I can barely sleep that night. The kiss and the phone call keep playing through my mind. I alternate between excited, filled with pure desire, and terrified of what might be lurking in the shadows, waiting for me.

I climb out of bed with the sunrise. Wyatt’s leaving today, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I shouldn’t have run away like I did, but it was all too much. I felt overwhelmed and afraid, and I just ran away like an idiot.

I wanted to stay there, let him kiss me, let him take me. I wanted to feel him, taste him, let him take every inch of my body… but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. Maybe I was too afraid, or maybe the timing was off, I don’t know. I just knew I had to run away, and so I did.

Now I regret it. I make myself some coffee and sip it at my kitchen table, trying to decide what to do. I can probably drive over there now, thank him for what he did for me, but that’s stupid. It’ll be easier if I just let him go, clean and clear and free.

He doesn’t owe me a damn thing. So why do I want him to stay so badly?

I finish one mug and pour another. I put on the news and scroll through Facebook, killing time, trying not to think too much about the coming days. I have more time off work, the rest of this week, and then it’s back to my normal routine, back to my life.

But I don’t know if my normal life is still there, waiting for me, or if it’s been completely destroyed by everything that’s happened.

I finally drag myself into the shower and force myself to get dressed. Around eight in the morning, I’m ready for the day, although I have no clue what the hell I’m going to do.

At least until my doorbell buzzes. Fear spikes inside of me, but I quickly push it back. If they’re going to come for me, they’re not going to ring the bell first.

I walk up to it and open the door. Wyatt grins at me. “Morning,” he says.

“Morning,” I answer, surprised. “I thought you were going home.”

He shrugs. “I got a plan.”

I raise an eyebrow. “A plan?”

“Sure, a plan. Come on, we should get going.”

“Get going?” I stare at him as he walks back to his car. “Wait, Wyatt, I thought you were leaving.”

“Not just yet, princess.” He grins at me. “Come on, let’s go.”

He gets into his car and I stare at him, totally bewildered. But a second later, I’m turning off my TV, grabbing my purse and keys, and locking my door. I feel like I’m pulled to him like a planet getting pulled into a black hole, and it feels pretty damn good.

I get into the passenger’s seat and we head out. We drive in silence for a little bit until I realize where he’s going.

“What’s the plan?” I ask him finally. “We’re heading out to Kristi’s, aren’t we?”

He nods. “We hit a dead end with Jaxson. I probably shouldn’t have pressed him like that. But I think we can get more out of Kristi.” He makes a face and shrugs. “I just have a feeling.”

I nod and watch the road. “I think you’re right.”

He glances at me and smiles slightly. “I know. I’m damn good at this.”

I roll my eyes at him but I can’t stop the smile that spreads across my face.

We get to Kristi’s not long later. Wyatt knocks, but she’s not home. Her mom rasps something about a local bar and a casino.

“Probably holed up somewhere, doing drugs. You want me to call her or somethin’?” her mother asks.

“That’d be nice, if you can,” Wyatt says.

“Just don’t get her arrested,” she grumbles as she heads inside.

Not long later, she emerges from the dark, smoky interior. “Yep, like I said. She’s at Smokey’s House.”

I glance at Wyatt and he gives her a smile. “Thanks so much, ma’am.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She slams the door in our faces.

We get back in the car and Wyatt puts Smokey’s House into his GPS. It’s not too far away, maybe a fifteen-minute drive. On the way there, we talk idly about the case, mostly speculation, but I have to admit, it feels good.

I like just talking to him, like everything’s normal, and not totally fucked up beyond belief.

Smokey’s House is a casino in the next town over. It’s a big concrete building with lots of parking. The outside looks drab, but as soon as we get in the door, it’s exactly what you imagine a casino would be, all flashing lights and screaming machines.

The place is surprisingly packed. “How are we gonna find her here?” I ask Wyatt.

“I have my tricks.” He pulls up a picture of Kristi on his phone. “Got this from her Facebook.”

I watch as he approaches a waitress. He flashes his badge, and soon we’re in a back room with a manager, a portly older guy who’s balding on top.

It doesn’t take long for the guy to find Kristi. Apparently, casinos have a million cameras all over the place, and they’re constantly watching people. They have some seriously intense facial recognition software boiled in, although he doesn’t need to use it. Since we have her name, he can just look up the room she booked.

And ten minutes later, we’re in the elevator. “Told you I could find her,” he says.

I roll my eyes. “All you had to do was flash your badge.”

“Pretty much. Casinos get a lot of bad apples, so they’re used to having cops moving through here.”

“They always cooperate?” I ask.

He nods. “Always. They want as little trouble as humanly possible.”

