Kansas City Cop by Julie Miller

Author:Julie Miller [Miller, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-12-12T16:37:09+00:00

Chapter Nine

Mike closed the door to Lupe and Rollo’s dimly lit room and moved down the hallway toward the bedroom Gina and Sylvie shared. It had been a long night at the Molina house. The family had gone through a second pot of decaf coffee, a phone call to Rollo’s doctor, plus lots of tears, terse words and hugs. He peeked through the open doorway to see Sylvie perched on the corner of her daybed, dressed in black-and-gold sweats from her school, while Gina stood behind her, arranging her damp hair into a long braid.

As soon as her dark eyes made contact with his, Sylvie set down the ice pack she’d been holding against her swollen cheek and sprang to her feet. “How is Tio Papi?”

Leaning his shoulder against the doorjamb, Mike crossed his arms, hoping the relaxed stance would ease some of the worry and regret from her young face. “I checked his BP on the monitor again. He’s resting comfortably now.”

“But his pressure was elevated,” she confirmed with a woeful sigh. “That’s why he got dizzy.”

Gina followed behind, winding a rubber band around the end of the braid. “His heart can’t take much more of this kind of stress.”

“I’m sorry, Gina. I never meant to upset him. Or Tia Mami,” Sylvie apologized. “Is she okay?”

Mike nodded. Nothing that a little less worry and a good night’s sleep couldn’t fix for any eighty-year-old. “I encouraged her to lie down, too. She’s getting ready for bed now.”

“But she’s upset?” Sylvie looked more little girl than woman without the heavy liner and mascara she’d worn earlier.

“Those bruises and guns would scare anyone.”

Gina hugged an arm around her sister’s shoulders and guided her back to the bed. “Come on. You should rest, too.”

“Do we need to call anyone?” Mike asked, knowing Gina had asked Sylvie some pointed personal questions about the nature of her assault while he’d helped their great-aunt and -uncle settle in for the night.

“We’re good,” Gina assured him, meaning there’d been no sexual assault. She cleared the ice pack and some first-aid supplies off the top of the purple comforter, while Sylvie stacked a rainbow of pillows against the wall. “I think the shower helped, but she hasn’t shared many details yet.”

Sylvie sat on the bed and reached for Gina’s hand, pulling her to a seat beside her. Mike would have excused himself from the private conversation, but Sylvie’s eyes filled with tears as she raised her gaze to his. “I love Bobby, but he... His friend Emanuel...”

Since she was including him in this conversation, Mike took a step into the room. “The other guy in the car?”

She nodded. “Emanuel said I was pretty and that he wanted to kiss me. Bobby said I had to let him.” Gina’s curse echoed the thought going through Mike’s mind. “I didn’t want to. But Emanuel grabbed me, and Bobby didn’t try to stop him. Not at first. He laughed. I slapped Emanuel, and then Bobby...” She touched her cheek, and Mike’s hands curled into fists.

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