Someone had cleaned up Bubba’s hands. The knuckles on both had been split open and bloody when we’d gotten in the car. The ride back to Frankie’s place where we got our own vehicles had been dead silent. Coop texted us the whole way. Not that any of the updates made us feel better.
Frankie was unconscious.
Frankie’s suffered abrasions and contusions.
They were pretty sure she’d been drugged.
No. Shit.
The wooziness had hit then. The sick feeling. It had been coming in waves since just before we realized Frankie hadn’t come back from the bathroom.
At the hospital, getting answers was like pulling teeth. No one would talk to us. It was why Coop wouldn’t leave.
The cops showed up.
The nurse advocate.
Tough lady. I liked her.
She didn’t take crap from anyone, the cops, the doctors, us…and then Frankie finally woke up.
Even after I’d given them a urine sample and confirmed there’d been drugs in the water, the answer hadn’t helped. It just made me angrier.
Angry some fucker had done it.
Angry some fucker turned out to be Mitch.
Angry the fucker did it to Frankie.
Maybe he hadn’tmeantfor her to have the water, but that didn’t matter. He’d taken advantage of it.
He’d hurt her.
I was so fucking over people hurting her.
“Hey…” Bubba’s voice pulled me out of those dark thoughts. Not far really, they were right there. The violence in his eyes promised me he wasn’t pulling me out. Not really. He followed me right in. “Did we ever find her mother?”
“Yes,” I said spitting out the word. “Jeremy confirmed it for me. She and Eddie are in Prague.”
Bubba closed his eyes. “Bitch.”
“Pretty much.”
Not only had the bitch moved out, she’d left the country. No word. Not even a fuck off. Fine. Screw her.
I’d called Wittaker. He promised to file an emergency brief to get her emancipation rolling. It was a sticky process. I didn’t care what it cost. Frankie deserved so much better than this crap.
If Wittaker couldn’t get it done, I’d call Grandfather.
I owed the old man a call anyway.
He could do anything.
“Do you need a lawyer?” I should have asked earlier.
“No,” Bubba said with a shrug. “Not yet. They aren’t charging me with anything as far as I know. I don’t care if they do. Asshole had it coming.”
Yes. Yes he did.