And his eyes are trained on me.
I learned over the years of being married how to pick up on little signs that he’s angry, from subtle facial expressions to his body language and tone. My therapist told me this is a trauma response that my brain created to help me survive his raging outbursts. While I’ve healed a bit, I can still see the darkness in his eyes, the downturn of his lips, and the stiffness in his posture.
He’s livid.
His gaze moves from me to Ellis and then back to me. Then he strides toward us, weaving his way around the vehicles. I start to duck inside the SUV when Ellis notices Jason.
“Is that your ex-husband?” he mumbles without looking away from Jason.
“Yeah, and I don’t want to talk to him. Let’s get out of here.Please.” I slide into the passenger seat before my legs give out, and Ellis closes the door.
I wait for him to climb into the driver’s side, but he walks toward the front of the SUV and comes to a halt. This move seems to take away a bit of the wind out of Jason’s storm as he slows to a stop a few feet away from Ellis.
“I want to talk to my wife,” he tells Ellis in the cocky tone he uses whenever he thinks he can bully people into getting his way.
“Ex-wife,” Ellis corrects him with his arms folded. “And she doesn’t want to talk to you.”
Jason scoffs and rolls his eyes. “Ava doesn’t know what she wants.” He moves to sidestep around Ellis.
But Ellis matches his move and blocks his path. “I’m going to give you one warning to step the hell away from my car.”
“Or what?” Jason measures him up then sneers, “You’re going to hit me?”
He lifts his arm to strike me in the face. I don’t even bother bracing myself anymore. It’s all the same. Numbed—I am numbed to this.
Ellis remains composed. “No, I’ll find a reason to arrest you.”
For the first time since I’ve met him, worry becomes visible on Jason’s expression. It’s a fleeting and faint moment, like a catch of a breath against a chilling breeze. If I weren’t so in tune with his behavior, I would’ve missed it.
Ellis, being a police officer, is making Jason uneasy.
But he hastily collects himself. “You’re the idiot cop acting like James’ death was a murder. Seems pretty stupid when he fell off a cliff.”
“Allegedly,” Ellis responds. “And what do you know about his death? I haven’t talked to you yet; the ex-son-in-law with anger issues. I think maybe I should.”
“Go ahead,” Jason replies haughtily, the corners of his lips curling upward. “I didn’t do anything to him. No one did.” Jason’s gaze lands on me through the window. “Ava, you’re on the wrong side in this, and you’re going to regret it.”
“Ava, you better fucking obey me.”
Ellis steps to the side so I’m no longer in Jason’s view. “Are you threatening her?”
“Fuck off,” Jason snaps at him. “Such a tough guy. We’ll see how that holds up.” With that, Jason spins around and storms away, heading not to his truck but into the entrance of the doctor’s office.
“Why is he here?” I mutter as I watch Jason throw a glance at the SUV from over his shoulder before yanking the glass entrance door open and rushing inside.
Shaking his head, Ellis rounds the front of the SUV and climbs into the driver’s seat. The second the door clicks shut, he rotates towards me, his attention drifting across my face, as if searching for wounds. But all the injuries connected to Jason are inside me, ones that are pleading to scar over.
Before he can say anything, I speak first. “We should follow him and see why he’s here.”
Ellis blinks at me, shocked. “What?”
I’m shocked too.
I’ve never done anything like this before, especially when it comes to Jason.
Not anymore, though.
I want to be braver.
