Oakley walks through the front door, nodding to us both as he walks around us on the front steps.
“Lieutenant Kempe said we could go down to the police department and give our statements to one of the officers there. He knows how toreach Arlo and me if he needs more than that. He said as long as Rina doesn’t need medical attention, we’re good to go.” He eyes me like he’s waiting for me to lie to him.
“We’re good. Do we have a car to take us there? My truck is still at the station,” Arlo says as he stands up and then helps me to join them.
“Yeah, an officer is going to take us back.”
We follow Oakley, no one saying a word. The entire drive to the station is the same, and I’m grateful because there is too much running through my head right now. What I do know is I’m ready to put this nightmare behind me and start the life I always wanted.
Chapter 42
Arlo
They separate us at the station, and I feel like I’m crawling out of my damn skin. I’ve been away from Rina too long, and I know everything that happened is going to hit her all at once. Because she’s so damn stubborn, she’ll hold it all in and wait until she feels safe to breakdown, and I don’t want her to hold that in at all. I need to get her home.
“I think that should do it. Thanks for the co-operation. I’m sure Lieutenant Kempe will call you if he needs anything else,” the officer who interviewed me for the last thirty minutes says. I didn’t even catch his name, too focused on wrapping this up quickly.
I see Oakley sitting in the lobby as I’m walked out, but no sign of Rina.
“Is Rina not done?” I ask as I continue to look around like I somehow missed her.
“Not yet, and I’m about to give them hell. She shouldn’t need to be kept that long. Take her statement and let her go. If they need more, call one of us,” he grumbles, knee bouncing.
I’m so fucking glad he found Willow and started opening up to us all. His friendship and fierce support are something I didn’t realize I was missing. I gave him a lot of shit about not having friends not all that long ago, but that was hypocritical considering my lack of friendships.
But everything’s changed in the last few months. All thanks to the woman I will forever call my wife.
Oakley abruptly stands, and I turn to what he’s looking at. Rina walking out in all her beautiful, stressed-out glory. She shoots Oakley a small smile before looking at me with eyes that scream to get her out of here. I can see the threads holding her together are barely hanging on.
She reaches us, cuddling into my side as I hold out my arm for her.
“Can we get out of here?” she whispers. I look up at the officer who walked her out, and he nods, letting me know we’re good to go. I’m glad to have their approval, but they couldn’t stop me even if they wanted to. Rina wants to go home, and I’ll make it happen no matter what it takes.
Leading her out of the building, not taking my arm off of her, I walk the three of us over to my truck in the parking lot across the street.
“Shit. My truck is still at the steakhouse.” Rina stops in her tracks.
I look at Oakley over her head, and he nods at my unspoken question.
“I’ll drop Oakley off, and he’ll drive it back to your house.”
“You don’t have to do that. I can drive home,” Rina argues.
“Nope. I’ll drive it back. You ride with Arlo.” God bless Oakley for understanding my need to be by her side right now.
“Thank you.” Rina nods in appreciation as we make it to my truck. Oakley jumps in the back, and I help Rina into the passenger side. The drive over to the steakhouse is fast thanks to everything being downtown. Oakley hops out after taking Rina’s keys and waves to us as we pull out and hit the highway.
I’m waiting for her to take the lead on our conversation. I don’t want to push her or say something that will trigger anything for her. I’m a mostly patient man, and whenever she wants to talk about what happened, I’ll be here to hear every word.
It doesn’t lessen my worry and uncertainty about what exactly happened in that house.
Her hand slides down my forearm and intertwines our fingers. It instantly calms the noise in my head, and I’m grateful.
“Thank you for having my back.” Her small voice echoes in the cabin of the truck.
“Oh, Emmerdeur, never thank me for that.” I squeeze the hand holding mine.
“I promise to never think I can pull something like that off ever again. I am not the badass I thought I was.”
