Was it any wonder that I loved her? A grin pulled at my mouth, then I glanced to where the guys were almost done taking out the trash.
Rachel stalked forward to stand next to us, just as red and blue flashing lights lit us all up.
“Well,” she said. “This is a shit show.”
That was one word for it, but Frankie was safe.
Right now, that was pretty much all I cared about.
Chapter Two
Bloody Knuckles
Frankie
“You and your boyfriend were just talking when the others arrived?” It was the fourth time I’d been asked the same question.
“Yes,” I told him flatly, arms folded together. We’d been outside long enough that I’d actually gotten chilled, and my arm was killing me. I couldn’t see Ian or Jake anymore, since they were both placed into the back of police cars. Coop was standing near the police cars also being questioned. The whole area was lit up in flashing lights.
Mitch had been carted away by an ambulance. He wasn’t the only one. The only saving grace? A cop had also gone with him. Sharon had also been loaded into an ambulance, crying hysterically.
I should have hit her harder.
“Are we done yet?” Rachel demanded. Archie was also being questioned, and they’d separated all of us. Rachel had managed to stick with me. Hell, I hadn’t even had a chance to ask her where her girlfriend went. If nothing else, Corey Kaplan’s party would go down in infamy, and I had zero doubt about whether we were all featured in posts online somewhere.
Dread curled in my stomach as the police officer who’d been questioning me focused on Rachel. His name was Talbot. Or at least, his last name was. He seemed nice. He also seemed vaguely familiar. Like he’d been one of the detectives who questioned me at the hospital. Some of that was blurry. He wasn’t dressed in a blue uniform, but rather a button-down shirt and a jacket.
“Almost, Ms. Manning. I appreciate your patience. You don’t need to stay here for the questioning. It’s my understanding you’ve already been released.” She’d also surrendered her pepper spray. Rachel had been the one to call the cops. I owed her for that. Big time.
She looped her arm around my shoulders and glared at the cop. Seriously? I wanted to elbow her. The last thing I needed was her getting arrested, too. My stomach was in knots. Archie had pulled out his phone and fired off two text messages before the cops had swarmed in, and he’d stuck with me until they made us separate for questions.
I’d barely gotten two words in with Ian or Jake, just a couple of long looks. They, along with a good half of the football team, had been cuffed almost immediately.
“Rach,” I murmured. “Don’t borrow trouble.”
“I’m not borrowing trouble,” she argued. “You’re freezing. Your arm hurts. You were assaulted again, and you’re being interrogated and asked the exact same set of questions over and over. Could you guys get together and share notes? I’m pretty sure you’re not getting graded, so no one will fault you for copying each other’s work.”
I groaned. “I’m sorry,” I managed to say, trying to get the detective focused back on me. “It’s been a long night.”
“I know,” Talbot said. “Part of the reason I want to clear up these questions here is so I don’t have to ask you to come down to the station. I think you’ve been through enough.”
Yeah, he was definitely one of the cops who’d come to the hospital. My stomach bottomed out. I wasn’t sure whether I should be happy about that or not. “I appreciate that.”
“Hmmph. Well, let’s get this over with,” Rachel said, and I bit back a sigh. She bumped me with her hip, then rubbed my back gently. “You’re freezing.”
“I’ll live.” All the adrenaline from the fight had drained out of me. The sudden terror. The panic. Then the anger. I was still pissed. When Sharon lunged at me in the middle of all that chaos, I’d locked on her as something I could do something about. My arm ached from the impact.
Worth it.
I’d definitely broken her nose.
She deserved a lot worse. I was so over her shit.
“Walk me through it,” Talbot said, and I just sucked it up and got on with it.
“Ian and I were talking. We were minding our own business, when Mitch and the guys walked up on us. Mitch said he’d been looking for us, and Ian got in