Keeping Kenzie - Pepper North Page 0,23

hands on my shoulder,” he instructed as she sat up with a confused look on her face. Osiris placed his hands on the steering well and tried to look innocent.

“Sir, could I have your license and registration?”

“Good afternoon, Officer. My wallet is in my pocket. My fiancée was upset, so I stopped to talk to her without distractions. Is it okay for her to move back into the passenger seat so I can reach my back pocket?”

“Upset, huh? I think it would be best for you to both step out of the car,” the officer decided.

“What for? We didn’t do anything wrong,” Kenzie protested. “I started crying, and D…Osiris was being nice to me.”

“Step out of the car, ma’am.”

Osiris raised one hand from the steering wheel and slowly released the door. “Kenzie, it’s okay. I’m going to lift you up and slide out from under you to get out. He wants to talk to me,” Osiris explained, watching the confusion on her face. With obvious motions, he followed through on his plan.

Raising his hands, Osiris rose from the car. The officer stepped back to allow his bulk to emerge from the car. “I’m sorry, Officer. I wasn’t aware that this was a no-stopping zone,” he apologized politely as he handed over his license. “My registration is in the glove box.”

The officer held up a hand for him to wait for a moment as he scanned his license. “Thank you, Mr. Jones. I won’t need to see the registration now.” He handed the license back to him.

The patrolman looked past Osiris to request, “Miss, I need you to exit the car, please.”

Automatically, he followed the directions and stepped away from the open door. “Kenzie, come out here and talk to the officer. I’m sure he wants to make sure you’re okay.”

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” Kenzie asked as she slid out of the driver’s seat.

“Miss, you look as if you’ve been crying. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I just had a sad moment as we were talking. That’s why we pulled over,” Kenzie explained with a smile. “Thank you for checking on me.”

“I need to see your license or ID, miss.”

“Really?” At his confirming nod, she leaned back in the car to fish out her wallet.

The officer looked at her license and compared her appearance to the picture on the card. “I’ll be right back.” He returned to the squad car and appeared to run her driver’s license through the computer. Returning, he announced, “Kenzie Anders, there is a warrant out for your arrest. You are under arrest. Please turn around and put your hands on the car.”

“What?” she asked, staring dumbfounded at the officer.

“Put your hands on the car, please, miss. This is the last time I will ask.”

“What is the charge, Officer?” Osiris asked from the side. He was as close as he felt he could get without alarming the police officer. His muscle mass could easily overwhelm the officer, and they both knew it.

“Miss Anders has a theft charge leveled against her.”

“Theft?” Kenzie’s face hardened. “That’s from my ex-husband. They dropped those charges during the divorce. He filed theft charges against me when he sent a box of his records by accident with my things. I returned them during the court proceedings.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have any record of the charges being dropped.” The officer captured both her hands and held them behind her back. Quickly, he snapped on his handcuffs and tugged her away from the car.

“Daddy! Don’t let them take me!” Kenzie pleaded as the officer led her to the patrol car. In her panic at being arrested, she called him Daddy in front of the officer.

“Sir, I’m taking her to the county sheriff’s office. If you are headed to SANCTUM, contact Josiah. He knows the sheriff.”

“Thank you,” he addressed the officer.

Calling to Kenzie, he urged, “We’ll get this figured out. I’ll be at the sheriff’s office to help. Be brave, Little girl!”

“Take care of Cupcake?” she asked with tears running down her face.

“Of course, Baby girl,” Osiris promised.

It was the hardest thing he’d ever done, watching the officer lead Kenzie to the police car and put her in the back seat. The officer’s demeanor and helpful advice helped him stay calm. As a muscular threat, Osiris knew that any aggressive action by him could cause a massive escalation of the situation. It killed him to allow the arrest to take place. The minute the officer was behind the wheel, Osiris had his phone out and was