Page 64 of Protecting Josie
“It’s not okay,” he said with a shake of his head. “He sold your furniture, probably ripped you off in the process, then dumped all your things in here with the crap people just leave behind when they go.”
Josie put her hand on his arm. “But they’re here. That’s all I care about.”
Blink nodded, but he still wasn’t happy. “I can’t really help you look through boxes, because I don’t know what’s yours and what isn’t, but I can carry everything to the trailer.”
And with that, they began the daunting task. There were a lot of boxes in the empty apartment. Apparently the manager was lazy and only brought things to the thrift shops once in a blue moon.
After working their way through the sea of boxes, Josie found what seemed to be her belongings against a far wall, under a bunch of other boxes. Josie opened each one, checking to make sure the items inside were her own, while Blink acted as courier, carrying them from the apartment to the trailer he’d rented.
He was walking toward his truck in the parking lot for the tenth time or so, when he heard a commotion behind him. Turning, he saw two women standing in front of the apartment where Josie was working. And they were yelling at the top of their lungs.
Blink put the box down right where he was standing on the sidewalk and quickly ran toward the women. A few people were starting to gather, watching the spectacle. Itwasn’t until Blink heard what they were saying that his anger spiked.
“…wouldn’t be dead if it wasn’t for you, bitch! You led him on, treated him like shit! All he wanted was to be loved, and you shit all over that.”
“It should’ve beenyouwith a bullet in your head! You’re going to pay for what you did to Ayden!”
Blink wasn’t normally a violent person. And he wasn’t the kind of man to put his hands on a woman, but without a second thought, he shoved the younger woman aside, away from the door, so he could get between the hate the two women were spewing and his woman.
“What thefuck?” he asked, as soon as he was inside the apartment. Josie was standing in the corner, surrounded by boxes, while the two women harangued her from the entryway, blocking her from going anywhere, from getting away from their hateful words. She looked a little shellshocked and a lot freaked out.
“Who the hell are you?” the older woman asked.
“I’d ask who the fuckyouare, but I already know. Millie and Genevieve Hitson, I presume,” he drawled.
“That’s right. But who the hell areyou?” Gen, the younger woman, repeated.
“I’m Nate Davis, and I’m Josie’s man. You need to turn around and leave. Right now.”
“No,” Millie said, crossing her arms over her chest. “This is a free country, and I’m allowed to go where I want, and say what I want, towhoeverI want.”
“Not to Josie, you aren’t. How the hell did you even know she was here?”
“Unlikeher, we have friends here,” Gen told him.
“So you had people spying for you. Awesome,” Blink sneered.
“She killed my son!” Millie said angrily. “She needs to answer for that.”
“Josie hadnothingto do with your son dying. He was the idiot who rented a boat and took it into notoriously dangerous waters. As a soldier, he damn well should’ve known better. He crossed into Iran illegally and was killed as a result. WhatIwant to know is, why didn’t you tell the authorities about Josie? You both knew she went to Kuwait to visit him.”
“We figured she died too,” Gen said, a little too defensively.
“Sheshould’ve been the one who was shot!” Millie shouted, obviously not ashamed in the least by the hate she was spewing.
“So you would’ve preferred for your son to be thrown into an Iranian cell and tortured?” Blink asked. He shouldn’t be trying to reason with these women, but he needed them to understand exactly what Josie had been through.
“The government would’ve gotten him out!” Millie yelled. “She should’ve rotted to death in that cell. Paid for her sins. For killing my son!”
Blink was done. There was clearly no arguing with Ayden’s mother. “Get out,” he said, taking a step toward them.
“No,” Gen said, straightening. “What are you going to do? Make us? There are witnesses. You touch us and you’ll go to jail for assault. Do it. I dare you!”
Frustration ate at Blink. He wanted nothing more than to shove the two women out the door and slam it in their faces.But they’d probably just lurk outside until they exited again. And it wasn’t as if they could hang out in this apartment forever. He wanted to go home. Get Josie away from this place so she’d never have to come back.
“Let’s just go,” Josie said softly from behind him. But there was no way Blink was leaving without Josie’s stuff. And he wasn’t going to put up with either of them being harassed while they packed.
Without another word, he pulled out his phone and dialed 9-1-1.
