Chapter 7

The day after Mitch was arrested for violating the Restraining Order, Denise received a call from the police department.
“Mrs. Farber? This is a courtesy call to let you know that your husband paid his fine for violating the Order and is now free from jail. Be on your guard and let us know if anything happens… He was steaming mad.”
“Thank you for calling officer,” Denise replied, trying not to let the panic drip from her voice. “I will be careful, I promise.”
Andy walked in the house as Denise put the phone back on the charger. He saw her face with fear written over every pore.
“Denise, what’s wrong?”
“Mitch is out of jail again. His parents paid his contempt fine.”
“Oh, no. We need to get you out of here. You need to come stay with me. I have a guest room and a security system. You’ll be safer there. He doesn’t know where I live.”
“What if he’s watching and follows us? I can’t put you in harm’s way. You shouldn’t be here now. If he thinks you’re hitting on me or that we’re sleeping together, he’ll kill you!” Denise started crying. “I should never have put you, or the others in this position. I should just go back to him!”
“NO!” Andrew screamed. “You can’t do that. He’ll eventually kill you and the baby. You need to stay strong and let us help you.”
“But I can’t!” Denise sobbed. “I’m too afraid he’ll kill all of you for helping me. You don’t understand.”
“He’ll kill you the minute you go back to him. Please, stay with me while we figure this out!”
“All right. I will.” She sniffled and blew her nose. “I need to call out of work today. I’m not going to be any good to anyone in this condition.” The doorbell rang. “I’ll get it.”
“Mrs. Denise Farber?”
“Yes?”
“Consider yourself served.” The lady at the door handed Denise an envelope, then turned and left.
“What the hell?” Denise opened the envelope and read the papers inside. “NO!” she screamed. “NO! He can’t take my baby!” she sank onto the sofa and sobbed uncontrollably. Andy gently took the papers from her and read them carefully. Then he sat on the sofa and held her tightly as she cried.
“Denise, it’s ok. He CAN’T take your child. Think about it. He’s been arrested for domestic violence AND for violating the Restraining Order. No judge in their right mind would grant him custody of your child.”
“His parents will fight for custody of the baby. They’ll say I’m an unfit mother somehow, and make me look horrible in court. I can’t take that chance. I have to stay with him. I have to!”
“No, you don’t!” Andy held her tighter and wiped away a tear. “You can come stay at my place while we sort this all out. I’ll help you get a lawyer and we’ll fight this. You deserve better than the likes of Mitch!” He kissed her forehead gently. Denise looked up through her tears, her eyes wide showing her vulnerability. He didn’t even think about it, but simply leaned down and kissed her passionately on the lips. Denise melted in his arms. She’d never experienced a kiss like that before. It was so tender and full of fire. She leaned into him, kissing him back without hesitation.
“Let’s go to my house, I’ll get you set up in the guest room, and we’ll figure things out. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Okay,” Denise agreed. “Let me call out of work. I also need to call Anne, because we’ll need to come back here to get our things before you head to work. She’ll need her stuff for home. I’ll feel safe at your house. I know I will.” He kissed her again, briefly this time.
“Sounds like a plan.”
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“I can’t believe he drained the accounts,” wailed Denise as she and Anne pulled up to the Farber home. “Now what am I supposed to do?”
“Don’t you have cash here?” Anne asked.
“Yes, but who’s to say he hasn’t broken in and stolen that, too?”
“True. Let’s get a move on. Andy should be here soon to help.”
Denise put the key in the lock, and they stepped into the house. She sighed. “It seems so cold here now, not full of love and laughter – not that there was much of any of that in our marriage.” She paused. “Crap, I left my cell in the car. Oh, well, Andy knows we’re here and has the home number if he needs to reach us.”
As the women started gathering clothes and other items to pack when Andy came with the suitcases, Denise started becoming emotional. “What happened to the Mitch I met and fell in love with? I just don’t understand this man he’s become! And how can his parents side with him, when there’s so much evidence proving that he’s this monster!”
