Free Restoration 01 - Getting It Right by A.M. Arthur Page B

you.”
    Kate trailed him to the elevators, and once inside he stabbed the button for the fourth floor. He didn’t expect her to go with him. They didn’t have a personal relationship to speak of, and most of their conversations revolved around hurt and abused children. The support meant everything.
    He found the nurse’s station outside the surgical waiting room. Before he could accost one of the nurses, he heard his name.
    Detective Wallace Carey strode toward him. He didn’t know the silver-haired detective very well, but their paths had crossed a few times in the name of justice for children. He knew that Nathan respected the hell out of the senior detective. Jeans and a sweatshirt hinted that Carey hadn’t been on the clock when he got the call.
    “What happened to Nate?” James demanded, his patience stretched beyond his ability to be polite. He needed information right the hell now.
    “I don’t have a lot of details because I didn’t get the call,” Carey replied, “but I do know he was assaulted.”
    “What?” His insides curled up tight, squeezing the air out of him. Assaulted could mean a lot of things, all of them bad. “Where? Who did it?”
    “Dispatch got a call from a guy who said he was hanging out around the 7-Eleven at Fourth and Union, and another guy was there asking questions about someone named Mitchell Spokes. He’s the vic in a murder case Nathan caught yesterday. Nathan must have gone asking around. Goddamn fool for going alone, without backup.”
    “What did this guy see?”
    “The witness said he got to talking to someone, which is probably code for he got picked up and was busy sucking dick for fifty bucks.” The sneering way Carey spoke made James’s hackles raise. “Caller said he was occupied for about an hour, then went back to the 7-Eleven.
    Didn’t see Nathan around. A little after midnight he decided to hang out someplace else. Started walking north on Union. Heard a noise as he was passing an alley between Frankie’s and Open Sesame. He found Nathan and called 911.”
    “How badly was he hurt?”
    “I don’t know. All I got from the people downstairs is he’s pretty worked over.”
    “Fuck.” Kate’s hand slid around his wrist and squeezed. James tried to corral his racing thoughts. “Why’s he in surgery?”
    “I’m not a fucking doctor, Doc.” Carey’s own anxiety was peeking through. He was genuinely worried for Nathan.
    “I’m sorry, I’m kind of freaking out. Nate’s everything.”
    Truth. Nathan was everything, and now he was hurt, in surgery, and the last thing James had ever said to him was a lie.
    Just like Elliott and Doug.
    Fuck that, Nate’s going to be fine.
    “This can’t be happening,” James said to no one in particular.
    Carey’s phone chimed, and he stepped away to take the call.
    “Is there anyone I can call for you?” Kate asked.
    “Nate’s always my first call.” He glanced up and down the corridor, needing something but unsure what. No, not true. He needed his best friend not to be in surgery right now. “I don’t want to call his parents until I know what’s going on.”
    “What about friends?”
    “A friend of ours died today.”
    “Oh my God, James, I’m so sorry. Jesus Christ, what a day you’re having.”
    Understatement of the century.
    “Come on, let’s go sit for a little while.” Kate tugged him into the waiting room, which was gloriously empty. Then again, it was after midnight. No one scheduled nonemergency surgeries for this hour.
    He sank into a chair, then shot back to his feet when Carey entered. “Anything on Nate?”
    “No, that was an update on the investigation. My buddy Larry Parsons caught this one, and he’s keeping me informed.” Carey held up a staying hand. “Please don’t ask me for information. It’s an ongoing investigation, and I can’t tell you anything I wouldn’t normally share with a family member.”
    “I know, and I’m not asking you to compromise the