Page 44 of Abandoned

Zara slapped Logan’s arm and pointed to the fleeing couple.

Logan and Zara abandoned the crowd, which hadn’t quite gone to full blows, and gave chase.

In about ten paces, Zara caught up with Rainie. Zara slammed into her body and nearly took her to the ground. She grabbed the woman’s arms and spun her around to avoid falling.

Once she’d gained solid footing, Zara said, “You’re not getting away so easy. Rainie, you’re under arrest.”

The woman tried to rip her arms out of Zara’s grasp, but Zara was stronger.

Ernie shouted, “Don’t resist, you stupid woman. You’ll just make it worse for yourself.”

Rainie stopped fighting and allowed Zara to cuff her.

Too many times over the years, she’d heard people speak this way to one another, and it always drove her batty. The whole I’m going to be nice to you and insult you at the same time was so ridiculous.

She and Logan hauled the couple off to the squad cars. Once Rainie and Ernie were tucked inside, Logan and Zara helped wrangle the crowd. The brawl dissipated without any significant injuries.

When Logan told the owner to close for the night, he was livid and demanded that charges be pressed against Rainie.

Zara kept her mouth shut and let Logan handle it, but she wanted to tell the owner about how she thought he should be arrested for running such a filthy “business.” No woman should be paraded in front of a bunch of drunk men to be ogled over. Zara knew what it was like, and it wasn’t right.

The owner stalked inside his establishment, and Zara and Logan walked back to their cars where Rainie and Ernie waited.

Logan tapped Zara’s arm. “Are you doing all right?”

“Tired. I suppose you heard about last night.”

He turned and faced her. “I did. And while I’m normally the one to be the downer when talking about relationships, I do think you and Will will be fine. Just be honest with him.”

“A downer? Why?”

“They never work out for me. It is what it is. Let’s get these two oafs off to lockup. Think we need to press charges on Ernie?”

“Probably not, and while I’d love to see him rot in jail, I don’t think he actually broke any laws tonight. But wouldn’t hurt to take him in and then let him loose.”

“His car is here though. Isn’t that rather mean?”

“Eh. Maybe, but he did run from us.”

They climbed in their cars, and Zara followed Logan back to the station. It was already after one in the morning. So much for seeing Will before going home.

As they drove, Rainie didn’t stop talking. She babbled on and on about Ernie and herself. But she wasn’t happy. It quickly became clear to Zara that the chip on Rainie’s shoulder that she’d thought was the size of Texas was more like the size of Alaska.

“And you.” The pronoun came out in a hiss like a venomous snake’s. “I can’t believe you’re doing this to me. You want him all to yourself, don’t you? He told me. But he isn’t going to be happy that you locked us up. You’ll pay for this. You’re gonna have to find out what it’s like to be locked up. I bet you have something dirty in your past that you want to keep hidden. Ernie’ll dig it up and plaster it all over. You’ll lose your job. Although, maybe I’ll just let Ernie take you out back. You’re gonna regret this.”

Did this woman not understand that the dash cam was running and recording every word she said? “Threatening a police officer is not in your best interest.”

“Whatever. I swear. I’m not threatening you, I’m calling it the way I see it. You’re gonna get locked up just like you’re locking me up.”

The rest of the drive, Zara tried to tune her out, but never before had Hazel Hill felt like such a large city.

Chapter Twelve

When Will pulled up in front of Zara’s apartment on Thursday morning, it was barely after eleven. He was taking a big risk by showing up unannounced. For one, there was no guarantee she was up, but for two, things still felt so unsettled between them. When he hadn’t seen her at the end of shift yesterday, he texted her. She hadn’t replied until after two in the morning, and it hadn’t made much sense. He was pretty sure he knew what she meant, but it wasn’t what she’d typed.

He grabbed the drink tray that held two smoothies—one Zara’s favorite—from the passenger seat and approached her door. Balancing the tray in one hand, he knocked.

Nothing.