Page 103 of Safe With Me

I’d manageda whole two hours of restless sleep before I jolted awake, wincing at the crick in my neck.

My futon bed was too damaged to sleep on, but the extra padding from my old sleeping bag and the thick comforter I’d found in my closet hadn’t made my hardwood floor any better to lie on all night.

I’d had a hard time getting comfortable enough to sleep, but Lila dozed peacefully with her head on my chest. I ran my hand through her hair, smiling at her soft sigh as she cuddled into my shoulder.

I’d spent most of yesterday terrified I’d never see her again. When she wasn’t at my doorstep when I came home from work, I’d been sure my biggest fears had come true and she’d decided to leave.

And I’d been wrecked.

When I’d found her at my door, I’d feared it was to say goodbye. The minute she’d said she wanted to stay, I’d taken her into my arms and showed her how muchI’d still have herall over my apartment and, finally, on my floor.

If this were any other case, I would only be involved on a need-to-know basis. I’d become a cop in the first place forsituations just like this. I wanted to fight behind the scenes to keep everyone safe, but now that I was the target—along with all the most important people in my life—I had no answers other than to wait for something else to happen, and I hoped whoever this was fucked up enough for us to catch them next time.

It was an excruciating kind of helplessness that itched under my skin, and I couldn’t relax enough to sleep or even sit still.

I was too close to it and too worried about what would happen next and to whom to be of any use, but my worries went beyond trying to protect all of us.

Was I really cut out to be a cop if someone had been following us this closely for this long and I’d never noticed? For months, all I’d seen and all I’d thought about was Lila, and now it seemed like I was paying a high price for the distraction.

When I wasn’t dreading what would happen next, I spent the rest of my time wallowing in shame over all the ways I’d failed at my job and at protecting Lila and my family.

Today was my day off, and Keith told me to take it, promising he’d let me know if anything else happened. At the very least, I appreciated being on the inside and knowing all the details rather than what Keith and Jude would tell me if I were simply a regular citizen and stalking victim.

For today, until I heard otherwise, I wanted to stay with Lila just like this, only in her bed with a sturdy mattress and box spring so I could enjoy having my girl back without a neck cramp.

Lila stirred against me as my phone buzzed next to me. I glanced at Keith’s name on the screen and cringed. Whoever this was had been angry enough to keep coming at us instead of spacing it out. My heart thudded in my ears as I hoped against logic for at least a sliver of good news.

“Keith, what happened now?”

“We stopped Ted coming into Kelly Lakes this morning. He was on the main road heading into town, speeding at a good amount over the limit. The officer spotted an expired inspection sticker and broken taillight, and it pissed Ted off enough for the officer to be able to bring him in.”

“Wait,” I whispered, sliding out from Lila’s hold as I sat up on the floor. “How did they know to look for him?”

“I put out an unofficial alert yesterday around the station after you left to keep an eye out for a Ted Barrett from Pennsylvania. Not exactly by the book, but when my family is involved, I worry about that shit later. I need you to get your uniform on and come in.”

“You want me to question him? Won’t that just agitate him more?”

“That’s the point. I want you to sit there, quietly, without any emotion, while Jude and I question him. If he’s really behind all this, he’ll know who you are. From what the arresting officer said and what Lila told us, he’s not exactly good at holding in his emotions. If he reacts to you, we know it’s a good chance that he’s the one.”

“Why else would he be here?”

“He may be staying at a hotel out of town. Or he could be just getting here and all that’s been happening is just a coincidence. I’m hoping it’s him and we can charge him today, but we need to know for sure.”

“There’s no reason for him to be here other than Lila.”

“Agreed, so whatever he’s up to or has been up to, I want that squared away as soon as possible. How fast can you get here?”

“Give me twenty minutes.”

I hung up and let my chin drop to my chest. This was either a breakthrough or a part two no one was expecting. Either way, I wanted a look at the asshole who’d tortured Lila for months and to figure out what the hell he was doing here.

“What’s going on?” Lila asked me in a scratchy voice as she pushed off the floor. “Ouch,” she hissed, wincing as she grabbed the back of her neck.

“Sorry, sweetheart,” I crooned, rubbing the spot on her neck over her hand. “My floor isn’t very comfortable.”

“Don’t be sorry. Was that the station?” She nodded to the phone in my hand.

“That was Keith. They grabbed Ted on his way into town.”

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