as there just simply isn’t one anymore. I pull her closer and hold her to me as we make our way deeper into the house. The kitchen is the same as the living room, absolutely gone. Sophie takes off and heads down the hallway towards her room with Tank following. Jared and Ashton do the same.
I lead Dani towards her room and stop her halfway down the hallway. I turn her in my arms and look down at her. “Are you sure you’re ready to see this?” I ask as I study her reaction.
Her eyes begin to water. “No. But it’s now or never, right?” she cringes.
I rub my hands up and down Dani’s arms as she takes a deep breath. She turns back around and continues her way down the charred hall. She stops by her door, takes another deep breath and steps over the threshold.
Chapter 21
Danielle
I step into what used to be my bedroom and sink to my knees as a loud sob rips through my chest. I’m distantly aware of Miller behind me, holding onto my shoulders as I sob into my hands.
This place has been my home since the day I left Brett. It has been my salvation from a bad life, the place where I became whole again.
I glance around my room to find absolutely nothing. The room is barely a frame. My bed, my camera and laptop, my clothes, all of my possessions gone. Just gone.
Miller grabs me under my arms and hauls me to my feet so he can hold me tight to his chest as I cry into his shirt. I feel his hand rubbing circles on my back as he tries to soothe me. “They’re just things. Things that we can replace,” he tells me. “It will be ok.”
I nod into his chest. I know he’s right but it doesn’t change the fact that it still hurts like a bitch. I don’t know what I would do without him today. He has been my rock, keeping me going when all I’ve wanted to do is crumble into a ball and give up. I pull myself out of his arms and make my way around the room. I’m hopeful that when I get to my wardrobe and reach out for the door, something inside may have survived.
I swing the door open and jump back out of the way as the door comes off the hinges, falling towar
ds me. Miller is there immediately, saving me from the falling door. He finds somewhere safe to place his hands on the charred wood and picks it up, placing it at the other end of the room.
I peek into the wardrobe and sigh as every last bit of hope escapes me. Just as I expected, there’s absolutely nothing left.
I hear a gasp behind me and realize that Sophie has made her way into the room. “Shit, Dani,” she says, looking around the room, clearly stuck for words.
“I know,” I tell her. “It’s all gone.”
“It’s ok, it just gives us an excuse to go shopping,” she says with fake enthusiasm.
“Yeah,” I smile, not wanting her to feel bad.
“Come on,” she says taking my hand and leading me out of the room. “I’ve got a few things we can share until we can get new stuff.”
I leave my room and promise myself that I will never look back. I’m starting new with Miller. A new perspective to go with my new home. I will be ok, as long as my friends are safe and I have Miller by my side, nothing can bring me down.
I make my way down the hall and into Sophie’s room, pleased to see she still has a few things worth saving. I help her pack up what’s left while Miller heads down to Jared’s room and gives them a hand.
Two hours later, we’ve finished packing everything we can and with tears in our eyes, we say goodbye to our home.
I hop in Miller’s truck and we head down to the shops so I can get a few of the necessities I’ll need until Sophie and I can get to the shops to replace what we’ve lost and I must say, walking around the shops with Miller is a whole new experience, which actually cheers me up.
His first stop is the underwear section and he does his best to fill the basket with the smallest pieces he can find. I try to explain to him that we’re just getting the necessities and don’t need this stuff but he ensures me that this is definitely a necessity.
Our whole shopping trip goes pretty much like this. With Miller and I arguing over what counts as a necessity and a thirty minute shopping trip turns into a good two hours before we finally make it to the checkout and he takes me to our home.
---------
I’m sitting in Miller’s truck, chatting away to mom and filling her in on everything that has happened in the past few days as Miller drives us to the ice rink for tonight’s game, which just happens to be one of the most important games of the season. The game that will determine if my boys make it to the Frozen Four, the semi-finals and finals.
I pull my feet up under me as I skim over the details of the fire and attempted rape as I don’t want to worry mom but also because I see Miller's knuckles turning white as he grasps the steering wheel while listening to me recapping the details.
I want Miller to be in the right mind frame tonight for his game, I would hate for my issues to mess with his mind and screw up his chances for tonight, even though I know he is a God on that ice and nothing can stop him. Hell, his anger from my issues would most likely stir him on to skate faster and hit harder.
I get to the good part of the conversation, letting mom know all about my new living arrangements and smirk as I watch Miller’s grip on the steering wheel loosen and smile to himself. Mom completely brightens up at this news as after the night of the auction, she fell for Miller’s charm, just as I knew she would. I swear, I’ve never seen a mother approve of a man dating her daughter quite so quickly.
I get another call coming in and quickly glance at the screen to see a private number. “Hey mom, I’ve got another call. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Ok baby girl,” she says. “I love you, keep me updated about Brett,” she demands.
“Will do, bye mom,” I smile.
“Bye darling, wish Miller good luck from us,” she says, playing her usual game of never hanging up the phone.
“Ok mom. I got to go, bye,” I rush out, hoping I don’t miss the other call.
I hang up before mom can get started on something else and suddenly feel uneasy about who could be trying to contact me, especially from a private number. I hit answer and hesitantly pull the phone up to my ear. “Hello.”
