Page 34 of Cruel Daddy Dragon

“Well, I’ll tell you why I care as a police officer if you’ll tell me why you care.”

He swallows his next mouthful of hot chocolate a little more awkwardly than the last few. But he nods, the lightest ghost of a smile on his lips.

I look down at the mug in my hands, swirling the appetizing brown drink inside.

“I’m sure Lena has let you all know that we were friends since we were kids,” I say, “But when we were all in school together, and as usually happens, there were bullies. Lena and I became friends when some mean girl had taken her schoolbooks, and she was threatening to throw them into the school pond. I didn’t know Lena at the time, but when I saw that, it made my child self angry. It was just sounfair,so I stepped in.”

Rufus chuckles lightly.

“You little hero,” he murmurs.

I smile and shrug back.

“I don’t know,” I reply, blushing a little, “I’ve always been like that. When I saw somethingunfairhappening, I always felt like I had to do something. But yeah, after I took Lena’s book back and pushed the bully in the pond, we were fast friends.”

“I guess Lena knew a good thing when she saw it,” Rufus agrees.

I give a flattered laugh.

“I was always like that,” I continue, “I always hated it when I saw people getting bullied, or when I saw something unfair happening, or when I saw someone cheating, but I didn’t really settle on being a police officer until much later. Youremember Peyton? I don’t know how much you’ve talked with her.”

“Yeah, I remember Peyton,” Rufus says, “She comes to your book club every time.”

“Yeah, good,” I say briskly, “Well, it was a while ago now, but at some point Peyton’s house was broken into. It was awful—she and her three boys were sleeping in the same house when it happened, and she was freaking out afterward. They’re all about Rosie’s age now, but I think the oldest was six when this happened. She wassoupset. Fordays,she couldn’t sleep in that house—she sent the boys to be with other family and spent some time crashing on couches around friends because she just didn’t feel safe…”

I stare off into my hot chocolate for a moment.

“That’s awful,” Rufus says quietly.

“I know,” I growl, “But the worst part was that the cops didn’t do jack shit.”

“What?” Rufus asks, “They didn’t?”

“Well, they sent some officers round, had a snoop around—but the thing is, they basically got it into their head that it was this one guy,” I grumble, “Now, I won’t tell you who he is because I don’t want you looking at him differently, but everyone and their mom could have told you it wasn’t this guy. It was just not possible—we’d grown up with him, and he wouldn’t do that. Point blank. But what’s even worse is thatwe knewthe dirtbag who probably did it.”

“You did?” Rufus asks.

“We all did,” I answer, “It was town gossipforever—you know, I probably shouldn’t tell you his name either, since it’s probably not a good idea to release the dragons on him—buteveryone knew the scumbag who probably did it. Barely anyone knew him after he moved in, and the people who did, didn’t like him. Plus, he skipped town suddenly one morning, and that was weird—until Peyton told us all that she’d been robbed in the night later.”

Rufus gives a bitter, angry laugh.

“I know, right?” I say, “The cops had it in their head that it wasthisguy. Everyone said,“No, chase this other guy!”But they didn’t. They arrested their guy, wasted a bunch of time questioning him and raiding his house, and what a surprise, it wasn’t him. By the time they realized they’d gotten the wrong guy and let him go, the scumbag who actually did it must have been long gone. And you know what they did then?”

“What?” Rufus asks quietly.

I slam a fist into the armrest on the couch.

“Nothing!”I snap, “They released the guy they had and then closed the case! I guess they couldn’t be bothered to do everything they needed to do to track him down. They just figured that he wasn’t Greyson Ridge’s problem anymore, so they closed it.”

I growl a little under my breath.

“It didn’t matter to them that Peyton and the boys needed closure. She was in a panic. Hell,Greyson Ridgewas in a panic because this horrible thing happened, and the police picked up the wrong guy, then gave up before they found the right one.”

I finally meet Rufus’s gaze again. His gaze is intense but sympathetic.

“You should have seen it,” I tell him, “People just didn’t feel safe anymore, Rufus. It was more than just the cops letting one guy get away. It was how it destroyed the idea that GreysonRidge was safe, but if it everweren’tsafe, someone would be there to help.”

He nods sternly. There’s a rich understanding in his eyes, and I feel like he’s truly listening.

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