Cruz came to the door. “Hughes has been processed. He’s in Interrogation Two with Beckett watching him.”

“Go see to Elin.”

“Are you sure? I can wait until after we talk to him.”

“Arnold is here and the FBI dude. We got it covered.” To Malone, Sam said, “Detective Cruz’s girlfriend was assaulted this morning at her place of employment.”

“The gym on Sixteenth?” Malone asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Heard about that. Word is she took one hell of a hit. We got the guy in custody. He’s cooling off downstairs.”

“Go, Cruz. Report in later and let me know how she is.”

“I will, thank you.”

“She’s okay, right?” Sam asked Malone.

“I think so. Officer Andrews is the one who said she took a bad hit, but that’s all he said.”

In a day full of things to worry about, Sam thought, now there was something else.

Chapter Eleven

Freddie rushed out of HQ, pushing through the scrum of reporters still lingering in the courtyard on his way to the parking lot. He wasted no time pulling out of the lot and into traffic on his way to the George Washington Hospital emergency room. On the way, he tried to call Elin, but the call went straight to her voice mail, indicating her phone was probably off or dead.

She was forever forgetting to charge it. He’d bought her a charging case for Christmas, not that she ever used it. The woman drove him crazy in more ways than one, but he loved her anyway. And the thought of her hurt, assaulted... He gripped the wheel tighter in response to the flash of rage that seized him.

It took twenty painful minutes to get to the hospital. He ran into the ER and up to the desk. “Detective Cruz, Metro PD.” He flashed his badge to the receptionist. “My girlfriend, Elin Svendsen, was brought in by EMS.”

“Let me check with the nurses to see where she is. Have a seat, and I’ll let you know.”

“I’m not going to have a seat. I want to see her. She wants me with her.”

“Hang on just a minute, Detective.”

Sam had taught him to dislike receptionists, but he’d never disliked one more than the woman who stood between him and Elin. He shot off a text to Elin. I’m out here. Tell them to let me in.

He had no idea if she’d get the text or if her phone was even on.

While he paced in front of the reception desk, waiting for permission to go to Elin, he was stunned to see Avery Hill and Shelby Faircloth emerge from the treatment area.

“Hey,” he said to Hill, who seemed distracted and maybe upset about something.

“Oh, hi,” Hill said. “What’re you doing here? Did Sam get hurt again?”

“No, my girlfriend, Elin, took a hit to the face at work today.”

“Is she okay?” Shelby asked.

“I think so. I haven’t seen her yet.” In a quick glance, Freddie noted Shelby’s red, puffy eyes, the torn tights and bandaged knees. “Are you okay?”

“I will be. Took a fall on the sidewalk and messed up my knees.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Freddie said, surprised to hear that skinned knees had brought her to the ER.

“I’m going to get Shelby home,” Hill said.

“I hope you feel better,” Freddie said.

“Thanks,” Shelby said with a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Something was definitely amiss.

They walked away—slowly—and disappeared through the automatic doors. Freddie pulled out his phone and dashed off a quick text to Sam. Just saw Hill and Shelby at GW ER. She said she fell and busted up her knees. Seemed like maybe something more going on, but they didn’t say. Thought you’d want to know.

Sam wrote right back. Thanks. How’s Elin.

Still waiting to be allowed back. About to flip out on receptionist.

That’s my boy. Go get em tiger. Let me know how she is later.

Will do.

The harried receptionist came back out. “Right this way, Detective.”

Freddie stashed the phone and followed the woman, his heart beating fast as he prepared himself to see Elin and her injuries. But all the preparation in the world couldn’t have readied him for the sight of her swollen face, the huge bruises, the cut and swollen lip. She was attached to an IV and several monitors. Blinking back tears, he rushed to her side. “Baby, I’m here,” he said as he kissed her forehead.

She came awake slowly, moaning as she tried to find a comfortable position.

“Don’t try to move.”

“Freddie...”

“Yeah, honey, it’s me. I’m right here. Sorry it took me so long to get here.”

She reached for his hand and held on tight. “S’okay. You were working.”

“What’re the doctors saying?”

“I have broken bones in my face. They want to keep me overnight. They’re waiting for a room upstairs.”

Freddie’s entire body went rigid with rage at the words broken bones. “Who did this to you?”

“There was a fight at the gym.”

“Did you know the guy who hit you?”

She looked up at him with those iridescent blue eyes that had slayed him from the first time he ever saw her during the O’Connor investigation. “Yeah, I know him.”

“Do you feel up to telling me what happened?”

“You’re going to be mad at me,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.

Freddie brushed the white-blond hair back from her forehead. “I won’t be mad.”

“Yes, you will.”

“Baby, I love you. There’s nothing you could tell me that would change that.” Though he said what she needed to hear, he was deeply fearful of what she had to tell him. Had she been unfaithful? He could handle just about anything except for that. That... That would kill him.

She began to cry in earnest, tears spilling down her cheeks. “I thought I could handle it on my own.”

“Handle what?”

“This guy at the gym who was hassling me.”

“A guy at the gym was hassling you.” It took every bit of self-control Freddie could muster to keep from losing his shit at that news. “For how long?”

“Awhile now.”

“And you never told your boyfriend, who happens to be a cop, about this?”

“I was handling it.”

“Elin...” Freddie took her into his arms—carefully, so as not to hurt her. “Why would you try to handle something like this on your own when you don’t have to anymore?” He wanted to weep at the thought of her being so deeply troubled by something and not asking for his help. “Don’t you know you’ve got your own personal cop in your bed who would do anything for you?”

She was sobbing now, the tears leaving wet spots on her hospital gown.

Freddie took a tissue from a box on a table next to the bed and worked carefully to dry her face. “Tell me everything. Don’t leave anything out.”

“I’m afraid to.”

“Why, honey?”

“I don’t want you to go after him and get yourself in trouble. That’s why I didn’t tell you. I was afraid for you.”

“I won’t get in trouble. I promise. Now tell me.”

She let out a sigh and settled into her pillow, wincing at the small movement. “His name is Andre and he joined the gym about a month ago.”

“This has been going on for a month?”

“It’s only been bad for the last week or so.”

“Bad how?”

“He keeps trying to get me to talk to him, to go out with him, to train him. I’ve told him I’m living with someone, and I’m happy and to leave me alone.”

“And he didn’t?”

“No, he... The other night when I was leaving work, he was waiting for me when I got to my car. It was the first time he really scared me. I pulled out the pepper spray you gave me and told him I’d use it if he touched me. He backed off, and I got in the car and drove away.”

“This was the night you said you couldn’t get warm after you got home, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” she said softly.

“God, Elin, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I told Glen the next day,” she said, referring to the gym manager. “They suspended his privileges at the gym.”

“And you didn’t think that would piss him off?”