Page 6 of Laying it Bare on the Run

“Hear me out.” I put up my hand. “I have an extra room my sister used to stay in. I’m a cop, you’re safe with me. You can even lock the bedroom door to keep me out. Not that I’d come in uninvited but I want you to know you’re safe with me.” I couldn’t allow her to stay here. Not because it was that big of a deal, kids were constantly staying in these abandoned buildings. But I was concerned about her safety. Something had her spooked, big time.

“I trusted a cop once. It turned out badly.” Her attitude was starting to deflate.

If I continued to wear her down, I could convince her to come home with me. “I’m sorry you had a bad experience. But I’m a good one. And so are my buddies.”

She huffed out something that sounded like disbelief. “Oh, so that’s why they tackled me then?”

“You assaulted an officer. They could’ve arrested you.”

She released a huge sigh. “Good point. Thank you for not. But I still don’t know if I can trust you. Like I said I tried that once, because hello you are supposed to uphold the laws but it almost cost me – ” She slapped a hand to her mouth and groaned.

“And most of us do but you find bad in every profession. And I get it; a bad cop is really bad, but I promise you can trust me. I only want to help you. If I didn’t, I would have had my cop buddies stay and we could have arrested you for trespassing. But I don’t want to do that. I want to help you. You can take a long hot shower, get some clean clothes, eat some good food, and sleep somewhere comfortable. What do you say?”

“You saying I stink?” Cool, the snarky was returning. I had her.

“Sorry, but yeah. But I’m sure it’s nothing some soap and water can’t fix.”

She started mumbling something under her breath and for just a moment I wondered if maybe I was wrong about her and she was some escaped strung out mental patient. “Sorry, sometimes I talk to myself when I’m nervous and can’t decide what is best to do. I don’t have anyone to talk to anymore, so myself it is.” She slammed her hand over her mouth again. “Shit, why do I keep telling you stuff?”

I gave her a friendly smile, hoping to alleviate a little of her apprehension. “Hey, it’s okay. I get that you don’t want to trust me but you can. Come on.” When I moved my wrist toward me I caught a glimpse of the time. “By the time we get back to the station, it will be close to the end of my shift.”

Her eyes widened in fear. “I can’t go near a police station. I . . . I . . . I don’t want anyone to see me . . . it’s embarrassing.”

“I’m seeing you.”

“I’m not happy you’re seeing me either but you crashed my party. I had no control over that. I don’t want to go near the station. I’ll just stay here. I’ll be okay. Don’t worry about it.”

“When we get to the station, I’ll put you in my car while I run inside to drop off my stuff. Okay?” I reached out my hand to her, hoping like crazy she would take it. I wasn’t sure why I was so adamant about her coming home with me. Yes, I wanted to make sure she was protected from whatever it was she was running from but my slight attraction to her also made it difficult to want to walk away because it was a given I’d never see her again if I did. And there was just something about her that drew me to her even though we had just met. Well, hopefully I could gain her trust and then I could help her and then . . . well we’d just go from there. One step at a time.So slam on the brakes, man. The poor girl was dealing with enough already; I didn’t need to pounce on her just because it had been awhile for me. And hell she might not even be interested.And why were my thoughts rolling in this direction? Geez, maybe she was right to not want to come home with me. Maybe I was giving off a vibe that matched my attraction to her.

After a few moments, she stretched out her hand and placed it in mine. Hers was ice cold even though it was still rather warm outside, considering it was July. “You’re freezing.”

“It’s okay. I’m fine.” She let me lead her outside of the building. “I won’t have to sit in the back will I?” Her voice held a slight quiver but she did her best to mask it.

I twisted and gazed down at her. In the glow of the streetlights, she was breathtaking. Even though her clothes and skin were dirty and she smelled like she hadn’t bathed in a while, her facial features were elegant and beautiful. And although her blonde hair hung in dirty loose ratty waves, I was convinced once she was cleaned up she was stunning. “No, you’ll be sitting up front with me. Don’t worry. You’re not a criminal. You’re someone I want to help.”

She studied my face for a moment before gifting me with a tiny smile. I’d take the small victory because it was the first upward tilt of her lips I’d had the pleasure of witnessing.

We walked in silence the short distance to my car. When we got to it, I unlocked the passenger door and opened it for her to slip inside. Once she was settled, I circled my cruiser and hopped into the driver’s seat. After I turned on the ignition, I twisted in my seat to face her. She sat there stock still, eyes staring down at her lap, arm and leg muscles taut, and her back rigid.

“Hey, if you really don’t want to come with me you don’t have to. I’ll let you stay in that building.” I hated the words as soon as they left my mouth but I didn’t like seeing her so uncomfortable. “But I’d really like you to come home with me. I know they are just words to you, but you really can trust me. I want to help you.”

After a painful moment, she glanced up at me, her eyes haunted and full of misery. “I’m still not one hundred percent sure about this.” Her voice wasn’t as raspy now but still pretty sexy. “But I think I’m making the right choice right now. At least I hope so, I can’t – ” She cut herself off and shifted her gaze to peer out the side window.

I didn’t press her to finish. I had given her a chance to change her mind and she hadn’t, so I didn’t want to give her a reason to amend her decision by being pushy. After pulling away from the side of the street, I drove in the direction of the station. As promised, when we got there, I ushered her to my Explorer.

When I unlocked the passenger side door for her to hop in, she paused. Shit. She had changed her mind on the way here after all.

“Would you mind if I curled up in the back until you return?” She glanced at me nervously. “I don’t want someone thinking I’m trying to steal your car or up to something if they see me in here. I don’t want to risk causing a scene. I don’t want the attention.”

“That makes sense.” For the most part it did. I really didn’t think anyone would pay much attention but if it made her feel better, I’d honor her request. “As long as when I get back, you hop up front and ride beside me.”

“That seems fair.” Once again, she gifted me with a small smile.

After I unlocked the other doors, I opened the door for her to climb in. She curled up on the back seat, her bag still slung on her back, and pulled the blanket I had on the seat over her so that only the top of her head showed. Satisfied she was going to stay put, I closed her door before hitting the lock button on my fob. Then I hurried into the station.

Once inside, I rushed to my office to drop off my notepad and make sure I had logged off of my computer. Since I never changed at work and wasn’t about to start doing so tonight, I could avoid the trek further down the hall to the locker room. I was beyond thrilled I didn’t have to stay to type in any new reports since I hadn’t discovered any punk ass kids out tonight. And I wasn’t documenting anything about finding Harper, for many reasons, the big one being it wasn’t like she was doing anything wrong except for trespassing. Besides, no one had filed a formal complaint.

Just as I was heading out of my office, I bumped into our sergeant.

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