“Do you know where Christian is?” Becca asked. She owed him an apology, for not listening, for putting herself in such a reckless situation.

“I kicked his ass and told him to stay far away.”

“Nina…”

“He went back out to canvass the pawnshops. I told him everything was under control here. He said he would be back later,” Nina said, squeezing Becca’s hand. She remembered her plea for Christian to keep looking. A surge of gratitude flooded her. He was always a man of his word. There was no reason this would be any different.

“What about Hopper?”

“You mean your new best friend? He’s fine. Waiting on a psych eval. The ER is backed up so it could be quite a while before they’re able to assess him.”

“What do we know about him?” Becca asked.

Nina sighed. “Are you sure you don’t want to rest a bit?”

Becca gave her a pointed look. Nina relented. “Fine. Name’s Hopper Jenkins. Fifty-eight years old. Served in the army for eight years. Did a tour in Iraq during Desert Storm. Honorably discharged in 2004. History of drug abuse. Been in and out of rehab and jail for the last ten years.”

“I need to talk to him, Nina. Find out what he knows about Ash.”

Nina snorted. “After everything tonight, you’re lucky you aren’t in cuffs. No way in hell anyone is letting you get near that man.”

“I won’t give them a choice,” Becca said, spotting her clothes wrapped in plastic on a nearby chair. She stood up, wobbling ever so slightly, and ripped open the bag. “I only need a few minutes. He might have crucial information,” Becca said. She reached for her pants.

“Becca, stop it,” Nina said, grabbing them from her.

“I can’t sit here and do nothing. Not while Ash is out there. Not when I don’t know if she’s safe or scared or…” Becca said, trailing off. She could hear the panic in her voice, the desperation. Nina placed a calming hand on Becca’s shoulder.

“You know I’m always on your side, but you’re scaring me, Becca. I’ve seen this before. I know what happens when you lose control.”

Becca snatched her clothes back from Nina and began dressing. “You swore we’d never talk about that. What happened back then is different. I’m different.”

“You can pretend all you want that it was some kind of blip in your operating system. It wasn’t. I was the one who found you and that empty bottle of pills. I was the one that made you vomit them up and kept watch over you. I thought you were fine, and then I see you on the goddamn news today, acting like some kind of…”

“Nut job?” Becca said.

Nina’s face fell. “No. That’s not what I was going to say.”