Forbidden With Me - Leigh Lennon Page 0,22

information, it isn’t anything. And as far as this little note, I still stand by the evidence in the case that Smith Turner is our guy. Someone just wants to scare this girl.” She pauses, taking the letter with her. “And you forget, I’ve seen you. I’ve seen your house. It’s not a leap to know not only are you obsessed with this case but you’re also fixated on that girl. Tread lightly, Detective. And I expect her statement about her memory of the murders by tomorrow.”

I stand, and her venom continues to drip from her lips. “I haven’t dismissed you.” I won’t sit down, so I stare at her as she knows I won’t give in to her. “You’re dismissed.” She finally gives up.

I walk through the door, leaving an invisible fuck you behind in her space. Malia’s smile radiates on her lips when she sees me emerge from my boss’s office. “Hey.” I kneel before her because what I have to say will be hard for her to hear. We are at eye level, and my voice dips, an attempt for my pitch to evoke the same sympathy I’ve always had for her. “Listen, I hate to do this, but my boss needs a follow-up statement in the hopes there’s something you’ve remembered after all these years.”

The joy in her face fades, and I’m met with the same scared girl from yesterday. All I want to do is touch her knee and give her the slightest reassurance I’ll be with her through the whole thing. “It doesn’t have to be today, but my boss just needs one, especially with the new arrest.”

She’s not asked me about the arrest yet. It’s as if she blanked it out when I mentioned it earlier.

A little color fills her angelic face again, just enough that she no longer looks like a ghost. “Okay, so that’s something we’ll work toward,” I assure her.

I stand, my focus on Higgins, who’s witnessed this entire interaction between Malia and me since he hasn’t taken his eyes off her. “Hey, Higgie.” He hates me calling him this, too, and I internally laugh. “Tell the captain I’ll make an appointment with Ms. Strickland in the next couple of weeks since this all has been overwhelming for her.” I slide my hand under her elbow to escort her out of the precinct, and all eyes ogle this beauty on our way out. Now that they know this is the Malia Strickland, there are two reasons to mentally undress her now.

“You haven’t eaten all day, Malia.” She’s sitting in the seat of my Malibu with her gaze straight ahead. I get a simple nod, but I haven’t started the car.

“My captain mentioned the school called her to let her know you’d be attending the university this year. She thinks someone is playing a cruel joke on you.” My hand has a mind of its own when I grasp her shoulder, causing her to come out of her trance.

“Yeah, people who find out look at me differently. It’s happened my whole life except for Georgia,” she says, and I remember the name from when she was younger. “She’s never coddled me. She actually tells me when I let the self-pity set in. She’d be kicking my ass right now.” A smirk appears across her pouty lips at this idea.

With her change in demeanor, I take the chance to care for her. “So, what do you think about some lunch? I know the best sandwich place, then we’ll drop your stuff off at my home, and get you over to the Montgomerys’ for dinner. Gail is blowing my texts up with questions, mainly asking when you’ll be there.”

“Wells, now that we’ve determined it’s a prank, I’m returning to my dorm tonight.” Her smile almost dares me to challenge her.

“I still think you should stay somewhere else, even Gail and Stephen’s house…”

When this girl laughs as she is right now, a loud, boisterous chortle causes me to follow with a similar chuckle. Her voice cuts through it all. “You know, Wells, you’re not young enough to know everything.” Her little insult cuts through all the serious bullshit of the past eleven years as we sit in my car and laugh until our voices are hoarse.

“Now that was funny as fuck.” It’s a compliment, but I’m always the type to laugh at myself more than anyone else.

Still in my passenger seat, she bows the best she can, then gives me a wicked smile. “There’s