That Night | JenLisa FF

Part 16

Jennie held up a finger to bid the delivery man to wait as she turned her full attention to the phone. "Excuse me?" she said.

Jennie listened in growing horror and finally clicked off the phone, running out of the room.

Forty minutes later, she was striding up the sidewalk to Canny's school when she saw him. He was leaning with deceptive ease against a building, watching her with a malevolent smile. She approached him cautiously. Surely, he wouldn't try anything in public.

Jennie didn't even see Pete move before he backhanded her with enough force to send her stumbling. His hand clamped around her upper arm, and he yanked her back to her feet before she could fall. In a fluid move, he slammed her back against the building. She yelped, but before she could move, he pinned her there with his hands on her shoulders. "You stupid whore," he snarled. "After everything I did for you, this is how you pay me back? I can't even take my own daughter out of school?"

Jennie stared up at him defiantly. "She's not your daughter, Pete. Remember?"

"You bitch," he hissed, pulling her away from the wall and slamming her back against it brutally.

Jennie winced as her head hit the concrete, but she didn't cry out. She glared up at him. "I'm not afraid of you anymore," she told him coldly.

He laughed, leaning in closer. "I always knew you weren't very smart," he said, smirking. He used his grip on her arm to pull her away from the wall, dragging her toward a waiting limo. "We're going to have a little chat, Jennie," he said.

"Hey!"

Jennie and Pete both turned towards the shout. Jennie had just enough time to jump back out of the way as Lisa's punch sent Pete sprawling. Lisa yanked her out of Pete's range. "Get inside," she ordered, pushing her towards Canny's school.

Jennie stumbled, landing with jarring force on the cold concrete. She skittered back out of the way and turned to see one of the school administrators offering her a hand up. "The police are on their way," the woman informed her.

Swivelling around again, Jennie watched Lisa and Pete fight. For years, Jennie had lived in fear of her ex-husband, but that evaporated as she watched Lisa batter him like a rag doll. Lisa was smaller, but it was her anger, not her size that gave her the advantage as she brutally beat the offensive prick into the sidewalk.

***

"What's this?" the detective asked, looking at the large accordion folder Jennie had pushed across the table.

"Medical records, witness testimony," Jennie said tautly. "I want to bring charges against Peter Lee for the years of abuse I sustained. As well as attempted kidnapping charges from today's incident, for both me and my daughter."

Detective Kate Robinson nodded, grimly opening the file folder. She couldn't help but cringe as she looked at the full colour photos of Jennie beaten and bruised. Even a cursory glance showed that her ex-husband's abuse had been violent and sustained. There were at least two dozen police reports from various incidents over the course of their relationship. Why exactly none of them had been followed through wasn't clear. Kate bristled. It looked like the Lee name had managed to sweep quite a few bad times under the rug. Well, they were about to come to light.

Jennie straightened her spine, trying to maintain as much composure as possible. She hated admitting that she had been a victim for so long and irrational as it might be, she still felt guilt over it. She knew this was going to be a long and painful process, but she also knew it was far overdue.