Page 27 of Break

“I’m not saying I don’t believe her. I just want to know why Vincent said that. Calm down, solider.” I hold back a growl, knowing that we’re all on edge because of this shit.

“If you two will stop bickering like a married couple, I’ll tell you so we can get back in there,” Vincent says as he looks at the window and into the room next to us. I follow his eyes and see that Mina is sitting back at the table with Cooper and Trina on the other side, talking to her. Her back is rigid, but she’s not panicking anymore like she was when we were in there.

I look back at him and nod. With my permission, he continues. “Aside from the fact that he immediately knew why we were there to pick him up, which tells me he knows she was hurt, it was his hands that told me.”

“His hands?” Max asks with some hesitation. My anger with Max dwindles, remembering that he’s had far too much experience in these types of altercations and knows what bruised knuckles mean.

“Yeah,” Vincent answers him quietly. “They were bruised and swollen. He split open a couple of knuckles and they looked fresh. I haven’t seen the med report yet, but I’d put money on the fact that she’s got more injuries than we can see.”

“She does,” I say. They look to me for more of an explanation. Clearing my throat, I add, “She was limping in the room and the bruising goes past her clothing.”

None of us say anything again for another few minutes. Finally, Max clears his throat, drawing our attention.

“I know I don’t need to ask, but you both are on board with Breaking Barriers getting her out of there, correct?” He looks between both of us, looking for an argument. When he finds none from either of us, he continues. “I know this isn’t our fault, but I still feel like we fucked up here, guys. I want to bring her to the house and keep her there. When Danny gets out, because you know he will, I refuse to give him any chance of finding her again and finishing the job. I won’t have that on my conscience.”

Vincent’s brows raise in surprise. “You think she’s going to want to stay with you? We weren’t exactly friendly over the years.”

Shrugging off his concern, he says, “We weren’t, and we can unpack all that shit later.” He looks to me and I know he wants me to stay at the house too. “Staying with us will be best. Where better to hide than with the enemy?”

I contemplate that and find it difficult to disagree with him. Danny would never even consider we took her in. I just grunt that I’m on board because I don’t see a better option right now.

“Do you really think Danny is that dangerous to her? Logically thinking, we know this guy. Do you think he’s going to come after her once she leaves?” Vincent asks us and the answer ‘yes’ screams through my head immediately. I know I’ll have to analyze that at a later time, but it’s too much right now.

Max isn’t as sure as I am. “I don’t really know, but it’s better to err on the side of caution. This is our job, and I’m going to ensure that she’s safe until we know what we’re dealing with.”

“Alright then. Let’s go in there.” Vincent stands and heads for the door.

I feel it’s important to interject here. “Guys.” They turn to me, both clearly impatient to get back to Mina. “She’s scared of us. Keep that in mind. Right now, that woman views us as much an enemy as her husband because she’s only ever known us as Danny’s friends. We need to clarify that we’re on her side or we’re only going to make this worse.”

Max nods once and leads the way back into the room.

Mina’s eyes immediately dart to us. She flinches, and I hate myself for causing her fear. Cooper and Trina stand up to leave as we approach the table, letting her know softly that they’ll just be on the other side of the window.

“Wait, why are you leaving me in here with them?” she asks, panicked and eyes wide, silently pleading for them to stay.

Trina gives her a gentle smile. “We just don’t want you to feel overwhelmed by so many people in here.”

“Mercer’s not staying in here either,” Cooper adds. Vincent jerks his head up, ready to argue, but Cooper’s sharp look has him snapping his mouth shut without argument. He follows the other two officers out of the room, but before he leaves, he turns to face Danny’s wife.

“Mina,” Vincent says softly, “We’re want to help you. We’re not here to judge you or make things worse. When you’re ready, I’d like the opportunity to speak with you and let you know that I’m on your side.”

She looks at him warily. “You’re Danny’s friend.”

He frowns at her and chews on his cheek, debating how to respond. Cooper urges him to leave, then flashes Mina a quick, sympathetic smile. He leaves and closes the door behind him.

I look toward Max to check in and see him close his eyes in defeat. Denying our relationship with Danny at this moment will be seen as a lie, because we technicallyarefriends with him. She doesn’t know any different, which means she’s going to find it difficult to trust us. I don’t envy Max as he debates how to handle how we’ll proceed.

The silence in the room is deafening and the longer it drags on, which really isn’t more than a minute or two, the more Mina shuts down. She’s not meeting our eyes as we both study her, me with curiosity and Max, like he’s trying to strategize in a war room. Instead, she’s focused on the paper in front of her, folding the page again and running her nail along the edge. I catch Max as he furrows his brows like he’s putting pieces of a puzzle together, but can’t see the entire picture quite yet.

When he clears his throat, Mina’s muscles tense, but other than that, she doesn’t react outside of that small flicker of awareness. “How are you doing right now, Mina? Anything we can get for you?”

I move back away from the table, hoping she’ll feel like we aren’t hovering. Her eyes flick to the side, eyeing my movement, but she says nothing. The paper folding continues without pause. The brief look I got off her face left me with no hint of what she’s thinking or feeling. She’s here, but she’s not reallyhere.

Max tries again. “Well, if you decide you’d like something, just let us know and we’ll make sure you get it.” He pauses, and when she doesn’t answer him again, he keeps going. “Listen. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you when we first got in here, or yesterday, for that matter. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a chance to catch up, right?”

The chuckle he forces out does the opposite he was hoping for. Her fingers speed up, finishing what appears to be a bird, before she’s quickly tearing another page from the notebook to her right. Then she’s at it again with a fresh design.

A flash of memory from years ago has her sitting in the living room of Danny’s house when his parents threw a birthday party for him. They invited all of his friends, including the neighbors. I remember Mina, maybe around ten years old, sitting in the living room bent over a small pile of papers. She was creating miniature objects and smiling in triumph when she completed one. She had looked around, finding her mom to show her. I don’t recall what her mother said, but I remember her smile faltering before she leaned back over to start on a new mini project. I’d guess that this habit of hers is something she does for comfort, but I may be reaching.

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