CHAPTER TWELVE

 

Even though it’s been two and a half weeks since my attack, I’ve still not been cleared to go back to work, and won’t be until my cast comes off and the doctors are happy it’s healed properly. It still hasn’t stopped me coming in and looking things over. Buster is still in the kennels and today is the last day he’s allowed here.

“And you’ve put up posters, posted on social network sites?” I ask Nina again as I run my fingers over his head. He’s getting better every day, healing quicker than I am.

“Yes. We’ve had over twenty-five thousand shares, and still nothing. I’m sorry, Faith. I know you hate this part of your job.”

I do. If we send Buster to our local dog home, he will be put down if he isn’t rehomed in time. Animals’ lives become a ticking time bomb the minute they are referred there. We only refer puppies, since they are rehomed right away, but older dogs, like Buster, are harder.

I feel a connection to Buster. He was run over because of me; I feel like it’s my duty to take care of him. And he’s a really cute freaking dog.

Nina brought him round to see me when she’d been on one of her daily dog walks. I had been staying at my parents’. Buster had comforted me, just like Roxy, and something would pass through me every time he stared into my eyes. Guilt and love on my part? Yes. But I felt the kinship between us.

He didn’t make me feel helpless. I saw strength in him, and I fed off it.

“I’m going to take him home with me.”

Nina doesn’t look surprised, only doubtful. “Faith, you have a huge heart when it comes to animals, but you need to think about this. You live in a small two-bedroomed flat. You don’t have the space for two big dogs. And you work a lot.”

She’s right, I do work a lot, but I won’t let him be passed through the system like he means nothing. He means something to me.

“I’ve been saving to buy a house closer to my family. It means I’ll have to get a car to come to work, but it also means I’ll have a garden for them to run around in. I’m going to hire another surgeon to help with the caseload we seem to be accumulating here too. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while, but something always came up and I made excuses, waiting until the next time.”

Her smile is radiant. “That’s amazing. You’ve always wanted a house closer to your parents. You Carter’s will own that neighbourhood soon.”

I laugh and sit back in my desk chair. “Don’t be dramatic. We only own, like, five houses on that street.”

“Yeah, that street. What about the one where Lake’s parents live? Don’t you own three on that one?”

“What can I say, my dad is awesome at real estate. I’m gonna grab some things and head home with Buster.”

Buster’s ears perk up and he makes a noise at the back of his throat, which makes me giggle.

“I’ll come with you. I’m finished for the day.”

I nod, knowing she would have called one of my brothers if she wasn’t. None of them will leave me alone for five minutes. The only peace and quiet I get nowadays is in the bathroom, where none of them can follow. Unless your name is Aiden and you just barge in, embarrassing us both.

“Okay.”

“Just give me five. Do you want to grab something to eat?”

“Yeah, I’m a bit hungry. We can just order in though, right? I feel like being lazy.”

She shrugs. “All right.”

 

 

*** *** ***

 

The two dogs seem to be getting on fine. Roxy is resting her head on Buster’s large belly, snoring lightly. Both are tuckered out after their walks around the park.

It’s getting late. I’m expecting one of my cousins or brothers to turn up, but so far, nothing. My phone rings and I look down at the screen, seeing Hayden’s name.

“Hey, sweets, what’s up?”

“Just thought I’d ring you to let you know the plans for next week have changed. We’re going out for a meal first and then going clubbing. Immy is still demanding we go out in fancy dress.”

Crap, I forgot it was the triplets’ nineteenth birthday.

“It’s October, it’s freezing, especially if she wants us to wear skimpy outfits.”

She laughs down the line. “Too right. I’ve shut her down for now, but she’ll keep trying. There’s no way I’m going to a restaurant dressed like that. Pissed up and out on the town, I don’t give a shit.”

It’s my turn to laugh. Hayden drunk is hilarious. She gets us doing random shit. Even if the night starts out normal, it always ends up with one of us falling for something she’s conjured up.

“Okay. I don’t mind either way, just keep me informed.”

“Will do. How is that man of yours?”

