Page 26 of Unforgotten

OK. Busy.

I bet. You got your schedule yet?

I do, but IDK. It’s a lot. I feel bad asking you to come.

You don’t have to go if you’re 2 busy.

Ryan shook his head as he typed his response.

I won’t know if I can or can’t come with until you send it to me.

Sure?

I’m sure.

He barely resisted rolling his eyes. Then he remembered she didn’t know him—and that it was in her nature to be considerate. He’d seen that time and time again.

After a minute passed, he tried again.

Send your schedule my way, okay?

OK. Fine. Screenshot?

That’ll do. Send it.

He drummed his fingers on the desk while he waited for her response. And then, there it was. Scanning it, he noticed that her first event was in two hours. Luckily it was in Marion, but her last event was out in Sparta. It was right on the other side of the county line and close to an hour away.

Realizing that the talk they needed to have couldn’t wait, he rang her up.

“Officer Mulaney?”

“Hey, Candace. Remember what I’ve told you? You can call me Ryan.”

After a pause, she said, “Um, all right. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, but I wanted to talk to you about this schedule of yours. How about you start having me help you set it up?”

“Why?”

“Because if you set up something an hour away at night, I want to be able to go with you. If I’m busy, you might end up going alone, and I don’t want that.”

“You don’t have to go to every event with me,” she added in a rush. “That isn’t necessary.”

She sounded agitated. “I know it isn’t,” he soothed. “Obviously there’s going to be times when something else comes up. If there’s an emergency, I’ll have to back out.”

“Or you’re off. I don’t want to mess up your days off.”

He wouldn’t tell her, but he was going to do his best to escort her even if he was off shift. It wasn’t like he had a busy social life anyway. “I’ll do my best to accompany you.”

“Thanks, but Ryan, I promise, I don’t mind doing all this alone.”

“I hear you. But still, I’d like to try to be with you. Don’t forget, part of the reason I’m going to be there is to get to know the county’s citizens.”

“But—”

Man, she really was so cute. “Listen, I’ve got to go. Should I pick you up at your house?”

“You don’t mind?”

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