Page 10 of Chasing Shelter (Sparrow Falls #5)

TRACE

The shout caught my attention as I stepped outside the station.

It didn’t have a panicked edge, so most people would likely assume it was kids goofing off or some other shenanigans.

But not me. It was as if every part of me was attuned to trouble, permanently braced for attack.

Maybe because those instincts had kept me alive for so long.

The beat-up sedan that sped past was a cross between mustard yellow and a shade of brown that wasn’t appealing in any way. The angle meant I didn’t have a clear view of the license plate, but that didn’t stop me from instantly memorizing every detail I could.

Color: yellowish-brown. Make: Nissan. Model: indiscernible. Identifying marks: rust spot over a rear wheel well and a broken taillight.

But then everything in me stilled. The front passenger window rolled down, and something flew out the window. I didn’t hear the pop or crack that typically accompanied gunfire, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t.

I tracked the line of the projectile, and my blood went cold. I recognized the olive green pants. The sleeveless white top that revealed a sliver of tanned torso. The hair in every color that hung in waves around Ellie’s face. But those pale green eyes had gone wide with shock.

Something hit her, and she stumbled back, falling to the pavement. I took off before I consciously gave my body the command, flying down the sidewalk faster than I had run since high school football.

The second I reached Ellie, I dropped to my knees, some part of me registering the lack of blood on her chest. Instead, a sticky yellow substance spread over her top.

“Ow,” she groaned.

“Careful,” I barked.

“Don’t yell at me,” Ellie shot back. “I didn’t egg myself.”

Egg. Not a bullet. Nothing that put her in danger of dying. A stupid prank.

Ellie struggled to sit up.

“Easy.” I battled to gentle my voice. “Did you hit your head?”

My hands reached out on instinct, feeling her scalp for bumps or cuts.

She batted me away, her gaze jerking around, complexion paling as she saw the people looking at us. “No. I’m just going to have a nice bruise on my ass.”

I sent Mr. Grigg a pointed glare that had him turning around and heading back into the tourist shop he owned. Ellie didn’t need people staring right now. “Can I help you up? I can get you a T-shirt at the station?—”

“That’s okay,” Ellie said, her cheeks flushing. “I just need to get home.”

Fucking hell. I wanted to shank whoever had thrown that egg. “Please,” I gritted out. “Let me help. You don’t want to walk home like this.”

Yolk bloomed across Ellie’s chest, and she winced as she looked down. “Okay.”

My hands wrapped around her slender, delicate wrists, the skin there just as smooth as I’d feared. “On the count of three, okay? ”

She nodded.

“One, two, three.” I lifted Ellie to her feet, not letting go until I was sure she was steady. “Come on.” I placed my hand on her upper back, guiding her toward the station.

Ellie quickly scanned the street before dipping her head. “Everyone’s staring.”

“People around here have a hard time minding their own business. But they’re not judging you, just the pricks who threw the egg.”

Ellie’s gaze flicked up to me for a brief second. “Careful. In some circles, prick could be considered a swear.”

My jaw clamped shut, and a mixture of annoyance and relief washed through me. If Ellie was giving me shit, then her fire was returning.

“Don’t worry, Chief, I won’t tell.”

“It’s Sheriff,” I ground out.

Ellie’s berry-pink lips twitched. “Whatever you say.”

I didn’t move my hand from her back until I opened the door to the station and held it for her. As we stepped inside, Deputy Fletcher’s eyes went wide. “Jesus, Ellie. What the hell happened?”

She forced a smile. “Omelet making gone awry?”

“Do I need to have a word with Walter?” Fletcher asked.

“I’m fine, Harrison,” Ellie assured. “Just a stupid prank.”

The back-and-forth ate at me, something about the familiarity of it. I’d had no idea my deputy knew Ellie beyond her name and relation to Linc.

“Put out an APB,” I clipped, a bite to my words. Fletcher stiffened as I rattled off everything I remembered about the vehicle. “I want every free officer looking for that vehicle.”

“You got it, Sheriff.” Fletcher picked up his radio and began calling in the all-points bulletin.

“Come on,” I said, guiding Ellie toward my office.

“Why are you so grouchy? I’m the one who got egged.”

“Stop reminding me,” I growled.

