Frank Gentry beating the holy hell out of his wife. She’s curled up in a ball, her arms around her head trying to deflect the blows.
“Frank, get your hands up!”
Nick yells, pulling for his gun, squaring it on the man in front of us.
“Fuck you!” he fires back.
“I will tase you.” I grab my taser out of its holster. “Get back from her now.”
“Good luck, cocksucker,” he spits in my direction.
I don’t even think about it; I deploy the taser, watching as he drops to the ground. Nick and I are on him immediately, getting his hands behind his back. “I’ve got him.” Nick hauls him off the ground, making sure not to do it easily. Neither one of us have any love for men who use their fists on their wives. “You get her.”
As I rush off to check on Montana Gentry, I hear Nick reading her husband his rights.
“Montana.” I drop to my knees, not knowing where to touch her, there’s so much blood. “Let me know you’re still alive,” I beg her.
Reaching into my back pocket, I grab out a pair of rubber gloves, before keying the mic.
“Dispatch, make sure we have EMTs in route.”
“They should be there ASAP.”
ASAP isn’t soon enough. Pulling the rubber gloves on, I do my best to perform a cursory examination. She moans pitifully when I check to see if he hurt her with a weapon.
“Did he have anything?” I ask softly, feeling for broken bones.
“Just his fists,” she breathes out, shallow with a gurgling sound in the back of her throat.
The sound makes me sick, makes me wish I could change her life. Help her live one that she deserves. No one deserves what she’s gotten.
“This isn’t gonna stop, we can get you help,” I start my spiel. The one I’ve given her every time we’ve come to their house. There isn’t much hope she’ll accept help, since she hasn’t accepted it any of the other times I’ve offered. I still do it though, not because I have to, but because I want to. “You don’t have to be his punching bag. You don’t deserve this. Say the word and we’ll charge him.”
Her eyes, bloodshot and moist look up at me. She nods. It’s almost imperceptible, so I have to ask. “You wanna us to charge him?”
Her busted lip makes talking difficult, but she pushes out a yes.
As the paramedics come to take over what I’m doing, there’s a feeling in my gut. It’s one I’ve never had so strongly before, and I know I’m doing the right thing when I jog to my patrol car and pull my phone from the console. I need her here. She needs her.
This number I know like the back of my hand now.
Waiting for it to be answered is more patience than have, but I manage. When I hear her voice, I croak out why I’ve called.
“Counselor, I need you…”
Shelby
I’m scared to death as I race to where Sullivan told me he was. Even I recognize the address.
Scared for Sullivan.
Scared for Montana.
And scared for myself.
My hands shake as I grip my steering wheel, the flashers hopefully letting other drivers know to get out of my way. Honking my horn at slower cars, I try and keep myself from letting the tears fall, but they’re there.
Sullivan is hurting, which means I’m hurting too.
Within minutes I’m pulling up in front of the address. My tires screech as I come to a stop. I don’t even turn it off before bailing out and running up to Sullivan.
“What happened?” I question as I get there, noticing a few more cops around and seeing the blood on Sullivan’s uniform.
He points to me. “You need to come here.”
I trip over my feet as I struggle to keep up with his long legs. He brings me to the back of an ambulance, where I see Cutter taking care of a woman. “Is this Montana?”
“It is.” He gets up in the ambulance, bringing me with him. “Montana,” he says to get her attention. “This is Shelby. Let her represent you, he’s going to claim you beat him too,” he whispers.
“Are you fuckin’ kidding me?” I give him a glare.
“No, I’m not. He’s already spoken to Nick. I need the two of you to get ahead of this.”
Quickly I glance at Montana. “Okay, quick. I know most of your story because of Mrs. Haley, but I’m her attorney not yours. Do you have any money on you right now?”
She pulls a quarter out of her jeans pocket. “This is it.”
“Right.” I put it in mine. “I’m your attorney, and we’ll have no comment when the officers come talk to you. There’s no way he’s going to turn this around. Do not speak to them, no matter how much you or I trust them, without me.”
She nods. “We need to get you to the hospital and checked out. Right now you’re my main concern. Cutter, can you get us there?”
“Yup, me and Devante will make sure you get there with no issue. She needs to have a few scans. She was hit in the head. Do you want to ride with us, or follow?”
I glance at Sully. “My car?”
“I’ll make sure it gets home if you want to ride with her.”
This man is the best one I’ve ever known. Lucky doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel at this moment.
“Yeah, I would love to.”
He leans down, kissing me softly before he exits the ambulance. Cutter follows, giving her and I some time on our own. I have to ask her the hard questions. Ones no woman wants to ask another.
“How many times has he done this to you, Montana?”
Her lip is busted and bleeding as she answers. Her words are slightly garbled as she speaks. It takes me a few minutes to understand what she’s saying. “More times than I care to admit.”
Reaching over, I grab a wet nap, helping her to blot at the blood, trying not to hurt her. I’m scared to touch her, there doesn’t seem to be any part on her body that’s not bruised and bloody. “When did it start?”
Tears build in her eyes. She tucks her lip, doubled in size into her mouth. “A month into our relationship. I burned the pizza,” she whispers. “And he never let me forget it. It was a frozen one,” she sobs. “Not even one we’d spent time making together. The oven in my apartment wasn’t that great, and I usually ended up burning at least one thing a week. Just so happened this day, it was that pizza.”
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper, not imagining how this must be for her.
“I am too,” she whispers back.
On impulse I reach out to grab her hand, wanting her to know she’s not alone.
Chapter 23
Shelby
“Are you okay?” I ask Sully as we meet each other in the breezeway between our apartments.
“No, I hated letting you leave with her, knowing I wouldn’t be there to make sure the two of you were safe from that fucker.”
“I’m good, I promise.”
His hands go immediately to my hair, burrowing deep. Before I can say anything, his mouth claims mine. This is different than any of the other kisses we’ve shared.
The hunger.