Page 25 of Sharp Lies

Though something deep down in my core was telling me that I could.

After all, he’d just busted in here and saved me from Tony McCarthy. And if I barely knew him, he didn’t know me at all. He only knew that my dog had trespassed on his property.

Right now, though, he was looking at me like he wanted to protect me from everything Tony McCarthy represented, and that touched something inside me. It made me feel safe in spite of what had just happened.

“I heard him pull into the driveway and came out to see what was going on,” he said, his voice gruff. “And I saw you on the other side of the door, hesitating to let him in. Saw him push past you to get in the house anyhow. And then... And then I heard you scream.”

The last line was growled, like that had been the final straw.

A shiver shot down my spine and right into my core. This man hadn’t needed to come over here at all, and he’d come because he heard me scream and thought I was in trouble. He wasn’t the crank I’d thought he was.

He was a hero.

***

WE PULLED TO A STOP in the parking lot that served the police, the firefighters, and the sheriff in this town and looked at the building in front of us. Warren had insisted that I had to come down here and make a report about what had just happened, and I’d agreed with him about that much.

But it had sounded like a much better idea when we were in the house than it did right now, when we were staring at the dark and half-closed building that housed the three cops that patrolled this city. Now that we were here, it just felt ridiculous. Like I was going to be making a big deal of something that didn’t actually mean that much.

I’d never reported Tony when we were together because I hadn’t wanted to cause any trouble for him. And I hadn’t thought anyone would believe me about what had happened. When he did enough to land me in the hospital, and the nurses started asking questions...

Well, Tony’s father had shown up and paid me to keep my mouth shut and leave town, and that had seemed a whole lot easier than telling the truth and facing the man who’d done that to me.

“Think they’ll even believe me?” I asked quietly.

“They will,” he answered. “Because I witnessed half of it. And they know who I am.”

I glanced at him, wondering what the hell that meant, but before I could ask, he was out of his truck and walking around to my side to open the door for me. I watched him, wondering.

I still wasn’t sure anyone was going to believe me.

But having Warren by my side made me feel a whole lot better about the whole thing.

I stepped out of the truck and stopped at his side, looking up and admiring his stern features. Straight nose, wide cheekbones, strong jaw. Messy brown hair already threaded through with silver. Eyes that looked as though they’d seen far too much in his forty-something years.

I wanted to know more about him, I realized. I wanted to know what his story was and how he’d come to live next to my mother in this small town. More than anything, I wanted to know why he looked so broken and lost.

Something in me wanted to help him.

But right now, I remembered, he was helping me. And with luck, his help would lead to Tony leaving me alone for the rest of my life.

***

I TOLD THE STORY TO Officer Layton the exact way it had happened. I told him about living with Tony McCarthy and how his temper had started to get out of control. About how he’d blamed me for things I never did and started breaking things whenever he was mad. How it had started to scare me when I realized that it was time for him to come home, and how I’d started to leave anything valuable at my mom’s apartment so it would be safe.

“I wanted a dog, but I didn’t get one because I was afraid he’d hurt it,” I finished. “I just didn’t trust him with anything that was important to me.”

“I see,” Layton said, glancing down at the paper where he was taking notes.

I glanced down as well, and saw that he hadn’t actually been taking notes. He’d been doodling a picture of a dog.

My stomach dropped, but I kept on.

“And then when I was at the bakery with my friend, he busted in and started giving me a hard time for being back in town without letting him know,” I pushed. “He started to threaten me, so I left as quickly as I could. I knew it wasn’t the end of it, but I was hoping he didn’t know where I was staying. Turned out I was wrong. He showed up tonight after my mom was already in bed and I was getting ready to go to sleep. Pushed his way into my house and started threatening me again when I told him I didn’t want anything to do with him. He actually raised his hand and was about to hit me when Warren came in.”

“I saw him shove his way into her house and heard raised voices,” Warren said, picking up the story. “So I was already on the alert. And then I heard her scream. It didn’t take anything more than that. I forced my way in and saw him about to hit her. Pulled him off her and sent him packing. And then I told her we needed to come down and make a report to you fine folks.”

Layton lifted a single eyebrow in Warren’s direction, like he didn’t much care for the story at all, and Warren glanced down at Layton’s pad.