were walking past the front counter, the woman throwing a worried glance at him over her shoulder every few seconds, when Gary decided to be friendly. The way he always was.
“Officer Dempsey,” Gary called out. “Did you find your razor refill?”
Tanner could see every muscle in the small woman’s body tense as she spun around and looked at him. “Officer?”
The baby finally stopped crying. The woman looked like she wanted to bolt but knew she wouldn’t make it very far with her cargo in tow.
Tanner tilted his head toward Gary but kept his eyes on the woman. “Technically, it’s captain of the southeast department of the Grand County Sheriff’s Office. And yeah, Gary, I did find what I was looking for, but this lovely young mother—what’s your name again?”
“Bree,” she murmured.
He turned back to Gary. “Bree seems to have forgotten her wallet, and I thought I would show her a little Risk Peak hospitality and pay for the diapers and formula she needs.”
She didn’t say anything, just looked at him like she expected him to start reading her her rights any second.
“Here’s the diaper and formula package.” Tanner placed the tattered packaging on the counter. “They both...somehow ripped.”
“Are you serious? I’m so sorry,” Gary muttered. “If you wait just a second, miss, I’ll go get you packages that aren’t ripped.”
She finally broke eye contact with Tanner to look at Gary. “There’s no need to do that. I think half of it fell out in the baby carrier anyway.”
Gary smiled and looked at the baby in her arms. “Yep, look, there’s a formula packet right there in this little guy’s outfit.” He reached over and grabbed the small packet of formula from near the baby’s neck. Bree flushed and looked away.
They stood there awkwardly as Gary rang up the items, chatting the entire time about the weather, Tanner’s upcoming fly-fishing trip and the decline of the quality of plastic as evidenced by the ripped diaper and formula packages, before finally putting the items in a bag.
Bree murmured her thanks and then moved with the babies out the door.
Tanner was right behind her.
He followed her out to her gray Honda, which at least didn’t look like it was going to fall apart on the side of the road. She immediately began buckling the car seats into the car.
“Were you waiting until we got out here to arrest me?” she asked when she saw he had followed her.
He leaned against her hood. “No laws were broken. Everything was paid for before anyone exited the store. So, no need for an arrest.”
She let out a sigh. “Thank you. It’s very kind of you to help me. Can I pay you back?”
The tightness in her features screamed that she didn’t have the money to pay him back. He was almost tempted to say yes just to see what she would do.
But his mother hadn’t raised him that way. “No, there’s no need.”
Some of the tension faded. “Well, thanks again. I’ve got to get going.”
He kept his posture as relaxed as possible. “There are government assistance measures in place if you can’t afford what you need. If you come down to my office, we could help get you set up.”
She stiffened, then shook her head. “No, it’s not like that. My wallet got stolen, but I’ll be fine.”
Her wallet may have gotten stolen, but he had a feeling there was a lot more to it than that. “If you’re in some sort of trouble, I can help.”
She shook her head before walking around to the driver’s side. “No, I’m fine. I just need to get to where I’m going.”
“And where is that?” He hefted himself from the hood and walked toward her. She immediately took the long way around the car, keeping distance between them. She opened the driver’s-side door.
“Thank you for your help,” she said, not answering the question.
He sighed. “I’d like to do more.”
“Well, I appreciate it, but I don’t need more.” She gave him a smile, but it didn’t come anywhere close to meeting her eyes. All the desperation and fear he’d sensed earlier was back again. “We’ll be fine and out of your hair in no time, Sheriff.”
“Just captain of the department. Sheriff Duggan is my boss, although she’s at the office about forty miles north of here,” he corrected with a smile.
She nodded but didn’t say anything further.
She was slipping through his fingers, and there wasn’t a damned thing he could do about it. But since he wasn’t going to arrest her and couldn’t force her to come in and get help, he had to let her go.
He gripped the roof of her car and leaned toward her. “The Sunrise Diner is down the street on the way out of town. At least stop by there and grab yourself something to eat before you head out. Tell them to put in on my tab. Believe me, they’ll get a hoot out of it.”
Cheryl and Dan Andrews ran the place together. They’d known Tanner since he was born and would be more than thrilled to provide a meal for Bree and coo over the babies. They probably wouldn’t even let him pay them back.
“Yeah, okay. Maybe.”
She looked so fragile. He wanted to do more. But sometimes pushing did more harm than good.
“Good luck to you, Bree, and your babies. I hope you get to where you’re going before you run out again.” He wasn’t just talking about running out of baby supplies.
“Me, too,” she whispered. Then she got in the car and drove away.
* * *
BREE’S WHOLE BODY was shaking so badly she could barely make it out of the parking lot. If the cop hadn’t been there, she wouldn’t even have tried. But there was no way she could stay there and continue to talk to him.
Talking to anyone was almost impossible for her. But then to have been caught red-handed and almost been arrested? She couldn’t believe she’d been so stupid.
If law enforcement got her name and ran a background check on her, the name Bree Daniels would be fine and shouldn’t alert anyone in the Organization. But if they took her fingerprints and ran her through any database?
She was as good as dead.
But shoplifting had been her only option. Six weeks on the run with two newborns had depleted nearly everything of Bree’s. Almost all her money. Then all her energy and stamina. And maybe now her sanity.
She felt one breath away from a breakdown.
She didn’t know what to do. They’d burned through her saved money much faster than she’d anticipated. Who knew that tiny little humans could
