"Outside much sooner than inside. This will damage our girl. I can't even imagine how much," Jose says, looking at me.
I nod. "She's got us, Mr. M. We'll get her through this."
He nods, but I’m not so sure he believes me. Rosa's still under observation and care, getting sedated when it gets to be too much—which is most of the time. I can't blame her. If I could, I'd take the same treatment. But Tera needs me.
"Mr. Mackenzie?" a tall man in a suit asks. It's then I notice the badge hanging from the waistband of his slacks.
"Yeah," I choke out.
"I'm Detective Jennings and this is my partner, Detective Solomon. I'm sorry we weren't here sooner, but we needed to go over the evidence so we could give you more information than 'we're still reviewing it'," he tells us.
"Good choice. There might've been a riot if you'd gone that route," I warn.
He nods, his lips pressed tightly together. "I don't blame you."
I've never liked cops, but this guy is pretty cool. I'd guess he's in his thirties, tall and lean, alert and, obviously, smart. His partner is a woman. I'd bet she's a few years younger than him. Blonde, thin, short, dressed in slacks and a blouse—not nearly as formal as her partner.
"Xan," I hear a shaky voice call out. I look up and Carter's standing in the doorway.
"Hey, man," I answer, walking to him and pulling him into a very unmanly hug. "Thank you," I whisper. "God. Thank you so fucking much, Carter."
He nods, a sob racking through him.
"I'm so sorry you had to…"
He nods, not wanting me to say any more.
I don't know how long I hold him while he cries and I don't care. He is, literally, Tera's hero—and mine.
"Jesus, Xan. The things they did. Hearing her plead with them to stop, to let her go. I thought it was the worst thing in the world until she stopped talking. All I could hear were whimpers and then nothing. I've never been so scared in my fucking life. I didn't know what to do." He waves a hand over to where his dad is standing. "My dad called 911. I don't know what went on. I just kept listening, hoping and praying to hear something—anything—from her," he tells me. He sniffles and wipes his eyes with his forearm.
"You did everything exactly right. Exactly right," Linc assures him.
Carter nods. "She's out of surgery?"
"Yeah. As soon as Ben comes out, you can go in. Only twenty minutes though," Dad tells him. "We're rotating, but I think you should go before the next person. Seeing her won't be easy, but you'll know she's alive. She's on a ventilator, but she can breathe on her own. They're keeping her in a coma until she heals a bit."
Carter's entire body shudders. "Fucking hell, I thought she was dead. I thought she was dead."
The detectives tell us what they found on the video footage as well as the audio Carter gave to them. "We know who they are. We're working on finding out where their usual hangouts are, and we're going to nail these fuckers. Every fucking one of them whether they did anything or not, because the ones who just stood by and watched it happen? They hurt her as much as the ones who were hitting and kicking her," Detective Solomon tells us.
"I want to watch the footage," I say.
"No, Xander," Dad says.
"Ineedto know, Dad. If I know what happened, then she doesn't have to ever tell me unless she wants to. If I know what happened, I can be there for her in every way she needs me to be," I tell him, begging him to understand.
"I would like to watch as well," Linc states.
Nowthatisn't such a great idea. The way he keeps it all bottled up inside, seeing that might break him. Hell, it's likely going to breakme.
Detective Solomon looks at her partner and he nods his approval. "We can watch it in a private space. I have a copy of the disc with me."
"The audio?" Detective Jennings asks.
I shake my head. "I don't think I'll survive that." I look over at Carter, who is pale, so pale, and withdrawn. No. I wouldn't survive that. I'm not sure Carter will.
* * *
