Page 90 of Capturing You

“Well, I mean… it’s hidden and unused.”

“So well hidden that hardly anybody knows it exists. Locals know, though. You need to be careful about who you trust.”

She lifted her gaze to Ford, who held it. He didn’t smirk, there was no lip-twitch-smile. Just a serious expression that communicated…what?

That he understood why she’d wonder about him, and that he wasn’t afraid of her questions.

Ford could be trusted. There was no fear in his expression as though he were worried she’d discover the truth about him. There was no malice. No duplicity.

He'd saved her life. He could’ve killed her that first day, and nobody would be the wiser. And that comforting embrace on the roof…

No, she wouldn’t distrust Ford Baker. He was exactly who he claimed to be.

“I trust the person who took me in,” Brooklynn said. “I’m safe here.”

“If you say so. There’s one more thing.” Nathan paused to inhale, then blew out the breath. “I’m saying this unofficially, okay?”

She looked at Ford, who shrugged.

“What?”

“I get the sense that Lenny has not gotten over you.”

She wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so she said nothing as she settled onto one of the chairs on the visitor's side of the desk. The files Ford had been going through the day before were stacked neatly in one corner. In the center was the ledger she’d found. On the side opposite the files was the photo album that held the photos of the people in town.

“He’s my partner,” Nathan said, “and I really like the guy, but where you’re concerned, he’s a little…irrational.”

Ford’s lips pressed closed as if he were fighting not to add his own opinion of Brooklynn’s ex-boyfriend.

“I’ve noticed,” she said.

“I’m just saying, I understand if you feel…hesitant to call the police if you believe he might respond. This is my personal cell phone number, so if anything happens, or if you remember something, call me directly. You don’t have to work with him.”

“Okay, but… How do you know that about Lenny?”

“I wasn’t sure, but he told me he was staking out that old, abandoned mansion, thinking you’d taken refuge there. He searched the property and gave the contractor there a hard time.”

Ford wrote something down and turned the note so she could see.

“Someone’s staying there?” she asked. Because, as Ford reminded her, she shouldn’t know that. “I had no idea.”

“How’d you get away from the people who followed you?”

“I hid. There’s an outcropping of rocks, and I managed to wedge myself in tight. It was sunrise, and I was in the shadow. They ran right by me. I stayed there for hours until I knew they were gone.”

“You’re lucky they didn’t find you.”

Ford pulled the notebook back to himself and wrote something down. He slid it back to her.

Be careful. He’s fishing.

She felt that too. “It wasn’t luck. God protected me.”

“Okay.” Nathan said the word like he wasn’t convinced but couldn’t be bothered to argue the point. “Anyway, there was something almost…desperate about Lenny’s need to find you. He’s told me a few times that he believes you two are going to get back together. My gut tells me he’s…uh…a little too invested, let’s say.”

“Not sure what that has to do with anything,” she said.

“I’d like to know.” Nathan’s words took on ayou can trust metone. Lenny used to do that. Was it a skill they taught at the police academy?