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While they waited, Derek began to rub her back. The pressure felt good against her twitching, aching muscles, but every movement of the blanket wafted that terrible odor into her nose and reminded her of what her employer and her friends and the police chief had seen and smelled.
Derek took her hand in his and pressed a cool, plastic bottle against her palm. “Let me help you drink, Saoirse. Small sips, right?”
She nodded and swallowed again before lifting her head. Derek guided the plastic nozzle to her lips and she let the cool wetness trickle over her abused tongue, slowly washing away the taste of blood. She blinked until the blur over her began to resolve into Master Derek’s drawn face. He gently tucked her bangs back behind her ear with his free hand.
“There you are,” he said. “Everything’s okay. Tell me what you need.”
Nothing was okay. Everything was completely awful and Saoirse had no idea how she was ever going to face Derek or anyone at the Ranch after today. But she nodded slowly. “Go with p’lice.”
Derek frowned thunderously. “You do not have to go anywhere.”
Saoirse had never been involved with the police before, but she watched the news and knew what could happen if she resisted arrest. Worse, she knew what could happen to Derek if he tried to protect her.
“Go with p’lice,” she repeated, her swollen, torn tongue mangling each word.
“I think you should go to the hospital, but at the very least, I want to call your emergency medical contact.”
She shook her head. The police chief had said she’d be treated at the station, which at least wouldn’t cost her anything. She knew from experience that there wasn’t much they’d do for her at the hospital unless she had another seizure. And they’d do MRIs that were cripplingly expensive. “No hos’pul. Call Mom.”
Derek lifted his head and spoke to someone out of Saoirse’s line of sight, instructing them to call her mother.
Then he leveled her with a dark, Daddy stare. “Is there anyone else I should call?”
Saoirse let the question swirl around her aching, foggy mind while she sipped more water. She remembered the police chief’s questions. She remembered the vicious determination in Cordelia James’ eyes.
She remembered Sutter telling her she came first.Always.
She waited for her Little voice to cry out for her Daddy.
But there was only silence inside her.
She looked up at Derek and shook her head.
Chapter 16
The person who answered Saoirse’s phone was the last person Sutter expected.
“This is Derek Hawkins.”
He gaped at the phone for a moment before he found his voice. “Derek? It’s Sutter. Sutter James. I worked for Brightwater this summer, cleaning the pools. Why do you have Saoirse’s phone?”
“There’s been an incident,” Derek responded. “Hold on a minute. I’m adding Jared Stark, our Ranch lawyer to the call.”
It seemed to take forever but was only a moment before Sutter heard Derek speaking again, introducing him to the lawyer.
“We understand Saoirse has your contact saved as Daddy. Is that right?” Jared Stark asked.
“Yes,” Sutter said firmly. “What kind of incident. Is Saoirse hurt? Where is she?”
“She’s at the police station in Hamilton. She’s been arrested.”
“Arrested?” Sutter reeled into one of his dining room chairs. He’d just gotten home from his first meeting with the New York City Metro baseball league. He’d been bursting to tell Saoirse all about it: how he’d been asked to join the A league after just one practice. How great playing had felt again, even though he thought he might have pulled his hamstring sliding into third base. He’d been happily anticipating another video dinner-date. Instead, he felt like he might throw up. “What was she arrested for?”
“Theft.” Derek’s voice was flat.
“Saoirse would never stealanything,” Sutter snapped. “How dare you accuse her—”
“Me? Hold your horses, mister. I haven’t accused her of anything. She’s Ranch family and we deal with Ranch family matters internally. If I understood rightly, this is down to you and your relations,” Derek said.
