Page 24 of Fallout

April sniffed. “I can’t stay here. He’ll find me, and it’ll start all over again.”

“Who did this to you? Neal?” Samantha shifted, her body language irritated.

She’d told him on their way to get April that Neal was April’s ex-boyfriend. She also had a father who’d raised her, but by all accounts, he was pretty much absent.

“He didn’t mean it. He’s under a lot of pressure.”

“But you think it’ll happen again?” Samantha asked softly.

Jasper had zero tolerance for a guy who beat on his girlfriend. He’d seen the worst outcomes of a relationship like that—if you could even call it a relationship—too many times to not want to step in when the early warning signs were there. Or in a situation like this, where April believed the outcome would be inevitable.

His phone started to ring in his pocket, thankfully on silent. “There are places you can go where you can be safe.”

She shook her head. “He’ll find me.” Her voice dropped. “He said he’ll kill me if he sees me again.”

“We can keep you safe.”

“His friends are after me, too. They think I know where he hid the stash, and they’re going to come looking.” April’s eyes filled with tears. “They’re going to kill me because I don’t know where he hid it.”

“What does he have?”

“Two hundred thousand dollars.” April whimpered. “I told him we should go somewhere, disappear. Like a beach. We don’t have to stay here.”

And then he’d beaten her because her idea didn’t fit his plan—or simply because she thought of it first. If she dinged his pride, a guy like that would lash out.

“He said he’d be back. I think he was going to use me to get the jump on them when they came looking for him. He’d have let them kill me.”

Samantha laid her hand on April’s arm. “We’re not going to let that happen. There are safe houses. You don’t have to go to a shelter. We can keep you protected.”

“I can’t go to a motel. Someone will see me.”

Jasper’s phone rang again. He pulled it out and saw Gage’s number, along with two missed calls from the lieutenant. “I need to take this.”

“Sure thing.”

Since Samantha was good, he stepped out of the bay. Just then, the doors to the emergency entrance swung open, and EMTs pushed a woman on a gurney with two people running behind them.

Jasper’s mind blanked. His entire body stilled.

Mom?

His dad ran behind the bed, holding something on his arm. Destiny had blood running down her cheek.

“Watch out.” The EMTs passed him. His mom was pale. Eyes glassy. She had bandages on her shoulder, all piled up, the other EMT holding pressure on it as they moved.

Recognition registered on his mom’s face. “Jasper! She tried to kill me, Jasper!”

He didn’t move. His dad stopped beside him, and Jasper felt his father’s grip on the side of his neck. “I’ve got this. You help Destiny.”

Two nurses and a doctor had followed Jasper’s mom. He could hear the commotion; his mom still yelling about someone trying to murder her.

“Take care of her.” Jasper’s dad gave his neck a squeeze and let go.

A nurse said, “Senator. Let’s get that arm looked at.”

Jasper turned to Destiny. “What happened?” She was hurt. “Let’s get someone to look at your cheek.” He took her hand and tugged her to the desk. “This woman needs to see someone.”

“She can sit down. We need some information first.” The nurse handed a clipboard over. “We just had a couple of emergencies come in, so we’re busy right now. Take a seat, and we’ll get to you.”

---