“I don’t want to go to a hospital. It just needs to be cleaned and covered.” Even with clumps of dirt tangled in her hair and mascara streaking down her cheeks, she oozed a fiery confidence he didn’t want to mess with right now.
“Fine. I’ll look at it later. Call your friend.”
Mickey lifted her finger to unlock his phone, and a glimmer of light from the screen shone down on her hand. She turned her hands toward her face and furrowed her brow.
“What is it?” He grabbed her wrist and lifted her palm to his line of vision. “Holy shit, what happened to your hands?”
She glanced down at her palms. “I got away and ran down the alley, but he tripped me. I fell and tried to crawl away. He dragged me to the back of the alley.”
The heel of his shoe ground harder into Pete’s chest. He coughed and squirmed under the pressure, but his eyes stayed closed. Graham took the phone back and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He leaned in and kissed her temple, lingering a little to soak her in. His blood pumped furiously, and he calmed his quivering heart by breathing her scent. She was okay, but he needed to make sure she was taken care of. “I’m taking you in. You need those wounds cleaned.”
He dialed Eric’s number and pressed the phone to his ear.
“Did you find her?” Eric’s words came out in a rush after the first ring.
“I did. And I have Pete. I need you to meet me and take this asshole down for questioning. We’re down an alley just a block north of my hotel. Call it in on your way here.”
He hoped like hell Pete would be extradited quickly. They might have caught the ringleader, but the girls were still missing and they wouldn’t be safe until they were home. He needed Pete sweating in a cell in Chicago where he had all the time he needed to get the information of their whereabouts out of him.
Screw the cell. Let me put him in the back of a truck and I’ll beat the information out of him.
“I’ll be there in ten.”
He ended the call and glanced at Mickey. “What’s your friend’s number?”
“I don’t want to burden them with this. I can wait for you to finish.”
“Okay. Let’s walk to the front of the alley to wait for Eric and the police.”
Mickey nodded and walked beside him. He needed both of his hands to maneuver Pete. He could place a little weight on his legs, but his feet dragged along the debris on the ground and his head rolled around his neck like a spinning top.
Light from the streetlamps poured down around them. He dropped Pete to the ground and used his toe to push him back against the wall of a building. Pete lifted his face and Graham grimaced. Dried blood coated his chin and swollen lips. His skin was ashen and his limbs twitched.
“What happened to his mouth?”
Mickey curled her lips and shuddered. “I bit him.”
He chuckled and pulled her in close. “My little spitfire.”
She placed her head on his shoulder as an ambulance pulled up beside them. Mickey pulled away and glanced up at him through narrowed eyes. “I told you no hospital.”
“Eric must have called them. Speaking of which…” Graham nodded toward the end of the street. “There’s Eric. Why don’t you sit down and let them look at you while I talk to him? If they clear you to leave, I’ll take you back to the hotel while Eric deals with this mess.”
“What about Pete? Don’t you need to question him?”
“He’s not going to say much tonight. I’ll get more out of him tomorrow after he spends a night in jail. Besides, Eric has more experience dealing with the Mexican authorities. It’s better to let him handle it.”
Mickey covered a yawn and eyed the paramedic who had stepped around to the back of the ambulance and opened the back door. “Fine. But I’m not going to the hospital. I’ll sit here and wait for you.”
He kissed her forehead and she scowled at him before walking toward the ambulance.
Eric met him in the middle of the sidewalk, his eyes flicking toward Pete huddled on the ground. “What happened to him?” He kicked Pete in the foot and got a small grunt in response.
“Mickey tazed him.”
“No shit.” Eric smiled and shook his head before his features turned serious. He glanced over his shoulder, but Mickey’s back was to them. “Is she okay?”
He blew out a shaky breath. The adrenaline from earlier trickled out, leaving him drained. Images of what could have happened ran through his mind. “She’ll be fine, but thanks for getting the paramedics here. Did you call the local authorities?”
