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“I used them to prop her up so she wouldn’t choke on her own

blood. Why would they beat her so severely?” Hal didn’t expect an

answer.

The woman officer led the way to her car, speaking in low tones.

“We’ve had a string of similar attacks in the area. Usually the vic is

not so lucky, though.”

“Excuse me? Did you see her face, or what was left of it? There

is probably not enough plastic surgery in the world to fix the damage

done to her.” And that was the thing that bothered him the most.

While she wasn’t beautiful in the classic sense, he felt a connection

to her. Her green eyes had such trust and intelligence that even the

camera couldn’t hide.

She waited for him to buckle up before pulling onto the road.

“Oh, hun, this is Beverly Hills. Believe me, if she has money, she can

get anything fixed, and be good as new.”

Hal looked at the woman driving with such surety. Her name tag

said Coleman. He hoped he never became quite so jaded. Even if

Felicity was able to get all the corrective surgery to heal the outward

scars, he wondered if her inner wounds could be fixed as easily.

Hal slapped the dash, making the lady cop jump. “Shit, who will

call her next of kin?”

Officer Coleman patted his thigh. “You really are one of the

good guys aren’t you, Aldridge.”

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He couldn’t imagine the phone call that was to come to her

parents. Not even eight o’clock on a Sunday night, and you think

your child is safe from the evils of the world, only to get a phone call

saying just the opposite.

“Shit, one of them got away. A female. She said they made her

do it, and then I got distracted when I realized Felicity

wasn’t…well…I turned my back on the female and she ran off. There

was something about her, though, that didn’t scream victim to me.”

Coleman nodded her head. “Since we have two of the others,

who hopefully aren’t injured too badly.” She looked at him out of the

corner of her eye before continuing. “Maybe they’ll give her identity

up.”

They followed the ambulance, with the sirens and lights flashing,

all the way to the nearest hospital. Hal was pushed to the side while

they wheeled Felicity in. The ER team seemed efficient and quickly

called in a plastic surgeon. Hal listened and waited for Brax. He

knew his captain could get a lot more information than he ever could,

and for some reason it was immensely important that he knew

everything about Felicity.

After a few hours, a couple walked in looking like they were

worth millions of dollars. Hal ignored them, assuming they were

there to see someone else.

“Excuse me, are you the young man who saved our girl?”

Hal’s head shot up at the cultured voice. He got to his feet.

“Hello, ma’am. Are you Felicity’s parents?” The woman looked

nothing like the woman he’d rescued. Neither did the man, but that

didn’t mean they weren’t related.

“Yes, my name is Felicia, and this is my husband, Rand. We

owe you so much for saving our baby.”

Rand and Felicia looked like supermodels.

Hal stuck his hand out and was surprised by the strong grip Rand

had. Felicia looked at his hand and threw her arms around his waist.

He looked over her head at Felicity’s dad and saw tears in the older

man’s eyes. Both of the Evans clearly loved their daughter very

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Lori King

much. Hal hugged Felicia and waited for her hiccupping cries to

subside.

“Have you heard anything about her condition? They won’t tell

me anything because I’m not family.”

“You’re family now, son,” Rand said firmly.

Hal wondered where they’d been, but didn’t question what had

taken them so long to get there. He watched Felicia walk to the desk

with her husband next to her. Both with their backs straight as pins.

Felicity’s mother turned to Rand and murmured
oh thank God,
and

then she broke down into tears again. He felt like a voyeur.

The wait for them to return was the longest three minutes of his

life, but he made himself stand still instead of going to them and

demanding information. Rand tilted his wife’s face up and brushed

her tears away with his thumbs, and then he nodded in Hal’s

direction. Luckily, he’d been given a shirt from Officer Coleman’s

workout bag. The woman kept a spare change of clothes, and liked

men’s T-shirts instead of women’s. Why he was worried about being

shirtless in front of these people, he had no clue, but there was

something that made him want to impress them.

“They have her in a medically induced coma and stopped the

bleeding. The doctors don’t believe there’s any brain damage, but

won’t know until all the swelling goes down. There’s extensive

damage to her…fa…face. She’s going to need a lot of surgeries, and

even then they don’t know…oh my poor baby.” Felicia buried her

face in Rand’s chest again.

Rand held Felicia closer. “They didn’t rape her. There’s no

evidence of that atrocity. Now, we will just go one day at a time. She

will have the best that money can buy.”

Hal nodded, but knew all the money in the world couldn’t blot

out the physical and mental pain that she’d already suffered, and

what was sure to come. He breathed a relieved sigh that at least he’d

gotten there before they’d been able to rape her.

“How long will they keep her in the coma?” Hal asked.

“A couple weeks probably.” Rand soothed his wife as she cried

at his words.

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“It will give her body a chance to heal.” Hal wasn’t sure who he

was reassuring, them or himself. He was in California on vacation,

and hadn’t planned to stay for more than a couple extra days of sun

and surfing with his buddies. Looks like he would be staying a little

longer.

“Give us your information,” Rand said.

Hal pulled out his card, handing it over without hesitation. A

commotion down the hall had them all turning to see Brax coming

their way.

“That’s my buddy, Brax. I called him when I wasn’t sure what

was going on. He’s my captain.”

Mr. Evans studied the card. “SmokeJumper huh?”

With a nod, Hal waited for Brax. He made the introductions, and

saw Brax’s eyebrows rise. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the

obvious wealth or because of the too small T-shirt he had on.

“I’ve spoken with the Chief of Police. Your leather jacket, along

with your shirts, are being released since they aren’t considered

evidence any longer. The one man who was killed, pardon my frank

talk ma’am, has a rap sheet longer than my leg, and his fingerprints

match those on one of the other victims. The other two are going to

live, although I’m not sure how much they’ll be good to society.

They keep murmuring and rocking back and forth, or so I’m told. I

think their brains are scrambled. Again, their fingerprints are all over

several other victims, and they are running other bodily fluids to see

if they match as well.” Brax coughed and looked away.

“Its okay, Felicity wasn’t raped.” Hal slapped him on the back,

making him stagger forward.

“Easy, boy. Remember your strength.” Brax grimaced.

“Oofta, sorry.” Hal ran his hand over his face. He hadn’t realized

how worried he was, or how much he depended on Brax.

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