“Did you ask for your clothes to be removed?” he snarled.
“God, no.”
“Then it is worse than it looks. No one. No man, no woman, makes you take off your clothes without permission.”
Okay, so he was right, but he was also wrong. I hadn’t removed my clothes but I didn’t think it was the time or place to tell him the specifics.
Trey was in the water, helping Brady carry me out, keeping his eyes locked onto mine. When Brady adjusted the shirt, I understood why.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
Trey jerked his chin and looked away, stepping in front of us. It’s worth noting, Trey still had his firearm in his hand and a shiver of fear washed over me.
“No one’s gonna hurt you, Hadley.”
With each step Brady took, nausea roiled in my stomach. My shoulders burned, my arms tingled as they hung unnaturally.
“I’m sorry, Hadley.”
“It’s fine.”
“Hang in there, baby, we’re almost to the ambulance.”
With all the strength I had left, I picked my head up and we were indeed close to an ambulance. The back doors of the rig open, EMTs and police waited for us to arrive.
I scanned the area and didn’t see my dad. Thank God.
“You’re not gonna leave me, right?”
“No, I’m not leaving your side.”
Thank God for that, too.
“You shouldn’t’ve moved her,” one of the EMTs groused. “Bring her in.”
Brady stepped into the back of the ambulance, gently laid me on a gurney, then everything was a blur.
I was peppered with questions by the medical professionals about my injuries, and to my horror, Trey’s shirt was removed—silver-lining, a woman did it. She did a quick but thorough scan of my body before she covered me with a blanket.
“Right side, shoulder dislocation. Possible separation on the left,” the EMT called out. “You said you have a headache. Were you hit in the head?”
“No.”
“What happened here?” She gently glided a gloved finger over my cheek.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
My gaze skidded to Brady and I was rethinking wanting him by my side.
Furious didn’t begin to cover the look on his face. Devastated was closer. Destroyed closer still.
“I’m sorry. So sorry.”
“Baby, you got nothing to be sorry for.” I had to hand it to him, he did his best to sound soothing but his anger came through loud and clear.
“Hadley?”
I looked back at the EMT and answered. “I was um…slapped. Not hard enough to give me a concussion or anything. The guy was kinda small so there wasn’t much power behind it.” That was a lie. It’d hurt like a son of a bitch. “I think my head hurts because my shoulders hurt so bad.”
“All right. We’re gonna give you something to dull the pain.”
“Before you do that, we need to ask her some questions,” a police officer said.
“No.” That came from Brady. Firm. Unrelenting. “You’ll wait until she’s been checked out at the hospital. Then you’ll wait until she’s ready to talk to you.”
“That’s not—”
“Pearson,” Ethan cut the officer off and I closed my eyes. “Not now.”
“Lenox, I understand Miss Walker is family. But you know we cannot hold all thirty-five men. We need her to ID the two who took her.”
“Only two out of the thirty-five are dressed in jeans and t-shirts. I think we got who took her.”
“And the man who physically assaulted her. Do you have him?”
I felt it.
The air in the back of the ambulance went electric, but more, the air surrounding the compound sizzled. I didn’t know how it happened, I didn’t know when he’d materialized, but I felt my father’s presence bearing down on me. I looked at Brady for help. I wasn’t sure what I wanted him to do, possibly defuse the situation. Tackle my father before he did something that couldn’t be undone in front of a million cops.
But whatever it was I was looking for in Brady, I did not find. He looked positively homicidal. And that was when I made my decision.
One last stupid thing.
Then I was done and I’d live the rest of my life in whatever bubble they wanted to put me in.
But for now, I was going to save my man and my father.
“I’m fine. Let me up so I can ID him.”
“Absolutely fucking not,” Brady ground out.
No help.
I looked at Ethan and gave him my best pleading stare. Some of the hardness shifted from his face but he shook his head.
“Ethan, please,” I implored.
There was a tick in his jaw and I knew I had him. He was smart. He knew what it meant if