“Lucky for us.”

He laughs as the elevator stops. We step off and head down a few hallways before finally stopping outside of a door.

Wyatt knocks a few times. A voice from inside shouts something incomprehensible, so Wyatt knocks some more.

Eventually, the door creaks open. Kristi’s standing there, bleary-eyed, the room behind her pitch dark. She does a double-take when she realizes who’s standing there in front of her.

Wyatt doesn’t give her a chance to do anything. He steps forward, charging right into the room.

“Hey!” Kristi says.

I follow Wyatt in there, giving her an apologetic look that dies on my face when I see the state of the room.

It’s a mess. The covers are piled up in a corner, there’s trash on the mattress, and Wyatt’s holding a syringe. There’s more gear next to it, and clearly she’s been holed up in here, probably since the last time we saw her, doing drugs. It hasn’t even been that long, but the place smells like body odor and decay.

“Get off that, asshole,” Kristi snaps, walking up to Wyatt.

He smirks at her. “You know I’m a cop, right?”

She shrinks back. “Come on, man. It’s just, I need it, okay?”

She’s jittery, fidgeting, eyes wide. She’s clearly still high. I look at Wyatt and he sighs.

“How fucked up are you?” he asks her.

“I’m fine,” she snaps. “Fucking fine, okay? Fine, I know what I’m doing.”

“I bet you do.” He sighs and puts the syringe into the leather case with the rest of her gear. He grabs a plastic bag from the floor and throws the gear in there.

“Hey!” Kristi says. “What the fuck?”

Wyatt stares her down and she shrinks away. “You’re coming with us,” he says.

“What, are you fucking arresting me?” she asks defiantly.

He shakes his head. “Unfortunately for you, no, we’re not.”

I give him a look but he ignores me. He takes her arm and pulls her toward the door.

“Hey, man, what the fuck! Get off!”

Wyatt looks back at me. “Grab her stuff, or whatever she’ll need. Meet me downstairs in the lobby.”

With that, he drags her out into the hallway, and they disappear. I stand there, totally confused about what’s happening, but I do as he asked. I pick through the rat’s nest that is her room and find a duffel bag with clothes, some makeup and toiletries in the bathroom, and a bunch of used condoms in the trash. Frowning, I head back out into the hallway and go downstairs.

I find Kristi and Wyatt standing in front of the main desk. Kristi looks chastised, but at least she’s not yelling. Wyatt has a big old smile on his face and turns to me as I approach.

“How do you fancy a little stay in this here lovely establishment?” he asks me.

I stare at him. “Are you joking?”

He shakes his head, grinning. “And you have a roommate.”

I look over at Kristi and she doesn’t meet my gaze. I look back at Wyatt, mouth hanging open. I’m about to tell him no fucking way, but the clerk is already back and giving him three white room keys.

“What the hell’s going on?” I ask Wyatt as he herds Kristi back over to the elevator. We shove in with a couple of fat tourists, and he just gives me a look. We ride up a couple floors in silence before we step out.

“You’re staying with this lovely girl here,” Wyatt says to me. “You’re going to watch her, make sure she gets sober, and then we’ll have a chat with her.”

Kristi glowers at me. “Bitch,” she says.

I ignore that. “No way,” I say to him.

“I got separate beds, don’t worry,” he says, still grinning. “I’m in the room next door.”

“This is crazy. I can’t do that. She’s a stranger and a junkie.”

“Bitch,” Kristi grumbles again.

“Look, I know this sucks,” Wyatt says softly. “But she’s too fucked up right now to be of any use. Just one night, let her come down, and then we’ll get what we need from her in the morning. Okay?”

“I want my drugs,” Kristi says.

I glance at her and back to Wyatt. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” He grins at me. “Come on, let’s go see your room.”

I want to argue, but he’s already walking away, dragging Kristi by the arm.

The room is half a hallway down. Wyatt hustles Kristi in there and I follow, gloomily carrying her duffel bag. I toss it onto one of the two beds and Kristi runs into the bathroom, but before she can lock herself in there, Wyatt follows.

“No fucking drugs,” he growls at her softly. I glance in and watch him pat her body down. “Hear me? Or I will arrest your ass.”

“Fuck you,” she says softly.

“I’m not kidding, Kristi. I’ll trump some charges up and make sure you fucking rot for years.”

“You’re scum.” She looks dreamy, but angry.

He finishes patting her down. “Play ball and you’ll walk away from this. And I’ll give you back your drugs.”

That seems to grab her attention. “Really?”

“Really.” He turns and leaves the room. She shuts the door behind him.

I stare at him for a second as he goes through her duffel bag. I lean up against the beat-up wooden desk and try to understand what’s happening.

