Page 26 of Confined Space

"I have some more questions for Ms. Pierce. May I come in?" He looks down at her, but the question is directed at me.

"I already told you everything when you came by my work a couple of weeks ago." Coral stands her ground, not wanting Logan to come in. I want to support her, so I stay where I am and wait to see what she does next.

"Ms. Pierce, I have some sensitive questions to ask you. Are you sure you want to do this out here or in front of Rowdy?” My body locks up. What is Coral hiding, and why would Logan phrase it like that?

"Detective Murphy, I don't have anything I wish to speak to you about." Coral's spine stiffens, but she starts to tremble more.

"Logan, is this necessary?" I wrap my arm around her, giving her my strength, and I feel her relax a little. She leans back into me.

Logan looks right at me. "Rowdy, this is very necessary. If she's in danger, we should know so we can help her. Don't you want to know who hit her and tried to kill her and her son?" I can’t help that I squeeze her a little tighter to me. I’m going to protect her and Archer as much as I can.

"You think my accident was intentional? H-How do you know?" Her body starts to collapse, and I lift her up against me.

"Ms. Pierce, you told me you didn't have any enemies that you could think of who would come after you or harm you, but I've heard there was a gentleman here today that seemed to threaten you. Your neighbor was so concerned, she called the department to file a report on your behalf."

"No, please. No police." Coral starts to pull away and looks around Logan like she's looking for someone watching us. She pushes me back and steps back herself. "Please come in, but you can't file any more reports. Nothing can be done." The panic in her voice is evident, and I'm ready to tear apart the person who did this to her.

We step back into the living room, and I know the moment Logan sees the bruise on her arm. He looks at me, and I watch his brow drop. I shake my head almost imperceptibly; I don't want her to see. He nods and takes a seat on the chair next to the sofa where Coral and I sit. Archer is cooing and kicking from his baby seat. Logan leans forward and tickles Archer’s stomach and babbles to him too.

Coral takes a deep breath and looks at Logan. "I have nothing more I can tell you."

"Ms. Pierce, may I call you Coral?" She nods at him, and he continues. "I know a detective over in LA. He did some research for me. He found a report of you turning up at a local ER demanding a SART nurse, but you walked out after the exam, refusing to file a complaint.” My body locks up. A SART nurse is a sexual assault registered nurse. Things that she's said coupled with her actions start to make sense. She was assaulted.

"That's not true. I don't know what you're talking about." Coral stands up and raises her voice. She's protesting, but her body is saying something else. She's tight, her muscles all locked up, and the panic is back. It's in her voice as it rises and her movements as her hands fly around.

"Coral, we can protect you. I'm sure Rowdy would protect you both too." Logan's voice is soft. He’s trying to project himself as calm, but I've known him all my life, and I know he's stressed out by this too. He, like me, wants to find this prick and make him suffer. Logan’s issues with his ex make him angrier at this situation.

"No. I didn't give them my name," Coral says, and slaps her hand to her mouth, realizing what she said.

I stand and start to pull her into me, but she fights me.

"Mouse, calm down. It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." I try to soothe her, but she starts crying and her voice rises.

"No. It wasn't true. It was consensual. I made a mistake," she says, but I know she's lying again.

"Mouse, baby, shh," I whisper close to her ear and lift her up in my arms.

She fights me again, and I hold her tighter.

"No police. No police," she chants over and over.

Holding her to me, I turn back to Logan. "You need to leave. I don't want her to get too worked up."

He stands. "I'll leave for now, but she needs to file a report. We can help her. That bruise on her arm is proof he's willing to hurt her." He moves toward the door and stops to look back at me. “We’ll discuss this soon.” I know we will. We don’t keep secrets from each other. It was a promise he, his brother, and I made years ago. It’s how I know everything that happened with his ex, while his parents only know bits and pieces.

I nod as I hold Coral to me tighter.

"No police. No police," she continues.

I sit on the sofa, holding her closer to me when he leaves. She continues to chant until she falls asleep in my arms. I hold her until Archer gets fussy, then I gently lay her on the sofa so I can take care of him. I find a bottle of pumped breast milk and warm it up to give him while she continues to sleep. She is restless. When I finally get him settled down with a clean diaper, I slide in behind her on the sofa and hold her to me. She calms, and I continue to hold her as we both fall asleep.

* * *

I feel her body tighten up as she wakes.

"How'd you sleep?"

She tries to roll to sit up, but I tighten my grip on her. I don't want to freak her out if she feels my morning wood from holding her all night. Her head is on my chest, one of her legs thrown over my legs. I want every night to be like this, except in a bed where I'm not afraid to move or have my legs hanging over the arm of the sofa.

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