Page 41 of Warped

“Yes, I can do that. We can’t stay here, though. What if someone reports Harvey missing, or his body shows up and the police find out he’s been killed?”

“We can always go and stay at a motel,” he suggested.

“Yeah, I guess we’ll have to.”

He must have sensed my reluctance, and reached out to squeeze my hand. “We can find somewhere more permanent when all this is over.”

I lifted my eyebrows.

“Sorry,” he said, “Too much again?”

I gave a small laugh. “Yeah, a little. It’s just strange hearing you say things like that.”

“Didn’t I before?”

“No. The closest we ever got to talking about the future was one line, and I shut you down pretty quickly.” I sighed. “Anyway, I don’t know when this will be over—if it ever will be. I’m not sure it will be over until I wind up dead somewhere.”

He squeezed my fingers tighter, hard enough to hurt. “Hey, don’t talk like that.”

I forced a smile. “You wouldn’t be saying that if you could remember what both our lives are really like, X. Things are going to catch up with you eventually, too. You can’t expect to start living like a regular person.”

“Yeah, that may be, but for now we need to concentrate on you.”

I leaned in and kissed him. “Thank you.”

Leaving X with the car, I went into the police station where Detective Caraway was based. I was in luck that the detective was in his office, plowing through paperwork, according to the sergeant on the desk.

I figured I was about to add to it.

The sergeant placed a call to the detective’s office and then said to me, “Take a seat and he’ll be out in a minute.”

He must have been keen to escape the paperwork, as Detective Caraway arrived within minutes. He was an attractive man in his mid-to-late thirties, I guessed, with dark hair that was graying at the temples, and soulful brown eyes.

“Miss Guerra,” he said as he approached. “I wasn’t expecting to see you.”

“Yes, I know. There have been some developments and I need to make you aware of them.”

“Very well. Come through.”

I followed him down the length of the building to his office near the back. He motioned for me to take a seat in the chair across from his on the other side of the desk.

He steepled his fingers beneath his chin. “So, what’s been going on?”

I took the seat he’d offered. “I need to give you a new phone number to contact me on.”

“You’re not staying with Tony Mancini anymore?”

I shook my head.

“Then where are you staying?”

“I’ll find a motel. I couldn’t stay there any longer.” I was tempted to show him the bruises around my throat, but knew that would mean he’d pay Tony a visit and find out about the shooting, something I didn’t want to happen. “I’ll call you with the address as soon as I get a room.”

“Is that safe?” he asked. “Are you in any danger? You know you can go back into the program, if you want to.”

He was referring to the Witness Protection Program.

I shook my head. “No, I’m not running. “

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