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“I know, precious.” Hammer cupped her chin. “Soon. I’m so sorry he got to you.”
“We’ll need to get you checked out at the hospital first,” Beck explained. “But before the paramedics show up, I need to get some more details from you. Are you allergic to anything?”
“Just sulphur-based antibiotics,” Hammer supplied. “That’s all I know of.”
Raine nodded in agreement.
“Do you take regular meds for any condition?” Beck inquired.
“Only the occasional pain pill for her migraines,” Liam replied.
Beck nodded. “You’re on the pill, right?”
Raine shook her head, and Beck shot a disbelieving look toward Liam and Hammer.
“When were we supposed to find time for that between holidays, running away, and psychos?” Hammer growled.
“Understood,” Beck answered in a calm voice. “These are questions the ER doc is going to need to know. If I can provide him the answers, it will expedite Raine’s treatment.”
“We can tell him,” Liam insisted.
Beck shook his head. “You two won’t be allowed back with her for the initial examination. This is a crime scene, and you’re not family.”
“Bullshit. We’re all the family she’s got.” Hammer clearly struggled for composure.
“I’ll help get you two back to see her as soon as possible. Just a few more questions before the cavalry shows up…” Beck focused his attention on Raine once more. “So I’m assuming you haven’t voluntarily had unprotected sex recently?”
Liam heard the subtext and winced. So the presence of any semen should be Bill’s?
“She and I made love earlier this morning,” Liam breathed. “Bareback.”
Christ, it felt like a lifetime since she’d surrounded him with her warm body.
Shock swept over Beck’s face, one brow arching up sharply.
In the distance, the wail of sirens screamed closer. A movement near the door caught Liam’s eye. Gwyneth. She stared at Raine trembling in Hammer’s arms. Somehow, his ex managed to look completely shocked that Raine had truly been hurt.
Rage roared inside Liam. Battling his anger, he softly released Raine’s hand and stood slowly. Once out of her sight, he tore off and headed straight for Gwyneth. When she saw him charging after her, she backed away, clearly deciding it might be a good idea to flee.
With a scream, she took off running. Liam pursued her. She didn’t get far. Emergency vehicles poured into the car park. A patrol car skidded to a halt in front of her.
Jerking her hands into the air, she startled the emerging officers, including Sergeant Gorman, with her pleading. “Arrest me. Please!”
Hammer wore out the carpet in the emergency room. Thirteen paces. Back and forth. Over. And over. Since they’d arrived, forty-eight minutes had gone by according to the clock above the triage desk. It felt like forever. How fucking long until they had some information about Raine’s condition? Until they found out what the hell she’d survived? How much longer before he and Liam could see her, touch her, assure themselves she’d be all right? Hell, his attorney had already been escorted to Raine’s side and would see her even before he did. What a stupid injustice.
The image of her clutching the bloody knife, rocking and in shock, had seared itself in his brain. It would never fade. He would never forget. And he’d never stop reliving this terrible day.
Would it haunt Raine for the rest of her life, too?
He’d almost fucking lost her. He’d closed his eyes to sleep, and when he’d awakened, she had been gone. She’d nearly been taken—poof, in a blink, in an instant—forever.
Macen picked up the pace as he trekked across the room once more, as if he could escape that reality. He watched Liam parked on the edge of a chair, staring fixedly at the wall, somewhere between shocked and too furious for words. He’d said almost nothing since the ambulance had carted Raine away. Dean Gorman had sent the detectives to take their statements, and Liam had given appropriate, if short, answers to all their questions. Since then? Nothing.
In a corner of the empty room, a small TV irritated him with canned talk show laughter. A breaking news story interrupted, and a perky newscaster appeared to say that Raine Kendall, a sex worker at a local BDSM club, had been abducted in the parking lot by her estranged father. She’d been found alive and was being treated at a local hospital. Her condition was uncertain. They also flashed Raine’s picture all over the screen.
Liam’s head snapped up. Hammer let out an ugly curse.
The anchor cut scene to a reporter, who stood just outside the ER door, posed in front of the camera, vomiting out the sketchy details of Raine’s ordeal.
“I’m going to kill them all.” Hammer charged at the door, ready to shove the mic up the young dude’s ass and make sure it reached the station manager, too.
Liam leapt to his feet and grabbed Macen’s arm. “And I’d like to help you. But we can’t go charging out there now. We have to wait for news about Raine. What if she needs us? Besides, your attorney is with her so her rights are protected when the police question her. You can’t get yourself arrested just now.”
