Olivia's POV
"The man you saw is what?" officer Wright asks.
He, Nick, and Mom are still waiting for me to finish my sentence. What they don't realize is that Samuel still has his hand clasped over my mouth, which prevents me from uttering a single sound. Because I can't order him to remove his hand, I stick out my tongue and slide it across his surprisingly smooth skin.
Samuel snatches his hand away and stumbles a step back. "Did you justâ"
I ignore the horror reflected in his eyes and turn back to officer Wright. "The man I described isn't the driver. The driver was definitely a woman."
"Maybe the man and the woman were both inside the car," officer Wright says. "It's likely the woman was a passenger."
"No, she was the driver," I insist. "How else would you explain why she attacked me last night? She must be the driver."
"Does it matter?" Nick asks from where he's still standing on the left side behind my chair. "We can figure out the details later. For now, let's focus on widening the search for both the woman and the man."
"It's not that easy." Officer Wright shakes his head. "Because Olivia never saw the woman, we have nothing to go on with."
"So what?" Nick takes a step closer and grips the back of my chair with such a tight grip that I'm surprised the metal doesn't bend. "You're telling me you're just going to sit here and do nothing while there's someone out there trying to hurt Olivia?"
"Calm down," Officer Wright says. "We're still going to keep looking for the man Olivia described and the partial license plate she remembered."
"And what good will that do?" Samuel moves closer and grips the other edge of my chair's back. "They're never going to find the man because he's a Guardian."
"What if the man already sold the car?" Nick hisses. "You'll be chasing down a dead-end."
"It's the best we can do in this situation," office Wright disagrees.
"Bullshit!"
"Watch your language," officer Wright raises his voice, which causes a few officers around to turn in our direction.
The father and son continue to glare at each other for an electricity-filled moment. Then Nick snatches his hand off my chair and stalks out of the room.
"Nick!" officer Wright calls after him.
Nick, however, doesn't glance back, let alone stops to listen to his father. Even after he disappears out of the room I continue to stare after him, wondering why he's so angry. He, after all, isn't connected to the accident.
"I should find outâ" I start to get up, but both Samuel and officer Wright stop me. While the latter shakes his head, the former clasps his hands over my shoulders and keeps me pinned to the chair.
"Give him time to cool down." Officer Wright closes the file he has been holding in his hands. "I'm sorry there isn't anything more we can do for you. But since there's no other witness to the assault our hands are tied."
"Damn it." Samuel kicks my chair, which causes me to jump an inch into the air. "Had I been by your side, then the woman wouldâ"
"We understand." Mom unknowingly cuts Samuel off. "Since there's no witness to the assault none of us can be sure what really happened. I mean, I'm not even a hundred percent sure that Olivia hadn't done this to herself."
I open my mouth to defend myself, but before I can utter a single syllable, Samuel grabs my hand. He pulls me off the chair and forces me to stumble behind him. I don't even have time to say goodbye to officer Wright.
Samuel leads me out of the police station where I finally manage to tear my arm out of his hold.
"What are you doing?" I mimic his favorite stance and cross my arms in front of my chest.
"We're wasting our time," he says. "We'll have to find out who the woman is on our own."
"And how do you suppose we find her?"
"If you're going to do what I think you're going to," Mom's voice comes from right behind me, "then don't involve the cop's son. I don't want to end up with his father explaining to me why he's filing for a restraining order. Iâ"
She stops when her ringtone cuts her off. She points her raised index finger at me, wordlessly telling me to keep quiet, while she fishes through her purse for her phone. The moment she puts the phone to her ear an angry shout causes her to flinch and pull the rectangular device a couple of inches away.
"Your boss?" I ask and she nods. "Go. I'll be fine." After all, I know how much trouble she's been having with the owner of the hair salon because of all the free days she's been taking to escort me to the hospital and the police station.
Mom covers the phone's lower half and shakes her head at me. "You think I'll believe it's safe to leave you on your own after last night?"
"I won't be on my own. Samuel willâ"
"Don't worry, Mrs. Han." The reassuring murmur doesn't come from Samuel, who is standing close enough for his shoulder to brush against mine. It comes from behind me.
