“Calm down, Riker. She’s upset, and she’s been threatened. She’s obviously scared,” Stone said as he placed his hand on Riker’s shoulder.
“I don’t know what’s going on here, but Miss Morgan was very distraught and has numerous bruises. We had to sedate her, to calm her down. She’ll be spending the night,” he stated.
“Doctor, Miss Malone is involved in a domestic violence situation. Her life was threatened as well as her boyfriends’ lives. This is the detective in charge of the case, and myself, and my partner Zane Heston are involved as well. She’s scared, and the worst thing we could do right now is waste time. She has information that will help capture the man responsible for her injuries,” Cash Corbin stated. The doctor seemed to think about it a moment.
“There are rules for a reason. However, I cannot stand in the way of an investigation.” Cash nodded his head and thanked him. The doctor grabbed Cash’s arm. “She’s distraught. I mean terrified and she needs comfort, not demands and yelling.” The doctor gave a stern expression toward Riker.
Riker lowered his head. “I’m sorry, Doc. I’m in love with the woman
, and she was just assaulted by some monster. I’m trying my hardest here,” Riker admitted then realized what he said and looked at Nash. Nash placed his hand on Riker’s shoulder. “I’m in love with her, too. We’ll get through to her.”
The doctor cleared his throat. “I get it now. Why don’t the three of you go in to see her. She may fall asleep as the sedative kicks in.”
“Thank you, Doc,” Nash said. Nash, Riker, and Colt followed the doctor out of the room. Their buddies each touched their arms or shoulders in support.
* * * *
Nash felt his throat tighten up and tears fill his eyes. Chastity was all bruised and battered. Her eye was swollen shut, her cheek black and blue, and her chin was, too, and even her neck had bruises. There was a big bandage on her shoulder, and she was lying on her side. From where he entered the room, he could see more bandages down her back. He glanced at Riker, who ran his fingers through his own hair and shook his head.
“Oh God.”
“Colt?” Chastity whispered in a groggy voice.
“Yeah, baby, it’s me. How are you doing now?” He leaned over and gently pushed strands of hair away from her face.
“I want to go home, Colt. I’m not safe here. Bring me to your place,” she whispered, and her voice sounded like it clogged up with tears.
“Baby, you need protection. The kind of protection that my place doesn’t have.”
“No. Please, Colt.”
Colt looked at Nash and Riker with pleading eyes. Nash could see the tears in Colt’s eyes. He loved Chastity. They really were best friends.
“Chastity?” Riker whispered, and she turned suddenly toward him. She blinked her eyes, and then shook her head. She turned her face into the pillow.
“Go away, Riker. Please just leave and forget about me.”
Riker moved to where Colt was, and Nash joined him. Nash placed his hand on her hip. Riker leaned down, and somehow had the composure to not lose it, seeing her bruises.
“Baby, we love you. We’re going to protect you,” Riker whispered.
Tears rolled down her cheeks. “You can’t protect me. He’s going to kill both of you.”
“No, baby, he can’t get to us. We know who he is now. The police are looking for him, and the detectives.”
“No, Nash. Stop them. He’ll kill both of you. He knows where you live, and who you both are.”
Her words were mumbled. The sedatives were slowing down her speech, but she was trying so hard to talk.
“So what. It doesn’t matter. We were agents, remember? We’ve dealt with worse individuals than this guy,” Riker said then smiled as he caressed the hair from her face.
“You don’t understand,” she started to say, and then her eyes began to roll back.
“Rest, Chastity. Rest and we’ll talk about it tomorrow, when you’re feeling better,” Nash said.
“He knows you…both. He knew…Maggie,” she whispered then fell asleep.
Chapter 11