20. Monroe

CHAPTER 20

MONROE

" T his is honestly beautiful."

I was standing in Papa's shop, looking at an intricate design he'd created on this dining table. It was a beautiful, dark wood with the center carved out of the middle. Instead of a fabric running, these people would have a permanent one that had been hand-carved by my papa.

It looked like a thinner version of the tree of life. Most would think it'd turn into a dust collector, but it wouldn't. After he carved it, he put this special coating on it. Not resin because the entire thing wasn't filled. I was sure of that once I'd run my hand over the carving. Then he turned on the lights that somehow shone up from the bottom.

"It's a masterpiece," Dad told him, then he gave him a kiss.

My dads never shied away from affection just because I was there. Appropriate affection because they were my dads and any more than light pecks would have made me nauseous.

"You know you're going to have to do my entire house when I buy one someday, right?" I said.

He chuckled and nodded. "I do know that. It'll be my pleasure. Assuming your husband even likes my work."

I scoffed. "First of all, who's to say I'm going to buy a house only once I'm married? How do you know I won't buy a house next year? I won't be married next year. Secondly, do you think I'd care who liked what? Your stuff is gorgeous and has a really high resale value, especially for pieces you've done yourself. He'd have to live with it until I sold everything."

Both of my dads were roaring with laughter, knowing that I'd never sell one of Papa's pieces. Though anyone who didn't like his stuff was probably not someone I could be with.

"Nice shirt," Papa said as he flung an arm around me, squeezing me to him.

"I like it." I'd gotten it online. It had Medusa in the middle and read The Female Gaze across the top and Petrify the Patriarchy along the bottom.

"Very Monroe," Dad agreed. "All right, both of you. I have to get to work. Meeting in about thirty minutes. I love you both and will see you later." He dropped a kiss to the top of my head, gave Papa another quick one, then hurried out.

As busy as Dad was, he always made time for us.

"Is he going to take time off for your vacation or is he working through it?" I asked as we walked back toward Papa's office.

"Time off. He's not allowed to bring anything with him. Are you still coming with us?" He dropped into his chair at his desk. It was just like the one he had at home and no, it wasn't one of his. There were a ton of his pieces around the house, but he hated doing desks and would usually only design them.

"You know… I don't think so." Even though I wanted to badly. I hadn't been to Hawaii since I was sixteen.

He raised his eyebrows. "No?"

"No." Though it was something I'd decided here in the moment. Originally, I'd been excited when they'd asked and had planned on going. "You two deserve a vacation of your own," I explained. "You always take me and this time it should just be the two of you."

Even when I'd been little, they'd always taken me. Part of that was because there hadn't been anyone close enough to us they'd felt comfortable leaving me with. Part of it was because they'd said they wanted to experience all of it with me. Like my face the first time I'd seen the Eiffel Tower.

There were some short overnights and weekend trips that they'd gone on without me once I'd been older and could stay home alone, but a true vacation? None.

"We love having you with us and now that you're an adult, it's not like having your kid with you."

"But it is still like having a third wheel," I countered. "So no, you two go. I'll handle everything at the house and if you want, I can take messages for work so that everything is organized when you get back."

Because being gone from a business like this was a pain, though Papa had the best assistant known to man. Still, I did need to have something to do this summer now that I didn't have to work to pay for the damage to Owen's car.

"We'll think of something." But then he needed to get to work, so I was going to head home to change before I met up with Cobb for his meeting with the not-baby-mama.

"Um, so do you want to tell your friend that I don't need the job anymore or should I call him?" I asked but then quickly added, "I should call him right? That's the grown up thing to do?"

Papa chuckled. "It is but he's coming in here this afternoon. I'll tell him. Since he hadn't fit you in yet, I don't think he'll be upset."

"Thank you, Papa." I hurried over and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Now get out of here so I can get some work done."

Which was exactly what I did.

I was only about two miles from home when the lights began flashing behind me. Moving the car over, I hoped the cop just wanted to get past me, but nope. He pulled over behind me.

"What the hell?" I muttered. I hadn't been speeding, hadn't run any lights or signs that I knew of. This didn't make any sense.

Now, I had to wait.

The officer approached the car the way they always do. With caution and suspicion since they never know what they're going to find. And Dad had taught me how to handle these things over the years and what I actually had to comply with. So I sat there with my hands on the steering wheel and waited.

"Roll the window down," he said through the glass. It wasn't until he'd spoken that I reached over and hit the button. "License."

I blew out a breath. This was how it was going to work.

As I grabbed my purse, making slow, purposeful movements so that he wouldn't get spooked, and pulled my wallet out, I ask, "What am I being pulled over for?"

