“Um…”
“Go,” Vince told him. “I’ll be right here.”
He was feigning confidence, but Nick could tell he was nervous too. Unfortunately, he couldn’t reassure his brother-in-law, especially when he wasn’t all that confident. But as Karen requested, he walked out into the hall.
“What is it?” he asked as he exited the room.
“Your captain called the nurses’ station. She said your phone was going straight to voicemail.”
Normally, when visiting his wife, Nick put his cellular in do-not-disturb mode. So, he wasn’t surprised that his phone was going to voicemail. What did surprise him was the fact that Elizabeth had called the nurses’ station. It wasn’t something she did.
He held a nervous breath, praying she wasn’t calling to tell him that something had happened to one of his officers. “Ooo… okay?”
She held out her hand, gesturing toward the nurses’ station. “You can take the call here.”
He followed her over to the desk and waited as she walked around to hand him the receiver. When she pushed a button, he was hesitant in raising the phone to his ear, afraid of hearing potentially devastating news. Hesitant or not, he needed to face whatever it was.
“Cap?”
“Cato, I’ve asked you to keep your phone on when you’re on duty.”
Nick blew out an impatient breath. “Cap, my phone is on. What’s up?” His nerves were already frayed from the incident with Rebecca. He needed her to get to the point.
“Your boy’s gone,” she clipped in an irritated tone.
Nick squinted, trying to figure out what she was talking about. “Whaddaya mean?”
“Robinson. Your boy, Boogie. He escaped from custody.”
Nick’s mouth flew open. “How is that possible? There are uniforms guarding him, it’s too high to jump,andhe’s injured.”
“One of the officers went to the bathroom. Robinson was then able to disarm the other one and flee with his weapon.”
“Oh, shit!” Nick cursed. “Rebecca?”
“She’s fine, guarded like the Pope. Focus on finding that piece of shit!”
KING
“That’s it! You’re you gonna come stay with us!” her dad insisted.
As soon as the plain-clothes officer announced that Boogie had escaped, Rebecca’s dad had been pacing the floor, trying to figure out a way to keep her safe.
Rebecca lay back against the pillow and slid down into the cool sheets. She was angry, even afraid that he’d escaped, but her dad was in a full-fledged panic.
Her tiny hospital room was filled with people—her dad, two uniform cops, some lieutenant, Paula, and Jessica.
And as if it wasn’t crowded enough, Sergeant Nick Cato burst into the room. “Are you okay?” he asked, scanning the small room.
“I’m fine,” she assured, obviously not loud enough, because her response was clearly disregarded.
“She okay?” the sergeant asked Jessica and then her dad.
“Wow.” Rebecca scoffed.“I… said I was fine. Look, everybody, calm down.”
“Have you found him?” Jessica asked.
“Not yet, but we will.”
