Bedded Bliss (Found in Oblivion #1) - Cari Quinn Page 0,87

she didn’t miss her guess.

“Miss Adams?”

She raised her hand. “Here.”

“Ma’am, I need you to come with me.” Two female cops pushed through the crush of people, hands on their batons.

“Gladly.” But instead of helping her make a path, one of the cops clamped a hand on her upper arm. “Hey. I’m the one being harassed here.”

“You’re actually the one that is trespassing. The homeowner would like you charged.”

“What?!” She twisted. “What about the twenty reporters that cornered me?”

“We’ll be dealing with that as well. For now we’d like to take a statement.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Seriously. What the hell was she supposed to do now?

“If you could just come with me ma’am.”

“Are you arresting me? I have a child. I can’t be arrested.”

“You should have thought about that before you trespassed.”

“Do you see all these reporters? I had no choice.” She felt her voice rising from anger to hysteria and forced herself to bring it back down to normal. Shrieking wasn’t going to get her anywhere. “And where were you when they were camping on my lawn for the last week?”

“Were they on your lawn or across the street?”

“Across the street,” Chloe said with gritted teeth.

“Then they were only a public nuisance. And we were advised, and came to take care of the situation a few times. You, Miss Adams, have been a recurring problem for your neighborhood.”

“Me?” She felt like a damn parrot.

“I’ve been here several times in the last few years. I’m starting to recognize your street name.”

The officer’s tone was dry, but Chloe still wanted to crawl right into the sewer drain. From the reporters after Snake sued Oblivion to the insane period after his death, there had been far too many reporters camping out on her street over a very short span of time.

Now this.

At this point she needed to move to the other side of the country.

The officer and her partner brought her down the sidewalk and turned onto Chloe’s property. Thankfully her father had the intelligence to put the shotgun away. He stood on the porch, his hands on his hips.

“Thank you, Officer. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get her out of there.”

“And you are?” She held a tablet, a stylus poised over the screen.

“Oh, yes. I’m David Adams, Chloe’s father.”

“Do you reside here, Mr. Adams?”

“No. I’m just here to watch my grandson.”

“May I come in, sir?”

“It’s my house, dammit.” Chloe stomped up the stairs and through the door. “Is Axl all right?”

“Sleeping.”

“Small favors,” she muttered. Once inside, the fatigue that she’d been battling all night dropped over her like a tarp on a ninety degree day. “Can I get you some coffee?”

The officer’s eyebrow spiked. She cleared her throat. “That would be lovely.”

“Dad?”

“I’m good.”

Chloe had a feeling she was going to need it. She dumped coffee into the basket of her old school Mr. Coffee and brewed a pot. “Sit down. I’m assuming this is going to take a while.” She leaned on the counter of her small galley kitchen. “Or do I need to go with you?”

The officer set her tablet on the round table she had shoved in the corner. Usually it was just Chloe and Axl eating, so they didn’t need much room. The little duplex didn’t afford a lot of extra space. What little they had was used for a play area for her son.

Right now all of his toys were neatly put away thanks to her father. Otherwise her house would probably look about as close to a destruction zone as her front lawn.

“I’ll do everything in my power to do this as an informal interview. If your neighbor presses charges, which I’m fairly sure he will based on my information, then there may be a court date.”

Chloe closed her eyes. “I don’t have a record,” she said stiffly. The hiss of the last of the water steaming out from the plastic top of her machine prompted her to move. Simple things like pulling down mugs for herself and the officer evened her out. Autopilot had her gathering cream and sugar onto a tray and bringing them to the table.

The officer sat down and folded her hands over the tablet. “Can I be honest with you?”

“That would be refreshing.” Chloe set the mug in front of the woman.

“A simple apology goes a long way in clearing these things up. And possibly a new rose bush.”

“If only it were that easy.” Chloe sat down with her own mug chock full of sugar and cream.