Ben didn’t waste another second with the cops or their egos, he pushed by and had to run a few steps down the walkway as the paramedics pushing the stretcher had it almost to theambulance. He came up beside it, his breath freezing in his lungs as he caught sight of the blood.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice was thin, a little shaky.
Ben hated how it sounded. Hated seeing the normally sassy and in-charge woman laying still on this stretcher. Her skin pale against the white pillow.
“I came as soon as I heard,” he replied when he’d found enough air to speak.
Her hair was a wispy mess, her eyes swollen, red, tearing. There were flecks of blood on her face and more on her hands and coming through the knees of her sweatpants.
“Why would you have heard about this? About me?” She was obviously in pain as she winched when he touched her face to wipe away a piece of glass.
He cursed at the thought of causing her any more pain. He’d been ready to take on Vega before, but now, at this very moment he wanted the bastard’s head on his desk.
Not wanting to keep her on the street longer, denying her treatment, Ben shook his head. “I’ll meet you at the hospital,” he told her.
“Why?” she asked again but he’d already signaled to the paramedics to take her away. He was headed back to his bike when Noah looked up and Ben signaled him over.
“What happened? What do you know?” he asked as he put on his helmet.
“She told the 911 operator, before she dropped the phone that she’d just locked her doors when she heard the window breaking. Tear gas followed and she fell to the floor.”
“Tear gas? Who uses tear gas to break into somebody’s house? And why didn’t they try to come in afterwards?” Ben asked.
Noah nodded toward the house to the left of Victoria’s. “Neighbor heard the noise when he was taking his trash out, said there was a car parked across the street.” Noah took a step closer to Ben and whispered. “A gray Lexus.”
Ben cursed and started his bike. “I’m going to the hospital. Call me when you wrap this up.”
He didn’t wait to hear Noah’s reply.
Chapter 7
Ben
“Who are you?”
The woman dressed in purple and a familiar scowl asked him the minute he pulled back the curtain to the space where they were examining Victoria.
“I’m Ben Donovan, ma’am,” he said clamping down on his anger and the urgency to see Victoria because he suspected this was her mother.
They had the same light complexion and high cheekbones. Her hair was a different color but he didn’t believe that was natural. It had probably been as dark as Victoria’s years ago. And she was looking at him the same way her daughter had earlier today in the elevator.
“I didn’t hear a doctor before that name, so what are you doing back here?”
She’d narrowed her eyes as she glared at him, taking a step closer. Ben took a breath and tried to tamp down on the rage that had only increased since seeing Victoria on that stretcher. Instead, he tried for charm.
“I’m a colleague of your daughter’s, ma’am. I just came to make sure she’s alright,” he told her.
“A colleague? How did you know she was here? I just got the call about twenty minutes ago. I don’t see why they would call someone from her job so quickly.”
He could see where Victoria got her skepticism.
“Ben?” Victoria whispered from the bed. “Mama, let him in.”
Her mother looked at him like she had more questions but moved to the side so Ben could get past. Ben felt her eyes on him as he moved closer to the bed, the term “watching him like a hawk” didn’t seem quite sufficient. His neck even felt hot because he knew her eyes were fixated on him.
“How are you feeling?” he asked Victoria.
Her face was red and splotchy. The gray of her eyes seemed a little muted as red and puffiness surrounded them. She was no longer crying or tearing up which was good because seeing that had given Ben an unexpected jolt.
