Page 102 of Villainous Summer

I took the shirt, thanked him, and changed in the bathroom. It was too wide and short for me but better than the bloody button-down I had been wearing for the past two hours, which I tossed in a biohazard trash can.

A detective in a suit approached me, carrying a tablet with a small keyboard. He acknowledged us with a curt nod, his bushy blonde mustache not moving. “Mr. Logan, I’m Detective Rhodes.” He turned to Peter. “Peter. Good to see you, even under these circumstances.”

Peter stood, putting his hand out to shake the officer’s. “Calvin, any news?”

“Normally, we’d send a patrol officer over to have this conversation, but I wanted to talk to you in person.” Detective Rhodes motioned to the chairs beside us. “About forty-five minutes ago, a man went into the emergency department in Rosedale.”

I furrowed my brow.

Rosedale was almost an hour away from Ridgewood, on the southern tip of our peninsula and in the neighboring county.

If he had driven across the bridge, he would have made it to the Seattle side, where he might have disappeared in the larger population.

“He had substantial damage to his left eye, scratches all over his face, arms, and neck, with severe bruising on other parts of his body. His injuries are consistent with a physical fight, likely caused by someone smaller than him fighting him off. He was also covered in more blood than his injuries could cause. The staff there notified the sheriff’s office, who was able to track me down.” His gaze swung to me. “I would need a positive ID from Summer, but it would appear that Cory Thompson will soon be behind bars.”

Conflicting emotions warred in me. I was proud of Summer for causing enough damage to make him need hospitalization, but I was also angry I couldn’t get my hands on him first.

Beside me, Peter cracked his beefy knuckles, likely with the same thoughts. “Rosedale, huh?”

Detective Rhodes widened his eyes, frowning with a head shake. “Peter, he’s being observed by an officer of the Pierce County sheriff’s office. He’s not going anywhere. We can hold him on Mr. Logan’s account of the car matching the one seen driving away and his injuries for now.”

“You sure that sheriff can’t take a little break and give me five minutes?” Peter asked.

“No. He won’t. Let justice take over. For now, focus on Summer.” The officer put his thick hand out, and Peter shook it, then offered it to me. “You did a good job getting her here, son. If it wasn’t for you being there, she might not have made it.”

I couldn’t take the compliment. If I had been home earlier, she wouldn’t have been hurt in the first place. But Detective Rhodes was not the person to have that conversation with.

“Thank you, Detective.”

When he left, Peter and I were alone again, in the quiet of the ever-approaching night.

I clasped my hands together and waited for the woman I loved to stabilize.

Summer

Everything hurt. I had said that phrase countless times. After a long hike with Autumn, the day after I got the bottomless mimosas with the girls for my twenty-third birthday, after catching the flu.

But never had my body hurt more than waking up in that hospital bed.

The bright lights burned my eyes as I tried to open them, blurry shapes clearing into human forms into the face I held in my mind as I bled out.

I opened my mouth to say his name, but no sound came out. My throat burned, and I placed a hand on it to feel the bandage where I was slashed and likely deeply bruised.

Van saw my motion and got me water from a large clear plastic cup with a bendy straw. The water was lukewarm but helped soothe it.

“How do you feel?” he asked, taking my hand.

“Like an asshole cut off my air supply and beat my ass,” I croaked, the words scorching my throat. Planting a hand beside me, I tried to shift in the bed, but my aching muscles wouldn’t allow it. Flopping back on the bed, I knew I had to conserve my energy and words. “Cory?”

A darkness flashed over his face.

“Arrested in Rosedale yesterday. Came into the ER blind in one eye. They’re holding him for vehicular assault for hitting you with his car, since I saw that. Once you’re able to talk to the police, they’ll be able to add attempted murder to his charge.”

Attempted murder.

I could have died.

“You fought like hell. I’m proud of you, Sunshine.”

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