The Unwanted Runaway

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Carter’s POV

As I sit at my cluttered desk, my fingers rapidly typing away to finish the last of the weekend's reports, I hear a knock on my office door. I beckon for my deputy to enter and he hesitantly does so, his face betraying a sense of urgency. I motion for him to take a seat as I finish up my task at hand. "What do you need, I have to wrap up this report so I can get back out on patrol," I say, trying to hide my irritation at being interrupted.

My deputy informs me that he has an update on the woman(Anna)

you asks if I would like to hear it. I respond with a resounding "yes" and lean in, eager to hear any new developments. "We ran a DNA sample from the soda can you found and it came back with a match. The woman's name is Anna Deekson, 23 years old , female."

Birth mother, abandoned her at a young age, father remarried. The girl has worked Fast food, establishments and retail, since the age of 14. Has one older brother who’s in the military overseas

My deputy continues , "There was also a missing person report filed by a woman named Bianca Gomez, who claims to be a close friend of Anna's. And apparently, Anna is also wanted for questioning in a jewelry theft case reported by a man named Joey Freeman."

I nod, taking in the information. "Anything else?" I ask. My deputy shakes his head, "Not at the moment, but we'll keep digging." I thank him and he leaves, but not before asking me a personal question. "Do you know her, boss?

She isn’t that woman that people saw you with running around town on Sunday is she?

I pause, thinking back to the small town we live in and how most people either work for my family's ranch or run a small business here,. "I have a feeling she's on the run," I finally say, my voice low. "But I never imagined she would come all the way to our town.

When she first told me she grew up near the ocean in a big city, I assumed it was Oregon or Washington. She definitely doesn't seem like a California girl.”

She definitely doesn’t give off those type of vibes. I thought to myself.

I finally respond to my deputy just keep up a good work and continue to dig of there’s anything else that pops up let me know.

My deputy nods, understanding the gravity of the situation. "Well boss If this girl in trouble, are you going to help her or turn her in?

I sigh, knowing he's right. I'll have to do my duty, but a part of me wonders why she ran all this way and what kind of trouble she's in. As the sheriff, it's my responsibility to uphold the law and protect the people of my town. I'll do whatever it takes to uncover the secrets behind Anna Deekson's sudden appearance in our small, seemingly peaceful community. from what my experiences with Anna, and being around her. My keen detective skills tells me that she is a woman, scorned and scared to let people close to her in. when I look in her eyes, I see pain I also see that she uses humor as a coping mechanism.

But I also have this sense that I can trust her.

After our private conversation about Anna my deputy left my office. I sat at my desk, thinking about the other day while Anna was a guest in my house. She decided to take a shower before we headed to town. My heart raced with anticipation as I waited for Anna to finish her shower. I couldn't resist the urge to investigate further into this mysterious guest who had entered my home. After all, I was a man of the law and my detective instincts were always at work. I needed to understand this lost and scared girl who had sought refuge under my roof.

Stepping into the room I had let her stay in, I began my search. Her backpack was the first target, only finding two books and an Atlas map booklet. I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of anyone still using physical maps when GPS was readily available on smartphones. But my attention quickly turned to a small USB thumb drive that caught my eye.

As I rummaged through her suitcase, I found minimal clothing and in her duffel bag, just a few pairs of shoes. Her bedside table held a dated flip phone that I couldn't help but tease her about. But my curiosity got the best of me and I scrolled through her old text messages.

Pictures of Anna and a guy caught my attention, they looked like a couple. Flipping through her photos, I found an abundance of cute selfies with what seemed to be a close friend of hers. But what caught my attention the most were the pictures of a man in a high-ranking military uniform, who I now believed to be Anna's brother due to their striking resemblance. The photos also included what appeared to be his wife and kids. I don’t recall seeing any jewelry but the only jewelry she was wearing was on her ring finger.

My thoughts shifted to the USB thumb drive, wondering if it held family photos since all she had was this outdated flip phone. Just as I was about to pocket it, the bathroom door opened, startling me. Quickly, I placed everything back in its place and made my way out of the room and back into the living room. My mind was racing with questions and my detective instincts were on high alert. Who was this girl and what secrets did she hold? I was determined to find out.

I grabbed my phone and decided to leave a message for Denton letting him know what I found out about Anna so far .

I figured I would text Anna at the end of the day to see how her first day on the ranch went as well .

Looking down at my text messages, I couldn’t help but reread some of the funny back-and-forth myself and Mia had

Mia has been blowing up my phone with the wildest messages, it's like she's on a mission to get me and Anna together. Some of the stuff she's sending me is straight up bizarre. I mean, I appreciate her enthusiasm, but damn girl, tone it down.

I told her about my Saturday night, how I worked a bit and then came home to a bomb-ass dinner that Anna whipped up. The girl can cook, even with limited groceries. She worked some magic with those sirloins, peppers, and whatever veggies were lying around. I almost felt like calling up my sister Carly and my mom and said they got some competition on their hands. With the way this girl cooks.

Mia's response? Asking if I thanked her by giving her some "Vitamin D" - code for my dic. And then she goes on to say that when she saw us at her boutique the next day, she thought we were already hooking up. I mean, come on, we were just being friendly no we’re close to being flirty, no big deal. And let's not forget the two old lady’s who were giving Anna a hard time, I had to put them in their place. But according to Mia, that just solidified her belief that I was totally banging Anna. Girl, please.

Evan definitely has his hands full with Mia that’s for sure.

Pocketing my phone I get up out of my office I head straight to my SUV to do my patrol.