There’s a stack of mail at my door—probably because I haven’t checked all week and the mail lady couldn’t fit any more in my mailbox.
I’ve got to get better at this.
I bend down and scoop them up before unlocking the door. Walking into the kitchen, I toss the mail on the counter and sort through it, separating the bills from everything else. At the bottom of the pile are three letters from my dad. I usually don’t write him back, but he sends them anyway, wanting to know how Everette and Emerson are doing, wanting to know how my injury is healing, wanting to know what I’ve been up to, asking me to come visit. It’s hard, knowing your old man couldn’t handle the heartbreak of losing the love of his life and turned to drugs to help himself cope.
When I was younger it just infuriated me, knowing that the boys and I weren’t enough for him to keep his head on straight. But the older I get, the more I understand how deeply he felt her loss and how hard it must’ve been for a father with three young boys to raise on his own. And now that I’ve met Raven, it’s even easier to understand.
Maybe I should write him back more often.
I put that thought away for another day.
I shower and dress quickly, anxious to get this over with and get back to her. I’m sure that the captain has received word that I stayed with Raven last night. I’m not going to be able to brush that off as extra investigating. I just hope he doesn’t throw me off the case. Checking myself over in the mirror, I snag my badge and weapon and head out.
The quick walk to the station allows me to collect my thoughts and try to figure out what I’m going to say to my boss. I think honesty is the best policy, and if it gets me kicked off the case then maybe I’ll take a few personal days and spend some time with Raven to make sure if someone comes for her again, I’ll be there to protect her and nail them.
As I walk down the sidewalk and approach the station, taking in the scene around me, I see a man playing a banjo out in the square with an open suitcase at his feet. I can smell the scent of sweets and goodies drifting out of the bakery I pass. Everyone smiles, waves, or tips their hat as I walk by.
Moving down south was the right decision for me. I’ve never felt more at home than I do here. Back in Delaware, most of my memories are bad ones. I barely remember my mom, and it’s hard to find a handful of good memories with my father.
Most consist of taking care of the boys and trying to keep them and myself out of trouble. When I think on it, it’s a damn miracle we all got out alive and not addicted to one vice or another. Although it may say something about the three of us that we all jumped into infantry as soon as we turned eighteen just to escape the place we grew up.
I’m damn proud of my brothers, though—and even myself—for getting the hell out of there. I landed on my feet here in North Carolina after almost dying for my country. I found the job I believe I was meant to do all along, in the place I was meant to do it.
I just hope the girl that I think I’m meant to be with doesn’t keep shutting me out.
An hour later, I’m done with my bath and ready to face the world again. I’ve processed all there is to process.
I get dressed and make my way downstairs.
Reggie is behind my desk, looking much more relaxed, and he gives me a smile as I approach. “You look better.”
“I was thinking the same about you.” I lean against the corner of the desk and look over his shoulder at the computer screen. He’s adding up receipts from the week, something I usually handle.
“You want to take over?” He sounds bored out of his mind, and I stifle a giggle.
I love the numbers; he doesn’t.
“Yes, but I promised the officers from last night that I’d go into the station today to finish giving my statement. I shouldn’t be long. Are you okay here?”
“Yes, Mother. I’m fine.”
I chuckle and grab my jacket from the coat tree behind him. Sliding it on, I catch Emmett’s scent and take a deep breath in.
“You’re fucked,” he says.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re in love with him.”
“Reggie,” I say, with warning in my tone.
“You know it, I know it, I think he knows it.”
“He told me he was falling for me last night,” I admit.
“And you said?”
“I said okay, which, you know, was good for me. I didn’t bolt.”
“And that’s a freaking miracle in itself, but…you need to let him know how you feel, Rave. You can do it.”
I nod and start to back away, grinning. He knows I’m avoiding this like the plague, but he loves me enough to let it go. “I’ll hurry back, I promise.”
“Perfect. Oh, and your new friends are here.”
“What new fr—”
My sentence trails off as I see who he’s referring to. There’s an entourage of bodyguards waiting for me. Okay, there’s two of them, but still.
“Fuck me,” I mutter.
I hear Reggie laughing as I make my way over to them.
I sit in a large and surprisingly comfortable desk chair in the lower level of the police station. The fact that Emmett is somewhere in this building soothes me, but I’m nervous nonetheless. I know I don’t have a reason to be, but I’m just ready to get this over with.
My new bodyguards are waiting in the lobby behind me. I guess they assume I’m safe enough here.
“Thanks for coming in, Miss Jackson.” The woman behind the desk has a round, kind face. Rosy cheeks, tortoise shell glasses, flowery top with hot pink pants. She reminds me of a vice principal, nice but firm.
For the next forty-five minutes we go over what happened again.
“If you could just read back over your statement, make sure it’s all true, and then sign here at the bottom to verify that it’s correct.” She slides a pen over to me and I scan it quickly.
Everything looks good, so I sign it and she stands, then I follow suit.
