She poked his ribs, which made them all laugh and eased their tension.

“Anyway,” Scotty said, picking up the story, “I looked out for the last time around eleven twenty-five.”

“How do you know that was the time?” she asked.

“Because I’d just checked my phone to see if you’d texted me.”

“We didn’t text because it was late when we left the ER, and we were hoping you were asleep by then,” Nick said.

“I was waiting to hear something. When I looked out, there was a car in the street. The back door was open and two people carried something up the ramp and put it at our house. I couldn’t figure out what they were doing, so I watched really closely. One of them was tall, and the other was short. When they came down the ramp, they got in the backseat and the car took off before the door was even closed. I remember thinking that was really dangerous.”

Sam’s heart beat fast with fear when she realized Scotty might’ve seen the people who’d committed murder at the Springer house. “Did you see their faces?”

He shook his head. “It was too dark, and I was blinded by the headlights. I could just see dark shapes more than anything.”

Sam was actually glad he hadn’t seen their faces. She didn’t want him any more involved than he had to be. “So the car came down Ninth toward Skip’s house?”

“Yeah, it was facing me.”

“Could you make out what kind of car it was?”

“I think it was an SUV. Maybe a black one, but I couldn’t really tell for sure cuz it was so dark.”

“This is really good info, buddy. Thanks for letting us know what you saw.”

“Will it help you to find the people who hurt Brooke?”

“I hope so.”

“I left the pages up on the computer,” Nick said.

“I’m going to check it out.” She took a good look at him before she got up. “How’re you feeling?”

“Sore, but nothing to worry about.”

“Let me see.”

“Sam—”

“Show me.”

Sighing loudly, he lifted his T-shirt to reveal hideous bruising on his left side.

Sam and Scotty gasped at the sight.

“Holy cow,” Scotty said. “That’s gross!”

“Thanks, pal,” Nick said with a laugh he seemed to instantly regret.

Sam shook her head with dismay. “It looks awful.”

“The pain pills are helping. Try not to worry about me. You’ve got enough on your mind.”

When she thought about getting up and walking to the office to view pictures of her niece doing God knows what or having God knows what done to her, Sam felt sick all over. But the pictures might provide some much-needed insight into Brooke’s whereabouts last night, so she had to look at them. And there was no time like the present.