“It’s Auri.”
23
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Sun and Levi commandeered a ride into Albuquerque on the medevac with Agent Wilcox, making for a very tight squeeze with both a nurse and a paramedic also on board. Because Wilcox’s life wasn’t in immediate danger, the paramedic rode up front with the pilot.
Reception was so spotty, she didn’t get much info from Salazar. All she knew for certain was that Auri was being airlifted to Pres with blunt force trauma to the head.
Sun’s world turned upside down with the news. She hadn’t eaten. Hadn’t slept. Her adrenaline had reached new heights in several ways that day. She was running on fumes and yet she willed the helicopter to fly faster with every ounce of energy she had left.
Levi took her hand, his jaw hard set. He was just as worried as she was.
She had the pilot patch her through so she could call her parents from the helicopter, at first wondering where they were when all of this was happening, then suddenly worried they were hurt, too. But she could not blame them. She had a sneaking suspicion this was all Aurora Dawn Vicram.
Unable to hear half of what they said, she got the most important bits. They were fine. They were following the ambulance that was carrying Mrs. Fairborn. The kids should already be at the hospital.
“Mom, you guys have to calm down. You’ll have a wreck. Why don’t you meet Quincy when he gets to my cruiser and come down with him?”
“This is all our fault,” her mother said, clearly in shock.
There was no getting through to them. Her only hope was for Quincy to hurry and try to catch up. Thankfully, Albuquerque traffic wasn’t bad after nine. They should be fine. And, lest she forget, her dad was in military intelligence and drove missions all through the Middle East. Surely, he could handle a Tuesday night in Albuquerque.
With more than enough law enforcement officials at the mine, Sun ordered Zee and Rojas back to town to help Salazar with the crime scene. And yet another dead body. Del Sol seemed to have entered The Twilight Zone. Mid-season. And with ratings plummeting.
The DA was going to go ballistic. The mayor was going to kill her. Yet Sun couldn’t find it in her to care. Her daughter could have died. She still could. Nothing else on Earth mattered.
She ordered Quincy back to her cruiser with her laptop and other essentials. Considering he had a mountain to get down, he could be in Albuquerque in a little over an hour if he double-timed it then drove at the speed of light. Thank God for emergency lights.
Auri and Cruz were still en route as the team at the medical center would’ve had to stabilize them before the flight. Sun and Levi were ordered to wait inside the building, but they refused. They saw to Agent Wilcox, then watched from the parking lot as the helicopter came in for a landing.
Sun ran to it the second it touched down and tried to talk to Cruz over the whir of the blades. Levi pulled her back so the staff could do their jobs, which made sense though she didn’t appreciate his efforts in the least. They unloaded him just as a second helicopter crested the horizon.
He looked so pale, so ashen, Sun was reminded just how fragile life could be. He lay shirtless with a clear wrap covering his wounds. Three of them. Blood had pooled beneath the wrap, his normally flat abdomen distended with internal bleeding. Despite all this, he was fighting them. They were having a difficult time securing him.
Sun ran forward and took his hand, yelling over the sound. “Cruz! You’re okay.”
He looked at her and tried to focus, but she could tell he was struggling. His eyes rolled back and he pushed at their hands as they tried to get his arms back under the restraints.
“Where’s Auri?” he asked, as though they’d taken her.
Sun brushed his hair out of his eyes and got close to him. Gave him something to focus on. “They have her, baby. She’s right behind you.”
That seemed to calm him. His pupils dilated as he looked at her. They hung the IV and rushed past her to get Cruz into surgery. Sun had been assured they’d called in their best surgeon.
They stood back and the first helicopter took off as another medical team rushed forward. The second helicopter touched down. They lifted Auri out and Sun’s world fell away.
Auri’s hair was caked with blood, her head wrapped in gauze, and her neck in a brace. Her arms were strapped down, her hands folded at her waist, and her face—her perfect face—was swollen and pale, punctuated with scrapes and bruises of all sizes and shapes.
Sun didn’t realize she was falling until Levi caught her. Her bones had dissolved, and his solid arms clamped around her midsection, holding her upright. She watched as the team secured Auri’s IV and rushed her inside.
Quincy flew into the parking lot, lights blazing, with Cyrus and Elaine Freyr right behind him. He’d caught up to them and escorted them all the way through town and to the hospital.
Levi and Sun followed the gurneys, but were stopped by a nurse who looked like she could handle herself in a wrestling tournament, and quickly shown to a waiting area.
“She has a subdural hematoma,” someone in a lab coat said. Sun’s mother cried out. Sun stood in shock. “We’re going to have to operate, Sheriff. On both of them. Do we know where the boy’s father is?”
“I’ll try to get a hold of Chris,” Quincy said, talking about Cruz’s dad.
“Quincy, what happened?” Sun asked, staying him with a hand on his arm.
He sank into a chair. She followed. “As far as we can tell, the kids walked in on a robbery.”
Sun blinked in confusion. “A robbery? At Mrs. Fairborn’s?”
“I’m getting the footage from Salazar. She was first on the scene.” Quincy’s eyes were red-rimmed and Sun could tell he was barely holding it together as well. “It looks like Auri ran right into the middle of it. She tried to stop the suspect from hitting Mrs. Fairborn, so he hit her instead.”
Sun’s stomach clenched around shards of glass in response.
“All we know for certain is that Cruz and the suspect fought. Cruz won but he took one hell of a beating. According to Mrs. Fairborn, Cruz had the upper hand until the perp found a knife on the floor. He’d been tearing through her drawers. Clearing off her shelves. He was looking for something.”
“Do we know what?”
“Not yet.”
Sun nodded. “Have Zee go through Auri’s cell phone and laptop. I want to know if anyone has threatened her in any way.”
“You got it.”
“Quincy,” she said as he stood. He sank beside her again. “Thank you. For my parents. For everything.”
“Of course, boss. I’m going to make some calls. Text me if they come out with an update.” He squeezed her hand and took off.
They were in Pres, the same hospital as Seabright.
Levi scrubbed his face. He seemed to be in as much shock as she was, but he was also angry. With everyone and everything, including Sun. “Why would she rush into the middle of a robbery?” The accusing glare he cast her way knocked the breath from her lungs. “Haven’t you taught her better?”
“Yes, I have.” Her vision blurred. “At least, I thought I had. She’s so hardheaded.”