Sam studied the man in front of her. She had questions for him, but she highly doubted he’d answer them.
Sam shook her head. “Not at this time, no.”
“Paperwork is two-dimensional. It tells us who you are but notwhoyou are. Is there anything specific to you or your sister that’s not listed in your files that you want me to know? Are there any questions or concerns about your situation?”
She took a deep breath. “It’s probably nothing, but Bella is usually home by now, and as you can see, she’s not. She didn’t answer her phone when I called.”
Concern filled the marshal’s face. “Is that typical for her?”
“No. She knows the rules. She’s supposed to come straight home from school.”
“Does she have any extracurricular activities that might have run late? Any friends she likes to hang out with? Perhaps they lost track of time.”
“No extracurricular activities. She has friends. It’s possible she could be with one of them.”
“Any reason to believe she could be in danger because of your past? Threats or anything of that nature?”
She shook her head again. “No.” Sam was confident Bella would have told her if she had received any.
“Okay. So it’s possible that this is just her losing track of time or something simple like that.”
Possible? Yes. Uncharacteristic? Also yes.
“I’m here to protect you and Isabella. How do you want me to respond to this? I can and will scour the city for her if that’s what you want, or I can stay in the background and let you handle this until you tell me otherwise. It’s your decision.”
While this wasn’t like Bella, she had gotten into trouble at school today, so her being late could be tied to that. “Thank you. I’ll wait a bit and go from there.”
“Be sure to let me know if or when you need me. Even if it’s the middle of the night. In the meantime, I’ll pray for you.”
Sam clenched her jaw and fought the urge to roll her eyes. She’d given up on prayers a long time ago. As far as she could see, they didn’t do anything. And she needed Bella to get her butt home.
The bathroom door opened behind her, and Aubrey rejoined them and took the flyers from Deputy Marshal Roberts.
“If you don’t have any more questions or concerns, we’ll be on our way.” Deputy Marshal Roberts slid his hands into his pockets.
“No. We’re good for now.”
He turned and opened the front door. “It was nice to meet you.”
“You too.” Except it wasn’t. It was a reminder of her past failures and how she’d ended up in Renegade.
She watched the two walk down the sidewalk to the next house, then pulled the phone from her pocket and unlocked it. Her thumb was hovering over Bella’s contact picture when she saw her coming from the opposite side of the road.
Sam narrowed her eyes as Bella strolled up the walkway. “Where have you been?”
Bella sighed and entered the house. “I was with my friend.”
“The same friend that you were caught vaping with at school?” Sam shut the front door and locked it. She slid the deadbolt over and then engaged the chain lock, just like she’d done every night since finding out who she’d really been working for.
Bella dropped her bag on the ground with a thud. “Her name is Sophia, and we weren’t vaping.”
“Then why did I get a telephone call from the school?”
“Because we were in the bathroom with the girls thatwerevaping, but we weren’t. Guilty by association.” Bella dropped onto the loveseat.
“Why were you in the bathroom when you were supposed to be in class?” Sam moved to stand in front of Bella and crossed her arms.
“Sophia had to go between classes, and the stalls were all full, so we waited. The girls started vaping while she was in the stall. I wasn’t going to leave her in there alone.”
