Page 15 of Found By You
My mother was already hugging her, and so was Kayla, their arms creating a protective circle around her trembling shoulders. “It’s okay. It’s okay,” they murmured in unison.
She pulled in a long breath that shuddered through her body. I caught a glimpse of her hand and wrists and forearms; there was bruising there, purple and yellow marks telling a story she couldn’t remember. Not to mention that despite the makeup on her eye, it was still visibly black, the swelling visible beneath the concealer. Still, she was better off than she’d been the other day when I’d found her disoriented and frightened.
“I just—I’m so confused. I don’t know why I would be running. Who am I running from?” She flung her hands up in a desperate gesture. “And if I have family, will they even know where I am?”
I was processing this with her, my cop instincts humming beneath the surface. “I’m texting Damon about this.” I whipped out my phone and texted him quickly. “I’m just thinking that it might not be a good idea for a few days to post your picture anywhere, in case youwererunning from someone.”
She sniffed. “Right, because I’m in so much trouble I had to run away from who knows what.”
Kayla hugged her again, offering silent support. “I’m sorry you’re going through this.”
I sent the text.
My mother nodded. “Me too.”
The woman sucked in a long breath and turned back to me, squaring her shoulders with determination. “Let’s go. I want to get away from this hospital.”
I nodded, keys ready, wondering what secrets lay behind those haunted green eyes and what dangers might be following her to my door.
Chapter 6
I sat in the passenger seat of McCrae’s police cruiser, staring out the window at this town. He was driving us down Main Street, where quaint storefronts with colorful awnings lined both sides of the road. Flower baskets hung from decorative lampposts, swaying gently in the afternoon breeze.
“There’s the pizza place,” he said, gesturing toward a brick building with red-and-white checkered curtains visible through wide windows. “There’s Jim’s, where we all go to play cards.” He pointed to the other side of the street. “There’s the car dealership.” A parking lot was filled with vehicles that caught the sunlight like mirrors. “Oh, past the pier, you can see the lake.”
It was strange, but somehow comforting. I squeezed the side of the seat, the leather warm beneath my fingers, and mulled over the same questions that had been going through my mind for the past day: Who was I? Why was I here? Who wanted to hurt me? Who was I running from?
We took a road out of town, pine trees creating a tunnel of dappled shadows overhead, and then we were turning onto a gravel drive that crunched under the tires. I saw we were by the lake; the water was visible through the trees. He went up acouple of houses, turned down a dirt road, and pulled up in front of a log cabin. The structure was nestled among tall pines, with a wide deck that wrapped around one side.
He parked and cut the engine, turning to me. “Here’s my place,” he said, pride mixing with a touch of uncertainty in his voice. “I like it. I hope you’re comfortable here.” His eyes scanned the cabin as if seeing it anew through my eyes. “It’s going to take me a second to get everything worked around. I do have a bed in there, but I’ll have to move some stuff out of that room and put sheets on the bed. And dang it, we should probably stop over to my mom’s house, because I don’t have extra blankets or pillows.”
“Just wait.”
He turned and stared at me.
Again, those gorgeous blue eyes assaulted me. He had a scar on one side of his face—not a bad one that would mar his features at all. It was a gorgeous face, with chiseled cheekbones and a strong jawline. He looked every bit the man in uniform he clearly was, and it was impossible not to notice that he was strong, with bulging muscles beneath his shirt.
“Are you okay?” he asked, concern etching lines between his brows.
“No, frankly, I’m not,” I admitted, the words catching in my throat. “But I do want to thank you for taking me in. I … I know it might have seemed unreasonable to you that I wanted to go with you, but … your eyes are kind.”
The look on his face seemed to soften, and then a small smile tugged at the edge of his lips.
“What? Don’t you want to be kind?”
He grunted and said, “Sure. I mean, I want to be kind.” He thought about it for a moment, and mischief appeared in his eyes. “But if my brothers ask you, you should really say I’m devastatingly handsome and you just couldn’t resist me.”
It made me smile, the tension in my shoulders easing slightly. “Okay.” I let out a light laugh. He was funny.
He gave me another smile, a flash of white teeth against his tanned skin, and then got out of the truck to grab my bag from the back seat.
I got out too, the door closing with a solid thunk behind me.
We walked toward the house and I reached for my bag. “You don’t have to carry my bag.”
He pulled it away. “Yeah, I do. My mom and dad taught me that a man carries things for a woman, so …” He paused, studying me. “I don’t know anything about you, and I guessyoudon’t know anything about you, but I’ll tell you something about me.” He pulled the key out, the metal catching the fading sunlight, and then unlocked the door. “I carry things for women … not that I’ve had a great track record with women.” He grinned. “But I do carry their things.”
I wanted to ask more questions, but I held back. “Good to know.”
