"What the fuck –"
"Carter," she interrupted breathlessly. "He did this to Rocky, he attacked me. Or tried to. Where are the cops?"
"Where is he?" Heath asked her calmly, ignoring her question. A sudden cold, violent anger settled over his face like a mask and Drew's insides twisted as she shrank under his gaze. Heath could be absolutely terrifying when he wanted to. "Where did he go?"
"He's around the corner, on the side of the building," Drew said, regretting it as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Heath took a giant step in that direction and she used one hand to fumble at his shirt, pulling. "Heath –"
He growled and jerked free of her grasp, running off, so Drew had no choice but to follow him. He stopped short at the sight of the man lying face-down on the ground. Carter was still breathing, but he wasn't moving. He looked at Drew over his shoulder, the anger replaced by an expression of absolute amazement.
"You laid him out like this?" he asked.
Drew nodded in irritation. "Who else?" she snapped.
Surprisingly, a reluctant grin tugged up one corner of Heath's mouth. It was more of a grimace, but he shook his head.
At the sound of their voices, Carter stirred vaguely and groaned. The anger fell back over Heath's face, creasing his brow deeply, and he stormed over to where the man lay prone on the ground and dropped a foot on his back, digging in with the heavy heel of his athletic shoe.
"You outta your fuckin' mind?" Heath hissed down at his former manager. "You came after Drew? You got a death wish?" He leaned down, pressing his weight on his foot in the middle of Carter's back and the man cried out weakly in pain. His face was a bloody mess from Drew's elbow.
The sound seemed to only spur on Heath's rage. He knelt down, one foot still in Carter's back, and reached out and gripped the side of the man's face and pressed it hard into the pavement. Carter let out another strangled cry.
"You've gotta be fuckin' shitting me," Heath went on in a furious undertone. "I could break your spine right now—you know that, right?" He dug in harder.
Drew hurried forward and grabbed his shoulder. "Heath, stop." Her voice was commanding, not a plea, and at the strength in it Heath actually glanced up at her. "I fought him off. I put him down. Don't do this. Don't stoop to his level. Don't get in trouble over him." Her hand tugged insistently at his shirt. "Stand up, right now."
Heath glared down at Carter again for several seconds, not releasing even a little pressure on either his back or face. Finally, he let go and rose to his feet. He stepped back from the man and continued to glare over at him. Drew noticed his fists were clenched by his sides and shaking slightly. She reached up to touch his face, instantly drawing his attention.
"Calm down," she said softly. "Just calm down. For me, okay?" She pressed her palm against his cheek insistently. She felt his jaw tighten under her hand before releasing and he gave her a terse nod.
The sound of vehicles at the back of the building caught her attention. She glanced over Heath's shoulder and saw the police, two squad cars, had arrived. She glanced back down at Carter, then at Heath.
"Are you calm?" she said. "The cops are here."
"Go meet them," he said. "Bring them over here. I'll stay and make sure he doesn't get up or try to run."
Drew nodded at him, meeting his gaze intently. He seemed to understand her silent question and nodded slightly.
"I'm good," he said. "Go on."
Drew exhaled a tense breath, feeling relief flooding her body again, and rushed off to meet the cops, still holding onto Rocky tightly.
***
It hadn't taken long for Drew's family to catch wind of the fact that something wasn't right. Once the cops had gotten her and Heath's statements, and Drew informed the police that she did want to press charges on Carter, they informed her that she had to come down to the station to give a formal statement about everything that had transpired and take photographs of her wounds to submit as evidence to the prosecuting attorney.
There goes pizza, she thought grumpily.
She had reluctantly given Rocky to her sisters who informed her they would take him to the twenty-four hour veterinary hospital that was at least a fifteen minute drive away. Heath had agreed to drive them there, then would head back to the police station to pick up Drew.
Her parents had been horrified despite Drew assuring them repeatedly that she was okay. Her mother clapped a hand over her mouth as she got into one of the police cars to go to give her statement.
"It's okay, Mom," Drew said reassuringly.
"She's in no trouble, ma'am," one of the officers added. "This is standard procedure."