Page 76 of Rich Girl
“Chase who?”
Just then, Chase Hawthorne, my ex boyfriend and current bane of my existence, walks up to our group.
“Babe, I’m so happy you’re safe. We were worried.”
He tries to hug me, but I push him away. I don’t want his hands on me or him calling mebabe. Not after hearing the loving way Ray does it.
Jeanine tries to explain things.
“Chase pretended to have a flat tire, then call here for service. We were trying to lure this guy out.”
By the time she’s done talking, she doesn’t look as sure of herself.
“I can’t believe this is happening.” I stick my hands in my hair and look around me. “It’s a nightmare.”
I turn to look at the police officers. “I’m not sure what they told you. But Ray Parker did not kidnap me. I came here of my own free will. I wanted to be here.”
The next few hours are incredibly hard. They put me through some gruesome interviews, all in an effort to figure out whether I am telling the truth or not. By the time it’s over, I am exhausted.
“Well, this was a waste of time and resources,” the sheriff’s deputy declares. “I’m sure you understand that we will have to bill you for our rescue efforts.”
I don’t care about the money. I just want to clear the air on this.
“Where is Ray?”
“He is being held at the county jail. A judge will need to sign his release. It will take a while.”
I stand up from the desk in Ray’s office where they ran their interviews. When I step outside, I run into Emma and Jeanine. They look distraught but not enough for me to feel any sympathy toward them.
“Where’s Adeline?” I ask about our other friend.
Jeanine gives me a sheepish look. “She, uh, didn’t want to come. She and her fiancé talked it over. He thought it was a bad idea…”
I don’t listen to the rest. Turning on my heels, I walk toward the gate to the courtyard. I start running when I see Evie and Carrie with the baby on her hip standing right there, a look of complete astonishment on their faces.
“I need your help,” I tell them as soon as I reach them. “They are holding Ray at the county jail. I don’t know what that means or where it is. Can you take me?”
“Cal and James are there,” Evie tells me. “They won’t release him without a judge signing off.”
“Yeah, that’s what they told me here, too,” I point behind me where I left the group of police officers.
“We should take my car,” Carrie suggests. “It has the car seat for the baby in there.”
We march to her car that’s parked at the fire department. I end up in the back, with Carrie’s little boy staring at me with his big eyes, probably wondering why there’s a stranger in his space.
Evie turns in the passenger seat, the belt almost strangling her when she gets stuck in it.
“There’s one problem.”
I close my eyes and try to focus. I can’t imagine what more problems we could have.
“All judges are out of town at a conference. There’s no one here to sign for Ray’s release.”
As Ray would say,fuck.
TWENTY-TWO
LeavingHayden in my bed while fully expecting not to find her there when I get back is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Life sucks sometimes.
