Read Online Safely Home by Ruth Logan Herne - Free Book Online Page B

nudge. “Of course you don’t.” She jumped to agreement, fingers crossed behind her back. “Strong. Stalwart. A real trooper.”
    Cress smiled and ducked into the car. “See ya’.”
    *
    Cress grabbed the ringing wall phone as she passed through the kitchen, refreshed by the time with her sister and the thought of working the shy horse. Leafing through Gran’s stack of mail, she said hello.
    “Cress. It’s James.”
    She silently cursed all phones without caller ID, then bit her lip, sucked a breath and straightened her spine. “What do you want?”
    “We need to talk.”
    “Talking’s over. Done. Finis.”
    “Cress, don’t do this.”
    “Do what, James? Don’t stand on my own two feet? Don’t get out from under an abusive relationship with a commanding officer, the man who professed to love me when it was convenient for him? Don’t stand up for myself? Exactly what is it you’d like to have me do, James, besides be your doormat? I’m all ears.”
    He sighed. “Do you hear yourself? You sound like a melodramatic commercial for some women’s empowerment.”
    “Stuff it, James.”
    He went on as if she hadn’t spoken. “You know how tired I get. What the stress of my job does to me. And yet you don’t back off.”
    Didn’t back off? So being slapped around was her fault? The two hour distance between them had created the buffer zone she didn’t know she needed.
    “The job you kept putting off marrying me for? Allow me to thank you for that because if we had gotten married, I’d be in the midst of a nasty divorce proceeding instead of a simple get-your-shoes-out-of-my-closet breakup.”
    “I’m devoted to my work, Cress. You of all people should understand how draining our profession can be.”
    “Well, you’ve got it, James. You and your job. I hope you’re very happy together.”
    “ This is getting us nowhere.” His tone was half-scolding, half-condescending, as if she weren’t quite up to his level of thinking. “When are you coming back?”
    He hadn’t once asked about her recovery, her health, her strength. The entire conversation had been him, him, him. Why hadn’t she seen that? If she’d been smarter, quicker, then she might have avoided that final confrontation and the ensuing injury because her focus was split between the chaos of her shattered relationship and the rigors of her job.
    And the greater Minneapolis/St.Paul Award for Stupid Cop of the Year goes to…
    Cress took two strong breaths through her nose to calm her thudding heart and shrugged. “ Not your concern. Human resources checks in with me and I’m flagged out until I’m healed enough to handle the job. End of story.”
    “Carl needs you.”
    By citing her MPD partner, James went for the jugular. She and Carl Ingstrom had been partners for years. They took their friendship and work seriously. Cress knew how difficult it was to change partners. A bond like theirs wasn’t forged overnight. “Carl’s fine. He can work with anybody.”
    “He feels responsible for your injury. He’s getting emotional therapy from Julie.”
    Cress’s heart stutter-stepped. Carl was one of her best friends, both on and off the force. And he’d been blatantly honest with her about her relationship with James for the last year or more. She hadn’t listened.
    That inattentiveness led to her injury, the crack of the gun from behind, the knife-hot feel of a bullet tearing flesh, the warm ooze of blood as she went down in the street.
    Carl wasn’t responsible for any of it. Not a smidge, yet leave it to a good partner like him to shoulder the blame. A heavy weight descended on her shoulders. “I’ll talk to him.”
    “It would be better to see him,” James urged. “Come back long enough to see everyone. Talk with people. Hang with Carl. He feels like he popped that shot himself because he didn’t have your back.”
    James was pressing every button he knew. Her relationship with Carl and Carl’s family kept her centered