Ellie huffed out a breath as we made our way through the bullpen. Beth stood at the sight of us. “Shit, Ellie. Are you okay? ”

Ellie forced another smile. “You know, they say egg makes a good face mask.”

“Hit the streets and see if you can find anything that matches the description, eh?” I asked.

“On it, boss.”

“You too, Wright,” I called over to Will, who was pounding a breakfast burrito at his desk.

“Why? ‘Cause your girlfriend got pelted with an egg? Isn’t that a little below the department’s pay grade?”

Fury built fast and fierce, nearly stealing my breath. I didn’t deal with anger well. It reminded me too much that I was my father’s son. Ellie must’ve read something in my demeanor because she leaned into me, her shoulder pressing against my arm as she dropped her voice. “Easy, Chief. I got this.”

She leveled a glare on Will. “You obviously have no concern for the egg injustices of the world. Just look at half that breakfast burrito on your shirt. But what should we expect from someone who can’t even swallow before he speaks?”

Frank laughed and then let out a hoot. “Burn, Wright. She got you good.”

“And if you have a problem with the chain of command, you’re welcome to walk right out that door,” I growled. “As it is, I’ll be putting you on traffic duty for the rest of the week.”

Wright’s face turned a shade of red that was almost purple, but he kept his trap shut.

“Come on,” I gritted out.

Ellie followed me toward my office, and I ushered her inside. “I’ve got a bathroom through there.” I pulled out my bottom filing cabinet drawer and handed her a tee. This one read Sparrow Falls LEO Baseball .

Ellie took the faded shirt, her fingers rubbing the fabric. “Careful, Chief, you’re not going to have any shirts left before long. Not that the women of Sparrow Falls would mind.”

Fuck.

The last thing I needed in my head was the knowledge that Ellie was thinking about me shirtless. “I think I’m safe. Go ahead and change. And it’s Sheriff .”

Ellie rolled her lips over her teeth, fighting a grin. “Whatever you say.”

I waited as she slipped into the bathroom. I tried not to think about her and what she was doing at that very moment, but my ears were too attuned to every sound: the water turning on and off, the paper towel dispenser. Rustling.

The rustling was the worst because I knew it meant Ellie was changing. I was going to hell for thinking about my neighbor changing when she’d just been through something that likely scared the hell out of her.

The door swung open, and Ellie reappeared. I didn’t want to think about how good she looked in my shirt, but it was impossible to deny. Ellie had tied the oversized cotton in a knot at her waist. If you didn’t know, you would’ve thought this was her plan all along.

“Thanks,” she said. “Feels a lot better than my sticky shirt.”

Hell. I was jealous of my own damn shirt in that moment. “No problem.” My voice sounded deeper, a touch raspier. “How do you feel?”

Ellie arched her back, forming the perfect curve as her hand dropped to her ass, rubbing.

Jesus.

“Pretty sure my ass is going to be black and blue for a while, but nothing’s broken.”

My back molars ground together. “Did you get a look at the person who threw the egg?”

Ellie shook her head, the blond and red strands amid the brown catching the light. “No. They were all kind of a blur.”

“Has anyone been giving you trouble since you got to town?” My question was typical, something I’d ask anyone who’d been a victim of this sort of attack. But I knew there was more to it. I wanted to know all Ellie’s secrets, even if I didn’t have the right.

She stared at me, unblinking. “Come on, Trace. My dad didn’t exactly get me on the most popular list. ”

It wasn’t the first time I’d heard her say my name, but something about how she said it now made it feel intimate, like a little secret that only the two of us shared. But I stalled on the second part of the sentence. “Have people been hassling you?”

Ellie rocked slightly from the heels of her feet to her tiptoes. “You know what he did. Helped the wealthy get wealthier by the shadiest of means. Helped the powerful escape punishment for the crimes they committed. Killed people who got in his way.”

“Yeah, he did that. You had nothing to do with it.”

She looked at me like I was a moron. “I’m guilty by association. Fruit of the poisonous tree. I don’t blame them. I was raised in his home and benefitted from his misdeeds.”

“You were a child .”

Ellie shrugged, her gaze dropping to the floor. “People think I lived a charmed existence. They don’t know that I was basically in prison for twenty-six years.”

Everything in me stilled as my temper flared. Not at Ellie but at the possibilities of what she’d lived through. I struggled to get the words out without yelling. “What the fuck does that mean, Ellie?”