She’s been hassling me for a few days about what is going between me and Beau. I’ve not told my family anything, because the minute I tell them we’re in a relationship, they’ll start asking me if we’ve done it. And that is something I do not want to share with them.

Just… no.

It’s bad enough he stays almost every night to keep an eye on me. They think something has happened between us, but it hasn’t. We’ve done nothing but kiss, and it’s all I’m ready for at the moment.

“He’s good.”

A knock on the door startles me. I look over to Nina, who is flicking through the movies on Netflix.

“Can you grab that? It’s the pizza.”

She nods, getting up to answer the door.

“Is that him?” Hayden booms down the phone excitedly.

“Um, no, it’s Nina. I’m going to have to go, our food is here.”

“Okay, I’ll call in tomorrow. I wanted to get your opinion on the dresses I’ve picked for my birthday.”

“Sounds awesome. See you then.”

We end the call and I turn to see Nina holding a shoe box and not the pizza I had hoped would be here. I’m starving. I sigh in disappointment.

“What’s that?” I ask, noting she’s looking a little pale.

“Um, I―”

The door opens behind her and Beau steps in. “Hey, beautiful, I’m home,” Beau sings. “Did you cook dinner?”

“Um, Beau…”

He notices Nina and loses his smile. “Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know. Nina opened the door thinking it was the pizza bloke, but she came in with that.” I point to the box in her hands. “I was on the phone.” Once I’ve finish explaining, I walk up to her. Her hands are shaking and she’s still looking down at the box. “Nina, girl, what is it?”

“It’s a… it’s a―”

Beau takes the box from her hands. “It’s okay, I got it.” He walks over to the counter. I tend to Nina, rubbing her arms, which are covered in goose bumps. I bite my lip, worried about what she saw.

“Fuck!” Beau curses, running a hand through his hair.

“What is it?”

He looks over his shoulder at me, his eyes hard. “It’s nothing. I’ll deal with this.”

Yeah, that isn’t going to happen.

Stepping around Nina, I walk over to the counter with determination. “Beau, I can handle this. Trust me. I want to know—no, I need to know. It’s spooked Nina.”

He sighs, looking conflicted, before flicking the box open. I peep inside and cringe at the sight. A dead rat lays on its side, blood pouring from a wound in his neck.

I flip the lid closed again and close my eyes, counting to ten.

“Are you okay? I knew I shouldn’t have let you look.”

Beau pulls me into his arms and I go, resting my head on his shoulder. “No, I’m fine. I’m just fucking mad he killed an animal to prove something. Who does he think he is? Couldn’t he have just sent me a fucking picture of a rat instead of using a real, defenceless one?”

“It was a real rat,” Nina whispers.

Turning in her direction, I wince. She freaking hates rats. Out of all the animals we deal with, she still hasn’t gotten over her fear of the disease-spreading rodents. They’re her worst nightmare. She constantly refuses to work on any that come in.

“Are you okay?” I ask as a knock on the door echoes throughout the room. “Mmm, pizza.”

Nina gags and Beau looks at me like I’m crazy. He walks over to the door and I step towards Nina.

“It was a real rat. I nearly touched it,” she whispers. “I need to wash my hands—bleach them. Yeah, I need to bleach them.”

I watch her stumble to the bathroom, biting my lip to hold in my giggle. I shouldn’t find it funny that Noah sent me a message, calling me a rat. What did he expect, me to sit at home and pray he doesn’t hurt me or someone else again? Not a chance. There was no remorse in the man who attacked me, no chance of him changing.

I’d like to think I’m capable of forgiveness, but a monster like him, someone who will never repent for his crimes, doesn’t deserve my forgiveness, or anyone else’s.

“She okay?” Beau asks, dropping the pizza onto my coffee table—completely avoiding the counter. Thank god, I don’t want my food near the rat.

“She will be. She hates rats.”

“Who likes them?” he asks. His eyebrows scrunched up, seeming to really think about it.

“I like them. I like all animals, which is why I’m pissed. He’s not going to leave me alone, is he?”

Beau’s eyes harden. “No, he won’t. We’re gonna find him though, Faith. It’s only a matter of time. I can’t promise you it will be tomorrow, or next week, or even next month, but I will find him.”

