10. Tripp
One hour,ten minutes, and fifty-six seconds. That’s how long it’s been since my girl was loaded into an ambulance heading for the emergency room.
My world was turning inside out, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
The morning had been going so well. The boys and I went for a ride, letting the wind and open roads ease away the tensions that life brought you.
I’d taken my little one for her first ride. Helmet, gloves, and her own pair of riding boots. She looked adorable sitting on my bike. Her happy giggles as we circled the town square melted my old, crusty heart. Phoenix had taken a video and gotten pictures since Casey was out working. I didn’t want her to miss any of the fun.
With ice cream on our minds, we went with the others to the Ice Cream Shack. As we waited in line, Gabe pulled up, his lights flashing.
I would never forget the look on his face as he walked toward us.
His words would haunt me forever.
“Tripp, I need you to stay calm.”
Calm? What the fuck? “What happened?”
Casey had gone to work this morning. Had there been an accident? She could have been hit; someone could have hit her car. She could have lost control. The possibilities raced through my head.
“Hey, stay with me.” He met my gaze. “There was an acc-incident. Casey’s pretty banged up. Shelby is looking her over, but we called for an ambulance.”
I jerked back, trying to move around him to get to my bike. I still had Penny in my arms. “Where is she?”
“Pops, here, let me have her. You can’t ride like a maniac with a baby on your bike.”
Penny let out a loud cry, reaching for me as I climbed on my bike. “Daddy.”
“Princess, Daddy has to go see about Mommy, okay? I’ll be back soon. I promise. Stay with your brother.”
“Tripp,” Gabe called out. “She’s over at the park. She’s going to need you to keep that head of yours in the game. All right, man?”
“Come on, we’ll go with you.”
“Dammit!” Phoenix cursed. His choice was simple though. He stayed with his sister.
“I’m taking Penny to the center. She’ll be safe there,” Gabe called out, taking her from her brother. “You go with him,” he said, pointing his chin my way. “Keep him out of cuffs, yeah?”
“I’ll do my best, Sheriff.”
I paced, my anger growing with each step I took.
“Any word yet?”
I shook my head. “She’s having scans done. They mentioned her arm, shoulder, and a CT of her head. The goose egg was worrying them.”
It was just me and Gabe in the waiting area, the others were on the way, but today had a lot of moving parts. Mainly, no one was prepared for this shit!
That was until Lori stepped into the waiting area. She gave me a squeeze. “Dani Lynn and Stella are at the center with Penny. She’s fine. They have all the kids in the craft room; she has no idea anything is wrong.”
“I didn’t want to leave her, but Casey needed me.” I scrubbed a hand over my beard. “Thanks, Lori.”
“I know you didn’t. It’s hard to leave them when bad things are happening around you. But there, she’s not alone; she has other littles to play with.”
“That’s all well and good, but is she safe there? Can someone get in to hurt her? That’s the kind of shit rolling around in my head.”
“The center is like Fort Knox. I assure you, an army of trained men would have a helluva time getting in there,” Gabe chuckled.
“The center is that guarded?” I asked, astonished. My head tilted to the side, my gaze on him. It was a safe haven for battered persons. Women, men, kids, everyone was welcome. I knew all of that, but making my brain calm down enough to listen was another thing altogether.
“Yeah, it’s that guarded. You gotta remember, that’s my kid in there. She has a duty to the people inside those walls. She wants them to feel safe. That means cameras on the entire perimeter. Bolted outside doors that only open with a fingerprint, retinal scan, or the code. Only four people have the actual code, and it changes every thirty days. Everyone that’s a part of the center has a full background check, SLED, military—you name it, we find it. The selected people that work there are programmed in with either their prints and or a scan. It’s overkill, but the last time there was a problem there, Kris and Lana were caught unawares outside. It almost cost Kris her life. The chances of something like that happening again are slim to none.” He shrugged.
