“I don’t think I do,” I tell him, dropping my eyes to his badge. “Officer Jenkins.”

“Not sure you would know that.” He smiles.

Sighing, I give up and mutter, “Fine,” and he smiles bigger then pats my knee. He puts his hand to his chest and leans down, telling dispatch to send an ambulance.

“Do you know who broke in?” he asks as soon as he gets the conformation that the ambulance is in route.

“No, they were looking for my sister.”

“Did they say what they wanted with her?” he asks, moving to sit next to me on the couch.

Shaking my head, I start to lie then squeeze my eyes closed and open them back up. “They said she stole money and they were going to pay her back.”

“I see.” He nods, and I fight the urge to defend her, even though I know she has gone too far this time.

“None of the neighbors heard anything, and I didn’t see anyone on the street,” the other officer says, walking through the open front door, followed by two paramedics who come directly to me. It doesn’t surprise me that no one heard anything. My two closest neighbors are older; one uses a hearing aid most of the time, and the other usually has the television on so high that he wouldn’t hear it if the world was coming to an end outside his door.

“As soon as they check her over, we’ll go over the details of what happened,” I hear Officer Jenkins say to his partner as the paramedics begin to examine me. When they’re done, they tell me to take some Advil for the pain, but assure me I will be fine. Officer Jenkins takes the seat next to me on the couch once more as the other officer, Lent, leads the paramedics to the door and closes it behind them, coming back a second later, grabbing one of the chairs from my dining room table, and sitting on it across from me.

“I already explained to Officer Lent that the men who broke in were looking for your sister,” Officer Jenkins says as he pulls out a pen from the pocket of his shirt. “Can you tell me anything else about them?”

Pressing my lips together, I try to remember any details about the two men, but my mind comes up empty. “It all happened so fast. They were both white, and dressed similar in black t-shirts, jeans, and boots, but I didn’t get a good look at either of them.”

“Do you know where your sister is?” Officer Lent asks, sitting forward and studying me.

“No, I filed a missing person report on her. I haven’t heard from her in two days,” I tell him, and his eyes scan my face and I know he sees I’m holding something back.

“What are you not telling us?” he asks gently, and that’s when the dam breaks and tears begin to fall silently from my eyes, down my cheeks, and onto my shirt.

“She has a drug problem. She was doing really well for a few weeks, and I thought this time she was going to stick with it and go into rehab, but she lost her way again, and now this happened.” Covering my face with my hands, I try to get myself back under control. Crying like a baby won’t solve anything right now, even though that is exactly what I want to do. Sitting up straight, I look between the two policemen and ask, “What do I need to do now?”

“There isn’t much we can do at this time. We don’t exactly know who we’re looking for, and I doubt your sister is going to show up and tell us who she stole from,” Officer Lent says softly like he regrets his words.

“I’d really like you to stay somewhere else tonight,” Officer Jenkins says quietly after a moment, and my eyes go to him.

“I’ll go to a hotel. I wouldn’t be able to sleep here if I wanted to, not while knowing there is a possibility those guys might come back.”

“I don’t think they’ll come back tonight, but I’d rather you be safe somewhere else, at least for a few days. You also need to have your locks changed and a deadbolt put in before you do stay here. The guys who broke in were able to pick your lock easily, and to be honest, you’re a woman living alone. You should have some form of protection.”

“I’ll call a locksmith tomorrow and have them put in new locks,” I agree, instantly ignoring his ‘you’re a woman’ comment, ‘cause all that does is annoy me, even if he is right. But then again, there was a gun involved, and if not for that, I probably could have kicked butt…or at least that’s what I’m going to tell myself.

“Go get your stuff, honey, and we’ll follow you to the hotel,” he replies, looking as if he wants to say something else but thinking better of it. If this had been any other time, I would have taken an extra moment to appreciate how handsome he is. But now is not that time, so I get off the couch, walk back to my bedroom, pull out my large duffle bag from my closet, and stuff it full with enough clothes to last me a few days. Once I’m done, I drag it into the hall behind me.

“This is my card. If you think of anything or need anything, just give me a call,” Officer Jenkins says as he picks up my bag then turns his attention to Officer Lent. “I’m gonna take this down and phone into the station to let them know we’re following her to the hotel and getting her checked in.”

“I’ll help her lock up then we’ll be down,” he replies as I go into the kitchen and turn out the light then to the living room to do the same and turn off the TV before heading for the front door.

“I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I have a sister your age, and I know if something like this ever happened to her I would want her to have whatever protection she could get her hands on,” Officer Lent says quietly as I step outside with him and lock my front door. “Every other week at Lawson’s, I teach a class on gun safety, and I would be happy to have you in my next class.” He hands me a card, and I look at it then back up at him. “Guns can be dangerous, but they can also save your life, and in my class, I’ll teach you how to be comfortable handling a gun and what to do in different situations. You don’t have to buy a gun if you don’t want to, but you can come to the class and find out for yourself if that is something you want to do or not.”

“Thank you,” I tell him sincerely as I place both cards in my bag. I’ve never thought about owning a gun, but after tonight, it might not be a bad idea to have one.

*

“WHAT THE FUCK happened to your face?”

Jumping in surprise, I lift my eyes from the computer screen in front of me and my gaze collides with Sven’s blue ones. I didn’t even hear him come into the office.

“Nothing,” I tell him then lean back when his hands go to the top of the desk and his body looms over until his face is just inches from mine.

“That bruise on your face doesn’t look like nothing. Wanna try again?” he taunts as his face twist in anger.

“Not particularly,” I mumble sitting further back in my chair.

“Too bad. What happened?” he rumbles, lifting one hand, touching my cheek gently.

“My sister stole money from some guy,” I say, and then regret it instantly when his energy changes and wraps around me so tight that my breath comes out in a rush.

“He put his hands on you?” His words are soft, but the angry, vibrating energy I feel coming off of him grates against my skin. “Tell me everything.”