“Sarai was going to drive Hailey to our place, and I was following in my truck.” I paused and took a deep breath, remembering those horrible few seconds when I’d seen Sean’s truck barreling toward Hailey’s car. “They were backing out of the driveway, and I was in my truck, ready to follow them, when Hailey’s boyfriend rammed his truck into the driver’s side.”

“Deliberate?” Bram asked in surprise.

“Didn’t even slow down,” I confirmed. “Sped up, even. He hit the back fender and back door, thank God, but he hit it hard.”

“Son of a bitch.”

“Yeah.” I stared at the floor. “Thankfully, the entire neighborhood came out to help, and someone called 9-1-1 because I was too busy trying to get to Sarai.”

“That how you fucked up your arms?” he asked, gesturing to my bandages.

“Cut them on the window,” I replied. “Trying to get the door unlocked.”

“They arrest the boyfriend?” Bram asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

“Yeah, but not before I broke his jaw.”

“Good man,” he murmured.

“He works with me,” I said, making Bram whistle through his teeth. “He’ll be court-martialed.”

“Military prison, hoorah,” Bram said, his lips twitching.

“Less than what he deserves,” I muttered.

“No kidding.”

Ani walked through the door and looked around the room, then headed toward us. “Hey, the doctors are wanting to do surgery,” she said. “You might want to get back there.”

“Her wrist?” I asked, getting to my feet.

“I think so,” she replied.

“I—” I glanced around helplessly.

“Just go. We’ll wait out here.”

“I don’t know how long I’ll be—”

“Go,” Bram said. “We’ll wait.”

I nodded and jogged back toward Sarai’s room.

*  *  *

“Alex,” Hailey called, hurrying toward me as I waited for Sarai to get out of surgery that night. “Is she okay?”

I winced as I met her eyes. The bruises on her face had gotten worse, and her jaw looked painfully swollen.

“She’s okay,” I rasped, getting to my feet.

“Oh, thank God,” she whispered, coming to a stop. “I was so worried. They took me to a different hospital. Where is she?”

“Her wrist is broken, so they’re doing surgery to set it.”

Hailey’s lips trembled as she nodded. “What about her face?” she asked. “I saw her in the car. I saw—there was something wrong.”

“She broke her nose, and she’s also got a concussion.” I took a shuddering breath. “And she lost the baby.”

“No.” Her hands flew up to cover her mouth, and her eyes filled with tears. “Oh, God. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I shouldn’t have called you,” she said, shaking her head. “I shouldn’t have pulled you into my mess.”

“No,” I said, cutting her off. “You needed help and you asked for it. That’s exactly what you should’ve done.”