“I’ll think about going to one,” I lie, and she nods, finally releasing her hold on me.
“If you need anything at all, call the office and ask for me.”
“Thank you,” I say, and she nods once then leaves the room.
Looking at the bed one last time, I turn around and leave, making sure to keep my eyes to my feet as I go, so I don’t make eye contact with anyone. I’ve kept it together since Elizabeth called to tell me Grandma passed, but I don’t know how much longer that will last since I’m barely hanging on.
I call Colton again once I’m in my Jeep and close my eyes when he doesn’t answer, dropping my forehead to my steering wheel. This is the first time I’ve felt alone in a long time. I forgot how crushing the feeling of being alone is. Knowing I can’t sit here in the parking lot forever, I put my Jeep in drive and take off out of the lot to head for home, where I know Loki will at least be waiting for me.
Halfway to the house, the sound of police sirens starts to get close, so I check my rearview mirror and see a police cruiser with its lights flashing coming up fast behind me. Dropping my eyes to my speedometer, I make sure I’m not speeding. I’m not, so I slow down to let him by. He doesn’t pass. He slows down right along with me, so I pull off onto the shoulder. Once I have my Jeep in park, I look back up at my mirror and watch a large man in his late thirties open the door and get out of the cruiser, putting on a cowboy hat as he walks toward me. Hitting the button for the window, I lower it once he’s close.
“Ma’am.” He tips his hat toward me. “Got word that a vehicle matching yours in description was driving recklessly, and almost ran another car off the road,” he says, and I shake my head in confusion.
“Sir, it wasn’t me,” I tell him, wondering if I’m so out of it that I didn’t notice if I was doing what he said. I could be; I feel like I have been walking in a bubble since I got the phone call about Grandma.
“I’m going to need to ask you for your license and registration,” he states, so I reach over with a shaky hand and open my glove box. The moment I do, something black falls out and lands on the floor with a thud. I start to reach for it, but stop when I see what it is.
“Is that your weapon, ma’am?” the officer asks, and I shake my head, unable to speak as I stare at the gun lying on my floorboard. “Place your hands on the steering wheel,” he instructs, so I do immediately while my heart pounds so hard that my chest aches from the impact. “Whose weapon is it?”
“I don’t know,” I tell him honestly, and I turn to look at him then see he has his gun out of its holster and aimed at me. “I’m going to open your door. Keep your hands right where they are.”
“Okay,” I agree, squeezing my eyes closed so I don’t have to see the gun he has just inches from my face.
“Do you have any other weapons on you or in the vehicle?”
“No.” I shake my head, listening to the sound of the door as he opens it.
“I’m going to reach around you to unhook your belt. Keep your hands where they are.”
“I won’t move them,” I promise, as his arm goes around my waist so he can unlatch my seat belt.
“Now get out of the vehicle while keeping your hands where I can see them,” he orders, and my eyes open. I don’t look at him or the gun I know he has on me. I point my eyes to the ground as I hop down out of my seat, and I keep them down as he orders me to place my hands on my Jeep, calls for backup, and puts me in cuffs.
~**~
“Gia Caro?” I hear a woman call, and I lift my head from my hands and watch a plump woman in a very unflattering skintight uniform come toward me.
“That’s me,” I respond, and she opens the heavy metal door of the room I’m in, then motions for me to get up.
“You’re free.”
My eyes close in relief and I thank my lucky stars that Nat was able to get me out of this mess from hundreds of miles away. I didn’t use my one phone call to call Colton. I used it to call Nat, knowing she’d answer. When I told her I’d been arrested, she assured me that she’d get me out, even knowing I was arrested for the gun, which I learned an hour after I was booked, was stolen property.
“Follow me. You need to fill out some paperwork to get your things,” the woman says, bringing me out of my head, and I follow her toward a large set of doors then stop behind her when she pauses at a small window cut out of the concrete cinderblocks. “This is Gia Caro,” she states to the woman on the other side of the window, who’s sitting behind a desk that’s covered in stacks of paper.
“Here are your things.” The woman hands me a large brown paper bag. “Open that up, make sure all your stuff is there, and then sign the bottom of this.” She rests a clipboard on the edge of the window as I open the bag, finding my shoes, phone, and earrings. Knowing that’s everything they took from me when I got here, I sign the papers and hand them back to her. “You’re all set,” she murmurs, hitting something on the wall, and a loud click sounds behind me. “Just head out that way and follow that hall to the end. Make a right, and the door there will lead you out of the building.”
“Thank you,” I say to the female officer when she opens the door for me to leave, and she lifts her chin in response.
Following the hall all the way, I make a right then stop dead when I see Colton sitting on a bench near the exit, with his head down, elbows to his thighs and his hands wrapped around the back of his neck. Seeing him, everything I’ve been holding in all day, rushes to the surface.
I try to keep it at bay, but a pain filled sound escapes my throat before I can stop it, and the second it leaves my mouth, his head shoots up and his eyes meet mine. Covering my mouth with my hand, I choke on a sob.
“Fuck.” He rushes toward me, gathering me in his arms against his warm chest. “Fuck me, fuck, fuck, fuck,” he whispers, as I try to burrow my way inside of him. “I’m so fucking sorry. So fucking sorry, baby,” he murmurs, picking me up. Tucking my face tightly against his neck, I hold onto him with everything I have as he carries me outside. “I gotta get you home. Swear to God, once we get there, you won’t lose me again.” I shake my head when he tries to get me to release him. “Please, Gia,” he pleads, sounding torn, so I loosen my hold and let him settle me in the passenger seat and buckle me in.
Kissing my hair, he slams the door then jogs around the hood and gets in behind the wheel. Once he has his seat belt on, he picks up my hand and holds it tight. The drive home seems to take forever, and when we pull up in front of the house, I tense when I realize his mom’s car is parked out front. I haven’t even thought about what he or his parents will think about me being arrested for having a stolen gun in my possession.
“Mom and Dad just want to make sure you’re good. Once they see you are, they’ll leave and it will just be us.”
“I—”
“Promise. It’s going to be okay,” he says, so I nod.
Opening my door, I hop down out of the cab of his Suburban. The second my feet hit the dirt, Loki comes up to me, pressing his face into my stomach, and whines. I rub the top of his head then look up and see Rose and Kirk heading straight for me.
“You okay, honey?” Rose asks, pulling me into a hug that makes my nose sting and my eyes burn.
“Yeah.”
“We were so worried when you didn’t show up at work. No one knew what happened until your friend called.” I close my eyes. I should have guessed that Nat would find a way to get a hold of them. “You sure you’re okay?” she asks.
No, I’m not, but I don’t say that. Instead, I nod.
“I’m sure you want to rest after today. We’ll be back in the morning to check on you after we pick up your Jeep,” she tells me, and my chin wobbles. “Rest honey,” she whispers, hugging me again before she lets me go so Kirk can give me a hug as well. Once he releases me, Colton wraps his arm around my shoulders and turns us toward the house.
“Call,” Kirk says to our backs, and I don’t hear or see Colton’s reply, but knowing him, he probably lifted his chin to his dad. With my head down, I listen to their car doors slam behind us as Colton leads me up the steps and into the house. Once we are inside he closes and locks the door behind us before he settles us on the couch. Once he has us situated, I listen to him pull in a deep breath then let it out slowly.