"License," he repeated.

I couldn't get a good look at him. He was tall enough but probably didn't reach six feet and was in good shape if his arms had anything to say about it. Almost as soon as I handed him my ID, he said, "Step out of the car, please."

While trying not to panic, I stepped out of my car.

"Monroe Phillips?" he asked and I knew he was just confirming it. "You're under arrest."

I furrowed my brows and said, "Under arrest? What did I do?"

"I'll explain everything once I search you."

In the times that I'd been arrested, I'd been searched by a woman at the police station because I'd been arrested for protesting. The last time, it had again been a woman who'd done a very quick search at the site then done a more thorough one at the station.

But this man had me turn around and put my hands on the trunk of my car.

"Can we please request a female officer?" I asked because I could.

"None available."

Which didn't surprise me. He ran his hands over me. Luckily, I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt with sandals, so there wasn't much area to search. He used the backs of his hands to go under my breasts and between them. And to go over any other sensitive areas. He did what he was supposed to do and there wasn't anything creepy about it, but it still made me uncomfortable and I would've preferred a woman.

"Can you tell me why I'm being arrested now?" I asked when he turned me back around.

"Destruction of private property."

I punched my brows together in confusion. "Whose property?"

"They'll explain it at the station."

"Can we take my purse, please?" Because my car was going to get towed and who knew when I'd get it back. "And my phone?"

At first it looked like the cop was going to say no , but then he grabbed my purse but when he went to shove it into my purse, he missed and the phone fell to the ground and the sound of shattering glass made me cringe. My poor phone. Then he leaned in and turned my car off, leaving the keys. A second car showed up. I was put into the back seat of the second car and taken away. The original officer would have to deal with my car.

I dropped my head back onto the headrest and kept my mouth shut as my father had told me to do. He said never answer questions or offer any explanation. At least not until he was there. That was exactly what I did.

Sitting in a holding cell—again, with my knee bouncing because I was missing the meeting with Cobb today and couldn't even call him to tell him.

"Ready for your phone call?" The woman officer asked outside the holding cell.

"Yes, please."

Luckily, she didn't put handcuffs on me again. If I never had another pair of those on me, it'd be too soon. But then there was the dilemma.

Realistically, I knew I had to call my dad. He was the one who could help me. But my heart wanted to call Cobb so at least he'd know that I hadn't stood him up. This was beyond my control. Not to mention, I didn't actually know Cobb's number from memory.

My dad's, I did.

He picked up on the second ring, probably used to seeing calls from jail come up on his caller ID.

"Jonathan Phillips," he answered, his voice strong. I'd have to brace for the disappointment I was about to hear.

"Dad," I said.

He sighed into the phone. "Monroe?"

"I'm going to need some help."

"Clearly."

Another thing Dad had explained was to not say much on the phones in any jail or prison because they were monitored. He covered the phone and spoke to someone on his end, then came back and said, "I'll be right there. Don't say anything."

Then he hung up without waiting for a response.

Back in the cell, I sat, knee bouncing again, knowing that Dad was going to be pissed when he got here, though he wouldn't show it. He'd believe me, I reminded myself. I had to believe he would. I'd never lied to him about why I was arrested before or really about anything and I wouldn't start now. Hopefully that long history would pay off here.

The woman reappeared to take me to an interview room. This was where I'd get to talk to my dad before I was questioned by police. I'd made it clear I wouldn't answer anything without my lawyer. I'd said that right away so they wouldn't even keep asking.

"Monroe," Dad said as soon as I'd gotten into the room. I ran into his arms, where he held me tightly. For some reason, this arrest scared me. "What'd you do?"

I pulled away. "Nothing. Destruction of private property, apparently, but I don't even know whose property I supposedly destroyed."

Dad pursed his lips and cocked his head to the side. "Sure you do. Owen's."

I stepped back then began to pace. "When did I supposedly do that?"

"This morning," he said.

"I didn't do anything, Dad. I was with Cobb in my apartment, then alone there, then Papa's shop with you, then on my way home, then here. I don't seek him out." My eyes burned with tears. "Why is he doing this?"

"Well, he clearly has a problem." Dad sat at the table and motioned for me to do the same across from him. "But we'll deal with that." He pulled his tablet out of his bag. "The complaint says that you showed up, were jealous because he was with another woman, then basically lost your shit. Kicked the door until it broke, shattered a few windows, left tire marks on the yard."

I narrowed my eyes. "Where would I do that? He lives in an apartment."

"His parents' house."

Shaking my head, I told him, "I don't even know where his parents live."

