Page 9 of Monk
He whistles. “I’m sorry, Kase.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. If I’d listened to you back in law school and not given everything up…” My voice trails off. I don’t need to finish the sentence because David already knows where I’m going with it. He always does. I swear, sometimes I feel like he knows me better than I know myself.
“Have you suggested couples therapy? I can give you the name of the therapist Michael and I still see. She’s worked wonders for us and—”
“I actually suggested it before. Spencer won’t hear of it. Says we’re fine and there’s no need for us to see a therapist.”
“Oh, honey,” he commiserates with me. “In that case, I’m glad you’re getting the hell out of there. A man who’s not willing to work on your issues together doesn’t deserve you.”
“Thanks, David,” I reply and try to blink back the tears that are pooling in my eyes. “You’ve always been there for me. You’ve always had my back, and I just… I just want you to know how much I appreciate you.”
“You’ve been there for me just as often, hon. We’re family, you and I.”
I nod. “Yes, we are.”
I switch ears again and start fishing through my jewelry box, taking everything that’s mine, but leaving everything Spencer’s given me. He can keep it as far as I’m concerned.
“Okay, I can have the papers drawn up by this afternoon,” he tells me.
“Thank you, David. You are a lifesaver.”
“I’ll send a process server to deliver the papers, but you may have to see him to finalize it all, honey.”
I sigh and tug on the end of my hair again. It’s a nervous tic I’ve had for as long as I can remember, and no matter how much I’ve tried, I can’t seem to break it. Though at least, it only seems to resurface in times of extraordinary stress.
“I suppose I don’t have grounds for a restraining order?” I ask hopefully.
“Afraid not. There’s no history of domestic violence. He’s an upstanding citizen. There’s no paper trail, and unless you have visible bruises…”
He lets his words taper off, but he doesn’t need to finish the statement. I already know. I’s just hoping he’ll have some way to wiggle around the system a bit. Not that I think an order or protection will do much good in the practical sense. If he wants to kill me, a piece of paper isn’t going to stop him. But at least then, there will be a paper trail.
“I’ll make sure to include a declaration that if he wishes to speak to you, he does so through me. I can at least do that much,” David tells me. “And if there does need to be a face to face, we’ll do it here in my office. Nowhere else, and definitely not alone with him.”
“You are a lifesaver, David.”
“Let’s hope that’s not in the literal sense.”
“Right now, I don’t even know.”
“You’re not making me feel a whole lot better about this,” he says.
“Hey, at least I’m getting out of here.”
“That’s a good point. Okay, let me get started on the paperwork, and I’ll check in on you later. Let you know how it’s all going.”
A small ripple of relief washes through me. At least the ball is rolling in that portion of what I need to do. Now, I just need to get out of here and get somewhere safe. I’m not sure where that is just yet, but I’ll figure it out once I get on the road.
“Hey, before you hang up, don’t forget to disable the tracking on your phone. And also, get rid of the GPS unit in your car. Don’t let him find you,” David tells me.
“Thanks, hon. I really appreciate everything you’re doing for me.”
“Hey, it’s what friends are for, right?”
“Love you,” I tell him.
“Love you back.”
I disconnect the call and quickly turn off the location apps on my phone. I’m grateful to David for a great many things, none more so than that. I’m so haired out right now, I probably will not have even thought of it.