“I’m going to lead you over here to our sketch artist, if you’re okay with that?”
“Sure,” I say.
I follow her across the lobby area to another office and wait as she knocks. I hear a gruff, “Come in,” and she opens the door for me. The smell of cigars hits me in the face.
Behind the desk there’s a small middle-aged man. He’s wearing khaki pants, a blue checkered button-up, and his hair is greasy, like he hasn’t washed it in a few days. “I’m Mike.”
“Raven.” I shake his outstretched hand.
“Nice to meet you, Raven.”
The secretary promises to come back to get me when I’m finished, then leaves us in his office.
“I know this is a rough time for you, darlin’. I hate that we have to rehash it like this, but we gotta make sure we get the right guy, you know? Let’s start simple. Can you tell me what color his hair is?”
I close my eyes, and for the next fifteen minutes I try my best to visualize the man who tried to kidnap me. I give Mike all I can, right down to the way the guy’s two front teeth were turned slightly to the left.
When we’re finished, he sets his tablet down and tells me I’ve done a great job. “I think we’ve got something, I really do. We’ll compare this to the surveillance video from the hotel and the sketch from the other victim and see if it’s a match.”
I stare at him blankly.
Hotel? What hotel?
We have surveillance video of him?
Before I can ask, the secretary—I want to say her name was Susan—returns.
Maybe-Susan leads me back to the main lobby, promising to call me if they need anything else from me.
As I turn to leave, I spot a familiar silhouette on the balcony above me.
Emmett.
I hear Raven’s voice float up to me from the main level of the station and walk over to the balcony to catch a glimpse of her.
Right as my eyes land on her, she lifts hers to meet mine, like she just knew I’d be there. I smile at her, and
hold my finger up, indicating I’ll be right down.
But when I reach the bottom of the stairs, she’s gone.
I jog through the lobby and out the front door, looking down the sidewalk for her. I spot her a few yards down. Two men are walking close to her in the same uniforms as the guards at Elli’s house.
“Raven!”
She spins slowly and waits for me to catch up, but I sense her reluctance.
“What’s wrong?” I ask her.
She shrugs, fiddling with the zipper on her coat and looking anywhere but at me. “I don’t know, I just…I don’t know. Why didn’t you tell me about the hotel footage?”
My head tilts a little to the side. “I wasn’t trying to keep it from you. We found out right before Reggie called me to say you had been taken. We’re pretty sure he left the hotel and went straight to the bookstore to grab you, knowing we were on to him. I was planning on talking to you about it and what we found there, but I just haven’t really had a chance and I got sidetracked by everything else that happened.”
She seems to contemplate this for a second then looks up at me, and I can see her expression has lifted a little, but she’s skeptical. “All right.”
I know the conversation isn’t over yet, but I change the subject and decide to revisit it later. “How did everything go at the station?”
“Fine, I think. I gave a description to the sketch artist. He said they’d compare it to the hotel footage. I need to get back to the store. Can we talk about it later?” She’s looking over my shoulder while she talks, not making eye contact with me.
Body language is something that I’ve been trained to pick up on, and hers is screaming that she doesn’t want to be here with me right now.
“Yeah, okay. I’ll call you when I get off?” I try.
She gives me a small smile and backs away. Her bodyguards close in around her and I can only see the curtain of black hair swinging as she walks away.
I blow out a breath and walk back to the station, unsure of what just happened.
The drive back to my store is quiet, but a little tense. I have one of the bodyguards in the car with me; his name is Phil. The other is following behind us in another vehicle. Phil doesn’t speak unless spoken to, and it’s annoying the shit out of me.
“You can talk, you know,” I state.
“Yes, ma’am.” I see the start of a smile at the corner of his mouth and let it rest.
I’m taking my annoyance out on him and it’s not fair. Even though I know he listened carefully to my exchange with Emmett and it bothers me.
He’s just doing his job.
I repeat this to myself over and over.
Plus, he let me drive, which impressed me.
“All right, Phil,” I say to him, breaking the silence yet again as I look over at him, “if you’re going to be hanging around for a few days, can we at least get to know each other a little?”
He chuckles and asks, “What would you like to know, Miss Jackson?”
“Please just call me Raven.”
“Okay, Miss Raven.”
I roll my eyes and hold back a groan. He’s just doing his job. “Are you married, Phil?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“How long?”
“Twenty years this May.”
“Wow. So you know a lot about…relationships and stuff.” Why am I so awkward?
He chuckles again, his voice gruff and rusty. “Yep.”
“Well, that’s great. I’m happy for you.”
“Excuse me for being forward here, Miss Raven, but is there something else you’re trying to ask me?”
Oh, so he’s intuitive. Brains and brawn.
I’m busted and I feel my face heating up. “I just…you heard all of that back there, right?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And what did you think?”
“Do you want my honest opinion?” he asks me.
I look over and hold his gaze for a second, not entirely sure if I do or not. I finally decide to take a chance and say, “Yes, please.”
