****
The sirens sound and the rest of the night is a blur of activity.
Robin is arrested in front of everyone, but because of the beating he took from Sam, and probably Tuck too, he's taken away in an ambulance instead of a police car.
I'm treated for my scrapes and scratches in the back of another ambulance while I relay the events of the evening to a female detective. Someone scrapes under my fingernails, takes photos, and asks me technical questions about the attack, and I'm glad no one I know is close enough to hear me. Andy took Tina back to the hotel at Sam's insistence, Tuck and Carl talk to a second detective, and although Sam stands with them, he doesn't take his eyes off of me.
I'm released from the ambulance with an appointment to go into the local precinct tomorrow afternoon, and the detective moves on to Sam, so I follow her, hanging back with Carl and Tuck who have finished making their statements.
I listen to Sam explain how when he saw my friends had entered the bar, he'd asked after me, but no one knew where I was - they thought I was right behind them. He went outside to look for me, but when he saw me in Robin's arms, he didn't recognize him, and he just thought I'd met a guy. He says he returned to the bar, but after a minute or so, he realized it didn't make sense - that something was wrong - so he gestured to Tucker to follow him outside, and started back to where he'd seen me and continued in the direction of the hotel.
"How did you realize something was wrong?" Detective Mora asks.
Sam chews the inside of his cheek and frowns. "Rory would never just go off with some random guy. I should've realized it right away, but I was just- distracted, I guess."
"Distracted by what?" Mora asks, and I can't help but recall the pretty redhead he had his arm around earlier.
Sam hesitates before answering. "Jealousy."
Detective Mora nods in understanding and I'm suddenly utterly riveted by Sam's account of what happened. I'm vaguely aware of Carl taking the direction of Sam's statement as her cue to lead Tuck a little further down the sidewalk, so they are no longer listening, but I don't move. I'm not even sure if Sam knows I'm there, hanging on his every word.
"I see. But how did you know Miss Pine didn't just decide to engage with a stranger? Plenty of young girls use spring break as an excuse to engage in activities that would otherwise be out of character for them."
Sam runs his teeth over his bottom lip, but his eye contact with the detective doesn't waver. "Not Rory," he says simply.
"How can you be certain?" Mora presses him.
"Because I know her. She has a history that... affected her... in certain ways. And one of those ways is that she doesn't like being touched, not even by her friends for the most part, and definitely not by strangers." Of course, Detective Mora already knows this from my own statement and the medical history I gave to the EMT. Sam closes his eyes for a moment and shakes his head. "But honestly, even if that wasn't the case, she still wouldn't do that, spring break or not," he adds definitively, and my heart twists in my chest at his faith in me.
"Okay, let's rewind a bit. When you exited the bar for the second time, what did you do?" Mora asks.
"Like I said, I looked for Rory where I'd last seen her, but she wasn't there. I just shouted at Tuck to find her and took off across the street in that direction and then started toward the hotel since it's just down there," he points in the direction of our hotel. "But I heard her scream and I... I panicked, I couldn't find her-"
"You heard her scream? How did you know it was Miss Pine?" the detective cuts him off.
Sam's brow furrows, he rakes his fingers through his hair and his stress is palpable. "I... I don't know. I know her voice, I guess... and I already thought she was in trouble... and I was pretty sure she'd said 'Sam'-"
"Which would be you," she interrupts again.
Sam nods. "Yeah."
"So then what did you do?"
Sam takes a calming breath, it would seem he needs it. Then, he starts to explain how he thought my scream had come from behind him so he turned back in the direction he'd come from, but no one was there. Tuck had followed him out, and apparently the rest of our group realized something was up and had followed as well because Sam noticed them across the street, standing around outside the bar in consternation.
"What were your other friends doing at this time?" Mora asks.
Sam shrugs. "I don't know. I just barely noticed they'd come outside. I was busy," he says irritably.
"Busy looking for Miss Pine?"
Sam scowls in exasperation, clearly annoyed by the detective's thoroughness, at her stating the obvious. I can't say I blame him.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Caplan, but I need to ensure that I understand the details correctly. It's my job," she says apologetically.
Sam sighs in acceptance. "Yes, I was looking for Rory. I pointed down the street, in the opposite direction, for Tuck to run ahead of me, and I ran after him. But then I noticed the alley and I just... stopped. I heard them, and it was dark, but I could make out figures, and-"
"You say youheardthem?"
