“Luke?!” I called out the window, slamming on the brakes.
He saw the truck and his face lit up with hope.
I felt pride rise in my body; I loved being his hero.
Luke opened the door of my truck and climbed into the passenger seat.
“Are you okay?” I asked him, looking him up and down to check for any signs of an anxiety attack.
“Yeah, I’m fine…” he said. “She’s just… she’s crazy!”
“Who?”
“My mom!”
I raised an eyebrow. Luke had told me before about how sometimes she seemed a little unstable, but she was Sarah DuPont for crying out loud. Of course she was unstable; no one could have their life under that much control.
“She threw plates at me!” he cried.
I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. “What?”
“She’s completely losing it. Please Adam, I can’t go back there. Please, let me come hang out with you for today?” he begged.
“Of course you can come with me for the day. I do have to work though, would you like to come on a ride-along with me?”
He brightened up, then nodded.
“Okay. Well, I’m going to go check on your mom.”
His face froze up with fear. “No! Adam, you can’t take me back there, she’s—”
“It’s my job,” I said in my authoritarian voice.
He quieted down.
“Don’t worry, there’s nothing I can’t handle,” I said with confidence. But I couldn’t prevent my voice from faltering a little at the end as I remembered that day… that one day that I certainly couldn’t handle.
“Okay,” Luke said. But it was clear that he noticed my confidence crack.
When he grabbed my hand, an unspoken understanding passed between us.
He would let me have this.
I drove my truck to Luke’s tall, perfect subdivision house and parked it in the street.
“Wait here, okay? I’ve talked to you mom a few times; she’ll recognize me,” I assured him.
Then I got out of the truck and walked up to the front door, wondering what the hell I was getting myself into.
I knocked three times and waited. There were footsteps on the other side of the door, coming closer.
All of my senses were on high-alert as I steeled myself, not knowing which Sarah was going to open the door: The impressive, powerful woman who was the savior of this town, or the unstable woman Luke described.
Relief flooded through me as a very put-together Sarah opened the door. The only thing about her that looked out of place was the look of confusion forming on her fierce features.
“Officer Brady?” she asked.
I cleared my throat. “Mrs. DuPont, nice to see you.”
There was an awkward pause as neither of us really knew what to say next.
“What can I help you with, Officer?” she asked, swinging the door open a little further. I was stunned for a minute by the way she was standing: Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was leaning all of her weight into one foot, just like Luke did sometimes. And her steely gray eyes pierced into me the same way that Luke’s always did.
“I’m just checking in on you,” I said. “I know from your husband that… well, I heard the news. I’m so sorry.”
“My hus— my ex-husband called the police on me?” she said. I could tell she was trying to look hurt, but she pursed her lips. And there was this quivering coming off of her. Her pupils contracted ever so slightly.
Rage.
“He did not. I’m in my civilian clothes, see?” I gestured to my black v-neck and jeans.
“Well, if he didn’t call you on me, why are you here?” she questioned.
Her steel gray eyes were sussing me out like a surgical knife, excising all of my secrets. How the hell did Luke live with this every day?
“It’s common that when spouses separate, we check in on each of them to make sure they’re okay.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“We’re here to serve the community, ma’am,” I said.
That seemed to land; her eyes softened.
“Well, I’m doing well since he left. Better than ever, actually.”
Her voice went up an octave towards the end. She was hiding something.
There was an awkward silence that stretched out between us. I was waiting for her to invite me inside.
But instead, she just kept fixing that steely gaze on me, staring me down like a predator. She knew I was waiting for her to invite me inside, and she wasn’t going to do it.
“Well… if you ever have any trouble with your ex-husband, I want you to give me a call,” I said, handing her a business card.
“Thank you, Officer Brady,” she said in her most official, politician-sounding voice. “Stay safe out there.”
Then she closed the door in my face.
* * *
“I told you, she’s crazy!” Luke proclaimed as we drove away.
I couldn’t deny that there was something… off about her. I made a mental note to keep an eye on her.
“She didn’t let me in,” I said simply.
“Yeah, I bet she didn’t!” Luke said, his voice rising into a panic. “She didn’t want you to see the real her. For her, it’s… well, it’s all about appearances.”
I nodded quietly, thinking about Erin— Jake’s now ex-wife.
Whenever she was around, she would be enraptured by her phone, trying to take the perfect pictures for Instagram so that others could see her “perfect” life. Even at Thanksgiving last year, from what Jake told, me, that was all fake too.
“I’m a little scared about what she’s going to do—” Luke said, biting his nails and looking out the window.
“Your mother will be fine,” I reasoned with him. “She’s an adult. She can take care of herself. And I’ll make sure the police department keeps an eye on her.”
He turned his eyes back to me, panicked.
“She’ll never know,” I explained.
Luke visibly relaxed.
A few seconds of silence passed before I said softly, “…I’ve got a surprise for you.”
He unfolded his legs and looked interested. “Surprise?”
“Yeah, I hope you’re the type that likes surprises…”
“Does it have to do with the ride-a-long?” He asked.
“No…” I said, a grin