"Several of his friends gave statements saying it was you." He glanced up at me. "This isn't great, but I think if we can piece things together by the minute, we'll be fine. But you have to let me file an order against him, Monroe. This is ridiculous and I'm not waiting for him to escalate."

"Yeah," I told him. "You can do that." Because at this point, I needed something to back me up.

"I have the video from the ring camera from the night he showed up. I saved it just in case. That alone should be enough to show that he's the one with the problem here."

"Good. But what about today? I'm supposed to be meeting Cobb…" I flipped his phone around so that I could see the time and groaned. "In twenty minutes."

Dad shook his head. "That's not going to happen. I'm going to work on this now, but it's going to take a little bit. I'll go see the prosecutor to work this out and file the protection order so he has to stay away from you."

"I will be waiting patiently," I said. Dad scowled. "OK, not patiently." Dad got up but I'd have to wait right where I was for the officer to come get me.

"I'll be back soon."

Then Dad was gone and I was spent staring at the gray floor of the holding cell for hours.

It was almost dinner time when the door opened again and Dad peeked his head through. "We're good to go."

I hopped up so quickly and hurried out that door. I never wanted to get arrested again.

The sun was still bright when I stepped out. We were headed to Dad's car since mine had been impounded. It wasn't until we were inside his car that I asked any questions due to him telling me over and over to always assume someone was listening in public spaces.

"So… what happened?" I asked.

"With everything about your morning, the ring camera showing you leave, Papa and I being able to vouch for you at the shop—along with security cameras there—the prosecutor agrees that the timeline doesn't work. There's no way you could be at Owen's parents' house on the south side."

My eyes widened. I would've had to be fucking Houdini with a magical unicorn to make it out there, destroy some property, and get back in the amount of time I had unaccounted for this morning.

"The officer who pulled you over was on his way to your apartment to arrest you. He just happened to see you before he got there."

"Lucky timing." I rolled my eyes. "So it's done?"

"Yeah. They sent a couple of officers out to talk to Owen. He might get arrested for filing a false report. Mostly, I asked them to scare him into leaving you alone."

"Officers you know?" I asked. He nodded. "That figures." And was also a reason I never broke any laws outside of being arrested at protests. But as a teenager, I'd never known which cops my dad knew and which he didn't. Also, it hadn't mattered because he'd find out what I'd been doing, anyway. And my dads had never given me a reason to rebel.

"Also, the officer who took the complaint is the same one who arrested you. Turns out, he's Owen's cousin," Dad said. I didn't understand why that was significant. "Without going into it, let's just say that not everything in the report was accurate, so he's getting his wrist slapped for that. And has been highly encouraged to make it clear to Owen that he needs to leave you alone."

"And the protection order?" My stomach clenched at the idea of getting one. There were too many horror stories about women who got one and all it did was trigger the guy. I just didn't want to deal with him.

"I've filed, but it takes time. Since he never actually hit you…" Dad looked at me with raised brows. I shook my head. He was an asshole, but he hadn't hit me. "It might not be top priority. Honestly, I don't know that I can make a convincing stalking allegation, either, since this is sporadic and he's not showing up where you are that we know of."

"OK." I blew out a breath. "We'll just see what happens with this, then."

"Yeah. And don't worry. This arrest won't be on your record."

I snickered. There was enough there already. "And my car?"

"Oh, right. We'll have to pick that up. They were already processing it, so it'll be tomorrow."

"Fine by me. I'm not leaving my apartment tonight."

"Oh, your phone was broken." I'd been afraid of that when I heard the glass shatter. "It won't even turn on."

"So I need to get a new one."

He nodded. "I'll get you a new one tonight."

"Thanks, Dad."

Because there seemed to be the safest place for me right now. How did I know if I walked out of the house, I wouldn't be arrested again? I didn't even call Cobb because by now, he was at the game. I'd wait until he called me after.

Instead, I ordered some Chinese food from Dad's phone before he left to get me a new one and plopped myself in front of my TV to watch the Knights game. Every once in a while, the camera would show the dugout and my stomach would clench. Cobb was normally relax as he sat watching the game, but tonight his jaw was tense, like he was clenching his teeth and he looked… unhappy.

Which made me really want to know what the hell had happened at that meeting.

I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart.

Hopefully, he'd come to my apartment after and I could find out then.

Cobb couldn't call me after the game because if he did, it'd go right to voicemail. By the time I realized he wasn't going to, it was late enough that I knew he wasn't coming here. He needed his sleep and didn't stay up late.

Dad hadn't brought me the new phone which probably meant he'd also gotten in late and figured he'd give it to me in the morning.

I'd have to deal with it tomorrow.