chapter 4

Logan studied the girl from his desk. She looked trapped even though she was just in the hallway.

Her hands were still cuffed, the metal glistening against the tanned skin on her wrists and her hood had fallen, which was something he noticed she kept flicking up. Her blue baseball cap had been removed and the rest of her hair was frizzed and messed from more than just the fight she should not have won.

Rich was not a very good fighter, but he was at least strong.

He looked at his computer screen again, bouncing his eyes between his screen and the girl in front of him.

Terra Reyes matched the records and her prints, but there was little to no similarity to the woman battered in front of him.

She had a small black bruise still healing under her eye from a past encounter and another fresh bruise swelling her right jawline. She was beautiful and Logan felt heavier knowing that such marks disturbed her smooth skin.

Her eyes in the picture were not happy, but also did not carry the same weight her current eyes displayed. Her straight hair was neatly combed, free of the crazy knots in her now frizzy and messy hair.

Logan couldn't help but notice the way she guarded her stomach like he had seen her do before.

He checked the report to the side of her picture again, making sure he read it correctly. 'Attempted murder and kidnapping' was the only thing he could seem to focus on.

He didn't think she was the type.

He rose from his seat, moving towards the hallway. Buddy was at his heels, following his movements as he pulled at his heels.

Terra watched him, her piercing gaze making him seem uncomfortable in her scrutiny.

“Terra Reyes,” he grabbed the chair at another desk that was just across from her and moved it so it almost touched her knees and Buddy sat behind him at Logan's hip. “What are you doing here? You're a long way from New York.”

Pennsylvania wasn't too far, per se, but it was farther than a midnight stroll.

Logan watched as Terra straightened her spine, meeting his gaze with her challenging stare.

“Needing to get out of these cuffs, Officer Patton.” He saw her eyes bounce to his name tag before finding his face again. “I did nothing wrong.”

“You started a fight in the hotel lobby with a man you don't know. How do I know you're not dangerous?”

“He is the one who started it. What makes men think they can treat people the way they do just because they have more testosterone?”

“And why do you say that?”

She finally flicked her eyes from his, staring intently at his shoes before drifting her sight to the left slightly. Her turned head gave him a better look at the dark bruise forming on her chin.

Their silence drove him to speak. “You are from New York, traveling through with nothing but an ID on you and walk alone at night, get attacked in the streets by strange flying lights, and get into fistfights. On top of that, you are carrying around a Mario backpack and a second backpack filled with weapons, check into hotels under a fake name, and are driving a stolen car.”

Logan moved closer to her, forcing people to move around them now with the way he blocked the hallway. “Tell me what part of that makes you sound innocent.”

Terra moved her eyes to him again, resting her gaze on him once more. They had somehow lost some of their intensity and looked tired.

“Ms. Reyes, I have enough to hold you for months. My supervisor is just begging to lock you up right now. You either need to tell me the truth or you will never go back to your home in New York.”

If Terra only knew how accurate he was. The captain wanted nothing but to turn her into the New York police, but they were in another state, no matter what charges there were.

Logan sat up when her eyes flashed with fear.

She caught her mistake and hardened them again, giving him that uncomfortable glare. “Did you call my father?”

Logan shook his head and she looked away again. “No, you are nineteen and considered a legal adult.”

He wanted to see her eyes and tried to follow her gaze, but she darted them faster than he could follow.

After a long, prolonged silence, Logan stood. “Follow me.” He commanded and put his chair back.

Terra remained sitting and he looked at her expectantly. She sat back in her chair and stretched her legs out, indicating she was not going anywhere.

Logan moved in front of her and crouched to her level. Her eyes went wide and she pushed herself back in her chair.

“What are you doing?” She yelled, catching the attention of half those in the room.

Logan stood up, raising his hands. “I’m not doing anything but trying to get you out of your chair. You can’t leave if you’re going to stay in that chair.”

Terra rose to her feet, her toes touching his. She seemed to be a whole head shorter than him but that didn’t seem to bother her.

She lifted her chin, staring up at him. “Then don’t touch me, Patton.”

Logan recognized the threat, but let it pass. She seemed to be having less luck than he was.

But he also knew he couldn’t let her go.

E may not agree with the reasons why his supervisor may want her behind bars, but that didn’t mean he was willing to let her leave. His senses were telling him something else was going on and there was no way she was leaving without figuring out what it was.

Logan turned around and motioned with his hand for her to go first. She made sure to keep her steely gaze locked on him until he was just past her.

Buddy jumped up at his movement and stuck himself to Logan's hip, but Logan flicked his hand forward to motion for him to step in front of Terra and he did so quickly.

Logan saw how Terra looked at Buddy while they were hiding in that old house just earlier that day. He unnerved her. And even though he doesn't want to scare her, he still did not completely trust her.

Buddy looked back continuously to make sure that Logan was still coming and it did not pass him that Terra kept a significant distance between herself and his dog, almost to the point of barely shuffling along the ground.

Logan received Buddy as a graduation present when he graduated High School. He always wanted nothing more than to be an FBI Agent, like his father, but knew he had to finish school to get what he wanted. He decided in the meantime that becoming an officer would suit him well.

Buddy was never meant to be a police dog, only a companion. It was only when Logan moved out here to Pennsylvania with his sister that he had the desire to fully train Buddy as a K-9.

Buddy had always been fiercely loyal and extremely smart, so it didn't take much training. Even though Logan knew his boss hated having dogs around, he also knew Buddy was the best-behaved dog in the unit.

Logan pointed to a small room and Buddy stopped at the door, sitting as he watched his master lead Terra in. She slowly stepped through the doorway, eyeing Buddy as if he would spring and attack if she stepped out of place.