“Let me get this straight,” I say finally. “You want me to babysit that junkie?”

“At least until she comes down,” he says. “Just one night.”

“It’s still early. What are we going to do all day?”

He shrugs. “I’ll hang out with you guys today. We’ll watch TV, play cards, whatever. But she can never be alone.”

I sigh. “This is crazy.”

“I know.” He walks over and leans up against the desk next to me. “But trust me, okay?”

I look up into his eyes, and I want to do anything but trust him. This is horrifying, difficult, insane. We basically kidnapped this girl, and he’s threatening to abuse his police powers to keep her locked up with us.

But I know why he’s doing it. He stayed when he meant to leave, and that says a lot more than anything else. He could have left me here to figure it out, but instead he’s here with me.

At the very least, I can do what he says.

“Fine,” I say finally. “But I’m not happy about it.”

He grins at me. “Duly noted.” He walks over to the bathroom and pounds on the door. “Time’s up, Kristi. Come out.”

And so begins one of the most boring days of my life. Kristi spends the first hour berating Wyatt, calling him every name imaginable. When she turns on me, Wyatt snaps at her, and she looks away. But I can see the hate in her eyes, and the hunger.

It reminds me of Atticus. Whenever he came to ask for money, he always had that hungry look.

We pass the hours. Kristi eventually stops complaining. She gets into bed and stares at the television, watching episode after episode of Teen Mom. I go downstairs and buy a pack of cards, and I play a bunch of different games with Wyatt.

Eventually, Wyatt orders everyone dinner. We eat sitting in the cramped room. It’s tasteless, bland food, but at least it means time’s starting to pass.

Eventually, night rolls around. Kristi’s passed out in bed. She’s been looking more and more strung out as the day’s wound on, and I think she’s finally just giving up and sleeping it off.

Wyatt tosses the scraps of our dinner into the trash. “I think it’s time,” he says to me.

“For what?”

“Bed.” He glances over at Kristi. “You sure you’re going to be okay?”

I nod. “She’s harmless,” I say.

“Be careful. I think she’s more dangerous than she lets on.”

I follow his gaze, over to the sleeping girl. She looks so young in that bed alone, chest slowly rising, mouth hanging open.

“I’ll be careful.”

He nods. “Okay. Good. I’m right next door if you need anything.” He hesitates. “Are you going to be able to sleep?”

“Probably,” I say, although I don’t mean it.

“Good.” He lingers for a second. “Well then. Good night.”

“Night.”

He leaves the room and as soon as the door shuts, I feel completely trapped.

I go into the bathroom and wash my face. I use the toothbrush that Wyatt bought from downstairs, although I still feel dirty when I’m done brushing. I don’t have a change of clothes, which is a pain, but I’ll just sleep in them.

I take longer in the bathroom than I need to. When I’m done, I go back out and turn off the lights. I climb into bed, trying to be as quiet as I can.

Kristi’s snoring, even and steady. I pull the covers up to my chin and stare at the ceiling, but I know sleep’s not coming anytime soon.

I don’t know how I found myself here in a cheap room in a casino with a junkie girl and a cop next door. I’m pretty sure we’re breaking some kid of law, like blackmailing or something like that, but I’m trying not to think too much about that part. I keep focusing on Atticus and what Kristi might know about what happened to him.

Wyatt’s right, I think Kristi knows something. She’s been odd all day, cagey, angry. I can understand that, since she wants her drugs, but there’s also something more.

I kept seeing it in the way she looked at me. Maybe it was guilt, or maybe it was just anger and hunger for the drugs. I can’t really know for sure. But there was something happening behind those glassy eyes.

And then there’s Wyatt. He’s just a door over. During all those boring hours spent talking about nothing with him, I never felt like I was wasting my time, not exactly. I was spending time with him, and that felt good, surprisingly good. The day melted past faster than I thought it would, and all because I got to joke around with him. Anyone else, and that day would have been like pulling teeth.

Instead, it was more like the kiss we shared last night. Surprising, maybe a little wrong, but it felt so fucking good.

I keep thinking about that kiss. He tasted incredible, just like I thought he would, like clean linen and grass. His arms were strong and I pressed myself against his muscular body, desperate to feel him closer.

I knew I should have pulled back, and eventually I did. But not right away. Not until I got my taste.

I spend two hours lying in the dark, staring at the ceiling. Eventually, I check my phone, and it’s after one in the morning. Kristi’s still snoring away, steady and slow.

And so I do something stupid. I slip out of bed. I go to the door and I turn the handle.

I’m going to get in trouble. Hell, I’m already in trouble. I might as well try and enjoy it while I can.