Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“Hey, Callow,” Daphne said, giving me a tired, pained smile.
“Good news, Mom,” the doctor said, coming back in. “She doesn’t need surgery. Just a cast for six to eight weeks and some physical therapy after. Start thinking of what color you want,” he added, looking at Daphne. “We have them all.”
I rubbed a hand down Sabrina’s back, her relief palpable as she smiled at Daphne and debated light blue or light pink.
“I’ll step out,” I said when the nurse came back to treat Daphne’s scrapes that were not only on her face but her arms, hands, and legs, since she’d been wearing pajama shorts when she’d fallen off the balcony.
Alone, I called Sully.
“Kayak is taken care of. What else do you need?”
“Any stores open this late?” I asked.
“Yeah, one or two. What do you need picked up?”
“Locks. Door alarms. A fire escape ladder. Pepper spray. Taser… anything that would help a single mom and her teen daughter feel safer in their apartment.”
The protective instinct in me wanted to grab the two of them, usher them into the SUV, then drive them to the clubhouse to keep them locked up where I knew they would be safe. But that didn’t exactly feel like a plausible idea. So I was going to do whatever it took to shore up their place.
“I mean, we have other things that could help them feel safe…” he said. “Whole safe of ‘em, in fact.”
“I can ask. Maybe bring an extra. But I have a feeling that isn’t going to be the solution Sabrina wants.”
“Okay. I’ll get the shit. Just tell me where and when to bring it.”
“Thanks, man,” I said, feeling a little of the weight fall off of my shoulders.
“You owe me breakfast,” he said.
“That’ll probably be when I get in at this rate,” I said, knowing things tended to move at a glacial pace at the hospital. I wasn’t sure I’d ever been out of one in under six hours.
“Lemme know if you or Sabrina need anything else,” he said before hanging up.
I took a moment to go down the hall to grab two coffees and a hot chocolate out of the machine, bringing them in to the girls as soon as the curtain was pulled back to show they were done with any sort of private treatments.
“How ya feeling, kid?” I asked as Daphne automatically reached for the cup with her wrong hand, then winced as she lowered it back down.
“Okay,” she said, nodding. “Tired.”
“It’s because all the adrenaline is spent,” I told her. “You’ll feel more like yourself after some sleep. But don’t count on them being done with your arm for another hour or two.”
“Ugh,” Daph grumbled as she took a sip of her hot chocolate.
“And you’re probably going to be seeing a detective either here tonight or they will be in touch tomorrow,” I said, but focused on Sabrina.
“I talked to the police.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But they are going to want to follow up, make sure you didn’t remember anything else. That sort of thing. It’s no pressure. They just want the best chance they got to catch these fuc—guys.”
“You can say ‘fucks,’” Sabrina said, shooting me a small smile before sipping her coffee.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure no curse you can come up with is as inventive as the ones Mom used when the hot water cut out in the middle of her shower last week.”
“In my defense, it didn’t slowly go cool. It went from the scalding hot I like to ice water in a second. And I was all soapy still.”
It was not a good time to be picturing Sabrina naked in the shower all sudsy, her nipples tightened into peaks from the cold water…
Christ.
“If it’s alright with you, can I talk to your mom for just a second?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Daph said, giving me a small smile.
Sabrina followed me a few feet away. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine. I just wanted to ask you if it would be alright if I head back to your place with you so I can set some new locks up? And a door alarm. I also may or may not have pepper spray and a taser waiting for you.”
Sabrina looked up at me for a long moment, her eyes round and a little watery. Before, suddenly, she was throwing an arm around me, and sinking into my chest.
“Thank you,” she said, voice muffled by how she was pressing her face into me. “I didn’t even know where to start.”
“I can also offer you something decidedly more… deadly for protection,” I told her. “If you want it.”
“Not yet,” she said, sucking in a deep breath, but not moving away. “Maybe. But not yet. I don’t want to make decisions like that right now.”
“I understand. And you can always go the legal route for that if you want. A buddy of mine owns the shooting range in town where you could go and get a feel for one before you decide to own one.”