“I’m glad you came in,” I tell her earnestly, and her lips purse as a few more tears slip from her eyes. She’s hesitant still, I can tell, and trying to gauge how much I can help if I can at all, and what it’s going to cost her.
“I’m scared,” she says, her tone falling to a whisper. I reach for her hand and take it in my own, squeezing it, hoping she can find a second of comfort in this moment of terror. “I’m afraid of him, Jami, and everyone else should be too. I just …” her voice falters, and she wipes the tears from her face. “I just can’t do it anymore. I won’t. I want him to pay for his crimes, to be held responsible. I want someone to take him down.”
“You’re safe here, okay? You did the right thing coming here. We can protect you.”
Tara nods, but she doesn’t look completely convinced. “He doesn’t know I’m here,” she whispers. “He went to work late today, so I packed up some of our stuff as soon as he left, and we took the city bus over here. He doesn’t leave me a car during the day.”
“You didn’t call the police?” I ask, and Tara shakes her head.
“I didn’t want them involved. I don’t know who to trust, Jami. I don’t know which cops Kasper has in his back pocket and which ones are legitimate. He has contacts, you know? Power. I couldn’t risk it.”
“Okay.” I squeeze Tara’s hand again and then stand up and go to the cupboard for a thin blanket for Maddy. “Stay in this room,” I tell her. “You’ll be safe here. If Kasper comes looking for you, we’ll turn him away because he’s a threat to your well-being. I need to talk to some people and see how we can go about doing this without anyone getting hurt. Do you understand?”
Tara nods, taking the blanket I hand her to drape over Maddy. “I hear you.”
“Good.” I reach for the door handle to leave. “I’ll have someone bring you guys some food and water, okay? Just rest in here while I get this figured out.”
As soon as the door is shut behind me, I pull out my cell phone and dial Ely’s number, praying he can help. Because at this point, I know Tara is right. We don’t have any idea who is in Kasper Hill’s pocket and who is not.
“Hello, beautiful,” Ely answers on the second ring. “I was hoping you would call. I was sorely disappointed when we dropped off that female patient this morning, and you weren’t there yet.”
Just hearing his voice puts me at ease, and I lean back against the wall, fighting to keep upright.
“Ely, I need your help,” I tell him, and then automatically feel bad for not greeting him differently. It doesn’t seem to matter, though, because Ely is alert suddenly, and when he speaks again, his tone is serious and professional. Protective.
“What’s going on, sweetheart?”
“It’s Tara Hill and her daughter. They’re back in the ER, but Kasper doesn’t know they’re here. Tara wants out. She wants Kasper to pay.”
“Say no more,” Ely says, and in the background, I can hear him shrugging on his jacket and grabbing the keys to his car. “I’ll be there in five.”
12
ELY
By the time I arrive back at Denver Med, Jami is standing outside the ER doors to greet me. She looks distraught, and seeing the woman I happen to be smitten with in so much doubt rattles me. As I approach Jami near the doors, unsure of what to expect for a greeting, she falls into me, her body collapsing under the stress, and I pull her against me and hold her tight, in silence, until she takes a deep breath and readies herself for the situation still in front of us.
“Thank you for coming,” she whispers as I hold her. “I didn’t know who else to call. Kasper Hill’s career makes this sort of thing more … difficult than it normally would be.”
“I’ll help in any way I can.” I rest my lips on the top of Jami’s head, arm still securely around her midsection. We’ve spent one weekend together, but I feel like I’ve known Jami my entire life. I realized, at that very moment, that I would do anything for this woman. Anything at all.
As we step through the ER doors, I notice at once that the woman from earlier is still there in one of the rooms. She’s lying on a bed now, an IV in her arm, and she looks completely passed out.
“How is she?” I ask Jami, who stops with me outside the woman’s door. “She wasn’t making any sense when we picked her up, just rattling nonsense.”
“It’s the same thing now,” Jami says. “She’s pretty strung out.”
“Lucky for her, Jake and I responded to the call this morning,” I tell Jami. “Kasper was out; otherwise, he would have responded to the scene. Poor girl wouldn’t have stood a chance. She’d have gone straight to jail.”
On the bed, the woman squirms as if she’s heard me talking, but her eyes don’t open. Jami turns away from the door and takes my hand, pulling me away.
“Maddy is awake now,” she says. “She was asleep when Tara and I were talking.” She stops in the hallway and points towards the staff vending machine, where a little girl of about six is pushing the buttons for a snack. Jami’s firefighter friend Matt is there, kneeling down next to her, and whatever conversation they’re having seems to be putting Maddy at ease. She’s holding a ragged bear under one arm, and she looks tired. Far too tired for a little girl of only six years old. Maddy and Matt look over as we approach, and her face lights up when she sees Jami.
“Snickers are my favorite,” she says, reaching her hand into the flap to retrieve her treat. “Matt got it for me.”
“Hopefully, it’s as sweet as you,” Matt says, mussing Maddy’s hair, and Jami grins at both of them. It’s clear to me that Jami has a soft spot in her heart for this girl … which could be dangerous.
“We’ve got it from here,” Jami says, turning to hug Matt, thanking him for watching Maddy. I shake his hand before he walks away, promising Maddy that he’ll see her again.
