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“Just…” He threaded his hands together. “Just stay here, okay? I can help you, but I need you to listen to me and take my advice. You can’t just walk away from the cabin. Come back inside, and we’ll make a plan.”
I peered up at him, still annoyed and hurt even after his explanation.
Still, I followed him back to the cabin, knowing that I wasn’t in a position to be picky about the help I accepted.
7
DILLON
Now that she’d told me everything about what was going on with her and the scumbag she was running from, everything seemed to make a lot more sense. Alex sounded like some of the worst pieces of shit that I’d had to deal with back when I’d been on the force, and I knew that it was going to be a hell of a job protecting her, especially because she was so stubborn.
The look on her face when I’d told her that she would need to follow my advice had been truly priceless.
“I know you’re going to hate this,” I said to her as I walked back to the kitchen with her, “but you’re not going to be able to leave the cabin. Not until we find Alex and know for sure that he’s either left town because he thinks that you’re gone, or because we’ve gotten him arrested.”
She sighed, putting her head into her hands. “You’re right,” she mumbled. I could barely hear her with her hands covering her mouth.
“About what?” I asked, leaning forward to meet her gaze.
“About the fact that I hate this.”
I chuckled. “Fair enough. But I promise that if you stay here, you will be safe. I have security cameras rigged up going two miles out; there’s no way he’ll be able to get within spitting distance of this place to hurt you without me being ready to stop him.”
She pressed her thumbs into her eyelids, the stress clear in all of her body language.
“Does your building have security?”
She snorted. “No. It’s a wonder that it actually has locking doors. But still, there is a buzzer for the front door, and you need a key fob to get in.”
“Is there a garage, or do you park on the street?”
“Street parking.” Her eyebrow furrowed again. “Are you saying that he knows my car? He just got here from Nashville, and my car was at the trailhead all day yesterday.”
“Yeah, but he could’ve gotten the description from one of your neighbors.” I kept my voice pitched low and calmly. “I have a friend who owns a garage in town; I’ll ask him if we can store your car there, just for now. At least this way he won’t have a sure way of identifying you.”
She sighed, going to sit on the sofa and putting her head in her hands. “I can’t believe this is happening. This is all just…” Her voice trailed off, and I saw the light bounce off her thick dark hair, turning it ruby red.
I went to sit next to her, deliberately keeping a few inches away. “I can’t imagine how overwhelming this is for you. But I promise that I will do everything I can to keep you safe.”
She looked up at me, her big blue eyes going wide as she met mine. She bit her lip, and I had to physically hold myself back from reaching out and touching her lip to keep her from tearing into it with her teeth.
“If you give me your keys, your address, and a description of Alex, I can take your car over to the garage and then get Hank to give me a ride over to your place. Tell me what you want from your place, and I’ll pack a bag for you.”
She looked at me, swallowing hard before nodding at me. “Do you have a pad of paper?”
* * *
I drove my truck down to the trailhead where she’d left her car the day before and climbed into the driver’s seat of her Camry, readjusting the seat and chuckling at how tiny Macy was. I had to move the driver’s seat out by almost a foot in order to get into a position that I actually found comfortable. It took me a few minutes to drive from the trailhead over to Hank’s gas station, thankful for the easy rapport that I’d managed to build with the man.
I pulled in and walked into the gas station, nodding at Hank as I walked up to the counter.
“Hey, Dillon. What happened to your truck?” Hank asked, looking out over the counter as he peered into the parking lot.
“Hey,” I said, leaning on the counter. “It’s a friend’s. I’ve got kind of a weird situation, and I was wondering whether you would be able to help me out with it.”
Hank raised his eyebrow at me but nodded, waiting for me to continue.
“There’s a new girl in town. She works at the grocery store.”
