I release a breath. “Thank God.”
“Why God, when I’m the one who chose not to bite you while you put a muzzle over my face? Remember when they restrained me, and you muzzled me like a dog?”
The chief of police left Connor under the collapsed rubble of Dina’s shop for a long time before he ordered the crew to bring him to the hospital. Once there, they restrained him so I could sedate him and put a muzzle over his mouth in case he tried to bite someone. They told me he was like his father. A dangerous sociopath. I believed them. Why wouldn’t I?
Sociopaths are notoriously good at charming people. But I’m not a professional in the psychiatric field, so what do I know? Besides, now I’m sure this is Connor Crossbow. “I’m sorry about that. I did whatever my boss asked me.”
“I heard. You also told Dina my room number, which is how my brother found me so quickly. I owe you for that. Now I’m paying you back. Wait here. My car’s in the garage.”
Connor leaves me confused. Whatever does he mean to do with us? But I wait for him nonetheless.
A black SUV pulls up at the curb, and I go out just as the tinted windows roll down. Connor’s behind the wheel, wearing dark sunglasses. “Get in.”
I approach the passenger window, and, since holding my daughter on my right side is getting too heavy, I drop my diaper bag on the sidewalk and shift Hanna to my left hip. “What do you mean, get in?”
“Get in, and I’ll give you a ride.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I say as an excuse. I’m not riding in the car with one of the Crossbow twins. That’s crazy. I left my crazy behind in my hometown along with my entire identity. Renne Richardson would’ve gotten into this man’s SUV and had a grand ol’ time with him, but not Ekatia Gruber.
Ekatia is a mom and a nurse who comes home and goes to work, and that’s all. She must stay invisible. Preferably be as boring as possible. This means I have to figure out a way to refuse Connor without making a big deal of it.
“Thank you so much for the offer, but I’ll take the bus home.”
He frowns. “Do you not need Dina anymore?”
I run a hand through my hair. “Nah, I’ll figure it out.”
“It’s about to rain again. You’re with a baby.”
All valid points. Tempting. Tempting. But I shake my head.
“Hey, I wouldn’t get into the car with me either, but I’ll go out on a limb and assume you need to drop your baby off at Dina’s because you’re going to work. The scrubs you’re wearing are a dead giveaway. When does your shift start?”
I sigh. “Eleven.”
“Unless you take the baby to work with you, you won’t make it anywhere. Besides, that baby looks like she could use a nap.”
On the other side of the road, the red bus 57 stops at the drop-off and pickup. I could ride back home and cancel the shift and leave that money I need behind. My bosses will be pissed as they rely on me, but I’m out of options. “I don’t know.”
“Which part is left to uncover?”
“I don’t know… I mean…”
“I don’t have all day. Get in the car, Ekatia.”
With the bus blocking traffic on one side and Connor parked where he shouldn’t be, waiting for me, the drivers in the cars honk.
Feeling pressured, I sweat more.
“For fuck’s sake. Fine. Fuck off.” Connor slides the window up.
I grab it with my hand and peer over it. “You don’t have a car seat.”
Connor’s eyebrows draw down. “There are eight unoccupied seats in this car.”
“A car seat is for the baby.”
Connor makes an O with his mouth and steps out of the car. He joins me back on the sidewalk with his hands resting on his hips. The car door is wide open, causing more traffic congestion. Drivers curse and honk as they maneuver around the SUV.