by Christi Snow
Chapter 2
The next morning, Toni held Nathan’s hand, trying to provide a lifeline to keep the terror at bay. He’d been awake off and on all night, but his eyes were never clear. Between the sedatives and the painkillers, she wasn’t sure how aware he was of what had happened. He just knew he was hurt and scared.
With his eyes closed and his poor face battered, he looked so young, but damn, he was really young. Her heart ached for him.
She’d met Nathan a few months before. It had been a truly awful day for her about a month after her world came crashing down around her. Overwhelmed with an onslaught of emotions she couldn’t control anymore, she’d been sitting in her car sobbing in front of her apartment. Nathan had just moved in a couple of weeks before, but other than just casual exchanges of ‘hi’ she hadn’t truly talked to him. That day, he knocked on her car window to make sure she was okay. When she simply blubbered she was fine, he nodded and walked away, only to come back a minute later with a chocolate candy bar in hand. An instant friendship was born.
A kid way too scarred by his life, he’d been extremely reticent to talk about his situation. But over the months, she’d managed to get most of his story and it broke her heart. Nathan was one of the sweetest kids she’d ever met and it seemed that he had way more than his share of bad luck up to this point in his very young life. His mom had abandoned him and his father when he was very young. As an only child, his father had always been rough on him, but it imploded when Nathan came out of the closet when he was sixteen years old. His father turned violent and kicked him out, but it sounded like their relationship had always been bad even before that point. His father had been barely more than a drifter who moved them every six months so Nathan was never able to make connections. His entire life, he’d never had anyone who he could count on.
Things were going to change for him. She had no idea how, but she was determined about that.
First up, she had to make sure the guys who did this to him went straight to jail. She turned on her cell phone to call Julie to see if she could come and sit with Nathan.
“You shouldn’t be here,” his raspy voice said.
Toni’s eyes flew up to meet his, but he wouldn’t meet her gaze as a tear dripped down his cheek. Her heart broke. He had no idea who he was dealing with if he thought he could get rid of her that easily. She reached back up to grab his hand. “Nathan—”.
“Just go home, okay? Just because you found me doesn’t mean you have to take care of me.” His normally low voice was even lower as he tried to control the tears which kept flowing.
“You’re right. It doesn’t mean I have to be here. But you’re my friend and that means I want to be here.”
“I don’t deserve it.”
“What? My help or my friendship?”
“Either one. Please just go home, Toni, and forget you ever met me. You’d be much better off.”
He still hadn’t met her eyes, but tremors of fear, pain, and emotion racked his body. It made sense that he didn’t trust anyone to actually be there for him. From what she’d been able to ascertain, no one ever had. Until now. “No can do, kid. You’re stuck with me. We’re going to get you through this together. Now, do you need me to call a nurse? How’s your pain level?”
Finally he looked up and the hope shining in his eyes shattered her heart. How did a kid get to be seventeen years old without anyone there to stand by him? It wasn’t right.
“It really is going to be okay, Nathan. Trust me on this. I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but trust me. I’m not going to abandon you.”
His eyes shut and another tear rolled down his swollen cheek. “Thank you,” he quietly murmured.
“No thanks necessary. Let’s try this again. I have three things I can offer you—pain killers, water, or food. You’re a seventeen year old boy so I’m guessing food will be at the top of that list.”
He looked at her again with a ghost of a smile. It wasn’t much, but at this point she would take it as a positive sign.
“Can I have all three?”
“Absolutely. Let me just call your nurse.” She depressed the call button on his bed. “She’s gonna be happy that those beautiful green eyes of yours are open.” She glanced down at the time on her phone. It was almost seven o’clock. She’d call Julie after Nathan ate his breakfast and after she made sure that he’d be okay for a while.
* * *
After eating, his color had gotten a bit better, but he’d grown quiet so she asked, “Do you remember what exactly happened yesterday?”
He met her eyes briefly as he gave a short nod, then looked away and said, “Some.” He swallowed hard. “I don’t remember too much after you got there.”
She watched him for a moment, not sure how much she should talk about this right now when it was all so fresh. She didn’t want to do him more mental harm or tell him anything that would interfere with the case Brian was building, but he probably could use some basic details about what was happening. “I found you about seven o’clock last night. That was twelve hours ago. I told the hospital you’re my brother, but that we have different fathers and that’s why we have different names.”
His eyes flew to hers in shock. “You…you told them you’re my family?”
Toni’s chest tightened as the tears again filled his eyes. “That was the only way they’d let me stay or tell me anything.” She watched the emotions flit over his face—disbelief, shame, hope. Every motherly instinct inside her reared up with the need to protect him. “Listen to me, Nathan. You’re not alone. Not anymore. As far as I’m concerned, you are my little brother from here on out. So just get used to the idea. You’re stuck with me, ’kay?”
She grabbed hold of his hand and he clung to it, like a lifeline, as he nodded again.
“I need to go down and make a statement at the police station, but I’m going to call my friend, Julie, to come sit with you.”
He began to shake his head. “Why would you need to make a statement?”
