Page 28 of Stolen

“Chance huh? Are you so sure about that?”

“Of course, I am!”

“Then who is Douglas Richards?” Preston asked. Blossom blinked at him. It took her a moment.

“Oh—he was a client of mine! He requested a date with me and I declined. What the hell does he have to do with anything?”

“That’s who we caught firing shots from over there.” Preston pointed to the top of a building a few yards away. When we caught him, he was so blind with jealousy and rage all he did was rant and rave about how you preached to give people happy ever after’s but you yourself is quick to shoot someone down.”

“And you don’t think that Chance put him up to this? I declined Douglas almost a year ago! And then the day after I happened to escape that psycho is the day my business gets shot up? The day my friend gets shot?!”

“You told me that you had no friends.”

“Because I couldn’t involve her in it! She didn’t even know what Chance did to me until today!” Blossom screamed.

“Blossom, you need to calm down,” SynTanner warned her. Blossom huffed and looked away. She was so angry she felt as if she could breathe fire. How could the police just be so callous?

“Unless Douglas tells us that Chance hired him, then we can’t rope Chance into this. We caught the shooter point blank and he already admitted that he was shooting up the place because you declined his offer. And Deputy, what are you doing here? You are not supposed to be handling any cases!” Chief snapped.

“And who said I was. Blossom isn’t property of the police department. If I want to be near her then I have free will to do so. We were planning to continue to be together and her place was shot up. I haven’t pulled my weapon; although if I saw a shooter then my rights as an American tells me that I can defend myself.” Preston just grunted.

“An officer will come by and take your statement. After that, I strongly suggest that the both of you lay low for a while. If we have any more concerns, we’ll get in contact with you.”

“Bullshit,” Blossom called out.

“Excuse me?! It’s like you want me to arrest you!”

“How are you gonna get in contact with me, huh? You don’t have my number! Do you even care about what’s really happening? Or do you just care that Chance and his hot shot lawyer can ruin your reputation? Every officer takes an oath. Even if you went through hell to prove Chance’s guilt, and you lost everything, you would never lose the people because they’d know that you would stand with them despite the politics. Chief, I’m not some crazy ex-girlfriend with a vendetta.” Preston just glared at her for a long time.

“I’m doing the best I can with that I have Ms. Freeman. Like I said. Please lay low,” Preston finally spoke softly. He turned and walked away.

“Damn it,” Blossom grunted. She turned and looked at SynTanner.

“I got carried away. Now I feel like shit for talking to him like that.”

“You’re just emotionally high. He can understand that. But do be careful. I’m pretty sure if he didn’t believe in you one way or another you would have been in cuffs. Being a cop is hard, you know. It’s much more than just putting away bad guys. With a criminal like Chance, it's more than just difficult.”

“This is a nightmare,” Blossom groaned. Instead of answering her, SynTanner just circled her wrist with his hand, rubbing her palm in a soothing gesture. He was looking away from her, seemingly spaced out again.

“Hey, what’s going on with you?” she asked.

“What are you talking about?” he questioned. It was her turn to give him a look.

“I may not be the youngest chief deputy, but I am very good at reading emotions. Something happened. Or at least in your head it did. What’s going on?” she questioned. SynTanner locked eyes with her. For the first time she could see that his eyes weren’t the same eyes she was growing accustomed to. A storm was brewing behind his gaze.

“You’re probably not going to stop asking until I tell you, huh?” he asked.

“Damn right,” she replied.

“Well, I can’t talk about it right now. So, later,” he shrugged. Blossom grunted, but she had to trust his words.

“Is there any way I can help you right now?” she questioned.

“I don’t think so,” he replied gruffly. Blossom opened her arms, spreading the blanket out. She inched closer to him and hugged him tightly, closing him inside the blanket with her.

“Then I guess I’ll just comfort you this way,” she replied. SynTanner looked down at her head. Her face was buried in his chest as she stuck to her convictions, wanting to comfort him. He felt himself smiling slightly. Resting his chin on the top of her head, he relished in the warmness of her embrace. His heart was thumping again and the warm blood it circulated was making his chest fuzzy with emotions. Damn, what was this feeling?

All while the officers questioned them, and retrieved their statements, Blossom kept her arms around him. Recounting all the events that led up to the shooting lasted a half an hour. Even while answering the questions, Blossom was looking at her small company building that was only one story high, and painted white with gold trimmings. The place looked warm and cozy but now, it was just a building full of bullets, wrapped with caution tape. SynTanner could see how that would probably upset her. Although it did, she smiled at him.