Page 76 of Mine to Protect

25

Alta

I didn’t smoke.Never even tried it in high school or college.

But right now in the freezing temperatures, with the eerie fog descending on the small parking lot, the idea of a cigarette seemed nice. More than nice, it felt necessary.

Rotating to peer over my shoulder, I sighed. Cas and Chandler were still locked in conversation with the police chief. It ate at my anxious nerves not knowing if this case was connected to the others, but I had to wait. Soon I’d know what they knew.

Headlights beamed through the thick fog as a truck pulled into the back of the parking lot. Only the bright beams were visible as it sat there idling. Lights still on, the driver door swung open. Shielding my eyes from the brightness, I watched as a familiar gait ambled closer.

“Birdie?”

At John’s voice, I pressed up from where I slumped against the metal railing to stand straight. “John? What are you doing here?”

Halfway up the stairs, he stopped. “You look… different.”

At my nod, he continued up the final few steps, which was when I noticed he looked different too. Dressed in slacks, a pressed button-up and a nice coat, and smelling divine too, this John standing in front of me was a far cry from the division manager I was used to seeing—and sometimes harassing—on a daily basis.

“You have a hot date tonight or something?” I joked, trying to ease the weird tension that settled between us. Only it made it worse. His cheeks, already red from the cold wind, blushed even further. “Oh.” Right, stepped into that one.

“She’s in the truck,” he said with a resigned sigh. “Agent Peters said someone in town went missing, and I wanted to see if it had anything to do with the cases in the park.”

“Me too,” I mused before glancing back to the idling truck. “I don’t know how much longer they’ll be. I can tell Chandler to give you a call after, if you want to get back to your date.”

“Nah.” He leaned against the railing that was barely protected from the storm. “I like her, don’t get me wrong. It’s just this case is… consuming, you know.”

I nodded.

After a few seconds of silence, he looked over his shoulder through the glass doors.

“So you and the USPP guy.”

I raised a shoulder and nodded. “He’s not what you think.”

John let out a sarcastic laugh. “Funny, that’s what I was going to tell you.”

Annoyance at his words pricked at my patience. “I’m going inside.” The cold railing bit into my bare palms as I shoved against it.

“Wait.” John tugged on my wrist, pulling me to a halt. “I’m sorry, it’s just… for so long… then he showed up and now everything’s… different. I want you to look at me the way you look at him.” His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.

“John,” I breathed. Hand over my heart, I pressed hard to keep it from pounding out of my chest. “I can’t explain it. He makes me feel whole again.”

“How?” he said through clenched teeth. “You’ve known him all of a fucking week, Alta. I’ve known you for two years. What in the hell does he offer that I don’t? I love you, not him.”

My head drooped, allowing my hair to shield me from his exploring eyes. The answer was simple. Cas didn’t want to fix me, didn’t see me as damaged or give me sympathy. No, Cas accepted me and wanted me, all of it. All the broken bits.

“He—”

“You love her?”

We both whirled toward the bottom of the stairs, where Sadie stood glaring at us.

John hurried down toward her. “Sadie, sorry, I—”

“I thought you said we were here because of the missing women case, not her,” Sadie said, staring past John’s shoulder straight to me. Even in the little light from the flickering bulbs on either side of the doors, her hatred was apparent.

My stomach rolled as unease settled with a bit of fear mixed in. Sarah was right, this chick was unhinged. No way did I want to instigate Sadie to show her true crazy.

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