I didn't call in for a personal day two days running, but it was incredibly tempting. I wanted to know what Arthur would learn and if there was anything I could do to help, but I also knew that my team needed me. Right before I had gone to bed, I had turned my phone back on and received an avalanche of messages and emails in various different ways.

Some of them, from people like Stafford, were full of concern and they wanted to know that I was okay. I'd replied to those. I didn't want any of them to worry. But a lot had been requests for help, my boss sending me irate messages about work that wasn't being done properly without me, and all sorts of other crap I hadn't anticipated would fall apart without me being there to hold it all together.

If I had been asked three days earlier if my presence at the police station made that much of a difference over all, I'd have said that it didn't and many other officers could do my job. It seemed that either wasn't true, or everyone was happily blaming my absence for all the shit that happened in a single day.

I honestly wasn't sure what it was now and I had no clue which I wanted it to be. Sorting other people's shitty problems wasn't my idea of a good day at work. I wanted to be out in the community and making a difference. Solving crimes and getting justice. Real justice.

As I drove up to the library and motioned to it so Arthur would know where he was going, I considered driving to the nearest car park, no matter how expensive, and staying. I was sure that studying my own country's history was going to be better than walking back into the office, but I knew I couldn't.

"And I'll see you later?" Arthur asked, the concern in his voice very real. He clutched the bag I'd given him with food and drink inside as well as the small amount of cash I'd had in case of emergencies. It was enough to get him through the day, but no further. Already it appeared that he was attached to me and needed me for his safety. And I wasn't liking that either.

"Don't worry. I will definitely be here to get you later. As soon as I finish work for the day. And if the library closes first then there's a pub you can go to nearby. Ask the receptionists or the librarians where it is if you're worried. They'll know how to direct you. You have enough to buy a drink while you wait for me."

Arthur nodded as if this was all very reasonable, but he lingered in the car anyway.

"I also wrote my phone number down on a piece of paper in your bag. If something goes wrong and you need me, get the reception to phone me and do a reverse charge call. They won't mind. Tell them I'm a police officer and a friend and I am looking out for you until you get back on your feet."

Although I didn't tell him that in certain circles it could get him in trouble, I knew that those sorts of circles were very unlikely to be in a public library. As long as he followed my instructions he would be fine. And I had to trust him at some point.

With all this reassurance, he finally got out of the car. Despite the traffic around me clearly annoyed that I had stopped to let someone out, I waited until I saw him enter the building. I would be able to rest easier knowing that he was safe inside.

Cars beeped as I pulled back into traffic, only adding to the stress of the moment, but it was done now. I wasn't with Arthur and I had to go back to work.

It took almost another hour to get to the office and I had barely walked into the building before the questions began.

"Jennifer, Jennifer. You take a hot looking fella out of here two days ago and we don't see you after that. Please tell me you were responsible and didn't have a hook up?" Brenda asked, the receptionist swinging her chair to the side and getting up so she could see me better and get in my way if I hurried off too fast.

"No hook up. I was just exhausted and had a migraine when I woke up. I worked hard to find that guy a place to stay and get him somewhere better than in our care."

"Mmmhmmm, I bet you did. It sure is easier to take care of some than others. Did he give you his number?"

I let out a chuckle, trying to look normal and not entirely sure why I had lied about what had happened to him. I didn't feel as if I wanted to answer questions about him. But it was enough in my nature to have found him some place to go that I was sure it would be believed.

"No number, but I admit, he was cute. Not all there though. I could never like a guy who couldn't hold a decent, intelligent conversation. You know that."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Brenda shrugged. "Sometimes we have an itch to scratch and no one would blame a girl for letting her hair down once in a while. Lord alone knows you work hard enough. But either way, the boss isn't happy you weren't here and he's gonna want to hear more I'm sure."

"Thanks," I replied, grateful for the heads up as she sat down again and went back to her work. The station was still quiet but it was early in the day and it wouldn't stay that way. It was a Friday and for whatever reason, they were one of the busiest days to be in law enforcement.

I took the stairs up to the main office floor and paused outside the doors, one last moment to myself before I knew the reactions would really begin. Taking a deep breath and lifting my head high, I pulled them open and strolled inside as if it was any other day.

Almost immediately everyone reacted to my presence, officers looking up from desks and Stafford getting to his feet the second he saw me.

"Jennifer, where were you yesterday?" he asked, the first to get to me, but the boss had already clocked me and got up from his desk as well to come out of his little office and no doubt invite me in.

"At home. All day. I had a migraine. That whole business with that weird homeless guy and his sword the day before was such a pain that I had to destress." It was essentially another version of the same lie I'd told the receptionist and she had bought it without hesitation, but Stafford frowned as if he wasn't sure it could be true.

Of all the people I worked with I knew he and the boss would both be the least likely to swallow it. They knew me better. I didn't get migraines from having to work a little harder to help someone. It was what I thrived on the majority of the time. The tougher the nut to crack to figure out how to make someone's life better or get them what they needed, the more enthusiastic and motivated I became.

I was saved from any more curiosity on his part, however, as the boss got to his door and kicked out the young new sergeant he'd been talking to. "Jennifer, in here, please," he called before he moved back to his desk.

Although I'd partially expected it, it didn't make it any easier to go inside the room and take a seat. I did make sure the door was firmly shut behind me, however. It didn't matter that it was sound proof, the side wall was made of glass and I could feel every pair of eyes on me as I sat down.

"Tell me about yesterday in any way you think I need to hear and I'll trust that anything you leave out or choose to keep to yourself has a good reason for it. But promise me something before you start to speak, Jennifer." Rob crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned back a little, looking more relaxed. If he hadn't been asking me for something, I'd have felt a lot better already.

"What do you want me to promise?" I asked when he didn't elaborate on his own.

"That if there's anything I'd be concerned about you tell me anyway, even if you ask me to keep it a secret. I'm responsible for you, and if there was something going on and I could have helped, officially or... #unofficially#, then I will. Just say what you need."

I paused, not knowing how to respond to this. It wasn't what I had expected him to say and it was almost as if he knew that something might be going on in my life. But telling him I'd taken the crazy man home from two days earlier when I was the only one who had seen the one thing that made him not crazy? It was a step too far.

"I promise, if there's something wrong and you can help in any way, I'll tell you, but it really was just stress and sickness. I know it's not something that happens often, but I really did just stay home for a day. I'm only back today because you all blew up my phone with messages. I'll take it easy this weekend, honest."

Although I hadn't looked at him while I said most of the words, I looked at him while I finished. He studied me a fraction of a second later before nodding and looking down. He appeared to deflate a little, almost as if he was disappointed. Did he know that I was lying?

"All right. You'd better get back to work. Stafford made a mess of a domestic case yesterday and I need you to fix it, then I want your paperwork on my desk by lunch."

I winced, knowing that if Stafford had screwed something up and I had paperwork to do that lunch was going to be a tough order, but it was enough that I could leave the room, and that was all I really wanted.

As long as I kept my head down and got the work done I would be able to head home at the end of the day and by Monday there would be something else for everyone to gossip about.