Page 104 of Concealed

Breaking into a sprint, I bolt to my truck with plans to drive right back to the station. Gabe is shouting into my Bluetooth, equally enraged and helpless.

Rebecca came so far in her healing, and it can’t all be for nothing.

Gabe is ready to meet me in Vegas, but the two of us there together in an unofficial capacity would be a bad scene that Matt wouldn’t walk away from.

I’m handling this case the right way because there’s simply too much at stake.

Growth, right?

And while under duress, no less.

“Keep me posted. Please.” There’s an undertone of fear in Gabe’s voice, and it propels me to drive even faster.

I park in the same spot as I did this morning, and run full speed into the station, bursting straight into Grant’s office without bothering to knock.

He takes one look at my face and hangs up his call. “What’s going on?”

“My roommate just left with her ex-boyfriend. Her abusive ex-boyfriend. This is the same man she just escaped from because he was close to killing her,” I say, in a frantic rush.

“Did he force her?” Grant asks.

“She said that she wanted to go, so I couldn’t stop her,” I admit. “But there are so many layers to this story. She didn’t really want to leave with him. I’m one hundred percent sure of it. She was just trying to protect me and my career.”

I explain that Matt’s father is the Police Commissioner, and outline the disturbing scene that was left behind at my place, proving that Rebecca left against her will.

You don’t freak out and drop shit everywhere just for fun.

“Are you sure that this situation isn’t just a love triangle gone bad?” Grant presses. “I believe you, Wyatt. I do. But I need to ask the question and cover all bases with a case like this one.”

“Yes, sir, I’m certain,” I promise. “It’s true that Rebecca is a lot more to me than just a roommate now. We were just starting a relationship. But everything I’m telling you is valid.”

“Have you called the local police?”

It’s a fair question, but I’m bouncing from foot to foot, so eager to get rolling and stop wasting time. But Grant doesn’t know this story. I need to take a deep breath and explain it coherently – and quickly – so he’s willing to help.

“I’m really worried about her safety, and I do not trust the Vegas PD to help her given who Matt is and what happened last time she reported him.”

“Tell me what happened last time so I know what we’re dealing with.”

Grant shakes his head in disbelief after I tell him Rebecca’s story. I hate to do it and invade her privacy, but it’s become a matter of life and death.

“That isn’t how police work is supposed to go. None of us are above the law.”

“Yes, sir. That is why I am asking you to please, please send someone to check on her. We need a police presence waiting for them at Matt’s house. I wouldn’t be asking you to go out on a limb if I didn’t believe her life was truly in danger.”

“Let me make some phone calls.”

We took too long.

Everything is taking way too fucking long.

Grant continued his conversation with his contact at Vegas PD while we drove here together. It’s someone he promised that we can trust.

But it still took way too long to get the wheels in motion. There is nothing I hate more than bureaucratic red tape that cripples us from taking action to save lives.

Especially Rebecca’s life.

I’ll lay my own life down for a stranger, and there is no limit to what I’d do to save her.

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