Page 107 of Worth the Chase

I hadn’t expected the redhead to go to bat for me. To be honest, it never even crossed my mind.

“But just for your peace of mind, we have the offender’s name and face memorized here at the station. And printed out and hung on our wall. We’ve alerted all the local businesses as well. Actually, they wanted his information.”

“They did?” Matthew asked, his breathing finally back to normal.

“Yeah, they all asked for his name and photo so they could call us if he ever came back.”

That made me more than a little emotional.

The chief continued, “We’ve tried to implement ado not rent to this personon all the rental sites, but I’m not sure how accurate that can be, and of course, if he wanted to, he could get around that by using a different name.” Chief sucked in a long breath. “We’ll do everything in our power to keep him out of Sugar Mountain, but I’m sure you both know that he could still come back here.”

“Thank you, Chief,” I said as I focused on taking a few calming breaths.

“Oh yeah.” He held up a hand and searched through the stack of papers. “Where the hell is it?” he growled before pulling out an envelope. “This is for you.” He slid it toward me.

“What is this?” I reached for it and noticed that it was sealed.

“A letter.”

“From who?” I dropped it, fearing that it was from Goatee Guy. I didn’t give a single flying fuck what that guy wanted to say to me, and I had no desire to read any words from him.

“It’s from Nathan. He’s the redheaded kid.”

The guy who had stopped Goatee Guy that night had written me a letter. It had barely even been twenty-four hours.

“Did you read it?” My lips felt dry.

The chief nodded. “Had to. Wanted to make sure it wasn’t threatening. He emailed it to me, and I printed it out.”

“Can we take it with us?” Matthew asked as he pushed out of the chair and stood, his full frame feeling larger than normal as I looked up at him.

“Of course. It’s hers to keep.”

“Thanks, Chief. Is that all?”

“That’s it. If there’s any new news that concerns you, I’ll let you know.” His chair squeaked against the tiled floor as hemoved it back. “If you want to know what happens in regard to his hearing, I can follow up and get that information as well.”

Matthew looked at me, and I nodded my head.

“Yeah. I’d like to know what happens so I can at least be aware of the outcome.”

“Sounds good. I’ll make sure we’re all up-to-date then.” The chief reached out his hand toward Matthew and gave it a firm shake before Matthew helped me up from my seat and tucked me against him once more.

THE LETTER

Bella,

I wanted to write to you and tell you how sorry I am about everything that happened. A girl at school had accused Garrett of doing even worse shit to her, and I didn’t believe her. None of us did. I figured that that she had been drunk at the party, and when she woke up the next morning, she regretted what had happened. Wished that she had changed her mind or something. Wanted to take it back, but couldn’t.

It never even occurred to me that one of my best friends could do what she said he’d done. And he denied it so vehemently that I believed him without even giving it a second thought. How fucked up is that? I remember telling Garrett to just chill out. That it would all blow over.

You know, if I hadn’t seen him attacking you with my own eyes, I might not have believed you either. Probably would have made up some bullshit excuse or reason why it was all a misunderstanding and not what it seemed.

If you want to know the truth, I kind of hate myself right now. And I’m questioning exactly what kind of person I am. I will tell you this though—if you want to press charges against Garrett, I’ll back you up one hundred percent. If there’s anything you need from me, I’ll do it. I’ll write a statement, testify, whatever you want.

The police have my contact information if you want to get in touch with me. I told them they could give it to you if you asked. I guess that’s it. I really hope that you’re doing okay.

Nathan

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