“Because the guys who attacked you also harassed me as they left, so I can identify them.”
His eyes widened and he grasped at her hand as he looked her over. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, there was a siren in the area and that scared them off before they could do anything more.”
He visibly relaxed into the pillow.
“I know Detective Barnes said he’d want to talk to you today, too. I’m supposed to meet him at ten so I’m guessing it will be after that.”
“It won’t do any good, Toni. They shoved something over my head so I didn’t see anything.” His voice broke and he looked away.
“Relax, kid. I saw them and know exactly what they look like and the detective on your case is good. He’ll nail their balls to the wall. I guarantee it.” She just hoped Brian could deliver on that promise. Those assholes could not go free.
* * *
As Detective Brian Barnes watched the interrogation of Mark Hunter through the mirrored glass, disgust and anger battered at him. The four men who allegedly attacked Nathan Morrow the night before had all spent the night in jail. So far, none of the four had broken the vow of trust between them, but he had a feeling Mark may be the weak link.
The Lubbock Police Department had gotten a lucky break. The call had gone out to watch for the classic black Camaro just as two uniformed cops arrived at a convenience store to investigate some suspicious activity. That activity turned out to be the four drunken, blood-spattered men.
They were facing a slew of charges from public drunkenness to resisting arrest for two who ran from the uniformed police officers. The blood-spattered clothes had been taken for DNA testing against Nathan Morrow’s DNA. Once those results came back positive, they could add all the charges from his case.
Brian watched Mark Hunter sweat. His twin brother, Matt, was also in custody and from the torn skin on his knuckles, Matt was responsible for a lot of the bruises on Nathan. But Mark Hunter appeared to be the le
ast guilty of the four. He’d meekly accepted the arresting officers’ instructions and there weren’t any physical signs, like bloody, bruised knuckles, that he’d been active in the attack. So far, his worst offense was drinking too much and making really bad choices about who he went out partying with.
Mark was obviously feeling the effects of those choices now as Brian’s partner, Eddie, questioned him. He turned decidedly green as Eddie talked. “So, were you the one who held the kid while someone else beat him or did you play with him, too? It looks like someone thought it was a good idea to sodomize the kid.”
The hospital had told them there was bruising all around the boy’s anus, although there hadn’t been any internal bruising present which would have been the case if he’d actually been penetrated. They wouldn’t know exactly what happened until they got Nathan’s statement.
“Was that you or did you stop one of the other guys from doing it?”
Silence.
“You know that kid is only seventeen years old?”
At this, Mark’s alarmed gaze met the detective’s, but he still didn’t say anything.
“Yep, only seventeen years old. How does that make you feel, tough guy? The four of you were able to take down a kid.”
Mark’s jaw clenched and unclenched. Yep, he was definitely the weak link, but how could he exploit that? Maybe he could use the two brothers against one another to get a confession.
As he glanced down at his watch, he realized it would have to wait for now. It was about time for Toni to arrive. Anticipation thrummed through him. He told himself that was just because they needed the information from her as a witness. Her identification of the suspects would provide just one more nail in the coffin to make this case iron-clad, but he knew that was a lie. He simply wanted to see her again.
Brian nodded toward the policeman in the viewing room with him. “Get the suspects ready for the line-up and I’ll go see if our witness is here yet.”
As he entered the reception area of the police station, Toni was just coming through the doorway. Once again, the blow to his solar plexus at the sight of her floored him.
She hadn’t spotted him yet, so he was able to watch her for a moment unnoticed. At some point since he’d seen her early this morning, she’d gone home and changed out of her workout clothes. Now she wore jeans, a fitted tee the same color as her gorgeous turquoise eyes, a denim jacket, and high-heeled brown boots that made him wonder what she’d look like in just those and some flimsy bits of lingerie.
Down, boy. He didn’t have the right to fantasize about her.
Her hair was longer now than it had been in the spring. Her long braid was pulled over her shoulder so that the bottom of it curled around her full breast. He’d never thought he could be jealous of hair. It was more of a golden honey red color now than it had been then, too.
Those were the surface changes he could see. He wondered how many more there were that he couldn’t see. Had she fully recovered from the horrific events in the spring? Was she dating anyone now?
Any guy would be lucky to have her and as the green flare of jealousy shot through him, he had to remind himself that he’d purposefully given up any claim to her. He had no rights there. Shaking himself from this fateful reverie, he approached her.
“Hi, Toni. Thanks for coming in,” he said, noting the exhaustion on her face that he hadn’t been able to see from a distance. “How’s Nathan feeling this morning?”
“Awake and aware and trying really hard to put on a brave front, but he’s hurt and scared. You’re going to be able to nail these guys, right, Brian?”
“I certainly plan to. You identifying them should help with that.”
She nodded, and squared her shoulders. “Okay, so how does this work?”
“First I need to get your sworn statement.” Opening a door, he led her to an interview room and introduced her to his new partner, Eddie Walters, who’d finished chatting with Mark.
Only because he knew her so well did he realize how nervous she was about all this. She held it together as he and his partner talked her through her account of what happened.
