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Chapter One

Noah

My sirens wail as I fly through the streets of Blackwood Falls. Dispatch stressed that this was serious, that the librarian on the line was distraught. She wasn’t able to give our team many details before she hung up, which makes the situation even more concerning. The only thing our employee was able to glean is that a patron won’t leave and that he’s trying to force himself on her.

We don’t get calls like this very often here. Blackwood Falls is generally a pretty safe town. Occasionally, some tourists will get drunk and cause a ruckus, but no one ever gets seriously hurt. Hell, there’s hardly ever even a risk of physical injuries. Bruised egos are usually the collateral in the calls I respond to.

So, when this call came over the radio, I took the case immediately. As the sheriff in town, I’m the person that’s most well-equipped to handle this, even though I’ve only handled a few break-ins in my time on the force. That’s of no consequence. Crimes like this make me sick, and I’ll be damned if I don’t do everything within my power to put the sick bastard behind bars.

My patrol vehicle comes to a screeching halt in front of the library and, flipping off the sirens, I jump out of my vehicle to run inside. I take the stairs three at a time, my hand resting on the gun at my hip. Then, I burst inside, the door slamming against the wall.

Before the glass door shuts behind me, I hear a female voice yelling from somewhere deep within the library. I waste no time in running toward the source of the sound, my adrenaline pumping. My heartbeat pounds in my ears in anticipation of what I might come across.

I’m always one to do things by the book, but depending on what I find, I just might put a bullet in this fucker’s head.

As I approach a door marked “Employee Lounge”, the sounds of distress become sharper, louder. I’m close.

Not caring if the perpetrator hears me coming, I barrel in, my stomach turning at the sight in front of me. A pale man, about 5’10”, with a medium build and unkempt black hair is standing over the woman who made the call. I can’t see her face, I can only hear her yelling for the man to stop.

She sounds so scared, so broken, that I see red.

“What the fuck are you doing!?” I yell, pulling my gun from my belt and aiming it at the criminal.

The man, still keeping his hold on her wrists turns around, a wild look in his eyes. I’m so focused on him that I almost don’t realize how gorgeous the little lady he’s looming over is. My eyes flit to her body, wanting to assess the situation and ensure her wellbeing.

Her big, blue eyes are locked onto me, and her long, brown hair is mussed up. Somehow, despite the clear fear and horror etched into her features, there’s relief in the oceans of her irises. Seeing that does something to me… makes me do something I never do.

I hesitate.

In moment that I do, the perpetrator lets go of the girl. He takes off, darting toward a door I didn’t notice when I firstwalked in. Above it, in bright green letters, is the word “exit.” He’s on the loose, and it’s imperative that I stop him. I can only assume what he was going to do to her, and having someone like him on the loose—even if he doesn’t come back to the library, other women could be in danger, too.

“Suspect is on the run,” I say into my radio, hustling to the door. “Exited through the backdoor, unclear of the direction he went. In pur—”

The words die in my throat. As I pass by the girl, she grabs onto my wrist, tears welling up in her eyes. Her bottom lip wobbles slightly as she says, “Please don’t leave me here.”

Suddenly, I don’t care about finding the perpetrator myself, at least not right now. I can’t leave the woman, and I don’t trust her with anyone else. I’ve never felt so protective of a victim, but something about her is different from everyone else I’ve met.

“I won’t,” I promise, stopping in my tracks. Then, I press down my radio again and give the man’s description, never looking away from the girl. When I get responses from my team, I say, “Hey, you’re okay now. I’m here.”

She nods, and the hint of a smile graces her lips. I’d do anything to keep her smiling. God, I’d tear apart this entire world for her. What is she doing to me?

“Thank you, Officer Reynolds,” she says, her voice almost as small as she is.

Thank god I got here when I did. She’s a petite little thing. There’s no way she could have fought that man off. Fuck… I can’t let her be alone. What if something else happens? I can’t risk that.

“You can call me Noah,” I say, trying to focus on the task at hand, the woman in front of me.

“I— I’m Riley,” she says, voice shaky but bright. “It’s nice to meet you, Noah.”

I open my mouth to speak to her again, but it seems as though the events of the day all catch up to her at the same time. Her face falls, the bits of happiness that were there just moments before are completely gone. The tears that were gathered in her eyes begin to fall. So, I do the only thing I can think to do — I wrap my arms around her and pull her close to my chest.

Comforting people has never been my forte. I have a bit of a reputation around the station for being a hard-ass. I couldn’t begin to count the number of times one of my officers has had to take a crying individual out of my office, whether they were a fellow member of the force who was getting a severe dressing-down for not following orders, or a teenage girl begging me not to tell her parents she’d been caught shoplifting. My affinity for the rules doesn’t pair well with gentleness. For Riley, though… for Riley I try my best.

For her, I’ll always try my best. And, if I can have it my way, she’ll never feel like this again. I’m going to do everything I can to catch the bastard that made her feel this so frightened.

As I rub her back silently, I decide to keep any words of comfort to myself, so I don’t say something wrong. I don’t have much practice with this kind of thing, after all. Instead, I scan the room. There isn’t much that I can glean from the scene. The perpetrator didn’t leave anything behind, from what I can tell, but I do see a surveillance camera in the corner of the room.

If I can get my hands on that and any other footage from the time of the incident, I can find our guy before the end of the night. That is, if I’m willing to bend the rules a little bit. Eventhough I do things by the book and ream my guys for shirking procedure, this is a special case. I’ve got an acquaintance that can find anyone, and fast.