Into My Own

Sixteen

Walking through the door into the sheriff's office several hours later, I was definitely considering backing out of the whole thing.

Jake and Cody had met me in the lobby and escorted me through a maze of doors and hallways.

They pointed out the room where Cody's dad was waiting and left me alone after assuring me that it would be fine and I wasn't in any sort of trouble.

I didn't realize I'd been holding my breath until Sheriff Jackson stood up to greet me.

I blew it out quickly. "Uh, hi."

The tall man shook my hand warmly, his imposing frame making me feel even more anxious.

"Have a seat, Miss Paxton."

I did as I was told and chewed my lip in silence as he shuffled a few papers.

"One day trials like this don't happen very often, but my son told me you weren't going to press charges otherwise. Neither of us could just let something like this happen and not do anything about it." He smiled fondly at his son's kind heart.

"Yes sir."

He cleared his throat. "I've already had those two give me their side of the story as witnesses. Why don't we start by you telling me yours?"

I sucked in a shaky breath and began to relay my experience.

Mr. Jackson asked questions occasionally to clarify but otherwise stayed silent, jotting down notes.

I was gripping my forearm so tight with my left hand that I left slight fingernail scratches by the end of the interview.

"Well, this is obviously a case of attempted sexual assault. The boys also showed me the threatening messages he sent you, granting grounds for a harassment charge too. That being said, we should have enough evidence to press charges without further investigation."

"Really?" I gasped hopefully.

"Really." Jackson nodded, a slight smile playing on his lips.

For the first time all day, I felt like I was able to breathe. "Oh, thank god. And thank you! You have no idea how much I appreciate this."

"People like him need to be locked up," he explained. "And I'm very glad you chose to take my son up on his offer to help press charges."

"I am too. Thanks so much."

"Now I have a few forms here for you to sign, including the restraining order..." He went on to explain the details of each sheet of paper, which I signed eagerly.

"Alright young lady, you're free to go."

I grinned and stood up to shake his hand vigorously, thanking him over and over.

I was able to drive home singing happily after thanking Jake and Cody as well.

***

"Where in the hell were you all day?" Torrin questioned in his usual gruff manner.

"Had to grab some stuff at the store and ran into Oakley," I lied, brushing past him in the hallway.

Nightmares plagued me again. I got probably four hours of sleep total for the second night in a row.

The whole scenario played over and over, sometimes ending worse than it actually did. Even though I knew I was safe, my internal chicken didn't think so.

"Hey!" Oakley called, skipping through the door at work on Monday.

"Morning." I raised a hand in greeting.

She stopped dead in her tracks. "You look like hell. What happened?"

"Just didn't sleep well." I replied.

She seemed skeptical but let it slide.

"Hey, where'd you go on Saturday? I wanted to hang out after we showed!" She paused. "Congrats, by the way!"

"I went to get food and got caught talking to some friends."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry. Dad wanted to leave right after. How did showing go for you?"

"My sheep was retarded so I didn't even get called back." She rolled her eyes.

"Sounds about right." I laughed.

She stuck her tongue out in response.

Work was moderately busy. By the time it was over, I was even more exhausted than that morning.

"Once again, you look like hell. Go home and get some sleep," Oakley demanded.

"Okay, mom."

"I'm serious!" She squealed, smacking my arm.

"Fine. I'll try," I consented.

"Good."