The Wolf That Saved Me

Chapter 4: Jake's Diner

NATALIE KANE

I started to internally panic as Dylan pushed open the door. Why was he leaving? Were they letting him go? Why wasn't he locked in a jail cell? Tears began to fall from my eyes as I continued to stare at the exit, not moving a muscle.

I jumped and almost fell out of my chair, as I felt a hand lightly grip my shoulder. I whipped my head around to face Jenna, my chest heaving as I began to sob harder. She grabbed my trembling hands in an attempt to calm me, but nothing could ease my nerves right now, not even Jenna. "What, Nat? What happened? What's going on?" She was looking intently into my eyes, but I was looking right through her, my mind was in a fog. "Nat." She shook me a little to get my attention. I swallowed harshly and stared back, acknowledging her. "Talk to me," she said, soothingly.

"Dylan. He - he..." I was a blubbering mess and my mind was a jumble, I couldn't seem to get the words out right.

Jenna's eyes grew wide and I could see her brain churning a mile a minute. Her face turned into a scowl and her eyebrows furrowed. "What?" she shouted, probably louder than she should have. "Did you see him? What did that son of a bitch do?"

I suddenly found my voice. "He just walked right out the door and left," I went off. "Why the fuck did they just let him leave? Why isn't he in fucking jail? He threatened me, Jen. He walked right past me and threatened me. This was a stupid idea. I fucked with him, and now he's going to come after me. I should have just laid low and left shit alone. I'm such an idiot. What am I going to do?"

Jenna looked like a deer in headlights, stunned by what had just come out of my mouth. She opened her mouth, closed it, then scrunched her nose as if she was thinking really hard. "What?" She ran her fingers through her hair while pacing back and forth.

"He's out there, God knows where, waiting for me. And if I thought he was mad at me for hitting him in the head with a chair and running out on him before, he's a thousand times more enraged now. What the hell was I thinking?"

"Okay, calm down," Jenna said, resting her hands on my shoulders. "He's not going to lay a finger on you ever again. We'll get a restraining order, we'll fight this. I'll do everything in my power to make sure that asshole rots behind bars." A look of concern was plastered on her face.

Within moments, an officer appeared at my side. "Good afternoon, Natalie. My name is Officer Travis." He extended his hand for me to shake it, but I didn't move and stared blankly at his face.  Noticing my distress, he asked, "Is everything alright?"

I was so tired of people asking me that question, and I was so tired of telling people I was okay, because, truth be told, I wasn't okay. I was far from okay. My life had been turned upside down and I had no idea what I was doing or what was going to happen, and that terrified me. So when I had been asked that same question for what felt like the millionth time, I lost it. "No, it's not," I snapped. Both Officer Travis and Jenna had stunned expressions on their faces at my sudden outburst, but I couldn't hold my tongue any longer. Today was just too much for me. "Why did you let Dylan go? Why did you just let him leave? Why the hell did I see him just walk right out that door?" I angrily pointed at the exit while choking back tears.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Kane," Officer Travis replied. "Mr. Kane made bail. Legally, we can't hold him until after the trial."

I was becoming more frustrated by the second. "And when will that be?" I asked, impatiently.