Her face twisted in pain for so long that he wondered if she’d heard him at all. “Okay,” she said finally. “Can’t focus anyway.Hurts.”
Alexander blew out the breath he didn’t even know he’d been holding. He bent down and kissed her lips gently as two sets of heavy footsteps approached thedoor.
“Police!” came a strong femalevoice.
“Come in,” Alexander replied. Two uniformed officers entered, a man and a woman. The woman took in the scene and rested her hand on hergun.
Nicholas rose, his hands well away from his sides. “I’m the one who called 911,” he said. “Nicholas Fairhaven. That’s my brother, Alexander, and his girlfriend, Elizabeth. I have identification in my jacket pocket. Can I showyou?”
After the officers had glanced at Nicholas’s driver’s license, the female officer approached. “Ma’am, can you speak to me? You know thesemen?”
“Know…yes. Don’t make him leave,” she said as she fumbled for Alexander’shand.
The fierce wave of possessiveness that washed over him at her words nearly had Alexander pulling her into his arms. Nicholas returned to Elizabeth’s otherside.
“I’m Officer Taylor. What happened here?” The officer crouched down so Elizabeth could see her better. Her partner, a tall, lanky boy of no more than twenty-five, moved through the flat, observing, until his boots crunched on the broken glass of Elizabeth’s bedroomwindow.
Elizabeth’s fingers tightened on Alexander’s. With slow, unsteady words, she explained. “There was a man here when I came home. Grabbed me.” She grimaced. “Told me not to scream. Held me down. Wanted to killme.”
“Where were the two gentlemen?” Officer Taylorasked.
“Downstairs. We were here to pick up a change of clothes for her,” Alexander supplied. “I should have been with her, but my brother and I are dealing with a sensitive legal issue with our company. The federal prosecutor and our lawyer are on their way. Elizabeth is a witness to a crime, and I believe her attacker was here to ensure she could nevertestify.”
The elevator dinged, and moments later, light footsteps approached. “Alex?”
Dr. Terrance Dalton was built like a linebacker and towered over the petite cop as he flashed his ID. Light blue eyes zeroed in on his patient, and he ran a hand over his wiry black hair. “Officer, the ambulance is downstairs, and the EMTs are gathering theirgear.”
The police officer shook her head. “It’s a goddamm party here. Don’t touch anything you don’t have to.” As she stepped out of the way, she muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like “must be nice to berich.”
Alexander tried to rise, but Elizabeth clutched his arm, her fingers curling against the soft wool of his sweater. “Don’tgo.”
He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Terrance will take care of you,chérie. I need to give him room to work and answer the officer’s questions. I won’t befar.”
For a moment, her gaze locked on him, fear and pain swimming in her eyes. But then she nodded, wincing from the effort. “Okay.”
Terrance took Alexander’s place at her side, but Alexander couldn’t tear his gaze away from the woman he’d known he loved the moment he’d seen herbleeding.
“While Alexander told me he’d met someone, he never shared your name, mydear.”
“Elizabeth. Bennett,” she said weakly. “Who…areyou?”
“Most patients call me Dr. Dalton,” Terrance said as he shone a light in Elizabeth’s eyes. “But you can call me Terry. Now, can you tell me the datetoday?”
“Mr. Fairhaven?” Office Taylor cleared her throat. “I really need you to answer a few morequestions.”
Two EMTs hurried into the room, and suddenly Elizabeth’s small apartment felt practically stifling. Alexander glanced over at Nicholas, who stood guard over Elizabeth’s computer. As the other officer approached, Nicholas straightened and crossed his arms over his chest. “No one touches the laptop,” he growled. “Not until our lawyer getshere.”
“Sir,” the young man said, but Nicholas handed the officer his phone and told him to speak with the Federal prosecutor’soffice.
“What the hell is going on here?” Officer Taylor asked. “You don’t get to tell us what we do and don’ttouch.”
“No, but I do.” Ben hovered in the doorway. “Or rather, Judge Edelman does.” He brandished a piece of paper, and Officer Taylor rolled hereyes.
Returning his focus to Elizabeth, Alexander tried not to bark out orders as she tried to sit up again. Terrance soothed her, though, and she relaxed with asigh.
“Can I at least get a description of the guy?” Officer Taylor said. “Anyone?”
“Six-foot-four, at least two-ten,” Alexander answered, though he couldn’t look away from Elizabeth. “Black turtleneck and pants, black shoes. He wore a full balaclava. I was too far away to see hiseyes.”
