“No problem. I’ll pick up my car so you can go to the hospital.”

“Thanks.”

“What did Lindsey say?”

“Four guys. Three of them among the murder victims.”

“I’m so sorry, Sam.”

She blew out a deep breath. “What’ll we tell her about what happened?”

“The truth. If she doesn’t hear it from you, she’ll hear it from someone who saw the video. It was up just long enough that it probably made the rounds.”

“Probably,” Sam said as a pervasive sense of dread overtook her. What would become of Brooke once she learned that people had seen her being assaulted? For someone her age, knowing her friends had seen it might be worse than hearing about the actual attack.

“She’s got a great family around her,” Freddie said. “You’ll get her through this.” A short time later, he pulled up to his car on the Mitchells’ street. “Let me know if I can do anything for you or Tracy.”

“Thanks, Freddie. I appreciate that. Keep me posted on what you find out from Kelsey Lewis’s parents.”

“Will do. See you back at HQ later?”

“I’ll be there.” Sam got out of the car and went around to get into the driver’s seat. On the way to the hospital, she thought about how to handle Brooke. She was one of the few people they’d found who’d been at the party and gotten out alive. Whether she remembered anything that could aid the investigation remained to be seen.

When she walked into Brooke’s room a few minutes later, the teen was hysterical and her mother was attempting to calm her down with the help of a nurse.

“Can’t we give her something?” Tracy asked as tears fell from her eyes.

“We need to keep her awake,” the nurse said. “Doctor’s orders.”

“There’s got to be something we can do for her.”

“I’m adjusting her pain meds. Give it time to work.”

Undone by the scene she’d come in on, Sam went around to the far side of the bed and put her arm around Tracy, who turned into her embrace.

“I can’t handle this,” Tracy said.

“Yes, you can.”

“It hurts,” Brooke wailed between sobs.

“I know, honey,” the nurse said. “You should feel better in a few minutes. Try to relax and calm down.”

A couple of minutes later, Brooke looked up at Sam with big blue eyes gone glassy with tears, though she was calmer now that the meds had kicked in. “Sam.”

“I’m here, honey.”

“What happened? Why am I here?”

“I know this is all very upsetting, but I have some questions for you that might help to answer some of yours. Do you feel up to talking?”

Brooke wiped her face and eyes and nodded.

“Do you remember being at a party at Hugo Springer’s house?”

Brooke’s eyes darted between Sam and her mother.