He pushed off Will’s back with unforgiving force that likely wrenched Will’s shoulder at best, dislocated it at worst. He let out a scream of pain that I was sure nobody felt sympathy for.
The police rushed in to arrest him, among the flurry of medics who descended on the scene. Liam stood at my side, his palm on the small of my back while they worked on Tori, and after a moment, got her onto a stretcher.
“Is she going to be okay?” I begged, running alongside them. “Please. She has a baby.”
“We’re doing the best we can. Are you family?”
I nodded without hesitation.
“Get in.”
I scrambled into the back of the ambulance with them, Liam’s worried face the last thing I saw before the doors closed.
And then we were racing to the hospital, while a team of medics tried to save Tori from suffering the same fate my sister had.
32
Liam
Rowe lay on the rug with Isaac propped up in a sitting position, pillows pilfered from our bedroom spread out behind him in case he toppled over. Ripley lay beside him, busily showing the baby all of his toys and explaining in his little voice why each one was amazing.
Rowe glanced over at me and left the two boys playing on the floor to join me by the door.
“Is Rip okay?” I scanned over him, searching for signs he’d seen the whole thing go down outside, but he seemed happy and excited to have a baby to play with.
“I don’t think he noticed anything. He had the TV blaring when I got in here.” Rowe scraped a hand through his hair. “I hope not anyway. Last night was traumatic enough to leave him needing therapy for the rest of his life.”
“Him and me both. We need to get some formula for Isaac. There’s a baby bag in the car, but the cops won’t let me have it. It’s part of a crime scene, so they won’t even give me a diaper.”
Rowe pointed toward the kitchen counter. “I already started making a list of everything we’d need for him until Tori is out of the hospital.”
I nodded. “We can get it on the way to the prison.”
A smile flickered at the edge of Rowe’s mouth. “You mean…”
A smile spread across my own. “I mean, I’m going to tell Heath he’s getting out. You want to come?”
Happiness lit up Rowe’s eyes. “Hell yes, I want to come.” He jogged back over to Ripley and crouched to his height. “You want to go get Heath?”
“See Heath,” I corrected. “There’s still going to be a court hearing. But that’ll be a piece of cake.”
Ripley’s cheer was so loud it startled the baby into a cry. Ripley cringed. “Sorry, baby Isaac.” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “Can we see Vincent, too?”
Rowe glanced at me, and I shrugged. I had no idea how to answer that any more than he did. Rowe scratched at his head. “Ah, maybe not today, buddy. I’m not too sure where Vincent is right now.”
“He said he’d come back and visit me.”
Rowe nodded. “But if he does, you make sure you tell me, okay? No more secrets.”
Ripley nodded solemnly.
Rowe hugged him and then sent him off to find some clothes to wear for the day. Rowe and I both had to give the police a statement before we were allowed to leave, and by then, Isaac was fully fed up with the water we’d been holding him off with.
We picked up some formula and bottles and got him going with one of those, and then finally we were on our way to the prison.
Rowe and I had checked our phones about a thousand times, and yet there was still no word from Mae. In the commotion, she’d left her phone at home, so we just had to wait until she got in contact. There was no point calling the hospital and bothering the nurses. Mae would call as soon as they told her anything.
I glanced back at Isaac in the old car seat that had once been Ripley’s, which had been stored away in the shed. “I don’t know how I went from no kids to two all of a sudden.”
Beside me in the passenger seat, Rowe nodded. “As much as I want a whole tribe of kids, I hope we get to give Isaac back to his mom.”
All I could think about was the copious amount of blood Tori had lost. “I do, too.”
“You want kids?” Rowe asked, flashing his badge to the security guard at the prison gates.
I nodded. “Badly. But I want Mae more.” I grinned at him. “So you’ll just have to share Ripley with me.”
He settled back, looking relaxed for the first time in forty-eight hours. “I don’t think Ripley would have it any other way, would you, buddy? And you’re better at baseball than me, anyway. You’ll be a much better Little League coach.”
Something deep inside me wanted that so bad. I reached back and high-fived Ripley who chatted animatedly about how many runs he was going to score until I finished parking the car in the staff parking lot.
Inside, Rowe went to talk to the officer on duty while I stayed back, holding Isaac with one hand and Ripley with the other. A contentment settled over me. Neither were mine, but it didn’t matter. I already loved Ripley, and holding Isaac in my arms, knowing he needed me right now, I realized how easy it would be to love another child. When this was all over, and Heath was home, I’d talk to Mae about adopting.
I already knew she’d be as eager as I was.
I suspected Heath and Rowe would be on board as well.
Rowe came back with a frown on his face. “They won’t let us see him. He’s still in solitary and not allowed visitors. I tried telling them you were his lawyer, but they know you’re off his case.” He bit his lip. “What if Will didn’t confess to the cops? Is our word enough?”
I rolled my eyes, though I shouldn’t have expected anything less. “He’ll have confessed. I’ve seen enough men break down like that. Once the wall tumbles, so does the whole story. Here, take Isaac. Let me make some calls.”
I off-loaded the baby into Rowe’s arms and fell back into lawyer mode. It took four phone calls, and twenty minutes where Ripley grew restless and began walking along the chairs of the waiting room, before I eventually went to the officer on the desk. “Can we see Heath Michaelson now, please?”
The officer sighed. “I told Pritchard. Michaelson can’t—”