Chapter 3
It was always a circus when it was a cop. That it was multiple cops injured tonight—of course it would be a spectacle. And he…had to be a part of it now.
He kept his expression calm, blank. Like he was there from obligation more than anything else. But it was all an act. His hands were shaking.
This…how had it come to this?
His son, his boy. His only son. His boy probably wasn’t going to survive this. The head trauma, it was just too much. Too extensive.
He had asked. The physician had told him specifically—the odds of his son surviving after the damage…
No. His son…
He closed his eyes, forced himself to stay strong. There were people watching him now. Eyes were on him.
Of course they were, it was something he had been used to for the last two and a half decades.
There were TSP all over the hospital tonight. He didn’t recall how many cops had been injured out there somewhere, but…the hospital was packed with cops. Everywhere.
He just looked around. There had to be a quiet spot, somewhere…where he could just go to be alone. To think. To decide what to do next.
His son…his boy. Stupid. This had been so damned stupid.
Now what? Everything was messed up now.
He just needed to find a quiet place to regroup. To figure out his next step.
He turned, told the people surrounding him that he needed to go, to make a call or something. He just needed to be alone.
To plan, to figure out what to do next.
He stepped out of the waiting room. The circus continued.
There was a large crowd there. Women, mostly. Beautiful women.
Dark-haired, beautiful women. He studied them all quickly. They were…everywhere. Right there; if he wanted to, he could reach out. Touch one of them.
There was a woman there. At the center of them all.
She wore a TSP polo, too. Long dark hair pulled up out of her face.
He stared at her for a long, long time. A very beautiful woman, no denying that.
She held a young baby in her arms. The baby was fussing.
Her mother comforted her, beautifully. He studied her, the baby, and the small girl next to her.
They were beautiful. Some part of his mind—that clicked. Beautiful.
It was like a knife through his very soul. As he remembered how beautiful his son had been at that age.
How…his son’s children would most likely not have their father after tonight.
How was he going to explain to his granddaughters what had happened to that man?
He had to…maybe he should just wait. See what happened next. For his son.
There was nothing else he could do to fix this now. But when he found the ones responsible, there was nothing he would not do to make them pay. All he could do was sit there…and wait for the answers to come.