I turn around to find Nick standing there, with the same bland paper bag wrapped around his left wrist.
"I'll make sure nothing happens to Olivia," he adds.
"I guess I don't have a choice." Mom continues to keep the lower half of the phone covered. "Let me tell you my number so you can call me when you get sick of watching over her."
"There's no needâ" I begin, but neither is listening to me.
Instead, Nick shoves the paper bag into my hands and pulls out his phone. He types in the number Mom recites to him but then locks the phone before I can see what name he saved her number under.
"Don't do anything reckless. But if you do, make sure it's not bad enough for you to be needing medical attention. I'm sure the hospital staff is already suspecting domestic violence." Mom gives me one last warning and then puts the phone back to her ear. "Of course, I'm listening to you." She waves at Nick and me and then hurries into the direction of the hair salon.
"Why did you do that? You don't need to babysit me." I push the paper bag back to him. "Here."
"You keep it." Nick shoves the bag back to me. "I bought it for you."
Samuel scoffs, while I peek inside the bag and pull out a small white box with the picture of a black phone drawn across it.
"You bought me a phone?" I carefully put the box back inside the paper bag. "I can't accept this."
"I know it's not the newest model." Nick averts his eyes while burying his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "But Iâ"
"I'm not complaining about that. It's the excessive amount you must have spent that I can't accept. I can buy a phone on my own."
"It's no problem." Nick shrugs. "I want to have a way to reach you and for you to have a way to call for help."
"He's finally making some sense." Samuel nods.
"But this is stillâ" I try again.
"Make sure to save my number as well as your parents'," Nick interrupts me.
"Speaking of parents, has your father called you back?" Samuel asks.
He is talking about the dozen calls I left Dad, which my dad neither picked up nor returned. The silent treatment is leaving me in a free-flowing state of confusion, where I'm wondering if Mrs. Davis had been telling the truth. What if there is another reason why I was in that part of town on the night of the accident?
My thoughts are cut off when a memory flashes through my mind. One moment I'm standing between Samuel and Nick, and in the next I'm sitting on my bed, lifting my phone to my ear.
"Dad?" I say into the phone.
"Hi, sweetheart," Dad's voice comes from the other side. "I don't have much time because I have to attend another meeting, but I need you to do me a favor. Davis's wifeâyou remember him, right? A friend of mine, the cop. Anyway, his wife needs medicine, but he doesn't want to leave her alone in the state she's in. He asked me for help, but you know I'm not in town. So, I need you to pick up the medicine for them. You're not busy, are you?"
"Sure, Dad," I agree. Then without as much as a single note to Mom, I leave the house while listening to Dad's instructions. I had, after all, been bored out of my mind that evening; especially since Mom was already knocked out because of her sleeping pills.
In the blink of an eye, I'm back in front of the police station, with Samuel and Nick still standing on either side of me.
"Mrs. Davis was right," I breathe out. "Dad called me on the night of the accident."
"You remembered something?" Samuel and Nick ask at the same time.
While I'm stuck undecided which of the two to look at, Nick sneaks his hand underneath my chin and nudges my face in his direction. Then before I can do more than blink, he runs the tips of his fingers along my cheek.
"I'm glad you're remembering things without hurting yourself," he says. "But don't strain yourself too much. I'll make sure nothing happens to you."
"There's no needâ" I begin.
"Let him," Samuel cuts in. "We can use his help."
For a second I'm struck speechless. Samuel agreeing with Nick? I shake my head and begin to turn toward Samuel to make sure I haven't misheard him. Samuel, however, grabs my wrist, tugs me out of Nick's hold, and positions himself right in front of me.
"But don't for a second think that I'm okay with you two growing closer," he says.
Before I can do more than blink, Samuel lowers his head and captures my lips in a quick kiss. I'm so caught off guard, especially with Nick standing a step away from us, that the moment Samuel ends the kiss I burst into a giggle.
"Why are you laughing?" Nick asks.
"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." I shake my head and take a step back from both him and Samuel.
After all, who in their right mind would believe me if I told them that my invisible stalker just kissed me.
***
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- E