“I don’t know, Denise,” Anne replied. “I don’t know. There weren’t any red flags when you two were dating?”
“No. Not a single one.”
“What about the Resident Assistant that went missing when you were juniors in college?” Andy had arrived.
“How did you know about that?” Denise asked, confused. “It was assumed he took off to start a new life somewhere else.”
“Did Mitch tell you that?”
“Yes, why?”
“Because I have copies of the police files and reports, and according to the police, he’s been presumed dead although they never found the body, and your husband was the prime suspect – especially since the RA was hitting on you shortly before his disappearance… according to witnesses that were interviewed.”
“Andy, how did you hear about all this? Someone is giving you false information. Mitch was never a suspect. He simply wouldn’t do something like that.”
“I have all the files at the house. I had a friend run a background check, and that’s what came back. He’s not a nice man, Denise, but you’ll be free of him soon.”
“Andy are you sure your sources are sound and reliable?”
“Absolutely. I’d trust him with my life. Let’s get packed and we’ll talk about this later.” He grabbed the suitcases that were ready and headed for the door. “I’ll get this in the car and come back for more in a minute.”
“I can’t believe Mitch would do something like that!”
“Denise, he hurt you and killed your cat! Why are you still defending him?”
“Because I’m her husband and she belongs with me,” came a horrifying snarl. The two friends stared in terror at Mitch who had broken in silently through the back door. He was carrying a bat. He smashed the dining room table with it as he advanced toward his wife. “She can’t believe that stuff because she knows it isn’t true, right, baby?” his voice was low but still growling. Denise and Anne inched toward the door.
“R-r-ight-t-t, hon,” Denise stammered. “Of course.” She swallowed hard as she continued very slowly toward the door. Mitch swung the bat at a glass table holding several valuable knick knacks, destroying the whole thing with a cacophony that resonated through the room. Denise attempted to run, but Mitch snagged a dining room chair and whipped it at her, catching her square on the side of the head. The force knocked her out cold.
Anne lunged for Denise, but Mitch sprinted across the room and hit her arm with the bat. She recoiled, screaming in pain from her arm being broken. Mitch kicked his unconscious wife in the ribs as he raised the bat over his head to deliver a devastating blow when the front door flew open.
“What the hell was that?” Andy raced through the front door fast enough to see both Anne and Denise down with injuries, and to see Mitch hauling ass out the back door. Andy whipped out his cell and dialed 9-1-1 to get the ambulance there. He resisted the urge to go after Mitch so he could be sure the women were all right.
The ambulance rushed Denise and Anne to the hospital, and Andy followed in his car. The medical professionals insisted he stay in the waiting room while they determined the extent of Denise’s injuries. He paced back and forth, checking his watch every few minutes, jumping every time he saw a doctor. Finally the doctor came to speak with him.
“Mr. Blake?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Mrs. Farber is in stable condition. She’s suffered a mild concussion, but no major or underlying severe injuries related to it. She has a bit of amnesia relating to the events immediately prior to the injury, but she should fully recover in a few days. She also has a few broken ribs, which thankfully didn’t puncture the lungs, but did bruise them. The bruise is small and will also heal in a few days, maybe a week.” The doctor rubbed his chin, deep in thought. “We’re lucky, the baby is just fine, and the damage could have been much more severe.” He locked his eyes with Andy’s. “She’s awake and asking for you. You may go see her.”
“Thank you, doctor, for everything!” Andrew shook his hand and rushed into Denise’s room.
“Andy! Oh my God, what happened?”
“Let’s not talk about it right now. All that’s important is that you’re okay and will heal in a few days. I’m taking vacation time and will stay with you at my place once they release you.”
“But how did I get like this? And where’s Anne? I thought she’d be here with you.”
“I’m right here.” Anne stood in the doorway wearing an identical hospital gown along with a cast on her left arm.
“Oh my god, you’re hurt, too?” Denise was visibly alarmed. “Seriously, I need to know what happened.”
