The noise brought Judy to attention. “Rick’s here,” Kim said.

Judy couldn’t open all of her right eye.

“Hey, Utah.”

Two soft words and she was instantly in tears and reaching for him.

He moved to her side, fumbled with the side rail of the gurney, and pulled her gently into his arms. “Shh. I’m here. You’re OK.”

“I didn’t see him.” She clutched his back as if he was a life raft and she was sinking into an abyss.

“Shh.” He rocked her, slowly, and wished to hell that he could take away her pain.

“I stayed late. The parking lot was empty.”

Rick didn’t like the image her words knifed into him.

Her words grew soft. “I was almost at my car when I heard him. I thought he was going to kill me. Oh, God, Rick, I’ve never been so scared.”

Rick knew he was a big man, knew he needed to hold his muscles at bay while he held her and learned about the man responsible for her condition.

“Do you know who it was?”

“No. I never saw him.” She moved away from him long enough to look in his eyes. “I never saw him. When I woke up he was gone.”

“When you woke up?”

Her story was fragmented, her eyes unfocused. “He left me in the garage. One of the employees in the building found me.”

Rick clasped both her hands. “Have you called Zach and Karen?”

She shook her head, her eyes swelling with new tears.

“You don’t want them finding out about this from the media.”

Judy cried in his arms for ten more minutes before she let him go long enough to leave the room for the phone call to her family.

Rick spoke with Karen first, encouraged her to drive, knowing that Zach would probably get them both in an accident en route. Lord knew Rick nearly lost it on several turns on the way to the ER. His next call was to Neil. With no humor in his voice, something even Neil seldom heard, Rick offered only the facts he knew. Made the demands any Marine would.

“Judy was attacked in the parking garage of her employer.”

“No.”

“Yes. We’re in the ER at UCLA. The local authorities are here but she’s not ready to talk to them. Someone found her unconscious in the garage.”

“Shit, is she OK?”

“We’re waiting for radiology. I’ve not spoken to the doctors. He beat the crap out of her, Neil. She’s a mess. I want a team on that garage. I don’t want the local police to screw this up. Judy doesn’t know who did this, didn’t see the guy. I’ll get you more details when I know them.”

“I’m on it.” Then Neil hung up.

Rick’s calculating brain made its share of deductions and surged forward to unwanted conclusions. “Kim?” he called out for the nurse taking care of Judy before she walked back behind the closed door.

“I called Judy’s brother and his wife. They’re on their way. A colleague of mine, Neil MacBain, might show up as well.”

“I’ll tell the receptionist to let us know when they’re here.”

He stopped her before she could turn away. “One more thing.”

“Yes?”

The need to know just how broken Judy was crawled up his skin. “Do we . . .” The words wouldn’t come from his lips. “Was she?”

Kim’s eyebrows rose. “Was she raped?”

Nausea filled his throat. “Yes.”

“There’s no evidence. She was knocked out at some point so we’ve done a preliminary exam. The doctors try hard to avoid rape exams if possible because they can be very hard on the patient when they aren’t needed.”

Some relief filled his soul.

“Would it make a difference if she had been?” Kim asked.

“For me?”

Kim nodded.

“No. I need to be sensitive for her.”

The nurse seemed to approve of his answer with a single nod. “Treat her with kid gloves anyway. We really don’t know what happened when she wasn’t conscious.”

Rick nodded and took a few deep breaths before he entered Judy’s room a second time.

Rick sat by her bedside holding her hand when the doctor made his way into her room. “Looks like your scan of your head was negative,” he told her.

“That’s a good thing?”

“It is. But we want to keep you overnight for observation. Sometimes swelling isn’t evident on the first film. We’ll want to repeat it in the morning since you blacked out for such a long time.”

Judy glanced at Rick, who offered a nod.

“OK.”

The doctor smiled. “Good. The police are waiting to come in and talk to you.”

Her heart skipped, knowing she was going to have to tell them everything she remembered. Rick’s hand squeezed hers. “I’ll stay here if you want me to.”

“Please.” She wasn’t sure why she thought of calling Rick before her brother. Maybe it was because Rick was closer . . . or he was expecting her. Or maybe she just felt safe with him by her side.

“I’m going to have them come in now. They’ll want to take pictures before I stitch you up.”

She attempted to sit higher in the bed and winced with the pain traveling from her head to her arms.

“Let me,” Rick said as he gently took hold of her waist and pushed her up. With him close, she felt tears in her eyes again.

She hated the weakness inside her and longed for the laughter and banter of where the two of them had been just a couple of days before.

“Thank you for coming,” she whispered.

Rick looked at her as if she were crazy, leaned forward, and placed his lips to her forehead. “You don’t have to thank me, Judy.”

“Meg’s not home and I didn’t think about Zach and Karen until after—”

“You can always count on me.”

A reply sat on her lips when two uniformed officers stepped into the room, one male, one female.

The various weapons and radios hanging from their belts made a sound with every step.

“Miss Gardner?” The woman questioned.

Judy nodded.

“We know this is a hard time but we need to get a statement from you to move forward with the investigation.”

“I understand.”

“I’m Officer Greenwood and this is my partner, Officer Spear.”

Spear glanced at Rick.

Rick stood and offered his hand. “I’m Rick Evans,” he told them. “A friend.”

That was fair, Judy told herself.