“I’m coming. Of course I’m coming. I’ll get Gonzo too. If there’s anything to find, we’ll find it.”

“Keep it between us for now. I’ll pay you out of my own pocket if need be.”

“For you, we’d do it for nothing, and you know it.”

“Thank you,” she said, her voice breaking on the words.

“I’ll be in touch.”

Nick put his arm around Sam. “She’s alive, and that’s all that matters. We’ll figure out the rest.”

Sam gave herself one second to appreciate the comfort only he could provide. Then the ambulance arrived in a flash of color and noise, followed by a fire truck that lit up Ninth Street.

“Stay with her,” Sam said to Nick as she went down to the sidewalk to stop the patrolman who’d arrived with the ambulance from going up the ramp. “I’ve got this.”

“Oh, Lieutenant Holland. I didn’t recognize you in the dark. Are you sure everything is okay?”

“I’m sure. You can take off and file a not-needed report.”

“Oh, um, okay.”

“What’ve you got, Lieutenant?” the lead paramedic asked as he rushed up the ramp with Sam, who shot a glance over her shoulder to make sure the patrolman was heeding her orders.

Sam recognized the paramedic and gave him all the information she had at the moment. “She’s my niece,” she said quietly. “If you could use all the discretion you have at your disposal, I’d consider myself in your debt.”

“Yes, ma’am. I understand, but you’re going to have to back up and let us get to her.”

“Come on, babe.” Nick took Sam’s hand and drew her back from Brooke. “Let them take care of her.”

“Sam! Nick! What’s going on?” Sam’s stepmother, Celia, came rushing up the ramp Nick had had built to allow Sam’s dad to come visit in his wheelchair.

Sam left Nick’s embrace to meet her stepmother halfway up the ramp and led her back down to the sidewalk. “It’s Brooke.”

“What? What’s she doing here? I thought she was in school in Virginia.”

“I did too. I don’t know anything yet beyond the fact that we found her here, wrapped in only a sheet with blood all over her.”

“Oh, God. Is she going to be all right? Have you talked to Tracy?”

“Yes, she’s meeting us at the hospital. Scotty said Abby and Ethan are at your house,” Sam said of Tracy’s younger children. “Will you keep them until we know more?”

“Yes, of course. I’ll keep all of them. Scotty too.”

“Thanks, Celia.”

The paramedics came down the ramp with Brooke on a gurney. Nick followed them and met Sam on the sidewalk. “They said we can ride with her.”

Thinking of his injury, she said, “You don’t have to—”