My heart softens at his declaration. “I know you will, Beau. You can’t let it rule your life though. I’m not ready to walk outside on my own yet, but I’m not scared of him. I understand he’s dangerous, but he’s a coward. He’s not going to ruin my life. I won’t let him. Which is why I’m going to sit down, put my feet up, and eat my yummy pizza.”

He looks dumbfounded when I flop back on the sofa and grab a slice of pizza out of the box.

“You’re eating, after that?” Nina screeches.

I glance up from my mouth-watering pizza and shrug. I chew the piece I’d already greedily bitten off and swallow. “Yeah, I am. It’s a dead rat. I deal with dead animals every day, so why he thought it would scare me is beyond me. He did more to you than he did to me. Though, I do feel bad for the rat.”

I’m not heartless, don’t get me wrong. I’m just not going to let some lowlife bring me down. I do feel guilt for the animal who was killed violently. It’s sadistic. Cruel. He wasn’t even a street rat. He was a pet rat, which makes it even worse.

Oh, my God, why didn’t I think of that before.

“Beau!” I manage to shout around half a mouthful of food, before getting up. He startles, jumping back as he eyes me. I wave my hand at him, holding him off when he takes a step towards me. “It was a pet rat.”

He still looks confused, and when I glance to Nina for help as I chew as quickly as I can, she looks at me with disgust. “It’s a rat, Faith. They’re all dirty rodents.” She shudders dramatically.

I glare at my best friend. “You really need to get over your fear, Nina.” I shake my head at her before turning back to Beau. “He was a pet rat. Now I’m just guessing here, but I don’t think Noah had a rat on hand, unless he robbed one from his last victim.”

“I’m still not following,” Beau tells me, standing with his arms crossed.

I roll my eyes. Men. “It means he bought it from a pet store. The only pet stores within a six-mile radius are Malley’s Pets and Lincoln Pet Store.”

Realisation dawns across his expression. “I’ll be back. I’m going to go back to the police station.”

He heads to the door before running back and bringing his lips to mine in a heated kiss. I kiss him back, gripping the bottom of his shirt in my hands.

When he pulls away, I’m breathless. “Go.”

“Take the rat with you,” Nina adds on a shout, giving the box a wide birth as she moves to sit on the sofa.

“No!” he says, eyeing the rat with disgust.

“Um, yeah. Won’t you need it for evidence? Plus, you need to check there isn’t anything under the rat, or lying in the blood.”

He looks back at the box, his shoulders sagging. I bite the inside of my cheeks to keep from laughing at his horrified expression.

“Shit. Okay. I’ll be back later. If anything comes up, I’ll let you know.”

“All right. Want us to save you some pizza?”

He looks a little green as he holds the shoe box and looks at the pizza. “I’ll pass. I’m not really all that hungry, come to think of it.”

He walks out the door and I burst out laughing, falling back on the sofa. “Did you see his face?”

Nina chuckles, clicking on a Nicholas Sparks movie. My favourite. “Such a baby. I thought he was meant to be a big, badass cop?” My head lazily turns to Nina, and I give her an ‘are you kidding me’ expression. “What?”

She grabs a piece of pizza as I answer. “You went deathly pale, screamed, and then scolded me for eating over the same rat.”

“I’m a girl with a fear of rats.”

“I still don’t understand that. You like spiders, and in my book, they’re fucking freaky.”

“Oh, my God, they’re tiny.”

“Exactly! Tiny: they can get anywhere.”

She rolls her eyes at me. “They’re just harmless spiders. Rats? They bite, they infect, they are ugly and smell bad. And why do they need long tails? They’re just freaky.”

I giggle at her extensive knowledge. “You’ve really thought about rats, huh?”

She shudders. “My cousin Brody had one and scared me shitless with it. I’ve never recovered.”

“I can tell.” I smile in amusement as she glares at me.

“Shut up, eat your pizza and watch the damn movie.”

“Did you get the tissues?” I ask her as I grab another slice. Some things you should always have at the ready; a pillow to hold on to, a tissue to wipe away tears and snot, and popcorn to chew when the emotion becomes too much.

“Shit. Be back.”