Page 42 of State of Retribution

She kept a tight grip on his arm as he walked her to the bathroom.

“Let me grab a change of clothes for you.We’ll see about getting something that fits you.”He’d reached out to their mutual friends, Joe and Deb, to ask if Deb knew where Harlowe had been living.Deb had said she wasn’t exactly sure, but she thought it had been a short-term rental or extended-stay hotel since her sales-rep assignment in the District was temporary.Erica was working on figuring out the exact location where Harlowe had been staying.Harlowe’s cell phone hadn’t been with her when she was found.

In the hospital, after Harlowe decided to trust him, she’d asked Archie to speak to the doctors for her because she couldn’t handle hearing the details of what’d happened to her.Archie had yet to share those details with her, or the fact that the doctors had determined she’d been sexually assaulted.But he was pretty sure she knew that, based on her injuries.

“I’m sorry for all the trouble I’m causing you.”

“It’s no trouble.I swear.I’m happy to help you any way I can.”

Her eyes filled with tears that unnerved him.They made him want to wrap his arms around her and promise he’d take care of her for as long as she needed him.He hoped that’d be a long time.

But he was afraid of scaring her, so he resisted the urge to hug her.

“Do you need anything?”He put out towels and made sure there was shampoo and body wash in the shower.

“No, thank you.I should be fine.”

“Call me if you need me.”

“I will.”

He wasn’t sure if he should leave her to fend for herself, but he also didn’t feel right offering to help.Hopefully, she could get through it on her own.

In the kitchen, he poured himself another cup of coffee.His mind raced with questions, concerns and a fiercely protective feeling for a woman that was all new to him—and deeply unsettling.Archie had more questions than answers where she was concerned, and yet… He was becoming more involved with every passing hour.

In his bedroom, he found a clean T-shirt and another pair of sweats with a string around the waist that she could tighten.When he heard the shower running, he opened the bathroom door to put them on the counter.

By the time Harlowe walked into the kitchen twenty minutes later, Archie had the food ready.

She looked like a waif in his clothing.

He went to offer her an arm to hold as she made her way slowly to the small table.“Let me grab a pillow for you to sit on.Hang on.”

In the living room, he grabbed one of the throw pillows his mother had insisted he needed when he moved into the apartment and brought it to the kitchen.

“Thank you,” she said as she lowered herself slowly to the now-cushioned wooden chair.

His entire body and soul ached for her.He wanted to murder the person or people who’d done this to her.Even after more than fifteen years as a law enforcement officer, he was still infuriated and saddened by the depravity he saw on—and off—the job.

Archie served plates for both of them along with coffee, creamer, sugar and sweetener, since he wasn’t sure how she took her coffee.Thank goodness for grocery delivery services, or he would’ve had beer, beef jerky and granola bars to offer her.

“Are you okay drinking coffee later in the day?”

“I think so, but I guess we’ll find out if it keeps me awake.Also, this smells delicious.”

“It’s one of three things I can cook most of the time.”

“What are the other two?”

“Spaghetti sauce and burgers on the grill.”

“Those are hard to screw up.”

Smiling, he said, “That’s what I’ve found.Do you like to cook?”

She thought about that for a second.“Yes, I think I do.”A look of panic appeared in her expressive brown eyes.“What will I do if I can’t remember basic things like that, things I knew how to do or who I was before?”

In addition to remembering nothing about the kidnapping or assault, she was fuzzy on other details about her life prior to the incident.

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