Page 66 of Always My Love

“Want me to take Blue to the vet?” Simon asked.

Nick nodded. “How’s Lucy?”

“We checked her over, she appears to be okay. The blood, we think, is from whoever attacked Harper.”

“Blood?” Harper jerked in his arms. “Are the dogs, okay?”

“Shhh.” He held her still. “Let’s get you warm first.” He nodded to Tom, who took Lucy’s leash while Simon and Dave led Blue towards their patrol cars.

He climbed into the car and pulled Harper onto his lap while Lucy sat in the back.

It was less than a block to his house, and the inside of the patrol car was warm.

Tom parked in the drive next to Harper’s car. Nick carried Harper inside as Tom followed with Lucy in tow.

“You can put her in the laundry room. I’m taking Harper upstairs to get these wet clothes off and put her in a hot shower,” he told Tom.

“Want me to call and see if Dr. Stevens can come over?” Tom asked, leading Lucy back towards the laundry room.

“Sure, but in half an hour. I want to get Harper warmed first.” He took two stairs at a time.

“Blue? Is he okay?” Harper asked in a weak voice.

“I don’t know. He looked okay when I saw him. Simon and Dave said he had been cut.” He set her on the bathroom counter, flipped on the hot water, and then started pulling off her soaking wet clothes. “Want to tell me what happened?” he asked, running his eyes over her while he untied her shoelaces.

Removing her soaked frozen jeans took a lot more effort. She had removed her shirt herself and waited while he worked to get her pants off.

The gash just above her left ear wasn’t as bad as it had looked on the beach. Actually, when he used the clean towel to wipe away the blood, there was only a small cut near her temple. The rest was bruised.

“He hit me the second I got off the phone with you,” she said.

“Was it Fred?” he asked as she stood up and tossed off her undergarments.

When she wobbled on her feet, he reached for her and helped her into the shower, where she sat down and leaned into the hot water.

“I don’t know. Honestly, I didn’t see him. It happened so fast. When he hit me, I blacked out. I came to when he put me in the water. Then, he…” He heard her voice change. She gasped and then pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face into them. “He tried to drown me,” she said softly. “I… I can’t swim. I panicked. God.” She cried and he wished more than anything he could jump in there and hold her.

Shit. Nick wanted to go after the guy.

Then she jerked up and looked at him with complete fear in her eyes. “Hailey,” she said, her skin pale white.

Understanding her, he pulled out his cell phone and called her sister.

Hailey answered on the second ring. Instantly, he could tell she was either at work or in another public place.

“Where are you?” he asked her.

“Work,” Hailey answered. “Why?”

“Stay put. I’m having Reece head your way,” Nick said.

“He’s already here. What’s happened?” Hailey asked, her tone sounding scared.

“Someone attacked Harper on the beach. She’s okay, but they tried to drown her. She’s warming up before the doctor gets here to look her over.”

“We’re heading over there,” Hailey said before hanging up.

“She’s with Reece.” He watched her relax and lay her head back down. “They’re heading over here now. How are you doing?” he asked, wishing he could join her. Instead, he pulled off his uniform and changed into his own clothes while keeping an eye on Harper.