I was already genuinely angry when the call came across the radio. Tiredness was something I had never handled well, and my attempts at sleep the day before had been broken and sporadic. Each time I closed my eyes, I’d been met with the haunting emptiness of Hailey Spencer’s eyes, and the wary distrust that occupied every fiber of her being.

Hailey Spencer was scared, and she didn’t want my help.

She didn’t want anyone’s help.

And judging by Chief Conway’s eagerness to dismiss me earlier in the day, it was pretty much a certainty that I wasn’t going to be able to offer help in the way I’d hoped to.

“I hear what you’re saying, Brett. But be damned if I have the ability or resources to just bring people in off the street if we need a sketch artist,” he’d explained to me, an edge to his voice. He had better things to do than entertain my wild notions.

“I’m not saying put her on the payroll, Sir,” I quickly stated. “Just keep her in mind. She had her purse stolen, and there isn’t much—”

“I’m not in the business of being a white knight,” Chief Conway interjected. His gaze was stern, brows drawn down. “And you shouldn’t be in the business of promising to be, either, for what it’s worth to you.”

I’d glared at the man longer than would’ve been deemed respectful, but in the end, I’d retreated from his office with a noncommittal nod that I’d back away from the Hailey Spencer case—as a stolen purse was hardly a priority in comparison to some of the other open files—and a healthy respect for the last thing the chief added before I’d promptly shut the door.

“You can’t save ‘em all, Brett. Remember that.” He’d cleared his throat when a note of pity had crept into his voice. When he spoke again, the steadiness was back in place. “And if you want to, you do it on your own time.”

It may not have been what he meant by it, but I took that statement the only way I could.

Permission.

I barely had the door closed, intent on going home and trying to convince myself I could forget about the entire conversation, when I heard my name again, this time behind me.

“Brett!”

I turned to see Trent Montagne swiping his jacket off the back of the chair he’d been sitting in. “That girl you mentioned last night,” he said. His voice was low, immediately making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “What’s she look like?”

My eyes narrowed. Montagne joined the force the same time I did, and though we weren’t official partners, we’d dredged through the academy together, and worked alongside each other on more calls than I could count. We’d developed a friendship from it, too; enough that I’d chosen to confide in him the evening before when I’d shown up to start my shift. He’d been ending his shift just as I was coming on. I recognized the stony look on his face—it was the one he wore right before he had to tell someone some really bad news. “Why?”

He shuffled into his jacket, pulling the keys from his pocket. “Mid-twenties, brown hair, brown leather jacket?”

“Yes, but…” The air seemed thinner now, and my heart was pounding loudly against my ribs. “But that could be anyone.”

“She had your business card in her pocket.”

Son of a bitch. All the air went out of my lungs. “Had?”

“Shit, sorry. She’s going to be okay,” he said quickly. “But she’s at the Boulder City General. Someone attacked her in the women’s washroom at Wal-Mart. Knocked her out. She’s pretty banged up according to Constance. She’s the one that responded to the call.”

So, Officer Constance was already on the scene. I couldn’t bring myself to immediately ask if her attacker had been caught, mostly because there was a murderous streak running through me at the moment, and I needed more details to figure out what the hell had happened.

I nodded toward his hand, still clutching the keys. “You can fill me in while you drive. Let’s go.”

“But you’re off the clock, man.”

“You’re right,” I said evenly. “I’m on my time now.”

* * *

Montagne was a tall man, taller than me, and a damn good cop. At twenty-seven, he was almost two years younger than I was, but he was old and wise enough to handle whatever seemed to happen once those sirens began to blare and things got tough. I trusted Trent Montagne with my life, and I knew he would feel the same about me, though I’d never asked him.

But there was one thing that set Montagne and I apart. He played by the rules. Always by the book. No exceptions, no gray areas.

The same couldn’t always be said for myself. Perhaps, that’s why he was so adamant on the way over, drilling into me that I was off shift and not to be posing any questions toward the victim or taking the lead in the investigation.

And that’s what we had on our hands now. A full-blown fucking investigation. This wasn’t just some purse snatching with the loss of a couple dollar bills.

Hailey Spencer could’ve died. And if my suspicions were right—and they’d never served me wrong yet—then I believed that the attacker’s goal was to kill her.

The five stitches in the back of her head and the abrasions on her face proved it. The sight of her, battered and bruised, made my stomach twist in a tight knot. Part of me wanted to erupt in a rage that someone could do something like this to a woman; the other part felt the urge to promise her that everything was going to be okay. Either way, my entire being wanted to pulverize the son of a bitch that did it and make him pay.

Hailey Spencer, however, only wanted me gone. Underneath the swelling of her left eye and the purplish bruising that covered both, I saw her gaze widen at the sight of me. She didn’t even try to hide her displeasure, letting, “Oh, not him again,” pass her lips as she took me in.

“What the hell—” I caught Trent’s glare, and swallowed, starting again. This time, my voice was a little less coarse, but the edge hadn’t dissipated. “What happened?”

Hailey’s legs dangled from the edge of the hospital stretcher, her arms folded in front of her on her lap. Without her trademark leather jacket on, she was thinner than I realized. Her eyes squeezed shut at my question. “I told that other cop everything already.”

I wasn’t going to say it out loud, but I found that hard to believe. “Did you—”

Trent’s arm came up in front of me, halting me. We both loomed in the doorway, and he obviously wanted to tread more carefully with Hailey than I was prepared to. “Ms. Spencer, I’m Officer Montagne. This is Officer—”

“I know who he is, believe me.”

