“What?”
“It was why I quit the force.” Before I could respond, she added, “I made some rookie mistakes that I never should’ve made, and it cost me. It cost my partner, too.”
I didn’t push.
I could tell by the expression on her face that she needed a moment to collect herself and to find the right words, so I sat back and waited. Eventually, she said, “I was close to the end of my shift. We were maybe thirty minutes out when dispatch came over the radio. She said there were complaints about some possible prostitutes in an abandoned mattress warehouse off Fifth. It was late, and I was ready to call it a night. But Cooper answered and said we’d check it out.”
“Cooper?”
“He was my partner at the time. He was a good one, young and eager. And he could make me laugh without even trying.” Her eyes drifted to the fire for a moment, and then, she continued, “Anyway, I didn’t complain. I figured we’d go check it out and be on our way. But the second we pulled up to the place, I got a bad feeling. It was dark and most of the windows were shattered. There were all these old mattresses leaned against the wall and scattered on the floor. It was just a huge mess, and it seemed like no one had been there in months.”
It was hard to stay put.
I wanted to go over and pull her into my arms and hold her.
But I knew her well enough to know that she needed the time and space to get through this on her own. So, that’s what I did, even if it damn near gutted me.
“Then, we spotted this room in the back. The door was locked from the outside, so Coop kicked it down. That’s when we foundthem. There were seven or eight women lined up against the wall, and they were in bad shape. They were drugged, and their hands and feet were bound to chains secured to the floor. One of them could barely lift her head. The rest were pretty out of it, but this one… She was just a kid, maybe thirteen or fourteen, and when she saw us coming towards her, tears welled up in her eyes like we were her damn salvation.”
It was tough hearing the story. I couldn’t imagine living it. I muttered a curse under my breath as she admitted, “We were both pretty rattled by it, and without thinking, we started cutting them loose. Cooper called it in, but it was too late.”
Her voice cracked as the memory washed over her.
“There was a flash and a ringing in my ears, and the next thing I knew, Cooper hit the ground. He didn’t even get a chance to fire back. One second, he was standing right next to me, and the next he was gone.”
I could see that she was struggling to get through it, so I reached over and took her hand in mine and listened as she continued, “I tried to run, but there was no way out. They came out of the shadows...”
She tried to fight it, but the tears started to fall as she explained, “There were three of them. Maybe four. I tried to fight them, but one of them slammed the butt of a rifle against my head, and after that, everything went black. I woke up in the hospital two days later with a concussion, a couple of broken ribs, and a hell of a black eye.”
“Holy shit, Devin. You’re lucky they didn’t kill you.”
“Honestly, I don’t know why they didn’t. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“What happened to the girls?”
“I don’t know. They were gone. All of them. Just gone.”
I cursed again, louder this time. Devin looked over and I tried to remain calm as she told me, “I looked for them. Made myselfsick looking for them. Deep down, I knew I was never going to find them, so I turned my badge in, and that was it. I still haven’t forgotten that girl’s face. Don’t think I ever will.”
“You did what you could.”
She didn’t answer.
She just let out a shaky breath and pulled her hand from mine, wrapping her arms around herself like she was trying to hold the pieces in place. “I made mistakes that night.”
“That’s understandable.”
“But it’s not.” She looked up at the stars and sighed. “We should’ve done a full sweep. Should’ve cleared every floor and every room and made sure no one else was inside. Even a rookie knows that… But the second I saw those women, my mind went blank and all I could think was I had to get them out of there.”
“I would’ve done the same damn thing.”
“No, you wouldn’t.” She shook her head. “You would’ve never put one of your brothers in danger like that. But I did. I didn’t think. I let my guard down, and Cooper paid for it. They all did.”
I hated seeing that she was tearing herself up over this. It wasn’t her fault. There was nothing she could’ve done, and it made me want to tear the whole damn world apart for letting it happen to her.
I understood. I knew how memories could dig and not let go. I knew how they’d follow you into the dark and whisper all the things you should’ve done. I knew how it could eat at you and seeing that she was going through that gutted me.
“You should’ve seen the way they looked at me like I was hope. Like I was about to save them. They thought they were going to be okay, but…”
