Uncaged Love Volume 5 Read Free Page A

And right now they are saying, get lost .
    “Pardon me, Miss Jones,” the detective says. “I’m Detective Case. I would just like to ask you a few questions so we can catch the men who did this to you.” He ignores Nate’s indignant snort from the chair.
    I don’t answer, but look up at the nurse. Maybe I can fake passing out.
    She’s tucking me back into the bed, her lips pressed together in a line. She’s bulky and strong. She could probably take this guy out.
    But even if I can buy some time, they’ll be back. I don’t know the lawyer Colt hired. Or if he would help me with this. I may have to talk no matter what.
    The detective walks closer to the bed and flips open an iPad case. “We just got word that there were more men,” he says. “We want to bring them in for questioning. We need your help. Until now, no one has been able to speak on your behalf.”
    And Colt still can’t. My throat closes up.  
    The nurse straightens up. “You want me to call a doctor?” she asks me. “I might be able to get this postponed.”
    I look from her to Nate to the officer. Everyone is grim and serious. I don’t see what waiting another day would do, unless I plan on running. And I can’t leave Colt.
    “It’s fine,” I say. They can’t arrest me from the hospital, I don’t think. I have no choice now but to face whatever’s coming.
    The nurse frowns again, but she adjusts the angle of the bed and leaves the room.
    “Thank you,” the officer says. “Let’s start at the beginning. You were walking from a restaurant back to the gym where you work?”
    I straighten the sheet over my legs. “Yes. Lani, Striker, Annie, and Parker were waiting there.”
    “And there was an altercation.”
    “Not with Parker. He left.”
    “But with the others.”
    “Yes. Lani and Annie grabbed me first. Then Striker attacked Colt.” My heart squeezes just to say his name.
    “Then they left.”
    “Yes. But the four men came almost immediately. The timing was too perfect for them not to have been waiting.”
    Detective Case nods, jotting notes on the screen.
    I describe the four men, and the fight, and the shots. Nate leans back in his chair, trying to keep his face straight, but I can see how upset he is. When I get to Parker coming back and helping Colt, my voice just gives out.
    “I think that’s enough,” Nate says. “You got the basics. There will be a lot more.”
    The detective closes the iPad case. “We want to make sure we get these other two guys.”
    Clearly the one who shot us hasn’t squealed on his friends. Even thugs have codes. At this point, I don’t care about any of that. I just want Colt to be okay. But then, there’s still Lani and Annie.
    “What will happen to the girls?” I ask.
    “That’s for the DA to decide,” the detective says.
    “They’ll walk,” Nate grumbles. “Go scot-free for what they did.”
    “You have the option of filing charges against all of them for assault,” the detective says.
    I won’t. They’ll definitely want my name for that, and so far this guy hasn’t asked me to prove who I am. “I will think about it,” I say.
    “Thank you for your time,” Detective Case says. He sets a white business card on the side table next to Brittany’s flowers. “Call me if you need me. We’ll be in touch.”
    My body feels exhausted, but my mind is racing. How can I get out of the room? I want to find my way to ICU, to see Colt.
    When the detective is gone, Nate walks around the side of the bed. He pulls the cigar from his mouth. “I know what you’re thinking, Jo. But don’t go running off right now. The Cure’s done set a guard at ICU. Been a big mess. Hospital is mad at the interference. Don’t get mixed up in it.”
    “Did you find out how he is from Killjoy?”
    “It’s pretty bad. He had several surgeries to repair his stomach, some intestine, muscle. The big problem was the blood loss, lack of oxygen, how long he was out. Parker saved him, no doubt,