Page 10 of Catch
Once I was satisfied, I made the call to the station to request the tow. The weight of the situation pressed down on me harder now, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was diving headfirst into something far messier than I was prepared for.
By the time I got back to the car, Loxley was fidgeting in her seat, her hands twisting together nervously. I wanted to reassure her, to tell her everything would be fine, but the truth was, I had no idea what would happen next. This was an unexpected situation. This wasn’t in the handbook when I took my last promotion test.
“You clearly need some help,” I sighed, reaching over to take the cuff off her wrist. “My shift is over, so tell me what I need to do.”
She looked up, her eyes wide, almost accusing. “Aren’t you going to arrest me and call TMZ?”
I couldn’t help but snort a laugh, shaking my head. I understood the thought that had crossed her mind, but arresting Loxley Adams? That was a headline I wasn’t interested in being a part of. What I was ready for, though, was to be the guy who helped her, even if I didn’t know what that help looked like yet.
“You want to tell me why you’re running away?”
Her eyes hardened, just for a second, before she looked down. “No.”
“Want to tell me where you were headed?”
Another shake of her head. “No.”
I sighed again, feeling the familiar frustration creep up my spine. “Lox,” I muttered, and the nickname came out again without thought. "We can do this the hard way, or the easy way. I don’t want to push you, but I need to know what’s going on."
Her eyes met mine, guarded and tired, as if every part of her had been stretched thin, about to snap. “All I need is to hide. I just need time to write. Time to sleep. Time to rest. I ran away because I couldn’t take it for another second.”
Her words were the same confession, only it felt more real. I could feel the weight of them settle in the air between us, almost desperate. The music, the fame, the expectations—they were things I couldn’t even pretend to understand. But I could see how it could be suffocating.
She was right. She was just a girl who needed peace. I believed her. Every word.
And I knew exactly where to take her.
Chapter Five
LOXLEY
It had beena long time since I heard my full name, but the moment I realized what Officer Brooks said, it was like a switch flipped inside me. A flood of memories of the girl I used to be. The one who dreamt of writing her own music and singing her songs to people who needed to feel them as deeply as she did.
Loxley Belle Anderson.
But that girl was a million miles away and the girl I was now didn’t have the energy to argue with Officer Brooks anymore. Towing the car back seemed like a good idea, anyway. I didn’t need it anymore, not now that I was where I had set out to be. Harmony Haven. A place I could hide away for a little while.
“All I have to do is find a hotel,” I thought, the words slipping quietly through my lips.
If Officer Brooks heard me, he didn’t reply. He was pulling out onto the highway, waiting for a car to pass by as he did.
“Where are we going?” I finally asked, louder so I knew he heard me.
“Some place you can sleep.” His answer came with a shrug, as if it were no big deal that he was helping me with my runaway plans.
Instead of asking him to elaborate, I just assumed he meant a hotel, so I relaxed and leaned my head against the seat. My eyes fluttered closed for a moment, the exhaustion catching up with me as the sun started dipping lower and lower. I felt the weight of the day in my bones. But I couldn’t succumb just yet, so I opened my eyes and tried to focus on something to keep me awake.
I found myself turning my head slightly, looking a little harder at Officer Brooks as he drove. It was my first long, uninterrupted look at the man who had every right to lock me up and throw away the key. Officer Brooks was tall—maybe 6'5—with dark blonde hair. It reminded me of my natural color, before the label had insisted I bleach it so that I “fit in” with the other women who sang in my genre.
I couldn’t deny that Officer Brooks was incredibly good-looking. He had a chiseled jaw, strong and defined, and lips that he kept subconsciously licking. His uniform stretched tightly over his broad shoulders and biceps, and his arms flexed as he steered the wheel with ease.
Cop or not, I should have been a little more wary of a man I’d met barely an hour ago. Especially when we passed by The Harmony Hotel and turned down a dark and winding road.
A knot of uncertainty finally twisted in my stomach, but for some reason, my instincts were telling me to trust him. I couldn’t explain it. Maybe it was his calm, steady demeanor, or maybe it was just that I was too tired to question anything anymore.
Despite myself, a small laugh escaped, and I shook my head as the gravity of the situation suddenly found me. “Just tell me the truth. Will I be a Dateline special in a few months? Maybe they'll find my body somewhere, but they’ll never suspect it was the cute cop who looked too much like a Ken doll to be a serial killer?”
“What?” he sputtered, a mix of disbelief and amusement in his voice. His head snapped in my direction, and I could see the shock in his eyes, though there was a flicker of laughter there too.
