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Astrid lifted her chin. “Yes, I’m up to it.”
Growler’s fingers around her waist flexed. “We’ll follow you,” he said, still growly.
“Very good. I’m sure you want to get this over with, so shall we leave?”
Growler nodded, and when the officer left to go to his patrol car, Growler placed his hands on her shoulders. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
If she bristled at the way the officer had spoken to her, she melted when Growler asked her almost the same thing. “Yeah, still a little shaky, but I’ll be okay. Let’s get this over with, and then I can get to doing what I love most in the world—cooking.”
At least when cooking, no one would shoot at her. Or try to chase her off the road.
Chapter Twelve
Growler stepped out into the sunshine and put his sunglasses on. In the hour or so since they’d walked into the police precinct, the sun had risen higher in the sky and the day had warmed up. Beside him Astrid stopped and rummaged in her bag, donning her own glasses. He didn’t like not being able to see what she was thinking. Her eyes were a window into her emotions and thoughts. He liked being able to see them. It brought him closer to her.
“Ox sent a message, letting me know he’d arranged for your car to be towed to a garage. He said it would be ready in a couple of days.”
“Really? That wasn’t necessary. I had plans to call my insurance company and lodge a claim to get it sorted.”
“Insurance may have dragged it out. At least this way you know it’s getting repaired without the hassle of speaking to an adjuster who can delay things until they’re ready to approve it.”
Growler waited for her to be annoyed that Ox had taken control of the situation, especially after how she’d reacted when the officer had questioned her about her ability to give a statement.
“I suppose, but I’ll speak to my insurance agency about getting the cost reimbursed or something. Although I don’t think my policy covers damage caused by bullets.”
“There is that.” Every instinct wanted to find the asshole who chased and shot at them, and pummel him to the ground, but he fought it back. He was glad to see her sass was returning, though. She looked a little less haunted now. “Ox also said that he would leave one of the company cars for me to use and drive you around in.”
Growler headed to the far-right corner of the lot and spied the large black SUV with the dark tinted windows—bullet-proof windows, but he wasn’t going to let Astrid know that bit of information—at least not yet. After what they’d been through the last few hours, he didn’t want to freak her out any more than she already had been.
Then again, maybe she wouldn’t like him keeping that from her.
His head hurt, thinking about what the best course of action was. Indescribable fear climbed into his soul when the car’s back window had shattered. He’d wanted to haul Astrid close to him so that he could protect her and keep her safe.
The risk the asshole had taken shooting in a residential area was huge. They had balls and wanted Astrid badly.
Who the fuck were they?
Why did they want to erase her when she hadn’t seen anything? Hadn’t seen them pull the trigger.
None of this made sense.
He pulled the door open for Astrid, and she climbed in. “Thanks,” she murmured.
Growler got into the car and started it, but before he pulled out, he glanced over at Astrid as she gazed out the passenger window. He may have thought she looked less haunted than she had when they’d arrived, but he was worried that it was all a façade.
“You good?”
“How many times are you going to ask me this? Yes, I’m fine. I gave my statement to the police, and now I just want to get to the studio and put this whole thing behind me. So can we go, please?”
“You can’t do that, you know.”
“Can’t what?” she snapped back.
“Bury the last few hours. It’s not healthy. We were chased and shot at. It’s okay to still be freaked out about it.”
Silence fell in the car. The only sound was the soft hum of the engine. However long it took, Growler could wait. Hell, he’d waited hours when on missions for insurgents to come out of their hiding places. He also could deal with the silence. The quiet never bothered him.
“What do you want me to say?” she whispered eventually.
