A few minutes later the car squealed to a stop in front of Josie’s brownstone and Ash jumped out, Gabe close on his heels. The first thing he registered when he burst through her door was the smell of blood. His own went cold, freezing in his veins. He tore into the living room, his heart seizing as he took in the sight before him.
“Sweet mother of God,” he choked out.
Josie lay in a bloody heap in front of the coffee table. Blood was smeared on the floor where she’d evidently dragged herself to the phone.
“Call an ambulance,” Ash barked to Gabe.
God, he should have already called one but he hadn’t been thinking. His only thought had been to get to her as fast as he could. And maybe he’d denied that it would be this bad.
He ran over, dropping to his knees beside her, afraid to touch her because oh God, the blood. Her face was a mess, eyes swollen, lips split and bleeding.
“Josie. Josie, darling, I’m here. It’s me, Ash. Talk to me, baby. Please. Open your eyes and talk to me.”
He was pleading with her even as he put a shaky finger to her neck to feel for a pulse.
She stirred, emitting a soft moan that seared his heart and cut straight to his soul.
“A-ash?”
Her words were slurred, distorted by her swollen lips. He smoothed a hand over her forehead because it was the only place she wasn’t bruised or bleeding.
“Yes, baby, it’s me. I’m here. Tell me what happened, Josie. Who did this to you?”
“H-hurts to b-breathe,” she said and then she stopped, coughing and choking as a stream of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
Oh God. Oh God. She was hurt badly. Someone had beat the ever-loving hell out of her. Rage exploded through his chest until he couldn’t breathe either. His vision went dim, his pulse about to beat out of his head. He was coming apart. Unraveling at the seams. His hands shook so badly that he had to pull them away from her skin so he didn’t risk hurting her.
She tried to lift her left hand and he saw she was holding something. He gently pulled it away, frowning when he saw it was a picture. Bile rose in his throat as he stared in disbelief. It was a picture of Mia. Dear God. She was naked, tied up and spread out on what looked like a coffee table. The man in the picture was Charles Willis and he was trying to shove his dick inside her mouth.
He quickly stuffed the picture into his pocket before Gabe could see it. Gabe would lose his fucking mind, and right now the only thing Ash was worried about was Josie and getting her to a hospital. They’d deal with the picture later.
“Is she okay?” Gabe asked as he dropped down beside Ash. “Jesus. She’s obviously not okay. Ambulance is on the way. ETA is five minutes. What the fuck happened?”
“I don’t know,” Ash said, his voice still shaking with fury.
He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Josie’s forehead, too afraid to do what he most wanted and gather her in his arms. She obviously had internal injuries and he didn’t want to cause her further injury.
“Who did this to you, baby? Can you tell me?” he asked her gently.
Tears gathered in her eyes and slid silently down her cheeks. Each one broke his heart. He wanted to cry with her, but he refused to break down. She needed him to be strong. He would be strong. No way he was going to let her down again.
“He had a message,” Josie whispered. “For you. And Gabe and Jace.”
Gabe and Ash exchanged quick what the fuck looks.