Chapter 3 Ryker
RYKER
She weighed nothing in my arms.
Faith’s blood-soaked body trembled against my chest, her head lolling against my shoulder.
“Jesus Christ.” Blake’s voice cracked as he rushed toward her. His hands hovered over her body, fingers trembling as they traced the air, inches from her skin. “Faith, where are you hurt?”
“What the fuck happened?” Jace demanded.
Blake’s fingers gently probed along her arms, then moved to her neck, checking her pulse point.
He slid his hand down to examine her legs.
“I don’t see lacerations on her arms, neck, or legs,” Blake continued, clearly struggling to understand the source of all this blood because he was still presuming it was hers.
He leaned closer, squinting at her scalp. “But her head …”
“Dude, we should get her some towels.” Axel’s voice pitched high with panic. “Or, like—I don’t know—a hazmat suit? That’s a lot of blood.”
“I …” Her voice came out as barely a whisper.
“Stop.” The word exploded from my mouth, loud enough to make all three men freeze. “Everyone, stop talking. Now.”
The men stared at me. Waiting.
“Every word spoken in this room from this moment forward becomes a matter of criminal record.” I kept my voice steady, professional, even as my heart hammered against my ribs.
“I don’t know what happened tonight, but if I have any hope of protecting her, I need to contain this.
” I turned to the others. “Jace, Axel? Out. Now.”
“Are you serious?” Jace’s face darkened. “You know we’d never—”
“I know you won’t intentionally hurt her.” The lawyer in me had taken over. “But I’m a criminal defense attorney, and you need to trust me. The best way you can protect her is by leaving. Now get out. Don’t make me say it again.”
Jace and Axel exchanged a loaded look. These men had vowed to be here for all of us, no matter what.
We never turned our backs on family, and Faith was family now.
But they didn’t understand the domino effect their presence could create.
Down the road, they would be questioned.
Under oath. About every word, every movement, every piece of physical evidence they were witness to.
“Call us if you need anything.” Jace’s jaw clenched as he and Axel headed for the door.
The second they left, I settled Faith into one of our abandoned poker chairs. Her hand caught my shirt as I pulled back, fingers tangling weakly in the material.
“It’s okay,” I murmured, just for her. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Blake moved toward her, reaching for a fresh stream of blood trickling down her neck.
“Blake.” My warning came out sharp. “Don’t touch her. You need to leave too.”
“Fuck that. She’s bleeding.”
“We don’t know whose blood that is.” I motioned toward the blood on the opposite side of her dress.
“I’m checking her injuries—”
“You’re contaminating evidence.”
“She has a head wound,” Blake announced, his fingers already threading through her hair, medical instincts overriding common sense.
“Blake, stop.”
“You know how serious head trauma can be?”
“You’re mixing DNA. Imprinting yourself into a potential criminal investigation.” I kept my voice level, but inside, I was counting every second we were wasting. “You’re making yourself a witness instead of letting me handle this.”
I knew that the guilt of being separated from his sister in the foster care system was like shrapnel in Blake’s chest. He’d spent years wondering what horrors his little sister had faced alone.
But alone was what I needed right now.
“Blake, I need to ask your sister questions, and you cannot be present for her answers.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“Yes, you are.”
“She needs medical attention—”
“Do you believe her wounds are life-threatening?” I challenged, my voice going cold and precise. “Right now, this second, is she dying?”
Blake’s jaw clenched. “She has head trauma—”
“Is. She. Dying?”
“No, but—”
“Then back off.” I moved between him and Faith. “Because I have minutes, Blake. Minutes to establish her mental state, to preserve her statement, to control this scene before cops arrive.” I knew this was bad.
But I also knew Faith enough to know there was no way she was some monster either. What happened and to whom and why was something I needed to get to the bottom of—and fast. Because the flip side of being a criminal lawyer was seeing the number of people in prison who shouldn’t be there.
“Based on the evidence covering her, I have minutes to save the rest of her life. And if we waste them on anything that isn’t immediately life-threatening, we’ll never get them back.”
“She’s going into shock—”
“Then get her something with sugar while I do my job.” My voice turned to steel. “Every second you stand here arguing is a second I lose. And every second I lose increases her chances of spending the next twenty-five years to life in prison. Is that what you want?”
Blake’s hands clenched into fists. “Of course not.”
“Then get her that sugar. Kitchen. Now.”
He backed toward the doorway, torn between his medical oath and his need to protect his sister. “If anything happens to her—”
“Nothing will happen to her.” Not on my watch.
Blake disappeared into the kitchen, and I knelt in front of Faith’s chair. The clock in my head kept ticking. Minutes. Maybe less before someone called 911. Before this scene became uncontrollable. Before her fate was sealed.
“Faith.” I kept my voice gentle despite the urgency screaming through me. “Can you hear me?”
Her eyes fluttered, trying to focus.
“I need you to listen very carefully.” I caught her hands in mine, ignoring the blood. “Do you understand me?”
“He’s dead …” Her whisper was barely audible. “I think he’s dead.”
My stomach dropped. Shit. The clock just sped up.
“Don’t say another word.”
“But—”
“No.” I squeezed her hands gently. “Not one word to anyone but me. Not Blake, not the police, nobody.”
Her gaze drifted to the bloody knife lying on the ground. For a heartbeat, I wondered if I’d miscalculated. If maybe the woman I’d been drawn to was capable of something I couldn’t defend.
Remember what happened last time the evidence suggested innocence and you ignored your nagging questions?
I shoved it down. This was different. Faith was different.
“What the hell?” Blake stood in the doorway with an ancient can of Coke. “She just said someone’s dead, and you’re telling her not to talk?”
Great. He heard that. See? This was what I was trying to avoid! It irritated me that I had to spend a moment explaining anything to Blake right now, but I knew he meant well.
“I’m telling her not to incriminate herself.
” I stood, every muscle tense. “There might be a body somewhere, Blake. Close by, since she came on foot. Which means we probably only have minutes before this place is swarming with cops. Minutes that will determine whether she lives free or dies in prison.”
Blake went pale. “Jesus.”
“Yeah. So, you want to help her? Get the car. Pull it right up to the door. I need to talk to her, and then we need to take her to the hospital.”
“If someone’s dead—”
“If someone’s dead, then every word she says can be used against her. Every person who hears those words becomes a witness.” I met his glare steadily. “You want to testify against your own sister?”
Blake’s shoulders dropped. “I’ll get the car.”
Once he left, I turned back to Faith. She was watching me with those storm-green eyes, tears cutting tracks through the blood on her cheeks.
“Hey.” I crouched again, acutely aware of every passing second. “Look at me.”
She focused with effort.
“I’m going to take care of you.” I cupped her face with both hands, my thumbs gently wiping away tears and blood. “Whatever happened tonight, whatever you did or didn’t do, I’m going to protect you. But you have to trust me. Can you do that?”
She nodded.
“Good girl.” I pressed my forehead to hers for just a moment, breathing her in beneath the copper scent of blood. “If you fall, you fall into me. Always. Remember that.”
Now I just had to figure out how the hell to save her.