She shot an annoyed glance his way. “Joel?—”
“I’m not letting you walk home alone, and you don’t want to either.”
She swallowed, her arms wrapping around her waist, but she didn’t argue with him anymore.
For a few minutes, they walked in silence, and he could almost hear her thinking.
This was really messing with her. Just because the woman was a customer?
“Do you have any suspects?” Polly asked quietly.
“No.” His jaw clenched, hating that answer. “But we only found her this afternoon. Tomorrow, Ryan will talk to Ward, and Ethan will look into who she is.”
“Was,” she corrected. “And Ward’s not going to do anything.”
She was right. Ward would do the bare minimum. Exactly why Joel’s team would be looking into it, regardless of what Ward wanted.
“That’s four.” Polly’s words were so quiet, they barely crossed the distance between them.
“Yeah. That’s four in the last twelve months.” Two missing, two dead. All women, all in the forest. And that wasn’t even counting the ones who’d come before them.
“I love this town, but lately it’s feeling a lot less safe.” Her gaze skirted around the street like danger was about to jump out at them.
He inched closer again. So close, he could feel the warmth of her body, and hopefully, she felt his.
His muscles didn’t relax the entire walk to her house.
A woman had been shot today. Was it by the same person who’d killed Priya? Who’d made the other women go missing? If it was, they’d changed their MO. Why?
When they reached Polly’s front door, her fingers still shook as she tried to slot her key into her lock.
After the first few attempts didn’t work, he covered her hand with his own and guided the key in. Her skin was cold, and for a second she didn’t move. She didn’t even attempt to turn the key.
It wasn’t until he took his hand away that she finally unlocked the door and stepped in.
“Thank you,” she said, as she turned to face him.
“I don’t want to leave without knowing you’re okay.” This wasn’t the sassy, confident woman he knew. This woman was scared.
“I feel kind of numb.”
He cupped her cheek, and fuck but it felt right to touch her. “I’m sorry you knew her.”
“Did you…did you see her?”
“I found her.”
That last bit of color drained from her face.
Fuck it. He tugged her against him, wrapped one arm tightly around her waist and cupped her head with his other hand. At first, she was stiff in his arms. One second passed. Two. Slowly, she melted into him, letting him hold her as she pressed her palms flat against his chest.
She was soft and warm, and some of the trembling in her limbs stilled.
When she lifted her head, her eyes gutted him. Because for once they didn’t hide anything. They were pools of vulnerability. Sadness and confusion and pain. But also something else. Something he almost didn’t want to name in case he got it wrong.
Her gaze lowered to his lips. And his gut tightened for a different reason.
Slowly, her hands trailed up his chest. She touched the back of his neck. Then in one strong tug, she pulled his head down and kissed him.
