Page 9

It takes me a few minutes to get absorbed in the book, but when I do, the rest of the world gets blocked out. The author draws me in, and the case is compelling. Time passes quickly, and I’m not sure how long I’m sitting there before I hear the door opening all the way.

The sound makes me jump, and I shut the book and spin around. A smile works its way onto my face before I even lock eyes with Noah. I’m just so glad that he’s here, that this nightmare with the man at the library will be over.

But, it isn’t Noah standing there.

The man from the library is standing in the doorway, a wild look in his eyes. My blood runs cold, and the smile melts from my face. My body freezes, but my brain runs wild. What happened earlier cannot happen again. I won’t let it.

“You really should have kept this door closed,” he says, rapping his knuckles against the doorframe. “Wouldn't have been able to get into the office if it wasn’t open. Maybe you missed me.”

Something about his tone… it’s like he’s insinuating Ilikedwhat he was doing earlier. That makes my blood boil. I’m moving before I even realize what I’m doing.

The book flies out of my hands. It smacks against his face, the corner of it catching his eye. He howls, falling to his knees. His body lands in the hallway, and I see an opportunity. With even less thought than I put into throwing the book, I take off, dodging him as I fling myself into the hallway.

As I run through the empty station, I hear the man cursing behind me. He’s not close, though. I think he mightstill be trying to get to his feet, though I’m too afraid to turn around and check. If I waste even a second here, I could lose the advantage I’ve somehow managed to get for myself.

I retrace the steps that I took to get to Noah’s office when we first got here. I’m not sure where I’m going to go, but I know that I’m no longer safe in the station. As I run, I pat down my body, trying to find my phone – I curse myself when I realize I left it in the office.

There’s no way I’m going back there, and there’s no way I’m stopping to call 911 at one of the desks. I could try to see if there’s a weapon I could use, but it would just be obvious that I have no idea what I’m doing. It’s best if I get myself out of here as soon as possible. I’ll be able to find someone that will let me use their phone along the way. Or, at worst, I’ll get home and lock myself in.

I’m nearly to the front door when another idea strikes me. It’ll only work if I pass what I need… and… I do!

I grab onto the handle of the fire alarm. As I’m passing, I push it in and pull it down. The alarm blares instantly, and the sound is deafening. It’s the background noise for the rest of my run to the front door, the bright emergency lights flashing.

Praying that I’ve done enough to draw the attention of the authorities, I take off down the street. I don’t look back, I barely pay attention to where I’m going. My only goal is to run until I can’t anymore.

Chapter Seven

Noah

I was in the middle of questioning Richard’s aunt when reports of the station’s fire alarms going off came over my radio. I cut the conversation short without any explanation. It’s not like she had been helpful, anyway. She hadn’t seen her nephew since breakfast and figured he was out with friends.

It doesn’t matter. I’ll find Richard and make sure he pays for what he did. Right now, that’s secondary to making sure Riley’s safe. Even with firefighters on their way, I can’t do anything else until I set my eyes on my girl.

I’m about two blocks away from the station when I see someone running. It’s a woman, and there’s someone following her closely. It’s hard to be certain in the nighttime, but she looks to be the same height as Riley, and as I look closer, I see she’s wearing the same dress.

Fuck. ThatisRiley. And the man behind her, that’s Richard.

I slam on the breaks, throwing my vehicle into park before I’m even completely stopped. That’ll be hell on the engine, but that’s a problem for after I’ve apprehended the man who’s after my girl. I have half a mind to blow his brains out for even thinking about going after Riley.

As I jump out of my car, I remind myself that Riley’s right here. She’s such a sweet thing, clearly very sensitive. I can’t just kill a man in front of her, no matter how much he deserves it. Richard is lucky, he’s very, very lucky that I’m sparing him on Riley’s behalf.

Although if he gets to her before I’m able to get him, I might not be able to stop myself from pulling my gun and putting a bullet through his temple.

“Stop right there!” I scream, pulling the taser from my belt and running toward the action. “Put your hands up and get on your fucking knees!”

Richard, to his credit, stops. He doesn’t get on his knees or throw up his hands, though. Instead, he angles himself toward me. In the corner of my eye, I see Riley falter. It’s like she wants to come toward me, but knows better than to get closer to this guy.

He comes running at me, full speed. As soon as he’s in range, I pull the trigger on the taser, and the prongs connect to his bare biceps. Currents of electricity shoot through the lines and into Richard. Almost instantly, his knees buckle and he falls to the ground.

I run at him as he writhes, yelping in pain. With practiced ease, I grab my handcuffs from my belt. Pressing my knee into his back, I drop the taser and grab onto his wrists. He fights me as I restrain him, but I’m stronger than he is. I easily get the cuffs on his wrists.

Through the haze of adrenaline pumping through my veins, I hear Riley yelling, “Noah!”

I look over at her, noting that she’s uninjured and relief floods through me. I itch to go to her, to wrap her in my armsand kiss her and proclaim my love for her. Unfortunately, there’s no way that I can just leave the perpetrator on the road.

“Stay there!” I yell at her as I start to bring Richard to his feet.

As soon as I get him upright, headlights illuminate us. I turn my head ready to scream at them to stop, when I see that it’s Murphy’s patrol vehicle heading our way. He stops when he sees us, hopping out of his car.