Page 109 of Love in the Storm

“Asa, I don’t have anything.”

“I know, but you have to open the car. Just show him.”

She held his stare and nodded. The motion was small, barely perceptible. “Okay.”

She unlocked the car and moved back. Ranger calmly stepped one foot into the back seat of the car and froze.

“Got a hit,” Jason said.

“No!” Lyric shouted beside him. “It’s not true. I don’t have anything!”

Ranger backed away from the car, and Jason reached in. Asa didn’t move as Jason held up a tan leather purse.

“That’s not mine.” Lyric grabbed Asa’s arm. “I gave Wendy a ride to work this morning. It’s hers.”

Jason laughed once, cold and demeaning. “That’s what they all say.”

All that fire in Asa’s chest was building—pushing against the walls.

It wasn’t Lyric’s purse. At least, it wasn’t the one she’d been carrying around since he met her. Shehaddropped Wendy off at work this morning, but Lyric’s word would mean next to nothing. She had a history, and the drugs were in her car.

Jason handed the bag to Lyric. “Open it.”

“It’s not mine!” Lyric’s tone rose higher as panic gripped her. She held onto Asa’s arm, half hiding herself behind him. “It’s not mine!”

Asa could barely get the words out. “Just open it.”

She gasped, and the inhale was shaky. He was protecting her. If she opened it, they could move to the next step of the investigation. If she refused, it wouldn’t reflect well on her, whether there was something in the bag or not.

Lyric took the bag and opened the top with shaky hands, holding it out at arm’s length.

Asa had never wished he could project thoughts into someone else’s mind more than right now. He wanted to tell Lyric everything would be okay. He wanted to tell her to stay calm and follow his lead. He wanted to tell her he believed her.

Jason reached into the purse and shuffled things around before he pulled out a small bag.

Lyric exhaled hard and fast as if she’d been hit in the back. When she looked up at Asa, the dark-brown of her irises blurred. “I swear, Asa.”

“You have the right to remain silent,” Jason said.

Lyric took a quick step back. “No. No. It’s not mine. Asa, please.”

The pain in her voice cut his chest in two. This couldn’t be happening. He trusted her, and he wanted to keep that trust so badly that he might have overlooked the truth.

“Lyric, just stay calm.”

He reached for her, but she took another step away from him. “No. I didn’t do anything.”

When he reached for her the second time, she took two quick steps back.

“Is she resisting arrest?” Jason questioned.

As bad as this situation was, it could get so much worse if Lyric didn’t stop and trust him. Whether she’d lied to him or not, he didn’t want her to have another charge stacked on this one.

“Please, Lyric. Trust me.” It was what he wanted more than anything. No, what he really wanted was to wake up from this nightmare.

Lyric stopped her retreat, but a tear fell over her cheek. “You trust me,” she said slowly.

“I do,” he mouthed. Clearing his throat, he reached out a hand to her. “Please come with me.”

---