His expression softens a bit. "I'm Cal Granger, the Sheriff. We spoke on the walkie-talkies last night."
The man beside him nods firmly. “Eli. Mountain rescue.”
"What's wrong?" I gasp. “If someone is hurt or missing, Nate is just outside…"
The sheriff shakes his head. "Nothing like that. I've been getting calls for the past two hours from your father, saying that a creepy older man kidnapped his teenage daughter. Obviously, this is the kind of thing I need to check out."
Oh. My. God.
Every eye in the café is trained directly on me. I just want to melt into the floor.
Taking a deep breath, I remain calm, somehow. "Jeremy is mystepfather. And he's a drunk asshole, if you'll excuse my language."
The sheriff looks like he's trying to keep a straight face until his phone rings. Then he rolls his eyes. "Guy calls every ten minutes,” he mutters to Eli. “Whatta psycho."
It’s a video call, and he holds the phone up as he answers. "I'm with her now, Jeremy. She's fine. You can settle down."
“No, I can't!" He sounds hysterical. "My teenager has been kidnapped by a maniac.”
The Sheriff’s expression barely changes. “Bailey, how old are you?”
“Twenty-one.”
"I believe you, but for the record, can you prove that?"
"Not right now, I can’t. My mother stole my purse with all my ID in it.”
“She’s only seventeen!” Jeremy shrieks. Then he pauses. “Or…something like that. But if she can’t prove it, you have to ship her home immediately, right? There are runaway programs and stuff that do that?”
I start to shake, until I see Nate standing right behind the other men. It’s a comfort to know that he will jump in if I need him.
Then it clicks, and my eyes almost bug out of my head.
"He's trying to get me shipped home for free," I gasp. "They abandoned me here, and now they don't want to pay for me to get home."
The sheriff looks uncomfortable. "I want to believe you, Bailey. But—" He looks back over his shoulder and sees Nate, who simply nods.
"Hold on, I just thought of something." I grab my phone and pull up my photos, then hand it to him. "Pictures of my driver’s license and birth certificate. I'm twenty-one."
Cal takes a close look, then grins with a sparkle in his eye. "Sorry, Jeremy, she's twenty-one. She has proof right here."
"She's lying! Those are forgeries."
"Bailey is happy and healthy, and legally an adult. The most I can do for you is promise that I'll keep an eye on her. Got it?"
"You need to do your job!" Jeremy screams.
"Listen here.” Cal’s voice becomes stern. "You're the guy who abandoned his six-year-old twin sons to go drinking, right?"
Across the café, somebody's fork drops with a clatter. Otherwise, there is stunned silence for several seconds, before Jeremy sputters, "That's not really what happened. Wires got crossed, and?—"
"Jeremy… Shut up." Cal sighs. "Bailey, do you have anything else to say to this man?"
"Not a word."
He turns to Nate. Anythingyou'dlike to say, Mr. Creepy Evil Kidnapper?"
Mae snorts a laugh. "Kidnapper, my fanny! Every person in this room saw the cartoon hearts in their eyes when they kissed a few minutes ago."
