Page 1 of Fracture

1

Vinnie Morgan ignored the phone buzzing on his hip and continued down the deserted hallway. Something wasn’t right. His gut told him he needed to investigate, and he never ignored his gut. Not when it was so loud.

Three days. It had been three days since anyone had heard from Lorelei Sloane. The badass woman who was in charge of the biggest investigation his city had ever seen hadn’t been out of touch with her team since it was created.

Going missing at her partner’s wedding wasn’t more of a comfort. Especially when Vinnie heard she was meeting with a contact. Not that it surprised him she would take off during a social event for work. There was no doubt in his mind she would have at least checked in afterward.

In Vinnie’s line of work, people didn’t go dark. Not when they were on a case. Not without someone knowing where they were. Sure, the gorgeous woman in charge could have shacked up with someone after the wedding, but for three days? That didn’t feel right to Vinnie. He’d seen her in action. He knew her type. The type that would stop at nothing to get the job done and put the bad guys away.

He was the same type. It was why he was plucked from the force and invited to join SWAT. A decision he never once second guessed.

Vinnie’s heart pounded as he drew closer to the door. If he broke in, he could surprise a woman who was perfectly fine. If he ignored that fear, he could find anything.

No one was in the hallway. Not a sound came from behind any of the doors. Either they were expertly soundproofed or no one was home. A high-end place like Lorelei Sloane’s apartment complex could have been either. But it made Vinnie aware of every creak the floor made as he moved toward her unit.

The door was closed. It didn’t appear to have been forced open at any point. The trim was intact, and the door wasn’t damaged. But something still wasn’t right.

Vinnie tried the knob. Locked. He jiggled the door a little and could tell the deadbolt wasn’t engaged. A single woman living alone in a big city would never lock her doorknob only. Especially not a woman with her training.

He knocked softly, hoping he was wrong about everything and Agent Sloane would open the door and tell him he was being paranoid and a creep. He waited, holding his breath so he didn’t miss a sound from the other side of the door. None came, and Vinnie pulled out his lock-picking kit.

Less than ten seconds later, he had the door open and his suspicions and fears were confirmed. Lorelei Sloane laid on her couch in the living room. She’d been badly beaten. Her beautiful face was marked with cuts and bruises. Her clothing was all in place, but she was not okay. She was far from okay.

She was barely alive.

Vinnie snatched his phone just as the buzzing started up again. He swiped to answer, not caring who was calling him. “What?”

“Where the hell are you?” his boss barked.

Yeah, Vinnie might have skipped town. Against orders. He would be lucky if he wasn’t fired. Except he had good news. Sort of. “I found her.”

“Who?” Damien asked. Vinnie had his boss’s attention now.

“Lorelei Sloane. She’s in her apartment in Boston. We need an ambulance here now. Head trauma, bodily injury.” Vinnie swallowed roughly as he took in the bloody clothes and bruises appearing on Lorelei’s dark skin. He knew if he could see them, they were worse than they appeared. And so was she.

Noises in the background told Vinnie that Damien was notifying everyone that Lorelei Sloane was alive and where she was. Vinnie put his phone on speaker and set it down so he could hear if Damien asked more questions.

Vinnie probed her skull, checking for fractures.

She groaned and opened her eyes. Deep brown pools stared up at him.

“You’re safe now,” Vinnie whispered.

She appeared to nod, then drifted off again.

“Hey, wake up. Stay with me.”

Her eyes blinked open again, slowly, like it was taking all her effort to open them.

“There you go. Do you know where you are?”

The pinch between her brows said she either thought he was insane or she had no idea where she was. Either was possible. She opened her mouth, then winced and slammed her eyes shut again.

“Lorelei, look at me. I need you to stay with me. Help is on the way.”

She drew a breath, one that stopped in the middle with another wince.

Vinnie laid her head back on the couch and ran his hands over her sides. At least a few broken ribs. She wormed away from his touch, telling him where she hurt the worst. He held his breath and slid his hands over her hips to her legs. She didn’t fight him until he touched her right ankle, which he realized was bent at an awkward angle.