“Knocked her out?”
“She beat the crap out of her and clubbed her over the head with a piece of wood. The poor woman is in intensive care. She may not make it, Valentina.”
“Oh, my God, what would make her do that, and where the hell did she get the piece of wood from?”
“Under the bed. You know those slats of wood that keep the frame and mattress in place,” Gus told her.
“No one else heard anything?” she asked.
“One of the other mothers did, who was awake feeding her baby. She’s the one that called 911 and got help. It wasn’t until they searched rooms that they realized it was Roxie and that the kids were alone,” J.R. explained.
“She went to Samuel and met up with him, that’s a no-brainer. I told you about the things she said to me the other day. How he comes first and the only reason she keeps the kids is because Samuel expects her to and comes back to her for them.”
“She took off. We don’t know where to look for her, just like we haven’t come up with shit on any of our leads to find Samuel,” J.R. told her. Just then, Gus’s phone rang. He glanced at the ID.
“It’s Gunner. Let me get this.”
She looked at J.R.
“What are they going to do with the kids?” she asked him.
“Social services was called in. It’s not going to be good for Roxie if the woman she assaulted died, never mind the consequences even if she lives. She’s going to jail for assault, for child abandonment. It’s a mess.”
“Son of a bitch. You’re certain?” she heard Gus say, and when she looked at him, she knew that the call had something to do with Roxie. Valentina couldn’t help but to worry about the kids, though. She felt terrible and wished there was more she could do. Gus disconnected the call after telling Gunner that he was going to send J.R. to headquarters.
“What’s going on?” J.R. beat her to the question.
“Early this morning there was some sort of raid going down connected with associates of Samuel. We only know that because of this investigation and all the names of dealers and suppliers we got so far. Samuel was there.”
“What? Did they get him?” J.R. asked, looking hopeful, and Valentina felt his excitement, too. This would be great.
“No. He got out, but not after he evaded capture and shot two cops. One of them may not make it.”
Valentina covered her mouth with her hand.
“Fuck!” J.R. said and slammed his hand down on the desk. She felt the same anger, the fear and the upset at the news. They were all family, secured by the badge, by their uniforms and the work they did across the nation and around the world.
Those poor kids were going to wind up in foster care. They were more than likely going to be separated and adopted, if they even were adopted. The good thing was that they were young enough.
“J.R. I want you to head there to meet Gunner and go over what they found and also some of the possible leads in locating Samuel. Valentina, if you could go to the women’s shelter and talk to the six-year-old. See if his mother mentioned anything at all about where she went. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
“Okay,” she said, feeling sick to her stomach.
“I know this is tough, but we need to find them before more people get hurt or killed. Samuel is going to be hunted down by every law enforcement agency in the vicinity. Find Roxie and we find Samuel.”
* * * *
Ridge was coming out of the bank when he spotted Valentina’s car. He looked around for her, feeling his heart race. They hadn’t gotten to speak with her all day. They’d left messages on her cell phone, but she didn’t respond. He had an uneasy feeling in his gut. They had spent the last several days this week talking and hanging out by the fire at night. She couldn’t stay over at their place because she had work and the case she was working on. He
was hoping after coming to dinner at their parents’ house tomorrow that she would stay with them and spend Sunday in their bed. They hadn’t gotten an answer out of her yet.
As he decided whether to wait by her car or call her cell phone, he spotted her coming out of the small boutique. She was carrying a teddy bear and a bag with some other things. She got to her car and he hurried over.
“Valentina,” he said her name, and when she turned around, he could see how sad she was. He squinted at her and stepped closer, and she grabbed onto him and hugged him tight. His heart pounded inside of his chest as he wondered what was wrong.
He caressed her back and then her ass, loving how sexy she looked in her dress pants and pale pink cotton blouse.
“What’s wrong, honey?” he asked her, and when she slightly pulled away, he could see all the emotion and unshed tears in her eyes.