Buddy followed on Logan's heels as he stepped in after her and closed the door behind him. “This does not look like the way out,” Terra sneered behind him and he winced as he turned around to find her glare back in place.

He hoped one day she would look at him with less than her steeling glare.

Logan snatched the keys from his waist and stepped forward. Terra's eyes flashed with fear again and he froze his pursuit, dangling the keys so Terra could see them. “I'm just going to take the cuffs off your wrist.”

Terra said nothing but held her arms out a little more so he could reach them better without having to come much closer.

The steel slipped from her tanned wrists, but not before Logan got a closer look at her arms, which were marred and decorated in deep, purple bruises.

“What do you want?” Terra asked, rubbing her wrists. She thrust her chin at Buddy. “You going to sick your dog on me?”

Logan would have laughed if Terra didn't seem so serious. “Buddy won't hurt anyone without provoking.”

“I saw what he did to that man on the road.”

“Like I said,” Logan looked down at his faithful companion. “Provoking.”

Terra looked at the dog, not bringing her gaze to his. But this time, the fear was less suffocating in her eyes through her lazy gaze. “I brought you here so I could look at your wounds.”

Terra's eyes snapped to him and she backed up, bringing her other arm to cover her torso. She shook her head.

“They don't look self-inflicted, but I need to know what happened.”

“Not on your life. Lock me up if you have to.”

Logan shook his head. “I don't want to lock you up. If you show me your wounds and allow for me to get you medical attention, I will drop all charges.”

Logan knew that was very generous, especially with the stack of felonies he can charge her with. But to be honest, he owed Terra.

If she didn’t stand up to Rich, who would know what would have happened to his sister and niece?

Terra shook her head no, still keeping her arms over her stomach.

He felt she didn’t know of all the charges or she would jump at the chance.

“At least tell me what happened and what hurts so I can get another individual to administer medical attention,” Logan growled. The nice guy approach was getting him nowhere. “Terra, there is already an arrest warrant out for you. You were accused of attempted murder in New York. You either need to tell me what happened and let us take care of you or get a pretty good lawyer.”

“Over my dead body.”

Logan’s frown deepened. “Does it have to do with why you’re being charged with attempted murder and kidnapping in New York?”

Logan studied her face carefully. He saw something flash her face for a second, but it was gone as fast as it came. Fear? No, confusion maybe?

Logan sighed, knowing he was still getting nowhere. “Look, I understand what you're go—”

The words couldn’t even come out of Logan’s mouth before he watched a little red dot dance around Terra’s shirt.

He launched forward, colliding with Terra and slamming her body on the hardwood. She yelped and shoved at his hand, which rested against her left shoulder and the ground.

Terra started shouting and he moved his hand from the floor, clamping it over her mouth as glass shattered, raining around them in deadly shards.

Terra froze, her body stiffening as Logan tucked her into him to protect her from the shards.

“Crawl to the door with Buddy. He won’t hurt you, I promise. Get out and look for Officer Madden. He can help you.”

Not giving her a moment to protest, Logan rose off her stiffened body while pulling the gun from its holster on his waist. His eyes narrowed on the shattered window and he looked for any moving shadows.

He ducked again when he saw a slight glint and another gunshot rang through his eardrums. He could feel the disturbed air around him graze his cheek and knew it was close.

Logan wished he hadn’t taken off his radio. Just because he wanted to have no disturbances while talking to Terra—and now there was no way for him to communicate.

He rose again, this time blindly taking a shot to hold his cover until he saw the shadow move again.

They had a tall gate surrounding the perimeter of the police station, but this guy had somehow gotten through the secured walls and was waiting just outside the window.

Logan took a deep breath in and shot, exhaling it at the sound of screams. He kept his weapon raised and eyes darting back and forth, looking for another intruder during his pursuit.

“Let me see your hands!” Logan shouted, his deep voice bouncing off the walls.

His heart was thumping so hard he thought it would pop out of his chest, but he kept his steps smooth and calculated as he approached their attacker.

He spotted motion just before another gunshot rang and Logan instantly launched to the floor. He shoved his thick arms over his head in shielding, clicking the safety on his gun at the same time.

Another shot rang through, followed by a grunt and Logan looked over his shoulder, relief sweeping through his at the look of Madden.

A bead of sweat slipped down his black skin, smoothing over his temple before dripping down to his grey shirt.

Madden caught Logan’s eyes and nodded, signaling him he was good to go.

Moving to the side, Madden tried to slide his body behind the plastic chair, which did nothing to hide his huge frame. Logan jumped up and raced for the window, swinging his legs over the edge and he smoothly launched his body just outside.

He made sure Madden was still there before slipping his gun back into his belt and slapping cuffs on the man lying at his feet.

He was immobile, but it was easy to see his chest heaving through labored breaths, so Logan knew he was still alive, even though the bullet wound settled just right of his heart.

Logan was quick in his endeavor to slap on cuffs, grateful he took them off Terra earlier, before swinging back to the other man Madden had shot.

He was writhing on the ground, his fingers twitching desperately for his weapon, which lay in the grass just out of reach. Logan kicked the weapon away with his foot before squeezing his wrists together, making his hands the cuffs.

Logan heard Madden’s heavy feet approach and held his hand before Madden smacked another set of cuffs into his fingers, the steel cooler than the other ones due to lack of physical contact.

Logan quickly slapped them off, not being careful of this man’s red shoulder, despite his hissing and cussing at the movement.

Logan glanced around, looking for any more attackers before hearing Madden speak in his radio, reporting their suspects.

It was going to be a long night.