Page 94 of Whispers of You
“Dad?”
He stared down at the puzzle. “I don’t want you taking a job because I laid a guilt trip on you.”
“I’m not. I swear. But I won’t lie, you’re a part of the decision—you all are. I miss my family, this town, SAR. I missed Wren.”
Tears gathered in my mother’s eyes. “How does Wren feel about all this?”
“She doesn’t know about the job yet, but she’s coming around to the idea of me.”
Dad barked out a laugh as he wrapped an arm around my mom, nuzzling her neck. “I had to talk Kerry around to the idea of me, if I remember correctly.”
She swatted at him. “I thought he was nothing but an adrenaline junkie bad boy.” She gave him a quick kiss. “But I reined him in right quick.”
“Iletyou rein me in.”
“Whatever makes you feel better,” Mom huffed.
Dad turned back to me, his expression sobering. “I need to say something, and I don’t want you to take it the wrong way.”
I braced myself as my mom squeezed his hand tightly.
“I’ve thought of Wren as a daughter from the moment Grae latched on to her, and I realized her parents were selfish wastes of space.”
I gripped the edge of my chair, the wood digging into my palms. “I’m glad she has you.”
Worry deepened the lines on his face, and I couldn’t help the stiffening in my muscles. “What is it?”
Dad shook his head. “You’re both finally getting what you’ve always wanted. I don’t want anyone taking that from you.”
But I heard the words he really meant. Someone wanted to finish what Randy and Paul had started, and Wren could be next.
32
WREN
I rolledmy chair back and stood. Arching my back, I twisted to one side. How was it that sitting still was somehow harder once the sun went down? And working alone made me twitchy.
No other dispatcher was on duty tonight, and there were only a couple of officers in the station. It was a ghost town. It was better than the few occasions I’d been in the building with only the officer behind the reception desk, but still too quiet.
One of the things I loved about working here was the constant buzz of noise. I had the officers on the radio, but even they were typically quieter at night. Tourists pulled over for speeding or DUIs, and the occasional party that needed to be broken up for noise complaints would pick up soon.
I’d have given anything for those calls right now. Instead, I waited, muscles tense and ready to spring into action at the first call of trouble.
It seemed everyone else was feeling the same way. Officers were patrolling neighborhoods, looking for anyone who might be up to no good, their windows rolled down, listening for the sound of a bullet.
Heat crept up the back of my neck, along with a prickling sensation. I glanced over my shoulder to meet a glacial stare. Amber didn’t make any move to avert her gaze.
I sighed inwardly and lowered myself back into my chair. So much for Clint talking to her.
The phone on my desk beeped. It wasn’t that of an incoming call to nine-one-one but an internal call from within the police station. “This is Wren.”
“It’s Lawson. Can I talk to you for a minute? Route dispatch calls to my office.”
My stomach twisted. “Sure.”
I hung up and set up call forwarding. Keeping my head high, I made my way to Lawson’s office, studiously avoiding Amber’s gaze. Why did I feel like I was being called to the principal’s office?
I knocked softly on Lawson’s door.
