Page 76 of Sundowners
He kept a hand on me until we got into the hallway. “Don’t run, Creed. Don’t make a scene.”
I nodded. I said goodbye to everyone I saw, grateful that Frances and her sisters weren’t among the crowd. Lexi gave me a look of such heartbreak, and I hated myself for hurting her.
“I’m sorry, Lexi.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me, anger and pain emanating from her tiny body in waves.
“Do I need to put you in the back?” Rey asked.
“No,” I said quietly. He opened the passenger side door for me to climb in and then shut it behind me. When he climbed into his side, he stuck the key in the ignition and sighed.
“You know, you’re lucky I’m not beating your ass for the hurt you’ve brought to my door. My auntie, my nephew…the dog… You better help me fix this shit with EVE, and then you need to clean up your mess, goddammit. I hate tears. I hate weird, but I hate tears even more, and there have been plenty going around because of Nurse Creed.” He cursed under his breath and pulled his patrol car away from the curb. “Fucking Nurse Creed.”
“I’m sorry, Rey. I am.”
“For what? The assholes going around bullying people? Biting people? Making everyone fall in love with you? What?”
“All of it,” I said as I gazed out the window at the hazy night. The fog had rolled in pretty thickly and it was tough to see past the streetlights.
“Yeah, well, you’re gonna be sorry when Roman gets hold of you. I’ve never seen him so mad, and that’s saying something.”
“I’ll bet.” I deserved it. All of his anger.
We pulled into the lot and I followed Rey into the back entrance. He led me to aconference room with frosted windows and sat me in a chair outside. “Sit. I’ll tell them you’re here.” Through the haze, I could see four people inside but couldn’t make out who they were.
I sat on a hard wooden chair and enjoyed the pain of the slats digging into the scratches on my back from the spill on my bike. It reminded me of my purpose.
Rhonda darted out of the conference room and ran for me, lifting up to put her paws on my chest. I nearly lost it when I hugged her and felt her ribs. My poor girl. What had I done to her? If I’d have known about the shelf-life of the Exchange…
Before anyone noticed, I punctured my finger and gave her a few drops of my blood, hoping, praying it would keep her comfortable until I could figure out what to do. I couldn’t leave her. I couldn’t stay here. I wished I could just take her and run away. I wished I could—
“Creed?”
“Detective Cabral,” I said, standing to greet Vanessa. She seemed concerned but not angry with me. Rey hadn’t been angry either. How could they not be? I never should have gotten involved with Roman.
“We’d like to brief you on our current situation and ask you once more to help us. A woman’s life is at stake.”
I stood and reached for Rhonda’s head. As always, her strength gave me courage.
“I’ll tell you whatever I can.”
“No, you’ll tell us whatever we need to know, Creed. Otherwise, you’ll be spending some time in jail.
24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Roman
I bracedmyself when I heard his voice. Knowing he would be entering the room and actually seeing him were two different things.
And what I saw was not at all what I’d expected.
Creed had always seemed larger than life. He always wore a smile. Even when he was worried, his face had a soft quality to it—as opposed to my perma-scowl—that always put me at ease. He carried himself relaxed,
That was three weeks ago.
The Creed before me now was wiry. He’d lost weight, his clothes were dirty and there were lines in his stark face that I didn’t recall seeing before. He looked…hard. Weathered. His eyes were sunken in and darting about the room, on alert. Even his wavy hair, so soft to the touch, always brushing his shoulders and curling against his cheeks, was brushed back off his face and looked unkempt, at least for Creed.
