#leahholt

#NewRelease #KU ➙ Title: Man Seeking Woman Author: Leah Holt Genre: Contemporary Romance I needed a job, and he had a special position just for me...

If they were friends--and they weren’t--he would’ve joked about being serenaded in the office. How the whole thing was too soon and roses weren’t his thing. He was a daisy kind of guy. But Detective Hansen knew better than to joke as the fear was eminent on Leah’s face. Her jaw was tight, eyes flickered back and forth between the letter and his own face just waiting for him to see what was written inside.

He flipped the letter opened and saw in block letters a single threat.

If I can’t have you, no one will.

Detective Hansen shook his head at the warning in blue ink. The bastard stuck this along with a rose as if it was nothing but a small ordeal.

“Is this enough?”

Her words were laced with worry and rightfully so. He listed out all the reasons beforehand of why she couldn’t obtain a restraining right then and there but now it was different. There was evidence sitting right in front of him. He pushed off from his desk to grab the necessary paperwork and handed them all to Ms. Vaughn.

“It’s temporary so eventually you’ll have to obtain a new one, but Mr. Duncan won’t be allowed within 50 yards of your person with this.”

“Do I have to serve the papers to him myself?”

“No, I’ll do it. You don’t have to see this man anymore.”

Detectives weren’t needed to serve restraining orders and subpoenas. That kind of job was for the local police to handle. In the end he was going to serve those papers to see Carter Duncan go down and for the woman in front of him to have a breath of relief.

And she was in the Police Precinct which could only mean two things:

She was in trouble. 

Or

She was trouble. 

“ Hello Ms.-?”

“Vaughn. Leah Vaughn” 

“ And what can I help you with today?”

“ I want a restraining order against...against my ex.” 

He hated having this conversation. He hated having this conversation because people seem to think that getting a restraining order is a simply in-and-out process. He watches her facial expressions as he tells her whys and the hows as to why he can’t give her a restraining order. They aren’t pretty and they aren’t fair. Laws, in general, weren’t meant to be. 

“ So I’m just supposed to wait until something else happens?”

Exactly. 

And this was why he hated having this conversation because what happens if something does go horribly wrong? The attacker gets bold. The victim pays. And it’s only after the fact people start saying, “Well you should’ve gotten a restraining order.”   

Sometimes he thinks he became a detective because he didn’t understand the law. Because the damnedest thing about restraining orders is that they are only a piece of paper. They are only as good as the person it’s held against. If the person didn’t pay attention to the paper, the paper doesn’t do much good. 

He watched as she stomped out of his office, in her nicely fitting dress shaking his head. 

He hated having this conversation. 

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