“Are you going to tell her, or should I?” Anne asked Andy. “She needs to know.”
“I’ll tell her,” Andy agreed reluctantly. “Denise, it was Mitch.”
“WHAT?”
“We were getting your things to take them to my place so you could stay in my guest room, and he broke into your house through the back door and beat you unconscious. He hit Anne with a baseball bat when she tried to rescue you and he broke her arm.”
“Anne! Oh my god, are you okay?”
“It was a clean break and didn’t require surgery. It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re all right. You took the worst of it. I shudder to think how bad it would have been if Andy hadn’t walked through the door. He was raising the bat to smash your head. We got lucky.” Denise sobbed.
“I can’t believe it’s this bad. How can we stop him? Or did the police finally get him again and put him away without bail?”
“No,” Andy answered, “the bastard got away and is in the wind. Even his parents don’t know where he is, or at least they aren’t telling if they do.”
Denise sighed and winced in pain. “No, they wouldn’t say if they knew. They would just play dumb.” The doctor entered.
“Okay, everyone, Denise needs to rest. We’re going to keep her overnight for observation just to be sure there’s nothing major going on. If tonight is uneventful, she can go home tomorrow. And you, young lady,” he turned to Anne, “should be in your room. They’re getting ready to give you discharge papers.”
“Yes, Doctor. I’m going.” Anne whisked away.
“Doctor, can I stay with Denise tonight to be sure her husband doesn’t show up?” Andrew asked.
“I suppose that would be okay, and actually a good idea, since we don’t know what he looks like. We’re transferring Denise from the ER to the main hospital for the night. You can come along.” Denise smiled.
“Thank you, sir. I appreciate you letting Andy stay with me. I’ll feel much safer.”
“No problem. I hope you have somewhere safe to go when you leave here.”
“She’s coming to my house and staying in the guest room. I’m taking some time off to stay with her and make sure she heals properly,” Andy replied. “I’ll make sure she’s safe.”
“All right then, let’s get her into a new room and make sure she can leave tomorrow.”
The next day, Andrew took Denise to his house. Most of her things were in his trunk already from the night before, prior to the attack. Denise had called work the evening before and left a voice mail about needing short term disability to recover. Her boss called that morning, granting the request, offering to bring the paperwork to her for signing. Andrew had called out on vacation for three days, which was also approved.
“I’m so glad you were there to save me and Anne,” Denise told Andy. “I can’t bring myself to imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t been there.”
“Don’t think about it,” Andy answered. “You don’t need that stress right now. What’s important is that you and the baby are all right, and I won’t let him hurt you again.”
Andy showed Denise how to use the security system, and insisted that if she was there alone it was to be on, with no entry delay. “I can disarm it from my keychain when I get back to the house, so you don’t need to worry.”
“This really does make me feel safer. You have no idea!” Denise eased herself gingerly onto the sofa.
“Do you need your pain meds?” he asked.
“It probably would be a good idea,” she agreed. He gave her the pills with a glass of water, and sat next to her on the couch, rubbing her feet tenderly. “I may fall asleep on you, if you keep that up.”
“That’s fine,” he smiled at her. “I’ll cover you up and figure out what’s for lunch and dinner. Any preferences?”
“Whatever you offer will be fine with me,” Denise replied. She winked at him. “I think I need that nap now. These pain meds are stronger than I expected.”
“Do you want to lie down here, or in the guest room?”
“Here is fine. The bustling of you doing your thing will keep me at ease, I think. If I’m totally shut off from the noise, I’m afraid I’ll have bad dreams.”
Andy covered her with an afghan and leaned down to kiss her. Again, she melted from his kiss, and could feel every fiber of her being aching to be with him intimately. ‘Maybe,’ she thought, ‘we’ll have time to get to know each other better. I know I’m still married, but it can’t be wrong to do this after what my husband did to me.’ She sighed happily. “That kiss will keep me warm and keep the bad dreams away for sure!” she said.
“Good,” Andy replied. “That was my plan.” He winked back at her. “Now get some rest.”