Page 5 of Dauntless

“Dane, you need to trust me on this,” Elliott said. “I’ve worked with women that have been through human trafficking before. If she sees someone that was in her situation, she might divulge things that she kept from us,” Elliott replied. “Whoever had her must know more. Vincent is still holding out on giving the name and location of the man for a deal that will give him a lighter sentence, should he be convicted. If Gia can get Angel to reveal who it is, we can bring more damning charges against him. This will help all of you.”

“All right,” I agreed. “If I have a chance of putting all The Agency members that are hurting women in jail I’d help in any way I can.”

After turning in my discharge papers at the nurse’s station, Dane, Elliott and I, made our way to the Intensive Care Unit via the elevators. Once we reached her floor, we found the hallway leading to Angel’s room. The hallway had a police officer positioned at the entrance. To my dismay, Trish came out of the guarded door. She walked over to us, and gave me a relaxed smile. “You agreed to talk to Angel?”

I turned toward Elliott, who then placed a hand on my shoulder. “I already asked Gia, and she’s going to help us out,” he told her.

Trish motioned Elliott to follow her further down the hall, which he did, but at a much slower pace. I really don’t know why they bothered, because anyone nearby could hear everything.

“This impromptu interview with your bed partner is going to derail the case,” Trish scolded. “You’ve compromised the case enough. If she is going to talk to anyone, she’ll need prior approval—”

“It’s my case,” Elliott cut her off. “I’m the lead officer. I get to decide how it works. If you don’t like it go complain again.”

“—If you put her in there, I will,” Trish threatened.

I stepped over and waved my hand at Elliott to gain his attention. “It’s fine. Another time.”

“We can try another time,” Dane said stepping up behind me. “Maybe after Angel’s out of the hospital.”

Elliott came over to stand in front of me. He placed his hands on my arms. His gaze imploring, “Angel will have more details now than later. Everything she went through is still fresh in her mind. She must know something, and without her story, our case against The Agency is weak, and those responsible will get away and hurt more women. From talking to her, we could tell that they really messed her up in the head so that she would be irrational and unintelligible when we talk to her, but we can’t give up on her yet. She still might say something that could help. She won’t deal with anyone all prepped up with a list of prepared questions and fake concern. Please, try.”

His speech was more for Trish and Dane. I wanted this to stop and for the men involved in this cruel game to pay for it. I didn’t know what I could do, but I was going to help. “Yes. I’ll do all I can.”

Elliott grinned and squeezed my shoulder, and my stomach fluttered like he had kissed me. He hadn’t kissed me since I’d been in the hospital.

“I’m going on record that I didn’t agree to this interview,” Trish said curtly, her chin high.

“Good for you. You want a gold star, too?” Elliott deadpanned.

“Keep making jokes,” Trish rumbled. “We’ll see who’ll be laughing in the end when we are back at the office tomorrow.”

“If I go to the office,” he told her coarsely. “If something needs following up on, I get to pursue it.”

“Your libido isn’t an excuse,” she snipped sending a distasteful glare my way. “You better hope Mrs. Walsh has something to offer or you’re finished…. Mr. Westbrook.” She gave Dane a curt nod, then turned on her low heels and headed down the hall.

“Get a transfer already,” Elliott grumbled under his breath.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have had sex with Trish,” Dane told him, his gaze fixed on Trish as she moved on down the hall.

I smirked. Oh, that explains some of her hostility.

“That’s old news,” Elliott said in a bored tone.

“Looks like it’s not so old to her,” Dane mused.

“And I never led her on, and that’s enough on that.” Elliott eyed Dane coolly, before returning his focus back toward where Trish had been. He cursed.

I raised my brows. “Are you going to be in trouble with your boss?”

Elliott smirked. “No. I’m the lead investigator. This is my case, and I’d be damned after all I put in for it to go to hell because of her fucking protocol. Angel has information that can help the case, but she’s not talking to us. We need to try to extract something of note from Angel, or we will be blind to what their next move will be.”

He then turned to Dane and said. “What the fuck? I thought you had my back on getting the bastard that took Angel? I wouldn’t have suggested Gia speaking with Angel if I didn’t think it could help.”

Dane’s jaw tightened. “I know that, but you’ve spoken to Angel. She’s not lucid. She’s mixed up. I reckon reliving what happened might aggravate her condition.”

What Dane said made sense and Elliott went quiet. We all did. Just continued to stand there, and I was unsure if I should go in considering it might cause more confusion for Angel.

“If you’re going in, you’ll need to do so right now. Visiting hours are almost over,” the female police officer called over reminding us just how much of this conversation wasn’t private.

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