Page 2 of Fracture

“Fuck,” Vinnie whispered.

“Paramedics and police should be there any minute,” Damien said.

Vinnie sucked in a breath and looked back up at the woman he’d been watching for months. The woman who led a multi-agency team without hesitation. She was strong and smart and capable.

And she was broken.

She opened her mouth again, a whisper of a word coming out.

Vinnie moved back to her head again and saw the marks around her throat. It could have been hands or it could have been something more. It didn’t matter what it was, she was going to have a hard time talking for a while.

“I’m not going to let anyone else hurt you, Lorelei. You’re safe now.”

She nodded, the move jerky like it hurt. Her eyes filled with tears.

All Vinnie wanted to do was scoop her up and hold her, but he didn’t know what other injuries she had. That and they’d never actually spoken, so him being in her apartment was more than a little fucked up.

Voices outside grew louder, then the squawk of a radio echoed in the hallway.

“In here,” Vinnie called, drawing the attention of the people heading toward them. “I haven’t cleared the apartment.”

Two officers walked in first, guns drawn. They nodded to Vinnie, then spread out to search the place. Both called out clear and came back into the living room as the paramedics entered.

“Can you tell us what happened here, Mr. Morgan?” one of the cops asked, clearly aware of the overall situation from Damien.

Vinnie shook his head and watched the paramedics work. “I wish I could. I showed up a few minutes ago and found her like this. She’s been missing for three days. People were here two days ago, but there was no sign of her. She’s an FBI Agent.”

“It’s pretty clear someone wanted her dead.”

“Yeah. The people she’s been investigating. We just don’t know who that is.”

“We’ll get a crime lab out here. Hopefully, we’ll find something. Are you local?”

Vinnie shook his head. “No, sir. I live in Niagara Falls, New York. Where she’s been for the last few months, running the investigation.”

“That’s a long way from here.”

“Yeah. These people are smart.”

“Too smart.”

Vinnie nodded. Unfortunately, that was accurate.

“Your name is Lorelei Sloane. You are an FBI Agent,” the woman said.

Lorelei nodded, the slight movement making her brain feel like it was full of eggs. Raw ones that had no shape and would make you sick.

Which was how she’d spent the last day.

“Okay,” Lorelei whispered. It was the best she could do with the damage to her throat.

“Do you remember anything about who attacked you?”

Lorelei groaned, sending a bolt of pain through her throat. She jerked at the feel and sent more pain through the rest of her body. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She was not going to show her pain.

“Do you need more meds?” the menacing man in the corner asked. He was up and out of his seat, hurrying to her side.

The nurses said his name was Vinnie and he came in with her, but Lorelei didn’t remember him. Not that it was a shock, since she didn’t remember any damn thing.

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