Page 88 of Worth the Chase

Her eyes moved until they caught mine and held. “Hi.” The color was returning to her cheeks, and maybe the shock was starting to wear off.

“Chief is in the dining room,” I said.

She nodded before exhaling long and slow. “Okay.”

I held her hand as we walked into the room, and Chief Marin stood and extended his hand toward Bells. She shook it before we all sat down. He clicked his pen and poised it above his notebook.

“Why don’t you tell me why I’m here?”

He gave her a sympathetic look, and she was so damn brave as she told him every single thing that had happened earlier, in excruciating detail.

I felt like I was fucking dying inside as I listened, but I tried to keep my body language and face neutral. Whenever the chief asked a specific question, Bells had an answer. Her responses were clear, succinct, and detailed.

“You think they left the apartment?” he asked, his eyes looking between the two of us.

“Yeah. They were leaving when I pulled in. Obviously, I didn’t know who they were or what happened at the time, but they’re definitely gone,” I answered.

He shrugged like it was no big deal. “We’ll still find them. The rental places keep records, and it shouldn’t be that difficult to see who skipped town early.”

“Then, what?” Bells asked, her voice a little shaky. “I mean, nothing really happened, so what’s the point of all this?”

“The point is to have it on record. Maybe this guy has done this kind of thing before. Maybe he hasn’t. But once we figure outwhohe is, I’ll reach out to their local PD and have a chat.”

She nodded before her eyes found mine. My brave girl looked so damn tired. She needed rest.

“Is that all you need?” I asked impatiently.

“Yeah. We’re good here. You’ve done your part, Isabella. Now, I’ll go do mine.” He stood from the table, folded his little book closed, and tucked it into his back pocket.

“Thank you,” she said, but I could tell she was just being polite.

I walked Chief to the door and shook his hand again.

“Keep me in the loop,” I said, and he nodded.

“She did real good tonight, Matthew. Make sure she knows that, and you might want to suggest she talk to someone when she’s ready.”

“Like a therapist?”

He nodded. “Either a therapist, her mom, a friend. Even you. As long as she’s not keeping it all bottled up inside.”

The message was for Bells, but it applied to me as well.

“Thanks again,” I said before closing the front door behind him and waiting for his police cruiser to leave the property. Then, I pressed the code for the privacy gate and watched it until it closed.

“You ready for bed, babe?”

Bells stood up from the table. “I need to shower.”

“Okay.”

I got undressed and hopped into bed before turning the television on. Bells was in there for a long time. A really long time. I thought about checking on her about every other minute, but decided to give her a little space. When two more shows had passed, I started questioning whether there was even any hot water in there anymore.

Tossing the covers off, I walked to our bathroom and knocked softly before turning the knob.

“Bells?” I said before I noticed her standing underneath the showerhead with her eyes closed.

Our shower had this expensive glass that never fogged up, so I couldn’t tell if there was steam or not.

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