Chapter 29
CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE
“We got a tip call. Don’t know who,” Ratchet told Denny.
Cam heard them talking outside the emergency room doors. He stood just beyond the curtains as several nurses worked on Sabrina. He didn’t want her out of his sight, but he would have to deal with the police at some point.
The officer showed up at the hospital after Wolf called him to say they’d found Sabrina. Someone informed him that she’d been beaten and strangled, but there were no signs of her attackers.
“They must have heard we were coming and bolted,” Ratchet continued with a shrug. “Who knows what morons like that are thinking?”
“Yeah, who knows if they’re gonna be bothering folks again?” Cam had no trouble hearing the skepticism in Denny’s voice.
Ratchet sighed with practiced overexaggeration. “I hope not.”
Cam came out of the emergency bay area. “What do you want, Officer?”
His bitter tone asked more than the words. The underlying question was “Are you here as a policeman or as a friend?”
Denny straightened his spine. “I need to talk to Sabrina when she’s stable.”
“Kinda hard for her to do that since that animal nearly choked her to death. They’re stitching her up now. Some of those cuts went deep.”
“You sure it was Specs?”
“Yes.”
The one-word answer preceded a stare-off between the officer and the Knight. Neither of them moved an inch.
Denny was the first one to break. “You know where he is?”
“Not a clue.” Cam gave a quick, jerky shake of his head. Inside it, he finished his thought. But I know where he’s going.
“Don’t do anything stupid, son.”
Rage nearly consumed Cam’s vision. He pointed at the floor. “You see me sitting here? Waiting for my woman? The one that goddamn piece of shit attacked and almost killed, remember? Where else would I be, ya jagoff?” He held up his arm and knocked on the cast. “Don’t forget about this shit.”
Denny’s mouth hardened at the jagoff insult, but he said nothing. “You know the drill. You hear anything, you let me know ASAP, yeah?”
“That fucker has a lot of enemies now, Officer. Not just me and not just the Knights. He and his brother hurt a lot of people. Killed more than one. There are plenty out there who would love to see him gone and not think twice about doing a soft-shoe dance on his grave.”
“I get it. But I’m also an officer of the law and I swore an oath, much as it pains me sometimes.”
Cam relaxed a little. “Respect.”
Denny heaved a long sigh. “I guess I’m done here for now. Call me when she’s able to answer questions, yeah?”
“That will be up to her.”
There was nothing else Denny could say or do. He left the waiting room and headed toward the parking deck.
The doors swished open, and a young female doctor appeared. “She’s stable, and her vitals are all good. Breathing on her own, although it hurts like hell. She’ll be sore for a few days. I’m sending her home with some painkillers and muscle relaxers. Lots of rest.”
The doctor shifted her glasses from her nose to rest on her head, effectively pulling back her mane of black hair.
“You’ve seen her. She’s got a significant amount of bruising and swelling around her face and eyes.
There’s some petechia in the whites, so you’ll see some redness where a few capillaries burst. We don’t think her vision is compromised, but it’s a good idea to follow up with an ophthalmologist.”
With every word the pretty doctor spoke, Cam’s fury ratcheted up. He wanted to call Wolf with a location, but his president had told him to stay put.
“That’s your alibi, and it’s rock solid. She needs you more than you need to be with us. We’re gonna take care of it, yeah?”
The need to kill something was almost unbearable, especially when he went back to the curtained alcove where Sabrina lay in pristine white sheets. Her eyes were covered with compresses, but the dark purple was still visible.
He’d seen the cuts.
He’d seen the bruises.
He’d seen the blood.
Rage like he’d never experienced ignited in his gut, and he visualized taking his favorite knife and slowly carving pieces off the man who did this to his woman.
He’d start with fingers, then the nose, ears, lips, working his way down to his balls and dick.
He’d leave the eyes for last so that fucker could see everything.
“Cam? Is that you?”
Sabrina’s weak voice brought him back. He gasped for air when he realized he’d stopped breathing while he fantasized about the torture he’d inflict. “I’m right here, baby.” He moved forward and took her hand, the one that didn’t have an IV in it. “Right here.”
“Can you get me an ice cream cone? Like that butterscotch one from the rally.”
Tears filled his eyes at the request. “Sure thing, sweetheart.”
“Good. I’m gonna need the energy to kick some ass.”