Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Familiar.
Like we belonged.
Or was that a shared trauma response? Could I trust my instincts with this guy when they’d failed me in the past?
I wanted to believe I could. Roy had given me no reason not to.
Mark nodded, a little too calmly. “Yes. It will be okay. It’s just that…”
I frowned when he paused. “What?”
Mark hesitated then shook his head. “Nothing.”
Nothing?
“What do you mean, nothing?” I snapped because I couldn’t keep doing polite. “That’s worse than saying calm down to a woman. What is it? Tell me.” I grabbed onto his arm then realized what I’d done and let go. “Is he going to be in trouble?”
I started to pace. The station’s lot had so many lights it was like daytime, except the sky was pitch black and the streets were quiet. “This is ridiculous. I should’ve come out from beneath the desk and identified myself. Roy was being paranoid and made me stay hidden. He protected me, but now he’s in jail! This wasn’t how this was supposed to go.”
I’d already told Mark this on the phone, but hysteria was making me repeat it.
Roy had been arrested! For no good reason. If I’d been given a chance to show the officers my ID badge and that I worked in the office and was allowed to be there and that Roy was my guest, then he wouldn’t have been arrested.
I wanted to kick Roy and also Mark too for not acting quickly enough.
“I should be able to get him out,” he replied. Why was he so dang calm? “Especially if you got me the evidence I need?”
I blinked, not remembering what he was talking about.
“Oh. Yeah.” I pulled the thumb drive out of my pocket and started to give it to him, then stopped. Stared at it. Roy hadn’t trusted the cops who arrested him. He’d hidden me from them for exactly that reason. How did we know Mark could be trusted? I pulled my hand back as he reached for the drive.
I shook my head. “After you get Roy out,” I said stubbornly. I wasn’t below bargaining or even blackmail.
I thought it might piss him off, but instead, the corners of his lips quirked. “You’re protective, too, eh? That’s good. Roy will probably need you to be strong when he gets out.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, panicking again. Had he been hurt? Did they know he’d been recently shot? Although that wound had healed, which was crazy. Maybe Mark had been right about arm wounds bleeding a lot.
Mark shook his head. “Nevermind.” He led me up the steps and into the building, holding the door open for me.
An eerie howl–like a wolf howl–sounded from somewhere in the back of the police station. The hairs on my arms raised.
“What was that?” If it was a police dog, he sounded trapped. Or in trouble.
“Shit,” Mark muttered and took a deep breath. “Wait here.” He pointed at one of the plastic chairs that lined the wall. “I’ll get things straightened out.”
I sat down, trying to calm the patter of my heart. My knee bumped up and down.
Another frantic howl echoed through the station, startling me.
“What is that?” I demanded, looking to the front desk guy. He was behind a tall counter, computer beside him. The American and Colorado flags were in a stand off to the side.
He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Some nut job they picked up. He’s been howling like a wolf for the last twenty minutes. Maybe he thinks it will get him out or something. Or sent for a psych hold.”
Minutes ticked by, and my knee kept bobbing. Another wolf howl made my scalp prickle.
Finally, Mark emerged from the back, escorting Roy.
I leaped up from my seat and ran toward them. “Roy!”
But then my leaping heart tumbled because he looked terrible. White-faced. Sweaty. Eyes haunted. He was shivering like it was freezing inside the station.
My stride broke at the shock of it. Oh no! Oh God. His claustrophobia! It probably killed him being in a jail cell again.
Relief crossed Roy’s face when he spotted me, and he opened his arms wide, sweeping me into a giant bear hug without stopping his long strides that carried us straight out the doors.
I heard him suck in several deep breaths outside as he held me in a death grip. I straddled his waist and wrapped my arms around his neck, holding on to him like a koala. “Are you okay?” I murmured, kissing his sweaty neck. “That must’ve been so hard for you.”
He didn’t answer. His breath rasped in my ear in heavy pants. I placed another kiss on his temple. “It’s okay. You’re out now,” I murmured.
“The charges have been dropped. He’s free to go.”
Thank God. Tears smarted my eyes.
Roy didn’t put me down until we’d moved away from the building.