Page 50 of Punishing Penelope

Officer down. Request backup.

We’re already on our way, our sirens wailing.

Penelope

It’s getting late. He doesn't call, and the knock on my door I wait for doesn't happen.

Finally, I’ve had it and call Jake Soderling, my go-to guy for tech stuff.

“You working?”

“Wilder? Hi. Nah. Netflix and chill.”

I hear a rustling, suspiciously like someone digging in a bag of chips.

“Alone?”

“Yeah… Hey, I can chill with Netflix alone!”

“That’s not what… never mind. I don’t need to know. I need a phone number, and like yesterday, please. Guy called Peter Hale. Peter Alan Hale, to be precise.” I wouldn’t have thought I remembered Peter's middle name, but it comes back to me as fast as my feelings for him did.

“Oookay? Now?”

“Yes!”

“Are you working?”

I grimace, even though he can’t see it.

“Ish.”

“All right. You said Hale, Peter. Address?”

I give him the name of the street, but fuck if I remember which number.

“Hang on a sec.” I pull up Google Maps on my laptop, tap the speaker on the phone, and throw it next to me on the table. Zoomed in on his block, I switch to street-view and rush along the boulevard I traveled last night and again this morning, my heart clenching when his front door comes into view. “552.”

“Gotcha.”

I listen to the clickety-clack on a keyboard, my legs twitching with itchiness.

My stomach plummets when Jake can’t find a match.

“Who’s this guy?”

“He’s a cop.”

He makes a clicking sound. “Secret number.”

“Well, fuck! Okay, thanks.” I disconnect and dart up.

I don’t have his number, but I know where he lives. If he thinks he can come back into my life and get away with being all… manly and claim-y and promise he’ll see me again, he has another think coming.

He woke me. He pulled me back from the emotional numbness I’ve lived in. My blood has sizzled in my veins all day as I typed away on my keyboard, made calls, and pulled at my contacts to get things rolling.

I have bruises the size of dinner plates that’ll take weeks to heal, and I ache everywhere. It’s been a delightful day.

Speeding at a snail’s pace across central L.A. to Culver, I gnash my teeth at the traffic and red lights.