"Jesus," Linc whispers, a tear falling from his eye. This closed off, tough, hardened guy who tries so hard to not feel anything, is feeling so much he doesn't even realize he's crying.
Dad nods.
"How… who found her?" Ethan asks, his voice shaky.
"She must have just hit whatever button she could on her phone because she called Carter." Dad looks at me.
"Ohfuck.No. Tell me he didn't have to listen…" I trail off, fear seeping into every one of my pores. "He loves her.Loves her. Loves her like I love her."
Dad nods. "He, uh, at first he thought she butt dialed him because she was talking. He was curious so he listened. She put up a good front, but Carter could hear how scared she was. He woke his dad. It was after three in the morning. They started recording the call and Mr. Winters called 911. They knew where she'd been but not where she was. Then someone brought up art. They told the 911 operator about the gallery."
He looks down again, head hanging, hands on his hips, his lips pressed together. When he looks up, I know.
"Fuck," I growl. "He heard it all."
Dad nods.
"Jesus. Is he okay?" Jesse asks.
"No. He's not. He's getting on the first available flight here. He wants to turn over the recording to the police," Dad explains.
I nod. I'd want to be here too if I were him. Whether she's married or not, he fucking loves her as much as I do. I won't fault him for coming.
"I'm going to hug that fucker when he gets here," Ben announces.
I nod. "This is going to take a long time for him to get past."
"Yeah," Dad agrees.
"Were…" Linc begins, then clears his throat. "Were there any surveillance cameras or anything? Did anyone see anything?"
"Yes. The gallery has two cameras at the back of the building. The tapes have been given to the police. Detective Jennings is handling the case. He's reviewing it as we speak," Dad tells us. "Let's go check on Rosa."
We follow behind, every one of us fearing the worst.
* * *
"Mr. Martinez. Has Mr. Mackenzie arrived?" a doctor asks from the doorway.
"That's me," I say frantically, standing and striding to him quickly. "How is she? Is she going to be okay?"
The doctor doesn't smile. Why would he? There's nothing to smile about here.
"Mr. Mackenzie. I'm Dr. Levine the Neurologist who operated on your wife."
We shake hands. "Call me Xander."
"All right. Xander, Tera was brought in with extensive injuries and she'd lost a lot of blood," he begins.
Oh, God.
Linc stands beside me, as tense as I am.
"Is she alive? Jesus, is my wife alive?" I implore, ready to drop to my knees.
He nods. "She is, but she's in critical condition. I'm not going to sugar coat it for you. It's touch and go right now. The injuries she sustained were some of the worst I have ever seen."
"What injuries? Tell us all of it," Linc demands.
