Page 10 of Rescued Faith

“I’m a private investigator assigned by the ATF to follow this woman and find out what she’s doing. I’m trying to help.” She dug out her license to show him and gave him Ben Freeman’s number.

The officer studied her face, then the license. “I’ll make a call and be back.”

He wasn’t gone long before he came back with the items. “I’m Anthony Thomas. We’ll need your statement, Ms. Mitchell, when we’re done here. Sounds like you know the drill.” He handed her the gloves.

It took her longer than it should’ve to slide her fingers into them, but once she had, she picked up the object and looked at it under the streetlight.

This was bad. Really bad. “We have a problem.”

Bryce scowled. “Obviously. But I really think you should?—”

“She met someone here. She’s not alone.” Penny swung her head, searching the street for a sign of where Emma and her posse would’ve gone. A wave of nausea hit her. She held her breath, biting down hard until it passed.

“Do you think they’ll come after you?” Bryce actually looked concerned. Even with the way she’d left? How was that possible?

But his question hung, and the less concern—or anything—he felt for her, the better.

“That’s not the problem. They think I’m dead.”

“That’s how you ended up in the closet with a head injury?” Bryce asked.

“You were the woman they found in the fire?” Officer Thomas asked.

“Yes. My head hit the concrete floor, and during the explosion, something fell on me.” Not that the rest of her body hadn’t already been sore from trying to fight off the guys who’d thrown her in the closet. And yes, she’d been on the verge of an outright panic attack. But with Bryce and this other man, she needed to appear strong. Like she had everything together.

She needed to keep it professional.

“I’ll grab one of the medics.” The handsome officer jogged away.

Bryce, on the other hand, moved closer. He gently swept a lock of hair behind her ear. He sent her a flirty kind of smile. The typical Bryce life-of-the-party smile. “I still can’t believe you’re here.”

Oh boy. Pull it together. She dug for something to keep him back. She might need snark, or she’d resort to flirting back. And that only got her into trouble.

So much trouble.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be gone before you know it.”

He winced. “Could you at least stick around long enough to talk? I’d hoped you’d come to the wedding.”

Talk?

What was there to talk about?

She still remembered the scene in crystal-clear color. Even with a head injury.

The sight of Ashlee Featherwood in Bryce’s arms wasn’t one she would soon forget.

She should probably thank Ashlee at some point. It’d been the wake-up call Penny had needed. She never should’ve let it go so far with Bryce. So really…there was nothing they needed to “talk” about now.

“I was on a job. Couldn’t get back here in time.” Penny dropped the object into the evidence bag and sealed it.

“You need to be careful.” The smile faded. “You could’ve died in there.”

She looked back at the warehouse still engulfed in flames. She was keeping Bryce from his job. No need to focus on the fact that it’d included rescuing her tonight.

Why did it have to be him?

She had to get back to her own job too.

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