Chapter 16 #2
As she sat there, she texted Nick, wondering if he’d even see it.
She’d lost him at a red light by accident.
There had been nowhere for her to pull over safely so she’d just driven slowly, hoping he’d catch up soon.
By now he’d probably see her on the side of the two-lane highway.
She dropped a pin just in case, because she was internally starting to freak out.
She shouldn’t have stopped. But…what was she doing to do? Run from the cops?
A few minutes later the man dressed in uniform returned with her license and insurance, but was still holding on to them. “Do you have any weapons in the car?”
She started to say no, but then remembered… “I have pepper spray in my purse.”
“Anything else?”
“No.”
“Have you been drinking at all today?”
“No.”
“Where are you coming from?”
“Work.”
“And what do you do?”
She gave him a brief explanation, got a frown, then he said, “Can I search your vehicle?”
She wanted to say yes to get this over with, but that was going to be a hard hell no. “No, I don’t consent to my vehicle being searched.”
Now he paused for a long moment, just staring hard at her with those annoying reflective sunglasses. He had to be wearing them to intimidate her because it was too dark to need them at this point.
At a brief honk, they both turned. The officer tensed and strode away from her still holding on to her stuff.
Even though she hated calling her sister for help, she shoved down her discomfort and called Krystal. If anyone could find out if this cop was legit, it’d be her sister.
“Hey, how was your first day at the mansion? And how are you feeling?” Krystal asked immediately.
“Ah, fine. Listen, a cop I don’t recognize pulled me over and asked to search my vehicle.”
“What? Do not consent.”
“I know, I know. I already said no,” she murmured as she looked in the rearview mirror. That was when she realized someone had parked.
Oh shit. It was Nick.
No, no, no. She didn’t want him getting into anything because of her. And pulling up behind a cop was bad news.
“I’ll call you right back.” She hung up before her sister could respond.
Her phone rang immediately so she silenced it, but leaned out the driver’s window and took a picture of the guy’s cop car and sent it to Krystal. Then she texted, everything okay, Nick is here. Need to see what’s going on.
She got a thumbs-up and huffy-faced emoji, likely for hanging up on her. Fair.
Before she could decide what to do, the cop car zoomed off.
“Oh come on,” she muttered, getting out of her Bronco. That was when she realized Nick was striding toward her, holding up her license and insurance. Okay then, she thought the guy had left with her stuff.
“I didn’t think it was possible for you to take a bad picture,” he said as he held out her license.
“Hey!”
“I’m just kidding.”
“No you’re not.” Her picture was hideous, but that wasn’t important. “What the hell happened?”
“Oh, that was my cousin. My younger cousin, whose older brothers work for me. At first he was happy to see me, until he realized you and I work together. Said he got a tip that someone matching your description—the ’69 Bronco, not you specifically—was transporting drugs.”
“What!”
“This has got to be part of whatever is going on. Also…let’s check your Bronco.”
She glanced up and down the quiet road, her stomach tightening. She’d barely eaten all day and was starting to feel weak.
“Hey, come here.” He took her off guard by pulling her into a gentle hug.
And god help her, she leaned into him as a wave of emotions threatened to drown her. “I feel like I’m living in a nightmare.”
He made a soothing sound as he ran his big hand down her back in a gentle motion. “We’re going to figure this out.”
“I don’t know how to deal with this nice version of you,” she blurted into his chest.
“Yeah,” was all he said on a sigh, but he didn’t stop rubbing her back.
And thankfully he didn’t pull away or act impatient as she got her emotions under control.
He felt so good in her arms, all hard, warm and strong.
And he smelled better than a man had a right to, like bergamot and something she couldn’t put her finger on.
But he smelled like fancy tea and… Okay, she was starting to spiral.
And she was probably gripping him too tight, but she couldn’t find it in her to care.
Once she could breathe again without feeling that pull of fear, she stepped away and wiped away the errant tears. “Thank you and sorry,” she muttered.
“Don’t apologize. You’re dealing with something no one should have to.” Sighing, he stepped to the rear of her Bronco with her.
After unlatching the tire, she swung the bar open, then pulled up the window and unlatched the tailgate. The person who’d restored it had made some changes to make it easier to open and for that she was grateful.
Her hands were trembled as she opened things up.
“No back seat?”
“I took it out, but still have it. I transport a lot of stuff in here.” Her voice shook and she hated that. Hated whoever was doing this to her.
“Here. I know you can search, but let me handle this.” His voice was somehow soothing but also commanding.
And right about now, she’d take it. Because she couldn’t believe she was actually searching her vehicle for drugs. Even in her wildest days, she’d never been into anything like that.
He got to work, opening up her roadside kit, and before he’d said anything, she read his body language. Then he cursed.
“What did you find?”
“Don’t touch anything,” he said as he opened the black and red emergency kit a little wider.
She stared at the large packet of pills wrapped in cellophane. She didn’t know what kind of drugs it was, but a bunch of pills wasn’t a good thing. “I was expecting cocaine or something.”
“Me too.” Sighing, he stood back for a moment, then said, “Let’s go directly to the police station.”
“No way.”
He held up a palm, and with the sun setting behind him, the man looked like an angel. A dark, avenging one ready to rip out someone’s throat. That was way hotter than it should be. “Hear me out. You need to get on the record that someone is harassing you. This is the best way to do it.”
“And just tell them that someone planted drugs in my car?”
“I’m going to handle that part.”
“Nick—”
“Just trust me. And call Sinead, tell her we’re on the way. She can meet us there.”
She wanted to argue, but knew he was right. Because what if this happened again? She needed something on record showing that someone was harassing her, trying to set her up. If anything, if she did end up arrested in the future, this would help her demonstrate reasonable doubt of her guilt.
She hated that she was even thinking in those terms, but she had to be smart—smarter than whoever was coming after her.
Because screw them. More than being scared, she was beyond pissed. Whoever was messing with her had messed with the wrong Knight.