Saving Us (Mitchell Family #6)(24)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Two police cars were pulled in front of the salon. Conner pulled into a spot and we headed in together. Right before I got to the door, he ran ahead and opened it for me. Once inside I couldn’t believe my eyes. My salon stations had been ripped out of the wall. The seats were ripped out of the floor and laid on their sides. One had been tossed clear across the room. The mirrors were all shattered.

An officer approached me. "Excuse me, Ma’am, is your name Amy?"

I didn’t want to hear my last name so I cut in. "Yes, yes that’s me. I’m the owner. Please tell me you caught the person who did this."

"I’m afraid we were hoping you could give us a lead. This kind of thing doesn’t exactly happen in our small town. Can you think of anyone that would want to do this? Is anyone holding a grudge against you? Did you make someone’s hair fall out?" He started laughing until Conner jumped in his shit.

"Do we have a problem here? This woman’s business has been vandalized and you’re makin’ hair jokes? What kind of pu**y ass cop are you?"

The cop cocked his eyebrow. I got in between them and turned to Conner. "Walk away. Please."

He seemed pissed that I could ask him to do that, but turned and walked away anyway. I turned around to face the cop again. He put his head down. "I’m sorry, ma’am. It was inappropriate."

"Look, all I care about is finding out what I have to do next. You were asking if I knew anyone that would be capable of doing this. The answer is yes, I do. My ex-husband has threatened my life and everything I love. Is that the kind of person you are looking for?"

I think he was shocked that I was so dead serious. "Yeah, can you give us his information, or maybe his whereabouts?"

"I have no idea where you can find him. Once I left, I never wanted to see him again. Is it common to keep tabs on ex-spouses?"

Another officer came walking out from the back room. He looked from his partner then to me. "I think you need to take a look back here."

All of us, including Conner, rushed to the back room. I couldn’t believe that it could get any worse, but as I stood there looking at the mess, I realized that I was wrong. All of the chemicals that I used for dying hair had been busted open and poured out. The smell alone was enough to knock someone out. I pulled my shirt up over my face, while I took in the rest of the room. It was a mess, but the worst part was the words written on the far wall.

This is just the beginning.

I fell into Conner’s arms. Rick had destroyed the one thing that was mine. As I stood there crying, Conner guided me out of the back room. He sat a chair upright and got me sitting. "Breathe, Amy."

I took deep breaths and looked around again. The place was destroyed beyond repair. It was going to need to be gutted out before it could be salvaged. I broke into a crying fit and I just couldn’t stop. I was never going to get away from Rick. He wasn’t going to stop.

When I heard my father’s voice, I looked up. He caught my gaze and headed in my direction, ignoring the officer. "Amy, sweetheart, are you okay?"

"I wasn’t here when it happened, Dad. I went home early today. It’s destroyed. Everything is ruined!"

He kneeled down and put his hands on my knees. "We have insurance. All I care about is you being safe." He looked around the room again. "My God, was this Rick’s doing?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"That son of a bitch is going to pay, sweetie. Lord, I was so afraid when I got that call." He pulled me into his arms. "I just got you back. I can’t imagine losing you."

I cried even more. "I know, Dad. I feel the same way."

Once he pulled away he stood up and shook hands with Conner. "Son, do you have any place that you can take her where she’ll be safe? I can handle this place, but I need to know that she’ll be somewhere that he can’t get to her. Her and that baby are my main concern."

"I can take her back to Kentucky. My family has a ranch."

He nodded. "Good. Leave as soon as you can and call me when you get there. These cops need to catch this son of a bitch. If he is this hell bent, then there is no telling what he is capable of."

I sat there quietly listening to the two of them making decisions regarding me. I was in no position to do it myself. Rick was out for blood and I was the first one on his list.

"I need to stay and deal with the officers."

"I have this, sweetie. You let Conner take you home and get you safe. Everything can be replaced except for you." Hearing my father say such gentle words was the best kind of medicine to cure my broken heart. I looked around at my dilapidated salon. Everything that I had worked so hard for was destroyed. That bastard ruined everything.

I got up and walked toward the officer who was working on the report. "Excuse me, my father is here now. Do you need anything else from me? I’m not feeling very well."

"Just make sure we have the right number for you and you can leave. If we need anything else we will call you."

I walked over to my dad and hugged him one more time. "Thanks for coming."

"You don’t have to thank me. It’s what parents do. This bastard has cost me precious time with you, Amy. You go somewhere and be safe. That young man you’re with loves you. I can see it every time he looks at you. That’s the kind of man that I wanted you to end up with. I think he’ll be a good father. He’s hell-bent on protecting you."

I turned to look back at Conner. He was talking to the other officer about something. For all I knew he was telling him how much of a douche his partner was. "He is a good man. I don’t know what I would have done had he not been in my life."

"Don’t you worry about any of this. I will handle it all. Once you are in Kentucky we can talk about what we need to do."

He hugged me tighter and kissed the top of my head. "I’m so glad that we have each other again. I missed you so much, Daddy."

Maybe it was just me being overemotional. Maybe it was my hormones, but at that very moment he was my daddy and I was his little girl.

A few minutes after, we were heading back to the farm. Conner hadn’t said much to me since I had snapped at him, but instead of bringing it up, he pulled me close into his arms. "It’s goin’ to be alright, Amy. I promise you, it will."

Chapter 16

Conner

I never wanted to hurt someone like I wanted to hurt that mother f**ker for destroying Amy’s salon. What kind of monster preys on women like this guy? The police said they would do their best to find him, but I wasn’t that convinced considering how they treated Amy during their questioning. I could have punched that little prick out for what he said to her. Didn’t people have any compassion? She was devastated.