Free Riding Steele: Crossroads by Opal Carew Page A

you have something that looks a bit less biker babe?”
    Raven pursed her lips. “Not really.”
    Laurie stared up at him, her stomach tightening.
    “It’s okay,” he assured her. “It’s not really a problem. We’ll just have you lose the jacket before you go in.”
    “Okay.” But she didn’t feel better.
    Shock handed Rip the crumpled bandana and he tucked it in his jacket.
    “You can all wait here and have something to eat,” Rip said. “We shouldn’t be long.”
    Laurie dismounted Wild Card’s bike then climbed on the back of Rip’s. He started it up and she clung to him as they rode a couple of miles farther into town. Rip pulled up to the side of the road and stopped the bike in front of a coffee shop.
    “Okay, I don’t want to hang around outside the police station, and this is the closest place to wait. The station is that building over there.” Rip pointed to a brown brick building down the road a bit. “That’s the back of it. You’ll have to go around the block to get to the entrance. I’ll wait right here.” He pointed to the coffee shop.
    She slipped off the leather jacket and handed it to him, then he pulled the necklace from his pocket, still in the black-and-white bandana, and pressed it into her hand.
    “Okay?”
    She took the necklace and slipped it into her jeans pocket. “I’m nervous. I keep thinking this is some trick Donovan is pulling. That once I get in there, they’ll arrest me.”
    He tipped up her chin and captured her gaze with his. His midnight blue eyes were reassuring. “You’ll be okay. Killer trusts this Officer Parker and his instincts are good. I’m just being extra cautious. No point making them nervous having you show up with a badass biker type.”
    She nodded.
    “Don’t identify yourself to anyone until you talk to Parker. Understand?”
    She nodded again, then turned and walked along the sidewalk, her legs shaky. It was night, but the road was well lit by the streetlights. A black car drove by, then turned right at the traffic light on the corner. Once it was past, she crossed the street and continued down the street to the corner, then turned, walking out of sight of the coffee shop where Rip sat.
    Her stomach fluttering, she walked along the sidewalk. This was a smaller street and no one was around, so she picked up her pace. The car she’d seen earlier was parked along the side of the road. She had an uneasy feeling. She was carrying a very expensive necklace. What if whoever was in the car intended to rob her?
    But she realized no one would have any idea what she had in her pocket. And whoever had parked the car was probably already gone in the time it took her to walk the length of the previous street. Still, she hurried past the car, until she reached the next corner and turned right. She could see the entrance to the police station ahead.
    She walked up the steps to the door, then drew in a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. She steeled herself and grabbed the handle, then pulled open the big, glass door and stepped inside.
    She walked through the quiet lobby wondering where to go. A uniformed officer walked toward her.
    “May I help you?” he asked.
    “I’m here to talk to Officer Parker.”
    “This way.” He led her through a door and they walked past a few doorways then he led her into a small meeting room. “Wait here.”
    She sat in the room wondering if this was an interrogation room, but it looked like a simple meeting room with a table with six chairs around it. There was no big mirror on the wall like she’d come to expect from Hollywood.
    “Laurie?” A good-looking uniformed man, tall with wavy blond hair, stepped into the room. He had kind, brown eyes and a reassuring smile.
    “Yes.”
    “I’m Officer Parker.” He sat down across from her and pulled a leather wallet from his pocket and showed her his badge identifying him as Officer Glen Parker. “From what Officer Grainger told me, you’ve been through quite an