I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Tell Everly not to hover. If she does, Addie’s going to stop telling me anything.” The thought had dread pooling in my gut. Addie wasn’t afraid to go it alone, and her freedom was hard-won. If we all started crowding her, she’d shut down.
“I’ll explain that to Ev.”
“Thank you. Did your officers make contact with Cora Maxwell?”
Footsteps sounded, and then a door closed. “They did, but they didn’t get anywhere. Both Young and Ruiz thought she was moving carefully like maybe her ribs were hurting her, but there were no other outward signs of abuse, and she declined all offers of help.”
I slumped against the counter. “Hell.”
“Sometimes, I hate my job.”
“Me, too.”
Hayes was quiet for a moment. “We’re doing all we can. We’ll keep offering her a hand. Hopefully, one day, she’ll take it. Addie did.”
Footsteps sounded on the stairs. “I gotta run, but let me know if you have any other updates.”
“You do the same.”
“I will.”
“Beck?”
“Yeah?”
“Be careful. You’re treading dangerous waters with some of these people.”
I set my coffee cup down as Addie appeared in the kitchen. “I always am, brother.” I hit end on my screen, my gaze sweeping over Addie. She wore jeans and a sweater that made the gold in her hazel eyes seem to glow. “Morning. How’d you sleep?”
“Not great. Not awful. You?” The dark circles around her eyes told me it might be a little worse than not great.
“Pretty rough. Gonna need a gallon of the good stuff.” I lifted my mug. “You want some?”
“Sure.”
I poured coffee into another mug and handed it to Addie. She crossed to the small container of sugar on the counter and mixed in a spoonful. I watched her as she moved, soaking up every fluid motion. There was a grace in the way she carried herself. As if even the smallest of movements were a sort of dance.
I forced my gaze away, down to the swirling black liquid in my cup. “I was thinking two things for today.”
Addie lifted her eyes to me. “Okay…”
“Your first driving lesson, and getting your ears pierced.”
A war of emotions took flight on Addie’s face. Concern, fear, excit
ement. “I still haven’t memorized the driving book.”
My lips twitched. “At some point, you’re just going to have to go for it. I’m not saying you need to take your test right now, just practice.”
She nibbled on her bottom lip, and I fought the urge to pull it from between her teeth. “Just in a parking lot, right?”
“We’ll go to the high school. It’ll be empty on a Saturday.”
She closed her eyes for a moment. “Please, don’t let me crash your car.”
I barked out a laugh and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You won’t crash my truck.”
“Okay, ease down on the accelerator now,” I instructed.