The presence of a tall man beside her drew her attention. He had kind brown eyes and a wonderful smile. “Hi, I'm Lieutenant Theron. Ryker is still in surgery. The doctors said that the bullets caught him in the shoulder.”
She grabbed onto the man's arm and held onto him like he was a life preserver. “Tell me what you know, please.”
“This is an active investigation. We aren't releasing details.” A bitter voice from behind her startled her, swinging her around. He was an older man in uniform. She glanced at the rank and knew this asshole had to be Fenton.
“Excuse me?” She glanced at the others in the room. None of the people gathered would meet her eyes. But they were staring, some with open contempt, at the man who addressed her.
“Oh... I get it. You're Fenton.” She hefted her bag to her shoulder and stared at him with the disgust that had been brewing for months. “What are you going to do, Colonel? Are you going to blame Ryker for getting shot in his own house? Are you going to spin it that he was incompetent for sitting on his couch? Or you could relieve him of command for being off duty at home and then try to paint him and his team as ineffectual as they bust their asses to make this city safer. Let's compare arrest records, shall we? Why don't you whip out your limp dick, Colonel Fenton, and let everyone see how lacking you truly are? If anyone here is inept and unsuitable for duty, it's you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm not talking to you, I was talking to––”
The man's face flushed red and a vein on his forehead bulged. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
“My name is Brianna King.” She flung her arm toward the surgical doors. “I'm in love with Ryker Terrell, and just so we are clear, you, sir, are a complete ass.”
“King.” Fenton sneered.
“Yes, she's my daughter.” Brianna pivoted at her father's voice. Brody and Amber stood to his left, Deputy Commissioner Duckworth to his right. “Brie, I think you need to take a walk with Amber and cool down.” Her father's voice left no room for argument. She looked back at the doors that were still closed. “I'll send someone for you if anything happens.”
Amber nodded toward the hall. When they turned the corner, Amber spun and hugged her. “Oh, my God, Brie, you told Fenton to whip out his dick!”
She chuffed a small laugh. “He's such an asshole to Ryker. I just... God, Amber, my father's going to kill me. Hell, Brody and Ryker are going to kill me, too.”
“Well, you can only get killed once, right? But the look on Brody's face when you went after Fenton, that was nothing but pride.”
“Yeah?” They strolled down the hall, finding a small room with vending machines.
“Oh, yeah. It will take him a couple minutes to digest all of that before he realizes you said you were in love with his captain.”
“God, I said that, didn't I?”
“Oh, yeah. Loudly.” Amber shoved a bill into the machine and punched a button for a soda. She popped the top and handed the can to her. “Drink. You need the sugar. It helps when you're freaking out.”
Brie took a sip and shook her head. “Why would anyone shoot at him?”
“Well, he's the commander of the JDET team. There are many people who have grudges against us. But you don't need to worry about that. We will find out who did this and why. I know you probably haven't thought about this, but is there someone that you should call for him? A family member?”
She stared at the top of the soda can. “He's not close to his family, but I know their phone numbers are on his cell. I saw them when I was scrolling through it one night.”
“Wow, it really must be love if he lets you scroll through his phone.”
Amber chuckled, and Brie’s face heated. They were lying in bed after a fabulous round of sex and he was showing her pictures on his phone. He'd gone to the kitchen to get them some water, and she'd snooped. “Do you have his cell? I can call them.”
“I don't, but we can find out where it is. In the meantime, I have orders to parade you around the hospital until called.” Amber linked their arms together and tugged her gently, moving them into the hall.
“Dad is so going to murder me.”
“Yeah, probably. And is it wrong to be happy that the family focus is finally off me?” Amber giggled when Brie groaned.
Ryker blinked his eyes and jolted, trying to orient himself. A soft hand landed on his arm and he jerked. A nurse?
“You're in recovery. You just came out of surgery. The doc will be here to talk to you soon. How's your pain level?”
He shook his head. “Fuzzy.”
“That's expected. You're lucky Doc Phillips was on call. He's the best orthopedic surgeon in the city. Is there someone in the waiting room you'd like me to get for you?”
“Brianna.” He croaked the word, swallowed, and then said her name again.
“I'll go get her. You rest.” The nurse patted his forearm again and dipped out of the curtain-partitioned area.
A rotund man as round as he was tall waddled into the room after she left. “Captain Terrell, I'm Dr. Phillips. How are you feeling?” He came and stood beside the bed and tented the material of the sling they’d placed Ryker’s arm in, taking a peek and nodding. He didn't wait for Ryker to speak but continued on. “The bullet shattered your shoulder socket. It definitely made a fine mess, but we performed a total shoulder arthroplasty.”
“A what?” He narrowed his eyes at his doctor and then craned his neck to see his shoulder.
“Basically, we removed the damaged portions of your shoulder joint and replaced the damaged sections with artificial implants.”
He wiggled the fingers
