Page 30 of Sapphire's Gem
“Bays eleven and twelve are free, put them in those,” the nurse said as Cassidy nodded. He stomped off, and I struggled to get down.
“Don’t fight me, Sapphire, I’m not nice like Wylde. I will dump you on your ass and watch you crawl to the bay,” Cassidy warned, and I scowled.
He placed me in twelve and went to help Warrick into eleven. A nurse bustled into my room and began taking my stats. She removed the mask that Wylde had given me and placed me in a hospital one.
“My sister, Sparrow, came in with us,” I said.
“She’s being tended to; we’re clearing her lungs, which are full of soot. She has a doctor with her. Now, do you have any burns or injuries?”
“I need to see Sparrow.”
“No, you don’t. You need to stay here and let us work. Otherwise, you’ll get in our way.” The bitch repeated her first question, and I shook my head as she began asking the normal questions: name, age, address, and so on.
Meanwhile, I kept looking for Sparrow and only relaxed when the nurse pulled a curtain aside and I could see she was in the bay next to me. Minutes later, Stitch arrived and entered Sparrow’s bay and sat holding her hand as a doctor checked her over. Great, everything would be okay now that Stitch was here. I closed my eyes and let tiredness sweep over me. Damn, what a long-assed day this had been.
Chapter Seven.
Hayden
“What do we have?” Captain Hatton questioned as he approached me. He was dressed in a smart suit, and I guessed he’d been out for a meal.
“The fire’s under control. Witnesses have described Molotov cocktails being thrown indoors and four gang members being behind it all. We’ve got eight in custody who were apprehended.”
“Who caught them?” Hatton asked.
“The Royal Harlots. Two were in the building having dinner, and the rest were on their way to meet them. The Harlots tackled the four they saw running away, guessing the situation, and then encountered four others who had blocked the fire exit. They broke through the chain and freed everyone before Fire and we arrived.”
“Interesting. The RHMC are the heroes in this instance.” Hatton looked amused and pissed at the same time.
“Yeah. However, a uniform was accusing them of being behind it. Hopefully, Sapphire and Sparrow didn’t take that in. We don’t need another lawsuit,” I said.
Now Hatton seemed pissed. “Did he have reason to suspect them?”
“Nope. Sapphire and Sparrow were sitting on the street coughing up a lung; it was clear they’d been in the restaurant when it was torched.”
“Shit,” Hatton hissed. “And they definitely weren’t involved?”
“Only in the rescue. But there’s more. Even without an investigation, Chief is certain the inside was primed to go up. A waitress has disappeared, and I’ve got uniforms checking her place. Two of her colleagues recognised one of the gang members as her boyfriend. They claimed they witnessed the boyfriend threatening Mr Garcia. If Mr Garcia didn’t pay protection money, he’d have trouble; it seems he failed to pay,” I said.
“Where are these fuckers coming from? We’ve never had an issue like this before.” Hatton cursed.
“Criminal elements have taken serious notice of our town. It’s not a surprise with our access to Canada, Nova Scotia, and the North Atlantic Ocean.”
“You think this is trafficking—drugs or arms?” Hatton asked.
“Can’t say yet, Captain, but this appears to be more than a gang trying to flex their muscles. Could be wrong, but these seem to have members they can throw away and not blink,” I replied.
“Crap, that means we could be looking at a bigger gang attempting to get a foothold here,” Hatton muttered as his frown descended.
“We’ll question the eight we’ve got in custody and charge them. There are enough witnesses for us to arraign and hold them. Plus, two of the Royal Harlots were hurt, so they’ll be after blood.”
“Might be worth letting them go, let the Harlots clean up,” Hatton growled out and then smirked. I blinked at his words. “Don’t look so surprised, detective. At the end of the day, thereare kids and women here. Those assholes didn’t give a flying fuck, little kids may have been killed. Makes me wonder if I should give a fuck about their rights.”
“Don’t blame you, captain,” I replied carefully.
“How’s Warrick Cassidy? I heard on the radio he was also in the restaurant,” Hatton asked.
“He refused to take an ambulance as people were still waiting for one. Cassidy took him and the two Royal Harlots to the hospital.”
