Page 51 of Break

Me: Thank God. We’ll call soon.

Turning my phone off, I tuck it away and wait until the brief is over before flagging Cooper down. He looks exhausted and I hate to give him one more thing to do, but he’s got to know Danny is on the move.

“What’s going on, Mercer?” he asks as I approach the front of the room.

“Just got a text. Reed showed up at Max’s place this morning. Figured you’d want to be in on the call.” I wave my phone at him.

With irritation lacing his voice, he groans, “Damn it. Let’s go to my office. Grab Singh and Harrow.”

“Why Harrow?” I understand grabbing my partner, but Andy Harrow is newer in the department. He’s notnewnew to the job, but he transferred in a few months ago right before me, after spending ten years at his previous place.

“I assigned the Reed investigation to him. He’s good, and I figured we could use someone who doesn’t know any of the parties involved.” He arches a brow to remind meI’mone of those parties.

After grabbing my partner, then stopping by Harrow’s office next, we all cram into Cooper’s office, taking seats around his desk. He dials Max’s number and puts the call on speaker.

Max picks up on the second ring. “Bennett.”

“Max, it’s Cooper. Heard you had a visit from Danny Reed this morning,” he says, getting straight to the point. “I’ve got Mercer and Singh here, along with Andrew Harrow. You two haven’t met yet, but he’s the assigned investigator.”

Andy leans forward. “Hi Max. You can call me Andy. Will you fill us in on what happened?”

I hear Max sigh through the phone. “He showed up about two hours ago, pounding on the front door. Mina stayed hidden in her room while I directed Reed out to my shop. Thought it best not to invite the fucker inside. He immediately got to the point of his visit, which was to ask me to fish around for information at the station and find out where she is.”

“Did he say why he’s looking for her?” Andy is taking notes as he asks.

“Hesaidhe only wants to talk to her. Thinks that if they do, all of this can be straightened out. But he was angry as fuck when I told him I wouldn’t give him information. Also, he mentioned her past history of physical abuse from her parents. He commented that he wasn’t surprised that her father beat the shit out of her.”

“Not surprised, how?” I jump in. How have I known this woman my entire life and never suspected she was growing up in an abusive home? We saw her every day at school, and often outside of school as well.

Max releases a low growl of disgust. “He wasn’t surprised she got her ass beat because he assumed that her behavior was deserving of it. I don’t know details, just that apparently it happened right under our noses.”

“Listen, Max. I was going to have Harrow get in touch with you anyway. Once we’re off the phone, he and I will discuss options and then fill you in. For now, just keep doing what you’re doing.” Coop is writing down his own notes as he speaks.

Before he gets distracted, I remember to ask, “Speaking of Mina, when can we arrange for her to return home to pack up her belongings? She’s only using a few sets of clothes right now.”

Waving me off, Cooper continues to jot down his thoughts. “Tomorrow. We’ll send her over with some officers.”

“I’d like to send one of my guys along with her as well,” Max states.

Coop looks at me before answering, so I mouthEthanto him. Nodding, he clears his throat. “That’s fine. Uhh, how is Ms. Reed doing out there?” I internally roll my eyes. Coop has always been awkward when discussing women’s emotions.

“I think she’s doing as well as she can be. Slowly getting more comfortable each day. Her recovery seems on track with what the doctors said.” As Max briefs us with Mina’s status, the first stirring of guilt settles in my chest that I haven’t been over there helping out or spending time with her. She probably thinks I’m not interested in anything beyond her case.

“Hey, Max? Ethan mentioned that you guys wanted me to stay there for the time being.” I flick my gaze up to Cooper when I say that, hoping he doesn’t say it’s a bad idea. When his shoulders drop slightly in relief, I continue. “After I get off shift, I’ll run home to grab some things and be over this evening.”

“Good. We’re done with pretending we’re on his side bullshit. He doesn’t know she’s here yet, but if or when he does figure it out, we’ll have three of us here to manage that fallout. I’m going to get off here. Got some work to do but let me know what I need to know. Andy? I’ll look forward to your call.”

Saying our goodbyes, Cooper hangs up the phone and sits back in his chair. Tony, Andy, and I wait him out because he’s obviously processing and needs a minute. Finally, his chair creaks as he leans forward, settling his elbows on his desk. “When you get out there, Mercer, check in with her and make sure she really is doing okay. If things escalate with Reed, I’m going to assign you to her full-time.”

Singh coughs into his fist, surprised that our boss is willing to take me off rotation for, as it stands now, a minor threat. “Do you think that’s necessary at this point? He hasn’t made any move against her in almost a week, aside from looking for her location.”

My partner isn’t wrong, but my gut is telling me that Cooper is right. He nods his head slowly, understanding where Tony is coming from. “Yeah, for now. I just have a feeling that he’s going to escalate, and I want us to have a plan when that happens. You don’t know Reed the way Mercer does. If it comes to assigning him to Mina, I’ll partner you with Harrow to work on the investigation.”

“Alright,” Tony says. “I’m good with that.” He punches my arm and flashes me a smile. “Probably could use a break from this idiot for a bit anyway.”

“Har har. Dick.” I grin when he snorts a quick laugh. “Alright boss. If you don’t mind, I’m gonna get out of here. I’ll let Mina know that we’re set up to get her to the house tomorrow.”

As I leave Cooper’s office, my mind is racing with thoughts of her. Not just the fact that we’re taking her out of the house for the first time tomorrow since Danny attacked her, but also the shit with her parents.How were we so oblivious?

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