Free Shadows Fall by J.K. Hogan

I got the feeling he didn’t want to see what was inside there anymore than I had.
    He stood and walked to his car to retrieve a heavy black Maglite, then headed for the building. Stopping just outside the door, he looked back over at me. “Stay right there, okay? I’ll be right back.”
    I made a sort of whimpering noise and kept on shivering—I wasn’t going anywhere without a big strong cop to take me there. Obviously taking the sound as my agreement, Charlie disappeared into the dreaded building.
    It seemed like ages before he came back out again, but a glance at my watch told me that it had really only been about five minutes. He emerged looking pale and disconsolate. Seeing that look on his face only scared me more. It told me that this was likely another victim of his serial killer.
    He came over and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, helping me to stand. Then, miracle of miracles, he wound his other arm around me as well—in public and everything—and pulled me into a crushing embrace. It was as if he thought he could stop me shivering if he only held me tight enough, not that I was complaining.
    He smelled so good and felt so warm, I couldn’t resist the urge to snuggle into that deep chest, just for a bit. I may have imagined feeling his warm breath in my hair, but I chose to think I didn’t. After a few blissful seconds, he carefully set me away from him.
    “I’ve got to call this in, Titus.”
    I nodded, even though my heart lurched at the thought of him going off to do his cop thing and leaving me alone. He walked a few feet away so that I couldn’t hear his murmured phone call. When he hung up, he went to his car and said a few things into the radio that I couldn’t interpret.
    “My partner Sonny is going to come here and observe while the crime scene techs collect evidence. I’ll stay with you,” he said when he returned to me. He waited until I looked at him. “Officially… I’m going to accompany you to make your statement. After we do that, I’ll take you home.”
    “Th-thank you, Charlie,” I said through my chattering teeth. My whole body felt ice-cold, despite the thick, warm air that surrounded me. “I really don’t want to be alone right now.”
    I shivered for a whole different reason when he put his arm back around me and ushered me to the car.
    “I know,” he said. “You won’t have to be. Let’s go sit in the cruiser… we can leave as soon as the uniforms get here.”
    Nodding, I let him lead me to the sleek looking car. I climbed inside and sank down into the plush leather. I turned my head and studied Charlie’s profile as he typed something into his on-board computer. Just being near him calmed me and as soon as my body relaxed, I went into full adrenaline crash and promptly fell asleep.

Chapter Eight
    I wasn’t sure what I’d expected the police station to look like, but the room Charlie led me to could have been any old office building in the city. The periwinkle blue walls and beige linoleum flooring were disturbingly benign, considering the kinds of people who must have been brought in and out of there on a daily basis.
    The room had an open design, with several pairs of half-cubicles dotting the floor. I imagined it must be a command center of some kind, because it was a flurry of activity—comings and goings, conversations, keyboards clacking, and soda cans popping. The cacophony of noise too much for my overtaxed brain to process, and I swayed against Charlie.
    He took me by the elbow and showed me to one of the desks, pulling out a chair for me into which I gratefully sank down. He sat down in the wheeled chair that had been parked in front of the computer and rolled it over to face me. “Titus,” he said softly.
    I continued staring at my hands. I didn’t want to look up and see the frenzy that surrounded us because for me, the number of presences in any given room was double what others saw, and twice as noisy.
    “Titus, please look at