Page 25 of Break

Cupping his elbow, I lead him further onto the front porch. Danny rips his arm away from me as he turns, and I keep my face neutral so he doesn’t catch how much this is destroying me. After giving him instructions on how to place his hands behind his back, I make quick work of securing his wrists with the cuffs and then lead him over to Tony.

“When you get down there, processing will take your statement and answer any questions you have,” my partner informs him. I can’t tell what Tony makes of all this, but I appreciate he knows me well enough to know any teasing directed at me right now would be a bad idea.

“Whatever,” Danny answers. “Let’s just fucking go so I can let all you idiots know how much of a mistake you’re making.” Looking over his shoulder at me, he sneers. “I can’t wait until they make you apologize to me for this.”

I ignore him again and pull out my card to read him his rights. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?”

“Oh, I fucking understand perfectly.”

“With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?” I finish my card’s verbiage. Thank God we have this to read, because I truly think I would have stumbled over this part with the way my nerves are rattling through me.

“Nope,” he says it with finality, and I’m relieved that we’re done.

Twenty minutes later, I ask Tony to take Danny to booking and immediately reroute my destination for the interrogation rooms where I know they’ve got Mina Reed. I haven’t seen her since she was brought over from the hospital. They didn’t even tell me exactly what happened, just that we’ve got a domestic abuse case and I needed to go get the husband.

Passing Jenny, one of the admins, on my way, I ask, “Hey, Jenny? You know where Cooper is?”

Pointing in the direction I was heading, she informs me, “He’s back there with Knox and those guys from Barriers.”

“Thanks,” I say quickly, and pick up my speed.

There’s only one room with a closed door. I don’t want to piss Coop off for interrupting, so I move into the next room to observe. The first thing I hear is Mina crying out for them to stop placating her.What the hell is going on?

I watch as Max tries to calm her down, dropping ‘honey’ in there like that’s going to make it easier on her. This is a fucking shit show. It’s obvious almost immediately that they have no idea that this is Mina, the girl that we essentially grew up with.How do they not recognize her?

My body moves forward like it wants to intervene, and I forcibly stop myself and keep my feet planted in front of the window. What I can’t do is keep my eyes off her. She’s backed away from everyone in the room, huddled against the wall like she’s preparing herself to fend off an attack.

The condition she’s in is heartbreakingly shocking. Her hair is a complete mess, in a loose ponytail hanging lop-sided at the back of her head, strands falling all around her face and sticking out from the side. There’s a large purple bruise on the side of her face, wrapped around a swollen eye socket. It’s not swollen fully shut because I can practically feel the animosity toward my friends shooting from her. Her eyes are glassy like she’s holding back tears, but she’s fighting to hold them back.

Mina’s left arm is completely wrapped up in a sling from shoulder to wrist, pressed against her body for support. As she takes another step back from them, I see her wince. Most likely she’s sporting injuries under her clothes, but I can’t be sure because I haven’t seen the medical report from her emergency room visit yet.

Seeing her in this state is fucking with my entire being. Mina was always a quiet, shy girl, but she never had a mean or hurtful word to say to anyone. Was she annoying? Maybe. Sort of? But not really. She was more of an inconvenience to us when we were younger. Every now and then, she’d show up when we were in the middle of whatever the hell we always got up to.

Looking at her now sends a wave of injustice flowing through me. It’s not fair that this woman is standing there, scared, angry, and completely defeated because she what? Married Danny? I haven’t seen her since the wedding and this doesnotseem to be the same woman she was before. This woman is a shell, devoid of anything that makes her human except for the need to survive.

The moment Max tells her he has no idea who her husband is, it’s like a switch flips off every emotion she was emitting. She completely shuts down. Another wince crosses her face when her shoulders drop.

When she begs for them to stop playing games with her, there’s no stopping me any longer. I don’t register the quick steps I take to the door when my fist is pounding on their room. I don’t stop knocking until Cooper opens it, frustrated at the interruption.

I don’t let him get a word out before I’m ordering, “Pull them out. They need to come out of therenow.” Typically, I’m the guy around here who’s full of easy smiles and jokes, but the seriousness on my face at this moment has Cooper cocking his head to the side in question.

“Why? It’s not really the time, Mercer.”

“I’m telling you, Cooper, they need to get out of there now.” I look over his shoulder and call for Max.

Max’s head turns toward the sound of my voice. His brows are pulled down tightly in both confusion and frustration. Without taking my eyes off him, I jerk my head to indicate he needs to come out here, then mouth ‘Ethan too’.

Sighing, he snaps for Ethan to follow him. I let out a slow breath when the two of them shoulder their way past Cooper and out into the hallway.

“What the hell is going on?” Max hisses with his arms crossed against his chest. He’s pissed I pulled him out, but I don’t care right now.

Cooper interjects. “I’d like to know the same thing. Do you all know that woman in there?”

Both Max and Ethan let him know they don’t know her, but I correct them, nodding my head quickly. “Yes, you fucking do.”

Max’s mouth drops open slightly before he snaps his jaw shut, teeth clicking together from the force. “What the hell are you talking about? I’ve never met that woman before in my life. Well, unless you count yesterday outside the station.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Do you know where I’ve been this morning?”

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