Mike’s brown eyes dart over my face before he lets out a long sigh. “I’m so sorry.”
I shake my head. “I don’t have time for this. If he’s going after Jack again, I need to warn him.”
“Where’s he live? We’ll send a car out to do a welfare check.”
“I’m not exactly sure,” I admit. “Zoe’s going through emails now. We’re doing some work for him, so we might have something on file.”
“What’s his surname?”
“Cole. It’s Jackson, not Jack.”
“Leave it with me,” Mike says already tapping on his phone.
My entire body vibrates as I continue to stand and stare at the mess in front of me. I can’t go running off to hunt for Jack when this mess needs to be dealt with.
“Who are we insured with?” I ask Zoe.
* * *
By the timethe forensic team finish taking prints, the emergency glazier comes out and boards up the window, and the police finish taking photos and questioning me and Zoe, it’s early I morning.
Mike left hours ago but was kind enough to get a message to me that a welfare check had been carried out at Jack’s place, and he was safe. Matt still hadn’t been tracked down, and Jack was warned that he might still be looking for him.
Mike had also, very kindly, given me Jack’s address. Something I wasn’t sure he was supposed to do, but for which I was grateful by the time we pulled away from the showroom.
He hadn’t answered or returned a single one of my calls or messages, and if the police had been to his house, he knew what had happened, but I didn’t even get a call to check in.
I was hurt, angry, tired, and hungry.
“I know it’s a shitty thing to put on you, but would you take me to Jack’s before we go home?” I ask Zoe.
“Yep, you wanna get the address up and tap it in for me?” she replies without hesitation.
“I love you,” I tell her honestly, “and I’m so fucking sorry about all of this. You have a one hundred percent say in who the next man I get involved with is.”
“I thought that’s whose house we were driving to now.” She turns her head quickly to look at me as she drives.
“Yeah, I thought so too, but he’s not returned any of my calls, hasn’t even bothered checking in this morning.”
Zoe lets out a long sigh, and I can hear her brain fighting with her mouth over the response she wants to give.
“So, tell me again why you’re going to his place now? He’s the one who should be coming to you. He’s a builder. He could’ve swung by and asked us if we needed help with anything.”
I move my bottom jaw from side to side attempting to relieve some tension. It doesn’t work.
“You’re right, fuck him. Let’s just go home.”
“Nope, we’re two minutes away. Might as well have it out with him now, otherwise you’ll just stew on it all day.”
She’s right, I will.
We make a turn just off the beach road into a cul-de-sac of six houses. Jack’s house is at the top. The view from his front deck looks straight down the street and out to the bay.
It’s an old weatherboard place that’s obviously a work in progress. The roof is brand new, so is the deck, the rest still needs fixing up, but it’ll be something else when it’s done, and my designer senses are tingling with the potential.
Zoe pulls into the in and out drive, stopping at the bottom of the steps that lead to the front door.
“Go get him, tiger,” she tells me as I climb out of the car. Turning back to face her, I show her my teeth and claws and give an exhausted ‘rar’ before heading up the steps to the front door. It swings open before I even get a chance to knock.
