She sniffed, and he heard her audibly exhale on a groan.
“Let’s find the EMTs and get you checked out.” There should be some outside. “Do you want me to carry you?”
She shook her head. “I want to walk out of here.”
“All right.” He didn’t let go of her. If she wanted to do this on her own two feet, he wasn’t going to object. She needed those moments to feel capable, even strong. Luca had to ask, “Did he hurt you?”
“Only some bruises.” She reached up and touched the back of her head. “And my hand. But I’m okay.”
“Hey!” They passed Jenkins.
Luca didn’t slow down, and they kept moving, going through the scanner toward the exit doors that would take them outside. He paused a second and gathered their things, figuring they wouldn’t want to come back anytime soon. He didn’t look at his phone, just slid it into his pocket. “Come on.”
“Saxon! I’m talkin’ to you!”
Luca glanced over his shoulder at Jenkins. “You have something to say to me?”
Kira slowed and the cops in the room quieted, everyone wanting to know what the former mayor had to say.
“Maybe the names of who is in the syndicate?” Luca was willing to give the guy a second to talk. But after that, he was getting Kira out of here. “Who are they, Alden?”
“Guess you’ll never know.”
Luca shook his head, walking Kira outside. “That was a waste of time.”
They’d come here trying to find out where Torres might have been taken, if he was even the victim of a kidnapping. This whole situation had been chaotic, not to mention terrifying for Kira, that he’d almost forgotten the reason they’d come.
“That was your brother, wasn’t it?”
He headed toward the ambulance, where two EMTs waited for them. Luca lifted his chin as they approached the uniformed first responders, both women. “This is Kira. She has some bruises, and her hand is hurt.”
Both EMTs grinned. One said, “Hey, Doc.”
“Laura.” Kira sounded like she was smiling. She glanced at the other. “Becky.”
“Barbara’s in the ER today. She’s worried sick about you, girl. Said she hasn’t stopped praying since she heard the news you were in there.” Laura took Kira’s arm, and they walked her the last few steps to the ambulance. “We can radio in so she knows you’re safe now.”
“Sounds good.” Kira settled onto the stretcher. “I don’t need to go to the hospital, though I could use an ice pack for the back of my head and a couple of ibuprofen.”
The EMT said, “Let’s get you checked out.”
Someone yelled, “Luca!”
He turned and spotted Mike jogging toward him. “What’s up?”
Mike glanced in the ambulance, then focused on Luca. “They’re working their way through the prison, getting the guards who are trapped out and securing all the inmates. I just wanted to let you know that your brother is good. He’s back in his cell.”
“Thanks.” Luca shook the other man’s hand, not sure why he was grateful for the fact his brother had been trapped back in that place. Going in there…seeing Amir in there…all of it was a reminder he hadn’t wanted that Amir wasn’t getting out for a couple of years.
His brother needed to make better choices next time. Stick to the rules of his parole and not go back to prison.
Luca didn’t want him to be another sad statistic.
“I appreciate you taking care of him.”
Mike shrugged. “He’s your brother. A lot of cops like to draw that clear black-and-white line between bad guys and them, but there’s a verse that says ‘and such were some of you’ that’s there to remind us that we aren’t any better than any other sinner. We’re all the same at the foot of the cross, no matter what we’ve done.”
Luca nodded. “Then there’s guys like Jenkins, who don’t think they need redemption. Kind of like I didn’t think I needed it. Not for years.”