The wry note in her voice wasn’t a sign of anger so much as annoyance. I could work with annoyance. She wasn’t the first woman to be irritated by my presence, and she wouldn’t be the last. I stayed silent, but my mouth twitched as I leaned against the doorway. I was thankful to Trent for maintaining the level of professionalism he always did. And for withholding the fact that he knew anything more about her than he’d learned over the radio or from Constance.

He nodded, pulling a small notepad from his back pocket. “If you’re okay with it, I’d like to ask you a few more questions about what happened.”

“A man jumped me in the restroom,” she stated briskly. “It was a fluke, must’ve wanted money or something. I didn’t know him. Case closed.” She groaned softly with the effort it took to bark out the words. With her forehead wrinkled, she brought her hands up to gingerly touch one of the scratches above her right eye. Just the sound of her own voice must have aggravated her headache.

I glanced over at Trent, who’s lips now were pursed in a grim line, but he nodded. “Did you get a good look—”

“The other man,” she said painfully. “The one the female officer mentioned. The guy that interrupted—” Hailey fought to choose the correct words, sighing with the effort. “The guy who witnessed the attack. Is he okay?”

Trent’s eyes shifted briefly toward me, but he nodded. “I haven’t spoken with him yet, ma’am. But from what Officer Constance has relayed to me, he’s okay. Got a black eye when your attacker fought to get away, but he’s all right. The important thing is that you—and him—are safe now.”

I couldn’t take it. Trent was walking on eggshells around her, dancing around the bigger issues. He needed to find out more, and not let her get away with her evasive—

“I need a break from this,” Hailey stated suddenly. “I just…need a break.”

I recognized a woman shutting down when I saw it. Shit. That’s why Trent had been so careful; he’d seen it coming, too, long before I did.

“Ms. Spencer—”

“Hailey,” she snapped. “It’s Hailey. I’m not saying I won’t talk to you, okay? Just let the codeine kick in so the sound of your voice doesn’t feel like it’s trying to drill into my skull. Please?”

When Trent spoke again, his voice was quieter. Which I gave him credit for, because I felt so damn bad in that moment that I wasn’t sure I could even put words together. “Of course, Ms…Hailey. We’ll be right down the hall when you’re ready.”

He turned to go, eyeing me. It was a silent bid to follow him, and I nodded curtly, turning away from Hailey even though every cell in my body was against the idea.

“Alex?”

Hailey’s voice was lower now, too, but my name floated from her lips like a beacon, and I glanced back, my hand still gripping the doorway. “Yeah?”

“Can I talk to you for a minute?”

She didn’t add alone to the end of her request, but it was implied. Trent was already beyond the doorway, but he glanced back at me, one eyebrow arched speculatively. Then he mouthed, Alex? The use of my first name had gotten his attention.

“Yeah, sure.” I stepped back into the room, ignoring Trent’s warning stare. It took a few seconds for the sound of his boots thumping down the emergency room hallway to be heard, but it did come, and that meant he trusted me enough to believe I wasn’t going to screw this up. “What do you need?”

“Come closer so you don’t have to talk so damn loud.”

I obeyed, though I wasn’t talking loud at all, coming up beside her to lean back against the side of the bed. “Better?”

She stared at a spot on the floor through half closed eyelids. “Why are you here?”

“Just doing my job,” I lied.

Hailey turned slowly, her swollen eyes meeting my gaze. “You’re actually on the clock this time?”

A crooked grin spread across my face, and I shrugged unapologetically. “Not exactly.”

Her gaze dropped to the floor again, silently mulling over her answer. “So, I’ll ask you again. Why are you here?”

“Because I want to be,” I stated simply. “You might not want me here, but that’s not on me, now is it? You don’t strike me as someone with a lot of support in this city, Hailey. The way I see it, we can all use a friend at some time or another, and it sure looks to me like you need one.”

Silence ensued, and I waited with bated breath, expecting her to tell me to go to hell.

She shifted her weight, wincing, but turned her body slightly to face me. “First name basis and an offer of friendship,” she said wryly. “I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

“Oh, Montagne can call you Hailey, but I can’t?” I teased.

“Officer Montagne hasn’t been a thorn in my side since I met him.”

“You only met him a few minutes ago,” I grinned. “Give it time.”

A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Part of the job description, is it?”

“You wouldn’t believe the rigorous testing needed to qualify.”

Hailey chuckled then, only to contort her face in pain at the feel of it. “Damn it, don’t make me laugh.”

But I had made her laugh, and despite the unease I felt at seeing her in pain because of it, a swell of pride grew within me at having broken the ice between us. I let the humor linger for as long as I could, but the truth about the incident that caused me to be there loomed between us as well, the pink elephant in the room.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” I finally whispered.

The softness in my tone must’ve been unexpected, because Hailey stared at me, her shock evident. “You know. A man attacked—”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

The grimace she wore could have been from the pain, but I had a sinking suspicion it was from the situation she was in…and the lack of options regarding it. “I can’t.”

Her candor caught me off guard, but I masked it by speaking out loud the first thought that came to me. “So, you did know him, then.”

“No.” She shook her head, sucked in a sharp breath at the pain it caused, and stopped. “I didn’t know him, and I’d never seen him before. That’s the truth.”

“But you know why he came after you.”

She said nothing.

“Please don’t lie to me, Hailey.”

“I’m not lying to you,” she hissed, frustrated. Something warred within her, and I wondered if she was on the edge, ready to admit the truth.

“Lies of omission are still lies.”

“You’re still off the clock right now?” she asked. “You’re only here as a friend?”

I nodded my head, waiting for whatever she said next.

“Good,” Hailey replied with a nod of her own. “Then, go to hell.”