I sat on the edge of the hospital bed and held my daughter while she cried. It was not quiet crying either. The kind that shakes your whole body. The kind that sounds like something inside you finally snapped after holding on too long.
Every breath she dragged in twisted something deep in my chest. Every sob poured fuel on the fire already burning in my gut. No kid should cry like this. No kid should ever be scared like this. Somebody did this to her. And somebody kept doing it.
I'd deal with that later. Right now she needed one thing: Safety. I moved slow when I wrapped my arms around her. I made sure she could see it coming. It still didn't help. The second my hands touched her shoulders she went stiff. Every muscle in her body locked up like she was bracing for a punch.
That alone told me more than any police report ever could. I didn't tighten my grip. I didn't move. We just sat there and breathed.
One breath.
Two.
Three.
Eventually the tension started to drain out of her shoulders. Then she sagged against me. Like she'd never been held without pain before. Across the room Blaze slipped out quietly. The kid got too much heart sometimes.
But I knew him well enough to know he'd lose it in the hallway before he'd ever let Sunny see him fall apart.
"We'll get you checked out as soon as the doctor signs off," I told her quietly.
My voice sounded rough even to my own ears.
"Then we're heading home."
I kept one hand steady on her back.
"We'll send Blaze and Ghost to your house to grab anything you need."
The reaction was instant. Sunny jerked away so fast she almost ripped the IV out of her arm.
"NO!" Her voice cracked like broken glass. Her head shook hard, panic written all over her face.
"It's alright," I said immediately. Calm. Slow. "Nothing's gonna happen."
She kept shaking her head, smaller this time.
"I don't need anything," she whispered. "Please… just leave it."
Her fingers twisted in the blanket.
"I have my necklace."
That caught my attention.
"What necklace?" I asked.
"Teddy bear necklace," Marlowe answered from behind me.
I'd almost forgotten he was still standing there.
"She had it in her hand when officers found her," he added. "Hasn't let it go."
Sunny pulled the chain out from under the hospital gown. A tiny silver teddy bear hung from it. It was no bigger than my thumb. Seeing it hit me harder than I expected. Angelica or Monica, whatever the fuck she was calling herself these days, left something of me with her after all.
Even if she didn't mean to.
"It's the only thing she ever got me," Sunny said quietly.
Her fingers rubbed the little bear like it was the most important thing in the world.
"Besides my Care Bear. But I don't need that."
Her eyes flicked up to me.
"You don't have to go get it."
I nodded, for her sake. But my mind was already made up. Her reaction told me everything I needed to know.
Whatever was in that house…we needed to see it ourselves.
"You need rest," I told her gently. "I'm going to talk to the doctor about getting you discharged."
I leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. It was soft and careful like I did with the boys when they were sick. She blinked up at me like she didn't understand the gesture. Like people didn't usually do that. Then a small smile appeared. It was shy, unsure, but real.
She settled back against the pillows. Marlowe followed me into the hallway. Blaze was just ending a phone call when he saw us.
"Blaze. Ghost."
Both of them turned.
"Marlowe's taking you to Sunny's house," I said. "Grab anything that belongs to her."
I paused.
"She mentioned a Care Bear. Bring that too."
Both men nodded immediately. They looked ready to rip the place apart if they had to.
"Shouldn't Marlowe stay here?" Blaze asked.
Ghost didn't say a word. Just stood there like a damn statue.
"It's still a crime scene," Marlowe said. "I need to go."
"Tank, Tech, and I will stay with Sunny," I said. "We're getting her discharged and out of here before that social worker, or anyone else, shows up."
That was the end of the conversation. They moved without another word.
"Tech."
I walked over to where he sat hunched over his laptop. He looked pale, really pale.
"You alright?" I asked.
"No," he said flatly.
His fingers hovered over the keyboard.
"But I will be once we find the bastards responsible."
He glanced up at me.
"Stepdad's tied to the Death Riders."
I exhaled slowly. The fucking Death Riders. They are bastards of a club. A bottom-feeding one-percent club that made money off anything illegal they could touch.
Drugs, they do it. Trafficking, they do it happily. Violence. That wasn't good. Not for Sunny or for the club
"We're getting her out of here," I said.
My voice came out lower than before.
Harder.
And this time, nothing in this world was going to stop me.