Normally, Brian worked alone, but after the trauma that occurred five months before and his subsequent recovery, Eddie had been assigned to partner with him. He would resent being stuck with a pseudo-babysitter if Eddie wasn’t such a nice guy and a good detective with lots of experience.
Eddie’s natural flirty nature put Toni at ease. She needed that. Lord knew there wasn’t anything between the two of them that could help her relax like that. It also helped that Eddie was married with three kids, so Brian knew the flirtation was innocent. Why was that such a relief to him?
After they finished taking her statement, he led her down the hall to the room where she could view the line-ups behind the one-way glass. They were into the third line-up, this one featuring a sneering James Marshall, when a uniform came into the room to tell Eddie their captain needed to speak to him immediately. They exchanged confused gazes, but Eddie just shrugged as he left the room.
Like every other line-up before this one, Toni showed no doubt or hesitation when she identified James Marshall. So far, she was three for three. Since the final assailant was one of the twins, Brian had no doubt that she’d sweep with the ID’s. These boys were toast when it came to the pile of evidence against them.
She’d just finished with her final identification when Eddie rejoined them and shot a guarded, angry look toward Brian. That left him with a hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach, but he’d get to the bottom of it after Toni left.
He walked her out to her car and resisted the urge to touch her in some way. The need to feel the heat of her soft skin tugged at him, but he wasn’t an animal who couldn’t control himself. Curling his hands into fists, he managed to resist for the moment.
“You did well in there,” he told her.
She smiled softly as she chewed her bottom lip. He wanted to reassure her that everything would be okay. He couldn’t resist any longer and touched her cheek.
Electricity raced up his arm. It turned out he really didn’t have any control, but the silky feel of her soft skin settled him. She’d always had that ability to soothe him…when she wasn’t making him crazy. But this magnetic pull he felt toward her meant he needed to get away from her as soon as possible. He couldn’t be responsible for hurting her again and now she was a part of this case. They had chemistry, but he wasn’t that guy for her.
Her eyes were guarded and cautious as she reached up and tugged at his hand. “What…what are you doing?”
“I’m sorry.” Frustration tore at him. Why couldn’t he just walk away? She needed more than he had to offer. He pulled his hand away and took a step back from her, a step back from temptation. “I need to go check in with my partner and then we’ll be by the hospital to talk to Nathan. Thanks, Toni.”
He strode away before he could do something else monumentally stupid.
Eddie met him at the door of the precinct and motioned him into an interrogation room. “We have a problem. James Marshall, the punk from the assault, is the son of Senator J.J. Marshall. Daddy and camp are throwing a huge stink and the captain says we have to release them.”
“What? Our witness just positively identified those boys. We have DNA evidence on them and they resisted arrest. There’s no way they should be released until we have all the charges against them settled.”
Eddie shrugged, but the grim look on his face told Brian that he was just as disgusted by this turn of events. “We don’t have a choice at this point. The shots are being called from way above our pay grade.”
“And just what are we going to tell that boy who they brutally attacked last night? We still have to go interview him in the hospital this afternoon.”
“The truth…that the two of us are doing everything in our power to make sure these dirt bags go to prison.”
Somehow at this point in time, that just didn’t seem like enough.
* * *
Half an hour later, Brian and Eddie exited the elevator on the floor where Nathan’s hospital room was located. He’d already explained to Eddie about Toni’s place in all of this and the fact she passed herself off as Nathan’s sister so he could have a support system while in the hospital.
When they arrived in Nathan’s room Toni was reading a book aloud to him. Brian raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw the two half-naked guys embracing on the front of the book. Toni flushed red and quickly shoved the book into her purse.
“Ahem. Hello, detectives. Nathan, these are the guys I told you about—Detectives Brian Barnes and Eddie Walters.”
Nathan started to smile as he reached out his hand to Brian in greeting but then his eyes widened. He dropped his hand quickly and his gaze swung back to Toni. “Wait, is this…?” He nodded his head at Brian and Toni closed her eyes, her face turning red again. She gave Nathan a warning look and an almost imperceptible nod.
She wouldn’t meet Brian’s gaze as he watched the exchange between the two of them. Curious. Could Toni have told Nathan about what happened between them? Shame filled him. He really hated the idea of anyone else knowing what an ass he’d been to her.
Turning back toward Eddie, she asked, “Do I need to stay for this or would it be better if I went and grabbed a cup of coffee?”
Eddie’s lips quirked at the corners in amusement as his gaze lingered between Brian and her. “It would be great if you could give us about thirty minutes, Ms. Vincent.”
“Okay.” She turned back toward Nathan. “I’ll just be downstairs. If you need me before I’m back, just text or call, okay?”
“Thanks, Toni. If you see a Coke or pizza, could you bring me back some?” Nathan asked.
She gave him an indulgent smile. “Sure.” Then she slipped out of the room.
Brian couldn’t help but admire the sway of her ass as she walked out the door. Her womanly curves filled out those jeans in all the perfect places. When he turned back, Eddie watched him with a single eyebrow raised. Not good. He groaned inwardly. He needed to be more subtle, because his new partner rarely missed much.