“The boys are there as well. Derek and Carter have eyes on the cameras. If someone or something breeches the invisible fence, they’ll know it.” Lori chuckled this time. “It’s like nerd heaven in the security room. You’d think it was the White House.” She smiled up at Gabe. “Like Gabe said, Dani Lynn takes her job seriously. Besides all of that, there are four deputies stationed around on the street. Drew and Jacks will be heading that way as soon as their patrols are done.”
Gabe raised a brow at his wife.
“What? I got all the information, not just what you asked for. I knew he’d want it all. Y’all are cut from the same cloth, ya know?”
He laughed, wrapping his arm around her. “Thank you.”
I was thankful for her giving it to me straight. If nothing else, I could say I knew my little angel was safe. With that load off my shoulders, I went back to pacing.
“I have to get back upstairs. If you hear anything or need me, just call the nurses’ station.”
“Thanks, baby. I’ll try to come see you before we leave.”
I looked down at my watch. Only ten minutes had passed since I’d last looked at it.
This was fucking insanity.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“How did this happen? There has been no sign of that bastard, and all of a sudden—bam. There he is! She was going to work; she should have been fine. Only gone for a few hours?—”
“Pops!” Phoenix came in, his face pinched in worry. “How is she?”
“I don’t know yet. Waiting for them to finish her scans.”
Trace moved to stand beside Phoenix. “I talked to Dani Lynn and Shelby when I dropped Stel off. Casey told them and I quote, ‘He knows. Can’t let him get her.’ She panicked when she didn’t see Penny at the playground.”
“He’s after my kid!”
“I don’t know, man.”
Something—my mama would say it was the devil—woke up inside me. He’d not only hurt my girl, he had threatened my child.
“I’m going to kill that motherfucker!” I turned and punched the nearest wall. My fist went through the sheet rock. Once. Twice. Arms wrapped around my chest, pulling me back.
“Old man, don’t get arrested today. Deep breaths. Keep your shit together.”
“He’s dead. You hear me. He hurt her; he’s fucking dead!”
“You’ll get no arguments from me.” That’s my boy.
“Everyone needs to calm down. This is a hospital, not an MMA ring!” Gabe barked out. “I know you’re pissed, man. I do get that, but think, man. You have to do this the right way. Don’t make me arrest you.”
Phoenix still had his arms around me. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart and raging anger.
“Pops, he’s right. Stripes aren’t a good color on anyone.”
I knew he was right, but honestly, I didn’t give a shit right now. I was going to hunt this motherfucker down and peel his skin off of him.
“When I find him, I’m going to give him the beating of his life. The last one will look like a fucking party,” I muttered, seething.
I patted my kid’s hands, and he reluctantly let me go.
“As soon as I know how she is, I’m out.”
“Come on, Pops, think about this now.”
“Tripp, no.”
“Don’t tell me to think. Or no! He hurt her. She’s lying on a fucking table right now having scans done so they know just how bad she’s hurt. I should have buried him in a deep hole the last time he hurt her. I won’t make that mistake again.”
“Edward’s family. Tripp?” a tentative voice rolled through the room.
My head snapped around toward the open doorway. A nurse wearing pink scrubs looked us over.
“Is she okay?” I moved through the bodies blocking me.
“She’s back in the ER bay. She’s asking for you.”
“I’m coming with you, Pops.”
Phoenix came to stand beside me. The nurse looked between us. I said, “Please take us to see her.”
She did. With a glance back at the others, I headed out to follow the nurse. Phoenix bumped my shoulder. “You’re scowling. If you go in there like that, you’ll upset her more.”
He was right. I let out a huff. “Seeing her hurt…it makes me murderous.”
“Like you used to tell me, you can feel it, just don’t show it.”
I clapped him on the shoulder, nodding.
I could do this; vengeance would be mine soon enough.
My eyes came open slowly. I was startled at the sudden burst of noise that filtered in.
“Ms. Edwards, I’m Nurse Lane. It’s okay. These machines make noises.” She was pressing buttons on an IV machine.
I looked around, a little confused. Had I fallen asleep?
