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She looks up at me, then flicks her gaze to Forge.

“How can I believe that?”

“We’re detectives,” I say. “We—”

“That means nothing!” she says, slapping her hands on her lap. More tears come. “Not after what happened.”

Forge and I share a look.

Not after what happened?

What does that mean?

I wish he and I had telepathic abilities to talk about it without her hearing. To me, it comes across as her having bad experiences with cops. Fair. A lot of people have because not all of them are good. But me and Forge? We don’t fuck with the wrong side of the law. We follow it. We respect it. We do our job the way it’s mean to be done. To protect people and put actual bad guys away. We want to keep people safe. We want people who do wrong to pay for it.

“You mean with Theodore?” I ask.

“Yes,” she says, sniffling.

And that has my mind wandering even more.

“Did you have a bad experience with officers?” Forge asks seriously.

Glad we’re on the same page. Though, I’m not surprised. We usually are, it’s just that we have different approaches.

She nods. Trinity comes over with a box of tissues, putting them on the end table before pulling a couple out and handing them to her.

“It’s okay, honey.”

Raewyn takes the tissues and wipes her eyes.

“Can you tell us how you had a bad experience if you didn’t speak with any one before you left the village?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “I can’t. I can’t!”

“Okay, it’s okay,” I say, scooting closer. Forge and I are basically on top of her, not giving her any room. We’re crowding around her, our need to protect almost overwhelming. But I realize we’re probably making her feel worse, so I put my hand on Forge’s arm and scoot back, encouraging him to do the same. He grits his teeth, and I expect a growl to come out of him. I don’t hear anything though, and he does move back… a few inches.

Better than nothing.

“I’m going to make some tea,” Trinity says, patting Raewyn’s shoulder before heading off into the kitchen.

Now that I’m back a foot or so, it feels easier to give her more space. I get to my feet and move back another step. I gesture to the couch across from her with a tilt of my head, and Forge narrows his eyes at me. I move to the couch, and begrudgingly, he does the same.

“Raewyn, you called us because you were scared. You said someone you saw at Theodore’s house was here. We want to help, but in order to do that, you have to give us a little more,” I say as gently as I can. I don’t want to push her but I want answers.

“I can’t,” she says, shaking her head firmly. “I’m scared. I just can’t!”

“We will not let anything happen to you,” Forge says firmly.

She looks up at me, her eyes red-rimmed and watery.

“I want to believe you,” she says. “Really, I do, because—because—”

“The scent match,” Forge says.

“Yes,” she says, dabbing her eyes with the tissue again. “It makes me want to trust you, but after what I saw…”

“What did you see?” I ask.