OBSESSED

68

LEAH

The door to the privacy room clicked open. I sat up in the uncomfortable metal chair and tiredly smiled at Captain Linder.

"Please tell me you have news," I said.

I assumed it had been about half an hour or so since Officer Zappolo reported that Jarrod and his Maserati were missing from the cabin.

Since I had no way of explaining where the cabin was or its address, Captain Linder had found Jarrod's brother on some public land search and located the address of the cabin.

I hadn't stopped fretting about where Jarrod had gone once he woke up.

Where would he have gone? Who would he have called?

I thought maybe James. They seemed close. The last I heard, James Muller wasn't answering his phone. I was suspicious but there was nothing the police could do yet.

"I do," she reluctantly admitted, her forehead lining with concern.

"What happened?" I asked. My first thought was that he'd hurt someone. He'd killed Anne, after all. He'd told me as much.

Captain Linder sat down beside me and rubbed her calloused hands together. Tucking a loose strand from her ponytail behind her ear, she sighed. "He dialed 911 ten minutes ago. He said he was calling to report his missing girlfriend." Her eyes flicked up to mine and I felt suddenly nauseated. "He said that he was drugged and suggested his girlfriend was mentally unstable."

My gut dropped down to my feet. That bastard. He was pretending like I was the insane one! I jumped to my feet and cupped a hand to my mouth, hardly restraining a sob.

"Leah," said Captain Linder. She was standing now too. Placing a hand on my shoulder, she guided me back down into the seat as tears rolled down my cheeks. "It's okay. It's going to be okay."

I shook my head as I tried to withhold my cries. Nothing was okay. I hadn't realized until now just fucked up Jarrod really was. As it dawned on me how close I had been with a psychopath, I shuddered and broke down.

Captain Linder sat patiently with me for a moment before patting my back assuringly. "You need rest and probably additional medical care, Leah. Why don't we take you back to the hospital?"

The last thing I wanted to do was go back to the damn hospital. A hospital was what had gotten me into this nightmare in the first place. I jolted upright as a horrifying thought crossed my mind.

"Where is he now?" I asked. At her dodgy gaze, my hands curled into fists. "He's here, isn't he?"

"He's been put in an interrogation room and he's being questioned now."

My mind reeled like a film tape unraveling down an asphalt hill, plummeting right into a busy intersection.

"From what I understand," she continued, "he came in trying to file a missing persons report. Now he's trying to file a report for aggravated assault."

I blinked, processing her words. "He's saying . . . I assaulted him?"

"Yes."

"Oh my God," I whispered to myself. "I can't believe this is happening." Wiping my cheeks, I looked over at the cop with pleading eyes. "What does this mean for me?"