“On a scale of one to ten, one being no pain and ten being the worst pain, how’s your pain?”
It had been null until I’d tried sitting up. Fire licked through my arm. However, it wasn’t as bad as it had been.
“Maybe an eight. I do feel nauseous.”
“I’ll let the doctor know; we’ll get you something for that.” She made a note on a pad lying beside a tablet she’d carried in. “Are you having any vision changes? Ringing in your ears?”
“Um, no. I don’t think so. My head’s pounding though.” I winced, hissing in pain as I touched the side of my face.
“You took a pretty good knock to your noggin; the headache will hopefully ease off once the meds fully enter your system.”
I laid my head back. “Is my family here? I want to see Tripp.”
“I’ll find out. Do you need anything? A warm blanket? Water?”
“No. Just him, thank you.”
The curtain on my hole in the wall shut, leaving me alone. I replayed what had happened. His anger. My panic and pain. I could only hope and pray that Penny was safe.
The curtains opened a little bit later. Tripp came in, Phoenix on his heels. They moved to opposite sides of the bed.
“Is your pain under control? What did the doctors say?”
“Where’s Penny?”
“She’s at Dani Lynn’s place. They’re doing crafts. She’s fine, baby. How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay. Sore. Stiff.” I tried to keep my arm still. Before the x-rays, they’d gotten blood for tests, and tapped me for a urine sample. Now I waited, praying nothing was too damaged.
“The goose egg doesn’t seem as large now.” Phoenix patted my knee. “You’ll be okay. I know it.”
“We need to discuss what happened.”
I looked away and sighed. “He found me, hit me… I got away. End of it.”
He had no time to ask more because the curtains opened. Though that look in his eyes said more than his words ever would.
“Ms. Edwards, I’m Doctor Greene. I’ve reviewed your scans with the help of radiology. There are no skull fractures. The knot on your temple doesn’t seem to be more than a blaring sign that someone clocked you a good one.”
“She’ll be alright?”
“Yes, but it’ll take a little bit of time to heal from her injuries.” He looked from Tripp to me. “We’ll need to clean up your arm. For that they’re going to have the orthopedic surgeon?—”
“I need surgery. What…” I had to fight to hold back a sob.
“No, ma’am, it’s not that at all. We need them to assess you before we can get someone in to scrub your arm. You have flecks of debris in some of those cuts, a few of which will need some stitches, others we can close using steri-strips. It’s going to be a tedious and painful process. You can be given something to numb the area, or we can have ortho come in to give you a nerve block.”
“I’ve had more stitches in the last few weeks than I’ve had my entire life.” I frowned. “This freaking sucks donkey balls.” I looked around the room and let out a long, frustration-filled breath. My eyes teared up again.
“Go for the nerve block,” Phoenix remarked, grimacing. He held out his left arm. The scar that ran up it was jagged but very faint.
“What happened?”
“I fell off a roof. The beam I’d been standing on shifted. It was too late to do more than go with it. I caught my arm on something—a nail, roof corner, a pipe, it could have been anything if I’m honest. The nerve block they gave me when I went up to have it worked on, that one procedure saved me hours of pain.”
“It hurts like a bitch when it wears off though. If we are being transparent. I had one after an accident once. My calf was hamburger, and they spent hours pulling gravel out of it. I felt nothing more than the pressure of the procedure.”
I shuddered. “And you wonder why I don’t want to ride?”
He leaned in and kissed my nose. “Never fear, I won’t put you on a bike unless you want it.”
“Okay, let’s do the thing. I don’t want to feel anything.”
“Very well. Nurse Lane will be back in, and we will get you set up. We will ask that everyone else leave while they work on you.”
“I love you.” Tripp leaned in and kissed my lips softly. “See you in a little bit, okay?”
“I’ll be here…” I made a face, then winced when that hurt.
After another kiss, he walked out with Phoenix. I had a very bad feeling churning in my gut. That man was up to something, and here I was stuck, not able to go after him.