“I don’t think you trust anyone. You don’t like the silence in this car because you don’t trust me. You’re trying to fill it with small talk to keep yourself from feeling anxious. You don’t trust that fellow either, but I think you want to. I don’t think he kept anything from you. I think you’re looking for something to be mad about so you have a reason not to trust him.”
Damn.
“Oh.”
“I apologize, if that was—”
“No, no, don’t apologize. You’re right.” I take a deep breath, and for some reason, I begin to spill my guts to this bodyguard I just met today. “I like him. And I promised myself I’d give him a chance, but I do think I’m trying to sabotage it. I need to cool it a little.”
He just nods and continues looking around us, like he’s constantly looking for threats, and as we pull up to the store I whisper a small thank you, to which he shrugs and says, “Anytime, Miss Raven.”
A few hours pass and I’m waiting for Emmett to call while manning the front desk.
We’re not super busy today, but we’ve had a steady flow and it’s been nice to focus on work for a little while. Although the three large men wandering around the shop and standing by the entrances are a little distracting, I do feel safer with them here. Reggie is still here, too. He’s in the back, unpacking T-shirts for the inventory room.
I decide to text Emmett.
Me: Hey, I’m sorry about earlier.
I see the dots of him typing his response and I hold my breath. I suck at apologizing, but it’s easier over text and I hope he doesn’t think I’m being insincere. My phone dings.
Emmett: Don’t be sorry. I’ll tell you all about it tonight. I promise.
I instantly feel better.
Of course he’d accept my apology this easily.
He’s a saint.
Me: Can’t wait.
I put my phone down and smile to myself, knowing I really need to just chill out.
Emmett hasn’t given me any reason not to trust him, and yet I’m looking for one at every turn.
The door opens to the shop and the little bell over it dings. Out of habit, I look up.
Lacey is walking toward me, with a grin on her face that I can’t quite place.
After reading Raven’s text, I relax a little. Until I hear the captain say my name.
Shit.
“Yes, sir?”
“Come see me in my office when you finish up.”
I stand, close my laptop, and follow him back to his office since my work for the day is already finished. Once I close the door behind me, I sit down in the same old rickety chair that I sat in last week, and mentally prepare myself for this chat.
“I don’t like you on this case, son.”
I open my mouth to respond and he cuts me off.
“Let me finish. I don’t like you on this case because I know you’re too close to it.” I’ve seen you with her. However, at this point, I think taking you off of the case would do more damage than leaving you on it. I understand someone has hired security for her, correct?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Perfect. So her safety is no longer your concern, correct?”
“To be honest sir, her safety will always be my concern. But yes, there is additional help in that area now,” I tell him.
“Understood. So with her safety squared away, you can focus solely on the case, and not just on her. I want you on it, Fisher. You and Tropp. You have the info at your hands, you have her at your hands, you can get inside information. Don’t come into the station unless it’s pertinent or you have a lead to work. Don’t worry about being here. Stay by her side. Be there for any phone calls or visitors she gets. Go through her past with her. Do what you gotta do to get this solved. We’ve got one high-profile female attorney who was attacked, and a near-miss kidnapping that happened right under our noses. I want this finished. Let’s close this case and get him and whoeve
r hired him. Tell me your theories and we’ll go from there.”
“Thank you, sir.” I tell him what we’ve got so far, most of which he already knows, before I stand to leave and he stands with me, shaking my hand and dismissing me with a nod toward the door.
That was not what I was expecting, not in the least bit. But I thank my lucky stars and head over to Raven’s to tell her what I know.
“Raven!”
Lacey is walking toward me, looking like she came straight from a music festival, and I guess she did. There’s glitter all over her body. Her denim shorts are just barely covering her ass, and she has ripped brown tights underneath them. There’s some sort of star painted on her cheek, and her red hair hosts a rainbow of ribbons. She’s wearing suspenders over a tight cropped tank top.
The looks she must have gotten walking down Main Street in this small town make me want to smirk, but instead I ask, “How was your trip?”
“Oh my gosh, it was amazing. The most spiritual experience of my life. I mean, I really had a breakthrough!”
Reggie must’ve heard her, as he comes out of the storage room to conveniently start stocking the front shelves. Phil is hovering somewhere behind me, and Mark is somewhere outside of the building.
“That’s wonderful, Lacey.” I shuffle through the top drawer, looking for her check.
“Yeah, I mean, there’s been so much negativity lately…around you, this store, my life. I’m just so glad that it’s finally over. I mean, it’s not, but it is, you know?” She’s rattling on, the seventy billion bracelets on her arm jingling as she waves her arms around talking about the festival and all the ‘experiences’ she had there.
I’m half-listening, still trying to find her check.
“What do you mean, Lacey?” Reggie pipes up and shoots me a look.
I finally find the check, which I could’ve sworn was right on top but is now buried under several receipt books. I pull it out and look up at them, something strange crossing Lacey’s face.
“What negativity has been around Raven and this store?” he asks her.
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