Written In The Stars: Book Two

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: MISDEMEANORS

The most the police asked him was to confirm Elijah had punched Johnny in the face on Monday evening, which he owned up to freely. Elijah knew there was a chance he'd go to jail for that and accepted the fact before ever throwing the hit. Did Elijah want to go to jail? No. But if he was going to end his nearly ten-year streak of staying out of legal trouble, at least it was a good and satisfying reason.

After explaining the situation in full with Mitch and Mary backing it up, and being honest about his history many years prior, the police let him know charges wouldn't be filed at this time. They'd look at security footage from the hospital, and make their judgement. If they did get filed, they let him know to expect a disorderly conduct charge, which was around a two hundred dollar fine. Elijah would pay a thousand if he could hit him again, but thought it best not to establish a pattern, as tempting as it was.

Their interaction with Elijah was brief, as he hadn't shown up until the end yesterday, when Johnny was already loaded into the back of the police car. Still, Elijah stuck around.

Apparently, they'd taken it easy on Madeline the day before after seeing her physical state and not wanting to cause her further stress or discomfort. And as they apparently had yesterday, they were relaxed and composed with her, asking simple questions and waiting patiently for her answers.

Occasionally, Madeline would reach for her hand or her mother's, but she got through it like a champ. She admitted to not being as in love with the guy as she probably should have been considering they were engaged, but it still wasn't easy for her to witness his abrupt change and his temper after thinking she knew him well. Like Elijah had told her on the phone, she dodged a bullet by seeing his true colors when she did.

The ordeal took about an hour, but was relatively painless.

Johnny was being charged with trespassing, along with disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace. All that put together, and Johnny might end up serving jail time. The police could only do so much, so it would be up to Elijah to do the rest. No matter if she remained here or went to her parents, Johnny knew where to go looking if he had it in his mind to.

Both houses would need extra locks, their house likely new ones as well. Every entry way at both homes would need security cameras and probably alarm systems. Elijah couldn't legally own a gun due to his felony many years back, nor could he reside anywhere that had a gun on the premises. That meant that if the family made the decision to get Madeline out of the city and back home, doctor's requests be damned, Elijah would need to stay in the house he was building next door.

There was also another strong possibility that Madeline would no longer be the target of his wrath. No one said as much aloud, but the cops did seem interested in the few interactions Elijah had with Johnny. If Elijah and Madeline hadn't laid eyes on one another at the hospital, they would likely still be engaged.

It was Elijah she'd asked for. Yes, she was drugged to high hell at the time, but she asked for him, not her fiancé.

When they had their pissing contest in the waiting room, Mitch and Madeline called him out on his behavior toward Elijah.

He was the one to go back to the hospital the second time rather than simply be satisfied that she was alive, and going back to keeping his distance.

And yes, Elijah had punched him. It felt damn good doing it, but he laid him out on his ass in front of strangers, and in front of his fiancé's parents, who immediately took his side.

Then there was the ultimatum where Johnny demanded Madeline choose. She told him to fuck off and ended the engagement. Not because she chose Elijah, but because she chose not to allow herself to be controlled. But in that asshole's eyes, it was as good as choosing between the two men.

Of course, he couldn't forget that the guy's ex-fiancé now resided in a home with him.

Johnny wasn't a thug by any means. Not that anyone can't be capable of violent acts, but he was 'John the Third' with a decent job and wealthy family. He may have just been drunk and angry, acting stupid and reckless in the heat of the moment. Elijah had done that plenty of times. Shit, he'd done that for damn near two years straight. It wasn't a great comparison that helped Elijah through his thought process, since he knew he himself was capable of causing real physical pain if given a solid reason to.

Either way, they could prepare, but the rest was a wait and see. Elijah rubbed the back of his neck and let out a groan. "I'm going to shower and shave. When I get out, Mitch, we're going on a shopping trip."

Mitch tore his eyes away from the police walking toward the door and looked over at Elijah. "What for?"

"Locks and cameras," Elijah told him, stopping before he reached the first step. "He's getting charged with misdemeanors. That could go one of two ways. He'll either realize this was a stupid mistake and move on before he gets in any real trouble, or he'll just this to the rest of the shit he's pissed off about, and be ready to take his anger out. I don't know how it will go, because I don't know him.

"He could have been charged with a felony B&E and have to serve prison time, but he would have been out on bail in as little as twenty-four hours, and he'd really be hell bent on getting back at me or both of us for destroying his life, and you can bet your ass he wouldn't be blaming himself.

"But no matter which way Johnny decides to go, I'm going to be ready. If someone's at your front door or mine, I want to know the second it happens. The police station's only three blocks away, so my recommendation is we continue staying here. It might be a hell of a lot closer to him, but it would take the cops fifteen minutes to get to your house if you needed them."

"Elijah, aren't you jumping the gun a little?" Mary asked.

Elijah looked over at the cops, who could only say so much. "It's better to be safe than sorry, ma'am. A little extra security isn't a bad thing, and if we receive a call from this residence, we can be here in five minutes or less."