6. Tucker #2
“Do you want me to call your family? I can have them meet us here,” I ask.
“No, I don’t want them involved just yet. Can we wait until we get to the hospital first?”
“Whatever you want. You’re in charge here. I’m going to call the police now, okay?” I tell her, pulling my phone out of my back pocket and showing it to her.
She nods and I bring the phone to my ear. I make the call and it feels like the minute I finish explaining to the dispatcher what happened, everything moves at lightning-speed.
I walk with Baylee to the kitchen, shielding her so she doesn’t need to look over at the area where she was attacked.
We choose to sit in an area that won’t disturb the crime scene.
It isn’t until we walk through the living room that I really take in the force of the violence in front of me.
The hole in the wall where he shoved her brings my blood to a boil all over again and I can only imagine how scared she must’ve been.
Once there’s a slight knock at the door, I greet the officers and have them speak to Baylee where she remains shielded from the mess Myles left behind.
She’ll have to walk them through what went on earlier, but I’ll keep her from looking at everything longer than she has to.
I stand behind her, blocking her view of the living room the best I can until she is forced to walk through the events of the night and show the officers what happened.
At one point, I make a move to give her some space, but she reaches for me to stay, so I stand next to her while she retells exactly what happened throughout the evening.
She begins with the dinner with Myles at a restaurant for his office and the moment she starts to repeat his vile words, I have to hold back my reaction.
Luckily, Baylee can’t see the reaction on my face, because I’m having a hard time keeping my features neutral at the moment.
This asshole better be found after tonight because if he steps one foot too close to her, he may not be standing straight again.
Once Baylee gets to the point of her story where she’s explaining everything that went on in the apartment, she begins to move through her living room, doing her best to explain how Myles attacked.
Some of her memory is a little hazy due to the fact she lost consciousness, but she does a good job keeping her composure, although a few tears finally come loose at the end.
“Ms. Rios, I think we have everything we need here to file our arrest warrant. If we need anything else, we’ll contact you. Here’s my information. If you think of anything else, please don’t hesitate to reach out.” Officer Tamos hands each of us her card, a sad smile gracing her features.
“Also, we’d like you to make sure you stay somewhere else tonight. Have you contacted your roommates to let them know not to come back? That lock will need to be replaced,” Officer Tamos explains.
“Oh my God, I forgot to let the girls know.” She brings her hand to her face.
“It’s okay. We can let them know once morning comes. They won’t be coming back yet. We’ll head to the hospital and once we have you checked out and cleared, we’ll call them,” I tell her. She gives me a small nod.
Officer Tamos seems satisfied with that plan and moves toward the front door. “Also, make sure you get this lock fixed as soon as possible. We will get things moving to get the warrant out for Mr. Stempler, but I’d feel more comfortable knowing this is repaired.”
“Yes, I’ll get some calls out to companies while Baylee is getting seen at the hospital.”
“Great. And you’ll have somewhere to stay, Ms. Rios?”
Baylee is looking over at the hole in the wall, lost in thought.
“Baylee, did you hear Officer Tamos?” I ask her.
“Huh?” She pulls herself out of her thoughts.
“You have a friend to stay with while you get the locks changed?” Officer Tamos asks again.
“Oh, um, I’m moving, so Myles won’t find me here anyway,” she says, shocking me.
“I see. Well, make sure to still get this fixed soon for the safety of your roommates.” Officer Tamos looks over at me, leaving me stunned while I look over at Baylee, this time I’m the one left without words.
The officers say their goodbyes and I walk them out. Once they leave, I set myself in motion to gather some things. Baylee is still moving slowly, probably now that the adrenaline is wearing off, she’s feeling sore all over.
“Maybe we should gather some belongings. We can always come back in a few days and grab a few more things too. But for now, some things for overnight essentials would be best. I think whomever you’re staying with probably has a few things you can borrow, just tell me what to grab for you and I’ll throw it in a carry-on or something,” I tell her, moving toward her room.
I realize I’m moving toward her room and she isn’t following. I come back out to the living room and Baylee is still staring at that wall.
“Baylee, we need to get you to the hospital. Come show me some stuff I can grab for you. You don’t have to lift a finger.
Just a few items are fine. I bet your friend has whatever else you need.
Then your brother or I can drive back and grab a few more things for you before you officially move again and get situated wherever you end up,” I explain.
This move was news to me. Then again, I barely talk to Baylee anymore and Rios never talks about his sister to me, so I shouldn’t be so surprised. I’ll let her tell me more as she chooses. I turn and make my way to her room, hearing her footsteps following this time.
I walk into her closet and find her carry-on luggage easily.
Pulling it down, I bring it to her bed and unzip it, waiting for her to guide me in what to grab.
I was so distracted I hadn’t noticed the few packed boxes around her room.
She must’ve been preparing to move prior to all this happening with Myles.
“Okay, let me know what I should start putting in here. You can sit down and I’ll do all the heavy lifting,” I tell her. I want to get her to the hospital as soon as possible.
“Um, just some of those dresses right there.” She points to some items hanging in the closet, so I go ahead and begin pulling items off the hangers.
From there, she continues guiding me and I fold and place items in the luggage.
Little by little it fills up. She gets up to get her underwear and toiletries. Once the bag is full, I close it up.
“Okay, is there anything else you want to grab before we head out?” I ask her.
She grabs a change of clothes and places it in a tote. “I’ll change once I get the all-clear from the hospital staff. I assume they’ll need me to keep this on until they evaluate me,” she explains, pulling her arm around her middle again.
I simply nod, keeping my anger below the surface because I still have to compartmentalize my feelings right now. I can’t let my mind wander to what Myles did to her tonight.
“Alright. Then we’ll go to the hospital.
Did you let your friend know we’ll be headed their way after we’re done at the hospital?
I know it’ll likely be a few hours, but it’s good they’re aware.
” I don’t know what time of night it’ll be once we’re done over at Connecticut General, but I have a feeling the sun will be rising.
I’ll have to let the Rios family know what happened here sooner rather than later.
“Um, yeah, about that,” Baylee begins.
“Do you need your phone?” I ask. I realize then I haven’t seen her with her phone.
“No, it’s not that. My move. Not many know about it. I, um”—she looks down—“I’m moving back to Boston.”
“Oh. I didn’t know.” This is completely out of left field and has my head spinning.
“Yeah, it’s sort of a new turn of events.
But it’s a great opportunity with school for me.
I’m transferring. It just happened within the last week.
It has nothing to do with what happened tonight, although it’s perfect timing.
And, yeah, um, I don’t have housing figured out yet.
I have most of my stuff packed up.” She motions with her hand around her room.
“Okay, so are you going to stay with your parents?” I ask.
“That sounded like a probable plan at first, sure.” The way she isn’t looking at me makes my heart rate uptick.
“Okay, what am I missing, Bay?”
It’s only then she looks up at me and the determination in her eyes is the first time I see that a piece of the strength Baylee possesses is still in there.
“You’re the friend I want to move in with, Tucker.”