When she and I collide, Bear starts barking up at us.
She holds me tight. "When they called, I thought they were calling to tell me they found your body. Thank fuck you're alive."
"I'm fine." I sob into her hair, breathing in her coconut shampoo, relishing the comforting scent of home.
Because she's part of my normal.
"I missed you so much. I'm so sorry I couldn't keep you safe."
"This isn't your fault," I tell her.
She holds me tighter, whispering, "I was the one who told you to drive. It'sallmy fault."
"No. It's not."
She opens her mouth to argue, but I clear my throat and flick my eyes to the two officers watching us to our left. "Not the place."
"So, I'm your lawyer today, then?" She straightens, wiping tears away. "They said you asked for me."
"I did."
"Do you want to make a statement? Get a rape kit done? They're going to want to speak to you about everything."
"No. I want to go home. I want a shower, and… I just want to go home.” I breathe out shakily.
She licks her lips, giving me a curt nod. "Got it. Give me a few minutes."
Standing by the SUV, I hear a few legal terms get tossed about, and one of the men gets loud with Allison, which doesn't go well for him.
"My client has rights!" she screams, stamping her foot. "If she doesn't want to give a statement, she doesn't have to. She's been through literal hell. I'm taking her home."
One of them gives pushback.
"Is she being arrested?"
"Well... no," one of them answers.
"Then we’ll be going. When she's rested and feels inclined, we'll come back for questions."
"Here's my card," the taller of the two says, handing over his business card. "My cell is on there. Let me know when she's ready."
"Will do, Officer Harold.”
Allison herds Bear and me into her car, driving out of the police station depot like a bat out of hell.
"You found me," I say finally when she pulls into my drive thirty minutes later.
"I didn't. I exhausted my connections a few days ago."
“My AirTag?”
“Blocked somehow. It’s like you fell off the side of the planet.”
Allison had given me an AirTag when I came to stay with her, told me to hide it in my duffel just in case something happened, and she needed to find me.
I’d hoped it would be the thing that brought her and the cops to me, but the more time passed, the more I thought maybe AirTags don’t have a reasonable accuracy rate.
"Well, then, how did they know where I was?"
