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I owed it to Mikey.
With him gone, I was all she had, too. Her alcoholic, abusive parents didn’t count. They never had. It was just her and me against the world.
The ride to Chester Memorial went fast, and I bolted into the ER, scanning the room for any signs of Rose’s latest boyfriend, Keith, as I buttoned up my shirt and adjusted my collar. He wasn’t there, so maybe he was in the back with Rose. I’d only met him once, since she went through men faster than I went through classes. I didn’t particularly care for him, but if she’d been attacked, surely he would be here, too. If not, I’d make sure he never showed his face around me again. I might be a changed man, and I might not be the boy I’d once been, but I was still from the South Side. I still knew how to show little punks how to properly respect a lady…
One way or the other.
I scanned the room. A nurse sat behind an information desk, but I wasn’t officially a family member, so I wasn’t sure how much information I could get from her. A uniformed cop came out of the back room, coffee in hand. He gave me a once-over, shook his head, and turned his back on me.
“Excuse me?” I headed his way. “Officer Forkes?”
He turned back around, his brows lifted. “Yeah?”
“I’m Thorn McKinney. You called me about Rose Gallagher?”
Again, his attention drifted down. I could see the surprise in his expression, as well as the judgment. I bit my tongue to keep back the automatic reprimand that popped to mind. “You’re Lyla’s boy?”
“Yes.” I dragged my hand through my hair and tugged on my shirt self-consciously. “Rose. Where is she? How is she?”
“She is being wheeled into her room as we speak.” He took his hat off and held it in front of his chest. “I can take you to her in a minute, as soon as I get the all clear.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God.”
“Yeah.” He smirked. “Thank God.”
I
didn’t say anything to his sarcastic comment.
“Tell me.” He gave me the side-eye. I was used to that, especially when it came to people who knew who my mother was. “How is it a guy like you is the son of a hooker who’s high more than she’s—?” He broke off, cheeks flushing. “Forgive me. It’s not my place.”
“There’s nothing to forgive. You speak the truth. While my mother is one thing, I went to the opposite extreme.” I tugged on my collar. It was trying to choke me even more than usual. “Who attacked Rose?”
“They think he was a customer who thought he should get more from her than a typical hand—” The officer broke off and cleared his throat, cheeks even more red. “Well, you know.”
No. I didn’t. Last I heard, men didn’t attack waitresses because they deserved “more” than their meal. “I thought Daisy’s Diner was in a good area of town.”
“It is.” The officer blinked at me. “But what does that have to do with your friend?”
I glanced toward the closed and locked glass door to the left, which led to hospital rooms. Was Rose back there? “It’s where she was attacked, right?”
“No,” the officer said slowly. “She was attacked outside of her work, when she walked out the back door.”
“Yeah. At Daisy’s Diner.”
Officer Forkes backed up, his eyes avoiding mine. “Uh…no. She works at the Kitty Kat’s. The…uh…gentleman’s club on Third and Green Street.”
I froze, dread settling into my stomach like a brick. Rose, my Rose, was working at a strip club. Taking her clothes off for money. For men. She would never have done that unless she had no other choice, unless she was in trouble, and she hadn’t even told me. Hadn’t asked for help. Guidance. Money. Anything. “What?”
“I’m sorry.” The officer acted even more uncomfortable. “She listed you as her contact person, so I assumed you knew…”
I dug the tips of my fingers into my palm and glared down at my shiny black shoes. “No. I didn’t know. If I had, she wouldn’t have been there.”
When Rose’s brother died, I promised him I’d watch after his little sister—that I’d make sure she didn’t end up like my mother, or his. That I’d make sure her life was good, despite her—our—sketchy past. All this time, I thought I’d been doing that. Keeping her close. Keeping her safe. Turned out I didn’t have a clue what was going on in her life.
I’d failed Mikey, and Rose.
“Look, if you’re uncomfortable with this, with helping her,” Officer Forkes said, eying my collar, “I can find someone else to take care of her. A coworker, maybe.”
