Loving Jared - Nikita Slater Page 0,30

a few minutes. They told us to stay inside your house and not leave until they're able to secure mine."

Jared nodded. Even knowing there was no one inside Amy's house, he figured it was best to go back inside his and wait for the police. "Send your brother a text. Tell him not to come home. Or if he does, tell him to come over to my house and not yours."

Amy picked up her phone and began texting. That was one of the things he loved about her. She could be stubborn, wanted her own way most of the time, which wasn't a problem for him because he loved giving her everything she wanted, but she rarely complained when Jared told her what to do. He was a reasonable guy, so he never gave her an order that wasn't necessary.

Amy and Jared decided to dish up plates for each of the girls so that they could eat before the police came. Amy gently explained to them that there was something going on over at their house and that the police would be there shortly. Given how curious and outgoing the two little girls were, it wouldn't take them long to notice all the activity. Amy skated around the truth without telling an outright lie. Jared was impressed at the deftness with which she handled giving her sister's information. He supposed that she had plenty of practice.

The police came and went in a predictable manner. They looked over Amy's house, assured her that no one was inside, and began questioning her about items that might've been stolen and anyone who might target her. A few minutes into the conversation, one of the officers finally recognized Jared. He'd been expecting it. Constable Kevin Smith had been on Jared's case for years. Whenever anything went down near one of the jobsites, this officer always took it upon himself to harass them.

Jared didn't particularly care about the officer and enjoyed playing cat and mouse games with him. However, when it came to Amy's comfort and safety, Jared no longer had a sense of humour.

Officer Kevin narrowed his eyes at Jared but spoke to Amy. "Where was your boyfriend while you were out shopping? He has a record, you know."

Jared wanted to put his fist through the other man's face, but Amy jumped in before he could. Her face flushed with anger and she jammed her fists over her hips. "Do you think it's cool to make fun of my boyfriend when I'm dealing with a break-in? I have children living in that house. Someone violated my space and you think it's okay to make nasty comments like that? Jared has had access to my home for almost a decade. Why would he decide to break in now?"

The officers face turned bright red and he tried to salvage the situation while saving face. "We'll have to check on him. He's a known criminal that lives in your area."

"If you want to waste time checking on Jared, that's your business. Just don't talk to me about it. And I will be speaking to your boss. We are the victims here, not the perpetrators. You can take your attitude and get off my front lawn if that's all you have to offer."

The other officer jumped in to smooth things over, pulling Amy to the side to talk to her rapidly and assure her that they were taking her case very seriously and that they would be not checking on her boyfriend.

Jared stood staring at Officer Kevin, his arms crossed, his tattooed biceps bulging in a not-so-subtle threat.

"When you're done checking on me, you might think to check on her father."

Kevin's lip curled in a sneer. "And why would we want to do that?"

"Because he was released from prison this morning. He called Amy right before he was released to tell her he needed money. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out this is probably the first place he’d go."

Amy's eyes were huge on Jared as she caught what he said. "How do you know that?"

"A buddy told me earlier.” He reached out to take her hand and draw her closer to his side. “I was gonna tell you, but the girls were around and I didn’t want to upset them."

Amy nodded, but it took her a few seconds to recover from the news enough to speak. She closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands while Jared wrapped an arm around her.

When she looked