Page 111 of Eye of the Hurricane
“Yes, I’ve seen the proof myself.” It’s a quarter of a lie but it’s for the better.
“Don’t go in until I text you, okay?”
“Okay. Thank you, I love you.”
“I love you, Katherine.”
Audra looks at me with wide eyes.
“You should see how far out the boys are, this might take a little while,” I suggest.
“They’re about two hours out.”
We wait in the dark parking lot of the police station, watching cars go by while I wait on the text from my father. I’m in awe of the strength Audra has managed through all of this.
“Do you want to tell Roman where we are?” I ask.
“No, I want to make sure it all works out first,” she says. I can’t blame her for that. I would likely do the same.
Dad
Go ahead. They’re expecting you two.
Katherine
Thank you so much.
Dad
Anytime.
I show the message to Audra and she takes a deep breath, holding it, then blowing it out slowly.
“Okay, let’s do it,” she says, opening the car door. I follow her up the steps and inside the police station.
There’s a receptionist at the front desk but that’s not who greets us. A tall officer with a dark complexion and dimples for days does.
“Katherine and Audrey?” he asks.
“Her name is Audra, but yes sir,” I correct. She gives me a nudge with wide eyes telling me to be nice. “I just thought it might matter for paperwork,” I add.
“My apologies. I heard from your dad. Can we talk in my office?” he asks.
“Yes sir,” she says, following him back through a dimly lit hallway. I keep a close distance between us. We sit across from him at his desk.
“Because your father is a friend of the Mayor, we’re going to handle this a bit differently. The process will be quite a bit quicker. We ask you keep that quiet.”
“Yes sir,” we both say.
I sit with her under the dark fluorescent light of his office while she fills out paperwork. Every time she looks over to me I give her a reassuring smile. The process is long but not nearly as long as it could be.
When we finally walk out of the police station it’s pouring rain, the street lights glistening in the water. It’s fully dark out at this point and the boys should be back anytime. We’ve both got a load of text messages from them trying to get ahold of us while we were in there.
Audra shoots them a message letting them know we’re okay. When we pull into her driveway Roman’s Jeep pulls in behind us before we even get the chance to get in the house.
The Jeep is barely parked before Roman is out of the car and wrapping his arms around Audra. As soon as he does, she melts into him with a sob. He strokes her hair, shushing her.
Ares is by my side the second he’s out of the car. He pulls me into his chest.
