Page 110 of Tell Me Something True

“Who believed him?”

The girl swallowed. Hugged her arms around herself. “My mom.”

“Who did your mom believe?” Tabitha asked gently.

“Her boyfriend. He told her I was lying and she believed him. She said I was jealous and wanted attention. But I wasn’t lying about what he did,” she said, tone bleak with betrayal. “What he made me do.”

“I believe you.”

The girl sniffed. Wiped her nose on her sleeve. “You do?”

“I do. I believe you. But we can’t just let you leave. We need to call your mother—”

“No!” The girl leapt back, glancing around frantically as if looking for a way to escape. “You can’t call her. He’ll be there.”

“Listen to me, okay?” Tabitha said, in that soothing tone she’d used to help him calm down from his anxiety attack. “She is your legal guardian, which means it’s part of our job to let her know you’ve been found. But the other part of our job, the more important part, is to make sure you’re somewhere safe where no one else can hurt you.”

“I don’t have to go back there?” the girl asked in a small, hopeful voice.

“Not tonight,” Tabitha said, but then her expression turned apologetic. “But I can’t promise you’ll never have to go back. What I can promise is I will do everything in my power to make sure the truth comes out and that you’re safe. I promise I will always believe you. And I promise to never lie to you. But none of this works if you don’t believe me, too.”

“I’m afraid,” the girl whispered.

“I know. I know it’s hard for you to trust me, to trust anyone. And that’s okay. It’s okay if I have to prove that you can trust me. All I’m asking is that you give me a chance to do that.”

After a moment, the girl nodded. Sniffed as she used her sleeve to wipe under her nose. “I can try.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that. Now, I’d very much like us to leave this awful room—for both our sakes. What do you say?”

The girl sent him another of her wary glances. Took a step closer to Tabitha, then whispered something in Tabitha’s ear.

“Absolutely,” Tabitha said when the girl finished. “I promise.”

Despite Tabitha’s vow, it still took the girl a good minute of deliberation before she nodded.

Tabitha turned and met his gaze. “We’re ready to go, Assistant Chief Jennings.”

He gave a nod, then turned and walked over to his cruiser. Went to the back, passenger side door and opened it.

Tabitha waited until the girl had stepped out onto the sidewalk, then guided the girl toward him. The girl kept her head down, that hood hiding her face, her arms hugged around herself once again. She hesitated a few feet from him, but Tabitha said something only she could hear and the girl let out a visible exhale, then practically dove into the backseat, her body angled away from him.

Tabitha stepped closer to the car, keeping the open door between them. “I told her I’d ride with her. Is that going to be a problem?”

He frowned. Hell. Had he really been that big of an asshole that she even had to ask that?

Wait. Never mind. He didn’t want to know.

“No problem,” he assured her, then went around the front of the car.

By the time he’d climbed behind the wheel, Tabitha and the girl were settled in the back, their door shut.

While Miles called dispatch to let them know he was bringing in a possible runaway, he could hear Tabitha quietly telling the girl what she could expect for the rest of the night. Not keeping anything from her.

Doing exactly what she’d said she’d do. Proving that she could be trusted.

All I’m asking is that you give me a chance…

He was damn glad she hadn’t asked him that.

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