Page 62 of Finding a Melody

“Thank you,” the younger one said, his voice a lot deeper. He moved the chair Seth sat in to the other side, next to the seat Paxon had vacated. I appreciated that they did that, not making me feel like I was surrounded. There was always something about the police. They could always make me guilty even though I never did anything wrong.

“We just have some questions about the incident and we want to hear your side of the story. We’ve been building a case against the Ryder gang for a long time, but they’re too good at covering their tracks.”

I nodded before taking a deep breath. Slowly, I recounted everything that had happened, making sure to leave nothing out. I wanted them to have every single piece of ammo they needed to take the Ryders down.

They asked a few questions and the dread slowly grew. I was waiting for one particular question, and when they finally asked, I grew quiet, not sure how to respond.

“Miss Wiles,” the older one, Officer Brelly, asked, “do you know why they’re targeting you or Mr. Keyes?”

“They aren’t targeting Seth,” I finally admitted, playing with my fingers.

They glanced at each other.

I swallowed, knowing I needed to talk. “I’m sure you’ve had time to read the reports. Last week, there was a break-in at my place. I just moved there at the beginning of the school year and I live alone. Seth has been helping me feel safe since he’s a good friend and neighbor. He shouldn’t have been involved.” And yet he was hurt because of me. I only caused people misery. I pushed away the memories trying to dig their way out. Most days, I refused to even face them, and I wasn’t going to do it today either no matter how hard they pushed to come out.

“You think it’s related?” Officer Anderson asked. He was the younger officer, still a bit baby-faced even.

I licked my lips. “This week, I had a client I had to meet with and when I finished, I came out of the parking lot, and there was a Ryder member there with his bike, waiting for me by my car.”

“Why didn’t you tell the police?” Officer Brelly asked.

I stared at him, at the kindness in his dark eyes. “And tell you what? That the Ryder gang asked for me? And what would you have done? I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. I pretended to not know who he was looking for and walked away. When he left, I circled back around and got my car.”

“If that’s so, then why?” Officer Anderson asked. “Why are they interested in you?”

I looked out the window.

“Miss Wiles.”

I sighed. “The leader, he was dating a woman for a few years. I met her and we grew really close. I understood what she was going through. From my background, you can see all the work I do for nonprofits specializing in abuse. When the time was right, I helped her disappear.”

“What do you mean by that?” Officer Brelly asked. That piece of information seemed to get his attention.

“Exactly what it means. I got her away from the Ryder gang, away from that abusive asshole. Even I’m not sure where she is. They won’t find her.”

“Can you give us a name?” he asked.

“No.”

He cocked an eyebrow.

“You’ll get her name, you’ll look into her, someone who shouldn’t will hear that name, and she’ll be found. I can’t let that happen. The rules of the people who help are really strict. I can’t tell you that.”

Officer Anderson stood up. “How dare you insinuate—”

Officer Brelly held up his hand, stopping the younger one from going on a tangent. “Okay, we’ll respect your decision for now.”

I nodded. They’d try digging, but they weren’t going to find anything.

“So, they want you now because you helped a girlfriend escape?” Officer Brelly asked.

“They probably think I know where she is.” I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

They shared glances before standing. No doubt I just opened a whole new avenue of investigation for them. “I think that’s all for now. Thank you for speaking with us. We’re going to keep a guard outside your door and then in front of your house when you’re released. If they’re determined to get you, they’ll definitely try again.”

I could only nod as his words made my stomach drop. Officer Brelly handed over his card in case I ever needed to get in touch with him and then they were gone.

Not even two seconds later, the boys were pouring into the room, surrounding me, and asking me more questions than I could keep up with.