I opened my mouth to say something but Ralphie got there before me.

“The Station?” he asked.

Hector’s eyes swung to Ralphie. “Sadie and I talked last night and she’s agreed to press charges against Ricky and Harvey Balducci this morning.”

I watched as Ralphie’s face went pale and his hand came up to hold onto the doorjamb. His reaction alarmed me and my body went tight in preparation to go to him.

Before I could move, Ralphie breathed, “He’s going to pay?”

I felt the tears hit the backs of my eyes just as I saw them shimmering in Ralphie’s and heard the tremor of feeling in his voice.

“He’s gonna pay,” Hector said.

Ralphie blinked, got himself together and took his hand from the doorjamb.

“You… are… a… miracle worker!” he announced to Hector. “You are officially Ralphie’s Man of the Week. No! Man of the Month! I’m making you a certificate!”

I felt Hector’s body start to shake with laughter as Ralphie charged into the room.

“Go! Do your business. We’ll get Sadie ready,” Ralphie said, grabbing my hand, yanking me out of Hector’s arm and pulling me toward the hall.

I looked behind me as Ralphie pulled me away and saw Hector leaning down to pick up his boots.

When he straightened, his eyes came to me and still grinning he said, “I’ll be back in an hour.”

My heart was beating and I was scared out of my mind. In the cold light of day, I was not sure about this pressing charges business.

But the only thing I could get in before Ralphie dragged me into the hall was, “Okay.”

* * * * *

Hector, Buddy and I walked into the Station.

Ralphie had gone to Art to open up.

After Hector left, Ralphie woke up Buddy and shared the news that I was going to the Station. Buddy (according to Ralphie) jumped out of bed “lickity split”.

Buddy spent the morning gulping down copious amounts of ibuprofen mixed with acetaminophen with the addition of caffeine in his coffee. Still, he looked like hell but Buddy didn’t have a shift that day (thus, him allowing himself to tie one on last night) and Ralphie informed me there was no way “on God’s green earth” I was going to the Station without one of them with me.

While I showered, drank coffee, ate toasted brioche with orange marmalade and did my hair and makeup, Ralphie picked out my outfit. It was as Queen Ice as you could get.

Winter white, plain front, light wool trousers with wide legs and a cuffed hem. This was paired with a winter white, silk, tailored blouse. For contrast, Ralphie added a slim, ice-blue belt and ice-blue, 50’s-style, ultra-pointed-toed, pencil-heeled, sling-backed pumps. My ensemble was completed with a winter white, Italian leather, tailored blazer, my diamond studs and diamonds-in-platinum tennis bracelet.

Pure ice.

Hector held my hand as we walked into the Station, Buddy (still looking peaked), on my other side.

In the lobby were Daisy, Shirleen, Luke Stark and a big man with light brown hair and a muscle-bound frame. In fact, one look at him and I was certain sure that God had seen fit to give this man twice as many muscles as other men were granted.

Daisy rushed to me the moment she saw me. “You okay?” she asked.

“I’m scared to death,” I answered.

Hector squeezed my hand.

Daisy grabbed my casted wrist and held on. “Ain’t no one gonna hurt you, not here, not again. Comprende?”

I nodded.

“We’re gonna be right here, you won’t be alone,” she went on.

I nodded again.

We advanced to where Luke, Shirleen and the other man were standing.

When I got within a few feet of her, Shirleen crowded in, pulled me away from Hector and Daisy and gave me a fierce hug.

“Child,” she said softly into my hair.

Then she let me go.

That was it. But that was all there needed to be. Shirleen Jackson gave good hugs.

“Sadie, this is Luke Stark and Jack Tatum,” Hector said when Shirleen moved away. “They work for Lee and they’re here to give their statements. They were there the night you drove into the garage.”

At that, my body froze solid.

Bex told me a lot of people blocked out what happened to them. Not me, no, I remembered every last second. Including scrambling in the stairwell in nothing but a nightgown.

I instantly decided I couldn’t do this.

Right before I could turn on my heel and run, Jack spoke. “I’m just gonna say, I like Hector’s plan for takin’ Ricky down a lot better than this shit. I don’t like the idea of him gettin’ a cushy jail cell for the next fifteen years. No man makes a woman end her night slippin’ in her own blood on some stairs –”

“Jack,” Luke growled (yes, he growled).

I felt rather than saw Hector’s body grow tight and that dangerous current was snapping all around the lobby.

“Thank you,” I said quickly in an effort to fight back the current.

Jack stared at me. Then he said, “What?”

I pushed back the panic, tamped down the fear and sallied forth so Hector didn’t come to blows with his colleague because he’d been an eensy bit too honest at an inappropriate moment.

I explained, “You got to me first. You were nice. Thank you.”

Jack stared at me again. Then he muttered, “Jesus.”

I decided to take that as a muscle-bound man’s way of saying “you’re welcome”.

I took a deep breath, straightened my spine, looked up to Hector and asked quietly, “Can we go and do this now?”

His arm slid along my shoulders, he pulled me into his side and looked down at me.

“Yeah, mamita, we can go do this now.”

* * * * *

We walked into a big room that was full of people, phones ringing and lots of desks.

It didn’t go silent when we walked in but the noise definitely muted.

My eyes caught Eddie who was standing at a desk in the middle of the room. Beside him was a middle-aged man, shorter than Eddie by several inches, definitely rounder and he had dark, thinning hair.

Eddie and the man’s eyes came to us immediately upon entering the room. I saw Eddie look at his brother before his eyes moved to me. Then he smiled.

His smile was nearly as nice as Hector’s.

“Willie, Brian, Tony, Jorge, she’s here. Round ‘em up,” the man beside Eddie said, pointing to some uniform officers that were standing several feet away and then he twirled his finger and pointed to the door.

The officers didn’t waste time, they took off.