Page 11 of Catch
“It’s ok,” I assured him. “At this point, I’d rather be your hostage than go back to the tour. Tie me up, but just don’t tape my mouth, please. I need to be able to sing.”
“You’re quite the unpredictable rollercoaster,” he said with a small laugh, shaking his head. “But I’m glad to see you're back to being the charmer I met on the side of the road earlier.”
He wasn’t wrong. I was all over the place, up one moment, down the next, and now that I could be facing my demise, I was somehow feeling lighter than I had been earlier. It was probably some sort of survival mode that I had developed over the past two months on tour.
"Are you a good cop or a bad cop, Officer Brooks?"
"Both," he replied with a wink, barely taking his eyes off the road. "I’m being good right now, if that matters."
He pulled off the dark road and veered onto a narrow dirt path, and my anxiety heightened a little more. But then we came into a clearing and the headlights of the car illuminated a large two-story house. It was a strange mix of Victorian elegance and rustic cabin charm. There were lights on the porch making it feel inviting and warm, as well as a lit-up path that snaked from the driveway. It was not what I had expected.
I blinked, momentarily caught off guard. "Where are we?"
"My house," Officer Brooks replied, shrugging like it was no big deal. "It’s the only place I could think of where no one would know that Loxley Adams is in town. Tomorrow, I’ll help you get where you’re headed. I promise."
I started to tell him that Harmony Haven was where I was headed. But then I realized that it might sound like I was inviting myself to stay longer, and that definitely wasn’t the case.
Once the car was parked, he got out and jogged around the front, then opened my door. He extended his hand, offering me reassurance that I hadn’t realized I needed. His hand was warm against mine and he guided me with care over the rocky driveway, pointing out uneven spots so I didn’t fall.
When we reached the stairs of the porch, I hesitated for only a moment before walking ahead of him. But as I got to the fifth and final step, his phone rang, cutting through the quiet and making me jump. He raised a finger for me to wait, and I did, watching as he paced the sidewalk below the bottom step.
He was talking to someone namedLinc, telling them he couldn’t make it to Fiddlers because he was sick, and that he’d see him at work. My instinct was to tell him not to change his plans because of me. But I couldn’t, nor did I think he would leave a stranger in his house alone.
When he ended the call, he gazed up at me with a small, almost shy smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Something in the way he looked at me made me step down one stair, my body acting before my mind could catch up.
And then, like a lightning bolt, it hit me.
Officer Brooks was him.
The same man who had been standing at the bottom of the stairs the night I played in Harmony Haven. The same man whose kind smile and beautiful eyes made me feel so at ease. The same man whose touch had left a sear on my skin that lingered for weeks after I had left.
That walk down the stairs of the stage that night had been the last time I could remember feeling any semblance of peace. But how could I tell him that? How could I explain why it took me all day to make the connection? He’d never believe me, if I told him I had been too crazy all day to put it together until now.
He smiled and took one step up the stairs, closing the distance between us, and creating a level that made us eye to eye.
“Hey,” he said softly, reaching his hand out between us. I hesitated for just a moment, my pulse quickening, before I took it, awkwardly shaking it like we had just been introduced. “I’m Miles.”
“Loxley,” I replied, my voice a little shakier than I intended, but I forced a smile, trying to ground myself. “But you can keep calling me Lox.”
I kinda liked it.
Chapter Six
MILES
Loxley Adams wasasleep in my guest room, probably drooling all over my spare pillow. Okay probably not. But I couldn’t decide if I was playing the hero, or just an idiot, and it was driving me crazy. It felt like I was harboring a fugitive, but with pillows.
Shit, I was losing my mind.
There hadn’t been a peep about her on social media or the news. Just one tiny, vague headline:“Loxley Adams’ show canceled due to illness.”That message came from her manager, Sam Moreno. I bet he was losing his mind right about now.
Loxley told me she’d turned off her phone when it started ringing non-stop during her drive. I’m guessing she hadn’t bothered to turn it back on. Nor would she.
She didn’t have a suitcase, so I gave her one of my old HHPD t-shirts and a pair of sweatpants that were probably bigger than she was. After I gave her the clothes and a bottle of water, I showed her to my guest bedroom. She quietly shut the door behind her.
It took every ounce of self-control not to text my brothers and tell them the whole story. But until I had more information, I didn’t want to risk making things worse for Loxley. So, I stayedin bed, wide awake, scrolling through my phone like a detective trying to piece together a crime scene.
I dug through the latest headlines on her. According to the news, she had a show in Columbia, Tennessee, the night before last.Flawless nightthey said. There was also a radio interview she did yesterday morning. The interview was on a Nashville station, not far from where the car she’d been driving had been rented.
