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Though I was only wearing a towel, I knew her intentions were kind and friendly. She wasn’t flirting or trying to cop a feel. She was genuinely trying to comfort me, and I needed to be comforted. My body melted as the tension I had been holding onto fell away, and I hugged her closer, thinking about how surreal it was to be sharing a hug with a complete stranger on my doorstep.
We hugged for what felt like minutes and when we pulled away from each other, my eyes were damp, and my heart was filled with gratitude. Sometimes, strangers could be kind without wanting anything in return.
“Take care of yourself, Anthony,” she said, squeezing my hand before hurrying away.
“You too,” I said.
Just as she opened her car door, she yelled, “And I promise you, we won’t be dropping by unannounced again.” She grinned.
I smiled. “Thank you so much!” I raised my hands in a pleading sign to her begging her not to.
Not that she could drop by ‘announced’ since we hadn’t exchanged numbers. She was just a stranger who saw someone in need and decided to help. A good samaritan, I heard that’s what they were called. She laughed once more before getting into her car and driving out after the other women.
And then there was one. The house was silent once more. There were no distractions from my thoughts. Instinctively, my skin itched for a drink, and my body yearned to fuck. But as I headed into my kitchen and reached into my cabinets for a whiskey glass and a bottle, I paused when Gwen’s words played again in my head. Hm. Maybe they did make sense after all.
Perhaps I’d need the drink tomorrow but tonight, after a hug from a stranger I’d never see again, it felt like for the first time in a long time, I would be all right. Even if it meant sitting with the pain.
Making my way up the stairs, I found myself filled with thanks for the lesson that sometimes what I craved more than anything was intimacy and understanding, not necessarily sex. And that sex with the right person was way more meaningful.
Funny that it took me nearly forty years to learn that.
Chapter 15
Jared
“AreyouJaredCrawford?”
Looking up from another phone call with yet another litigation attorney, hoping to get the chance to represent Crawford & Beam against Levine LLP, I was met with the sight of two uniformed cops standing in my office.
“Yes,” I said, studying them while hanging up the phone. Over their shoulders, I tried to make eye contact with Melissa to see if there was any information she could give me with just a look. Her eyes said it was serious.
Clearing my throat, I asked, “How can I help you?”
“Where can we find Mario Sharpe and Anthony Whitlocke?” the cop standing in front of me asked while another stood about a foot behind him, completely silent, staring at me.
It didn’t take long for my confusion to vanish since with recent events, there was only one reason a complete stranger would ask for all three of us at once.
“Anthony had a medical emergency, and Mario’s just down the hall. What seems to be the problem here, Officer?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest, waiting for the ball to drop. The front cop nodded toward the back cop and off he went down the hall, presumably to look for Mario.
The one in my office stepped forward and unfolded a piece of paper before handing it to me. “We have a warrant to search all your properties as well as all the properties of Mr. Whitlocke and Mr. Sharpe,” he said before speaking into his black police radio.
“Commence search,” he commanded who I assumed to be the rest of his team.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on there,” I said, rising from my seat. Though the need to haul him out by his shirt collar did arise, I kept my hands in my pants pockets. I wasn’t an idiot. “On what grounds are you searching my properties?”
“We have reason to believe that a crime has been committed,” the cop responded, looking around my office.
“Oh, for the love of…” I muttered, rolling my eyes and sighing. “This is an invasion of privacy based on a false claim. What exactly are you hoping to find? Because it hasn’t been outlined in your warrant,” I said, noting the line that read,‘seize anything that could be useful in the investigation’at the bottom of the page. “A judge granted you this?” I asked, waving the piece of paper. “Seems a bit suspicious since by law, it is required to list exactly what you’re looking for. I’m afraid this warrant isn’t valid.” My hopes soared with the thought of watching him leave, crestfallen, from my office.
“Read the second page,” the cop said while examining the security camera in my office.
There was a second page? How did I miss that? With trembling fingers and sweat forming around my neck, I flipped over the first page, and there it was, an extensive list. I started reading it aloud.
“DesktopANDlaptop? Phone, anything that stores footage,Chains?DRUGS? This is ridiculous!” I yelled, throwing the paper on my desk, knowing there was nothing I could do but watch them go through my stuff, unable to prove my innocence until the ‘evidence’ they seized didn’t yield them the results they were looking for.
“Take it up with the judge. But I’m going to need to take this,” the cop said, gesturing to the security camera. “Got a screwdriver?” he asked.
“No! I do not have a screwdriver,” I said incredulously.
