The nurse and Buzz leave the room, shutting the door behind them.

“Mind if I sit down?” I ask, but I don’t wait for an answer. I move over to the only chair in the room and take a seat.

“Where’s Capone?”

I point to the bed. “How about you take a seat before you fall over and I’ll tell you everything I know. That’s one brave dog you have there. So what’s your first name?”

She looks like she’s going to balk for a second but then she sits on the edge and turns her body to me. I can tell she’s still a bit woozy from whatever drugs were in her system and the fight seems to have gone out of her. “It’s Rowan. Do you have him? Is he okay?”

“I don’t but I was on my way to go look for him when I got a call from Detective Matheson that he needed to interview me since I’m the one that found you. So I had to come here first.”

“Oh God... I can’t believe he’s out there on his own. I have to go and find him.”

She bolts up from the bed and starts for the door. Jumping up from my chair, I gently grab her shoulders and stop her. She’s so tiny—I feel like I can snap the bones in her shoulders with just a firm grip.

“Wait just a minute. I’ll help you find him, I swear, but you literally cannot waltz out of here in that hospital gown. We need to get you some clothes first, and then we can go.”

I can see her calm just a bit.

“You’ll help me? Why?” She sounds utterly perplexed that I would even offer her help but before I can respond, she says, “Never mind. I don’t need your help. I can find him myself.”

She pushes out of my grip with surprising strength and throws the door open. The nurse and Buzz are standing there.

Looking first at Buzz, she says, “You can just leave... I’m not talking to you.” She then turns to the nurse. “Get me a pair of surgical scrubs or something I can wear. I’m leaving.”

The nurse huffs and turns away. “I have paperwork I have to do to let you out of here and a doctor has to sign off. I’ll find something for you to wear but I have to get the paperwork ready.”

“Fine,” Rowan snaps, “just hurry.”

She walks back to the bed and slumps down on it. I can tell she’s exhausted and if the dryness of her lips is any indication, I’m thinking she’s dehydrated. I pour her a cup of water from the pitcher beside her bed and hand it to her. “Drink this... you need liquids.”

She takes the cup and sips at it, staring stonily at her feet.

Buzz has followed us back into the room. “Miss Page... I don’t understand why you won’t talk to me. I just want to know who did this to you so we can bring him or her to justice.”

Very smooth the way Buzz said “him” or “her”, especially when I know he already believes it to be a “him”. But he wants to make her at ease to talk about her boyfriend I’m sure.

She doesn’t respond but takes another sip of the water. Buzz apparently takes that as a sign he should continue talking.

“Miss Page... Rowan... I know the house you were in was being rented by your boyfriend.” Buzz pulls out his notepad and makes a big deal of flipping through the pages to consult his notes. But I know this is for show... he knows damn well what her boyfriend’s name is.

“Yeah... got it right here.” He points to the pad. “Like I said, the house you were found in was rented by Mr. Teddy Jones. He goes by “Juice” I believe. That’s your boyfriend, right?”

She still doesn’t respond but dutifully takes another sip of water. I notice her cheeks get slightly red at the mention of her boyfriend’s name.

Buzz goes in for the kill. “Did he chain you to that bed, Rowan? Drug you? Did he rape you? Was he trying to kill you... and that’s why he set the fire?”

Rowan’s head jerks up at those last words and there is fear in her eyes. I think she’s getting ready to spill the beans but the only thing she says is, “He’s not my boyfriend, hasn’t been for a while.”

“Then did he kidnap you? You have to open up to me so we can get you justice.”

I think that’s a pretty good line, and I’m pretty sure Buzz has said the one thing that will get her to open up.

Wrong!

Rowan’s eyes narrow and she actually sneers, her upper lip curling slightly on the right side. “Justice? You’re kidding me, right? When has a cop ever worried about someone like me? You’re not fooling me. I smell narcotics all over you. You only want me to help you bust Juice so you can get some fucking meritorious commendation or something. Tell me I’m wrong!”

I have to clamp down hard on my tongue so I don’t start laughing. This girl is no dummy. In fact, I’d say she’s smart as hell and she neatly put Buzz in his place.

Glancing at Buzz, I can tell he’s admitting defeat for today now that she’s made him. He pulls his card out of his pocket and hands it to her. “If you change your mind, call me. I can offer you protection against him in exchange for your cooperation.”

Turning toward the door, Buzz motions me. “Come on, Flynn. Might as well get your statement now.”

I follow him to the door and say in a low voice, “Let’s reschedule, man. I’m going to help her find her dog, and maybe she’ll open up to me.”

Buzz raises his eyebrows at me but doesn’t say anything. He just nods and heads down the hall.

Turning, I step back into the room and shut the door. Rowan looks up at me in surprise, the cup of water tilted halfway to her mouth.

“Now, let’s spring you out of here and go find that dog of yours.”

3

Fucking cop! I knew he was here only for Juice. No way they’d ever really give a damn about a naked and drugged girl chained to a bed that was almost roasted alive.

The door shuts and I look up to see the fireman standing there. The unbelievably gorgeous fireman.

What a cliché.

“Now, let’s spring you out of here and go find that dog of yours.”

“I told you, I don’t need your help, so you might as well turn around and march out of here, too.”

“Well, tough shit... I’m going to help find your dog whether you like it or not. And it will get done a lot faster if we work with each other rather than against each other.”

I’m momentarily shocked over his words and I give him another once-over. I’m suspicious of his offer of help, because... well, hey... I’m suspicious of all authority figures. I’d learned that long before I ever got messed up with Juice.

But his gaze tells me the offer is genuine and I take a moment to check him out a bit closer. First of all, he’s a pretty big guy... probably a good foot taller than my five-three height. He’s also stacked with muscle and I still have enough of my wits about me to notice that he has a face that would make most women fall over in a dead faint if he smiled at them.

It’s the eyes.

Definitely the eyes. Lashes so thick you would think they were painted on the border of the lightest pair of hazel irises I’ve ever seen. His dark brown hair, which he wears fairly short, only makes his eyes pop that much more. When he smiles, I notice he has a dimple on the left side of his mouth, but not on the right.

“So what do you say?” he asks, bringing me out of my perusal of his hotness.

Shaking my head, because the last thing I need to be thinking about is how gorgeous this guy is, I stand from the bed. “If you think that I’m going to spill my dirty secrets to you so you can run off and tell your cop friend, forget about it.”

Flynn holds his hands up in a conciliatory gesture. “I could care less about that. I just want to help you find your dog, and then you can be on your way. Deal?”

My skeptical nature looks hard for the lie, but I can’t find it. And I’m a pretty good judge of character. For example, I knew Juice was bad news and trouble from the get-go. But just because I’m a good judge of character doesn’t mean I make smart decisions with my knowledge.

Still... he’s offering me a way to find Capone and that dog is literally the only thing I have in the world right now. I don’t even have any clothes and I have nowhere to live right now, but I figure Capone and I can huddle up together tonight until I figure something out.

“Okay... if you can manage to get me some scrubs to wear and if that beast of a nurse will get my papers ready, we can go.”

He shoots me a one-dimpled smile and turns toward the door. “I’m on it. I’ll have you out of here in thirty minutes.”


Flynn drives us back to Juice’s house and he pulls up to the curb. He had tried to engage me in conversation on the way over but after a few grunted answers, he gave up. Opening the car door, he steps out and I do the same.