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Sighing, Loren hobbled to the sink and splashed some cool water onto her face, scrubbing away most of the blood. The motion brought attention to her fingers—the nails of which were encrusted in ruby-colored crud. With a shudder, she shoved her hands beneath the faucet and watched as reddish water circled the drain. Finished, she wet a paper towel and went to work on erasing as much of the mud from her sweater as she could. The tights were a total loss, soaked through.
Ten minutes later, she emerged, looking no less scrappy than before.
At least, Officer McGoven seemed to have found whatever he’d been looking for. Two sandwiches lay spread out before him.Tuna,Loren sensed with an appreciative sniff.
Not only that, but two shiny apples sat on the counter, complete with a stick of cheddar cheese. Hope swelled in her chest. It was more than she’d eaten last night. Hell, more than she ate most nights.
As if sensing the direction her thoughts had taken, McGoven cocked his head her way. “I take it that wasyourlunch smeared all over the sidewalk?”
Loren didn’t know what to say.
“Here.” To her immense shock, McGoven swept the food into a brown paper bag and offered it to her. “Is this enough to replace it?”
She nodded, too grateful to refuse. “T-thanks.” Even as the word left her mouth, a sense of dread rushed to replace it.
These days, people rarely did anything without expecting something in return.What would he want?She snuck a glimpse of that unreadable face through a fringe of her hair.
There were only a few things someone like her could give him.
Suddenly, he frowned. “Wait—”
Loren nearly dropped the food as he opened a drawer. When he pulled out a knife, her heart sank.
Fearlessly, he brandished the blade and brought it down right over the middle of the second tuna sandwich. Taking one half for himself, he tossed the knife in the sink and nodded toward the remaining slice. “One for the road.”
Loren stared at it for all of two seconds, before snatching the food as if afraid he might take it from her. Without hesitation, she crammed the entire thing into her mouth. She chewed so quickly the taste barely registered in her mind, but it wasgood—she knew that much.
And, she knew that he was watching her.
Rather than question, he quietly left the house.
Loren rushed after him, clutching the brown paper bag to her chest like a king’s ransom of gold. Once again, Officer McGoven opened the car door for her, but he didn’t speak.
She could have been invisible if it weren’t for the fact that he silently cranked up the heat the second she began to shiver in her damp sweater. It was a cold, dreary day, even for fall, and the threat of rain seemed inevitable.
Loren just hoped that the storm held until she made it home. Tracking mud into the house was a surefire way to rile her father—if he wasn’t already aware of the drama before school.
Luckily, the streets and plain buildings of New Walsh passed in a blur. Far too soon, she found herself staring at a sign reading New Walsh Academy.
As far as Loren was concerned, it could have readhell on earth.
To be fair, school itself wasn’t all bad. She got decent grades, and there were a few subjects she liked—but the Naomi Tanners of the world excelled at spoiling even a glimmer of happiness. Ever since the day Loren dared to set foot inside New Walsh Academy, the blond had been there nipping at her heels with increasing viciousness. Judging from the mess this morning, it was only a matter of time before Naomi got her expelled.
Today might not have been that day, though—a certain pink car wasn’t in the parking lot.
“Here we are, right on time,” Officer McGoven remarked as he parked near the path leading to the front of the main building.
“T-Thank you,” she whispered, gathering her belongings.
“I don’t want to see you in this position again, Ms. Connors. If you don’t mind me saying it. You recognize me, don’t you?”
He angled his face her way, allowing the daylight to illuminate every sculpted plane. Her breath caught, her belly on fire with an emotion she couldn’t name. The look in his eyes diminished the awe somewhat—he was disappointed.
“Yes,” she admitted.
“I don’t want to have the same relationship with you that I do with your father. Do you understand?”
Loren hung her head in shame. The double-meaning lurking within his tone was perfectly clear—I don’t want to see you in this position again…like him.
