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“Okay,” she whispers, leaning into me as Garfield holds open the door to the interrogation room for us to leave.
I lead her out, moving her in front of me when Hask stands. I don’t trust him not to reach out and grab her.
As we walk through the station to the main reception area, all eyes turn to us. I tense, waiting for one of them to try to stop me, knowing my reputation makes me less than popular with the police, when I realize their attention isn’t on me but Rue. She keeps her eyes down as we walk through and out the door.
As soon as we’re outside, she takes a deep, shuddering breath. She turns into me and face plants against my chest. When her shoulders begin to shake, I curse.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’ve got you.” I wrap my arms around her and hold her tightly. It starts to drizzle, but I don’t loosen my hold until she pulls back.
“I’m sorry. It’s just been a really long day.”
I wipe away her tears with the pads of my thumbs before pressing my lips against hers. The rain picks up, drenching us both, but I don’t let her go as my tongue slips inside her mouth to dance with hers. We’re soaked to the bone by the time I end the kiss.
“Did you drive here?”
It’s funny. She remembers the fundamentals of driving but didn’t remember if she had a car. A car that still hasn’t been recovered, but I had offered her the use of one of mine. Until now, she’d been against it, worried about crashing it.
“Yeah, I hope that’s okay. I took the Range Rover. I didn’t really care what I was driving. I just needed to get to you.”
“I’m glad you came.” I kiss her once more. Pulling back, I look into her eyes. “I think it might be time to put someone on you when I’m not around.”
“What do you mean, ‘put someone on me?’”
“A guard.”
“You think he’ll try to just take me?”
“It’s not just that, Rue. Your face is everywhere. You’ll have to deal with overzealous reporters and fucked-up people who want to follow in the killer’s footsteps and will mess with you just to prove they’re better. And then there are the fans.”
“Fans?”
I nod as I lead her to the car that I can just make out through the rain. “Serial killer groupies.”
She stops walking, my arm yanking back as she freezes. “Tell me you’re joking.”
“I wish I could,” I mutter before bending down and scooping her up into my arms.
She yelps but doesn’t fight me. I quicken my pace and hurry to the car as the rain starts falling in sheets. As we get closer, Rue rummages around in the small bag she has strapped across her body, looking for the key fob. Once she finds it, she pops the locks, making the lights flash just before a rumble of thunder echoes in the sky.
I open the passenger door and ease Rue in before closing it and hurrying around to the driver’s side. I climb in and take the key from Rue, starting the car and cranking up the heat.
“I’d just feel better if you had someone with you,” I tell her, pulling out of the lot.
She turns to look at me, her hands rubbing up and down her arms. “How about if I just stay at home, well, your place, and agree only to go out if I’m with you? I don’t need to leave for work or anything, at least for a little while.”
I risk a quick look at her before focusing back on the traffic. “I don’t want you to feel like a prisoner.”
“I know, and I don’t want that either. Why do you think I refused to go into witness protection? But it’s more than that. I don’t want to be around a bunch of strangers. Same with having a person on me. I won’t know them, and I’m so wary right now I think I’d have a panic attack if I were followed around by someone all day.”
“Fuck, okay. I didn’t think about what it would be like for you.”
“I don’t expect you to know what’s going on in my head when I don’t even know what’s going on myself.”
I reach across and slide my hand onto her thigh, letting the warmth of it seep into her damp skin. “We’ll make it work. Besides, if I’m with you, the police might just lay off me.”
I feel her look at me, but I keep my eyes on the road.
“I honestly didn’t think you cared what people thought.”
