Page 43 of Rescued Dreams

“You didn’t bring this on yourself,” Ridge tried to reassure her. “And you aren’t to blame, Amelia. We all want to help you. No one wants you, or anyone here at the firehouse, to be in danger.”

“I know you want the firefighters to be safe.” She sniffed. “This is about the department for you, but it’s alsomylife.”

The door opened before he could respond to that.

He didn’t like that she wasn’t a hundred percent convinced he was in this to make sure she was protected. Why did it seem like she didn’t know she could trust him?

Their receptionist said, “Lieut—Patterson? There’s a woman at the front desk asking for you.”

“Thanks.” Amelia took the out and practically ran from the room.

“I’ve never seen her like that.” Tazwell bit her lip.

“Me either,” Ridge said. “But we don’t talk without her.” He glanced between the two cops. “You’re gonna look into this?”

Both of them nodded.

“Thanks.” He walked them to the entryway, where Amelia was sitting on one of the waiting-area chairs with a visibly pregnant woman who had to be mid-twenties. The same blonde hair as Amelia, but not many more similarities.

He saw the cops out, his mind spinning with all that had been happening. Right now, it seemed like a bunch of random pieces to a puzzle he couldn’t discern yet. Eventually it would become clear, but until then, they had to fight blind and try to get through it unscathed.

Amelia gasped. Whatever the woman had just said to her, she was terrified by it.

Ridge wanted to intervene, but Amelia glanced over at him then, and the look on her face said she didn’t need his help.

After that conversation with the police, she had every right to be frustrated. They had no answers to any of this.

But she also had to know that he wasn’t going to quit helping her.

He was in this for the long haul.

FIFTEEN

You and I, we’re the same, aren’t we?

Amelia couldn’t get those words out of her head for the remainder of her shift.

The fact no more calls came in had allowed her time to absorb it all. Hooded men, assailants, and their tools being sabotaged. Now this? A destitute girl who wanted her help.

She opened the passenger door for the young woman who had asked for her. “Thank you for waiting, Cherise.”

“You can call me Cherry. We’re friends now, right?” The younger woman set her hand on her rounded abdomen. She’d told Amelia she was sixteen weeks pregnant.

Amelia had never been pregnant, but from what Zack had been telling the crew—updating them on Naya’s progress all through her pregnancy—she knew that sixteen was a few weeks before the ultrasound where she could learn the baby’s gender.

“Okay, Cherry.” Amelia nodded. “I’m happy to take you anywhere you need to go.”

Cherry slid into the seat, shifting on the cushion before she drew her feet in. She seemed slender—maybe more so than she should be—making Amelia want to ask if she’d eaten. But then, she also seemed like the kind of woman who expected others to care for her or provide for her. But Amelia didn’t know her all that well, so it wasn’t like she could assume.

She moved around the hood of the car. At least with this woman here now, she didn’t have to think about herself being the victim of something dangerous. She could focus on Cherry and what this lost-seeming young woman needed from her.

Amelia had listened for a few moments before asking Cherry to go down to the Bridgewater Café and get something to eat while Amelia finished her shift. Since Cherry had no money, Amelia had given her a twenty. Having money gave a person a little confidence, even if it was just to get a muffin and a drink.

Now they had to figure out what to do.

The idea stalled Amelia so she didn’t start the car. She didn’t even put her seatbelt on. She shifted in the seat, holding the keys in her hand, and faced Cherry a little bit. She didn’t know where to begin.

“It’s almost like we’re sisters.”