“Hi Danielle, this is Officer Samuels,” she says in her too chirpy feminine voice.
“Oh hi,” I say with relief. “How are you?”
Miller turns to me with a questioning eyebrow as he wonders who’s on the line. ‘Officer Samuels’ I mouth to him and pull my phone down to hit speaker so he can listen in on the conversation.
“I’m good, thanks for asking. Listen, I have some great news,” she starts. Miller reaches over and places his warm hand on my thigh, giving it a small squeeze and smiling at me with encouragement. “We were able to get a confession out of Brett for both the attempted rape and arson so he will be going to trial soon. He will be behind bars until we can get him in to see the judge, which we are hoping for next week. So, with both your statements and his confession, it will be an open and close case. Though, during his confession he slipped up and said that it was an attempt on your life, so looks like he will also be going down for attempted murder,” she says with pride. “God, it is great to get scum bags like that off the streets and where they belong.”
“Wow,” I say, not really sure how to feel about all this, after all, this was a guy that I dedicated a lot of myself to. I was in love with him, though, considering the beatings, attempted rape, burning down my home and apparently the attempt on my life, I guess he’s going right where he belongs. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. “That’s great,” I say as Miller grins over at me and squeezes my leg once again.
“Indeed, it is,” Officer Samuels says. “It would be good for you to be present for the trial next week, both yourself and Miller.”
“Ok sure,” I tell her. “Anything you need.”
“Excellent. I’ll be in contact with you when I know the details of the trial,” she tells me.
“Great, I’ll wait for your call.”
We say our goodbyes and I hang up the phone, placing it down in the center console and glancing up at Miller in shock. “He’s actually going away,” I breathe.
Miller studies my face and slips his hand into mine and places them both on the gear stick so he can keep shifting. “You good?” he asks.
“Yeah, I think I am. I feel like a huge weight has finally been lifted and I’m truly free. I’ll never have to worry about him hurting me again,” I smile.
“You have no idea how happy that call has made me,” he tells me as he takes his eyes off the road and stares deep into my eyes. I realize he must be feeling the same relief that I feel, knowing he doesn’t have to continually be on the lookout for my safety.
I watch him as he continues to look into my eyes and I suddenly begin feeling very hot. “You better concentrate on the road,” I tell him. “Cause if you keep looking at me like that, you’re going to miss your game.”
“Is that a promise?” he asks, his eyes darkening in hunger.
“You know it is,” I smirk.
“Fuck,” he hisses. “Baby, don’t tempt me. I can’t miss this game,” he pleads.
“Ok,” I laugh. “I’ll be a good girl from now on,” I smile, innocently batting my eyelashes at him.
“You’re such a smart ass,” he laughs as he pulls up at the ice rink.
I go to make my way out of his truck when his hold on my hand tightens and he pulls me back. “Wait a minute,” he says.
I glance back at him with my eyebrows pinching together, unsure what could possibly be keeping him. “What’s up?” I ask hoping everything is ok.
He gives me a brilliant smile which has my heart skipping a beat. He releases his seatbelt and turns to face me while reaching into the back seat with his other hand still firmly placed in mine. He pulls a box out of the backseat and hands it over to me. I take it from him cautiously. “What’s this?” I ask as I flip the box around to try and figure out what the hell it is. I turn more in my chair and face him front on to gauge his reaction.
&
nbsp; He smiles at me once again with that amazing sparkle in his eye. “Open it,” he instructs.
He releases my hand so I can open the mysterious blue box. I glance up at him once again to find him studying me intently, looking slightly nervous and sick. “You ok?” I ask with my hand hovering over the lid of the box.
“Shut up and open the damn thing,” he demands with a sexy smirk.
“Fine,” I grumble, placing my hands down on the lid and lifting it. I glance down into the box to find a brand spanking new camera. What. The. Hell? “Are you serious?” I ask, looking up at him. Fuck. This thing must have cost him a bomb. “I can’t accept this.”
“You can and you will,” he tells me. “I know how much you loved your old one and I couldn’t stand the look on your face when you saw what was left of it. I promised myself that I would do anything it took to never see that look again. I know this will never replace the one you lost, hell, I don’t even know if it’s the right brand, let alone a good one, but the guy at the shop assured me it was.”
“Miller,” I say, unable to find the words as tears prick my eyes and fall down. I put the camera down and climb across the truck and sit myself down on his lap. He wraps his arms around me and holds me to him. “Thank you so much. It’s perfect,” I cry.
“It’s my pleasure,” he smiles as he gives me a kiss. “It’s all set up and ready to go so you can use it during the game,” he tells me, bringing up his thumbs and wiping my tears away.
I beam down at him. “Seriously?”
“Of course. Anything for my girl,” he says. “You lost everything in the fire and I nearly lost you. I know there’s still heaps of stuff that we need to replace but I wanted to help you start to rebuild that.”
“God, I don’t know how to thank you,” I say, turning into a blubbering mess once again at his use of the term ‘we’. “I love you, so much,” I tell him from the absolute bottom of my heart.
“I know a few ways you can thank me,” he jokes as his hands wind down my body and grab my ass.
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