Authors: Kassandra Lamb
In the next instant, she was face down on the asphalt, a heavy weight in the middle of her back. Toby’s barking became frenzied.
Adrenaline shot through her system.
“Shut up, mutt,” a deep voice growled. Then hot, rank breath on her cheek.
Dear God, no!
Her body shuddered under the weight. Her throat closed. She tried to push away the panic as her mind madly scrambled for an aikido move that would unseat someone whose knee was planted in your back.
Her assailant grabbed her hair and turned her head sideways. A glint of metal in her peripheral vision.
I’m dead! Holy Mary, Mother of God, watch over my children!
Sharp pain shot from her nose up to the top of her skull. She thought she might pass out. Part of her wished she would, before this creep did whatever he was going to do to her. She was helpless–her hands pinned under her, her assailant’s weight firmly holding her down.
Something warm ran along her upper lip and into her mouth. Coppery. Her own blood.
Her stomach heaved.
Hot breath against her ear this time. “Thought you were told to butt out.” The voice was gravelly. “Do I gotta cut off yer nose to get ya to leave things alone.”
Then the weight was gone from her back. Toby was still barking like a crazed dog, twisting and turning in his harness.
She pushed herself up. On hands and knees, she stared at the dark liquid dripping onto the pavement. Her head swam. She had to move, get away, or at least get in a position where she could fight back. Her assailant was probably nearby.
She’d no sooner had the thought than something hard connected with the back of her head. Horrible pain exploded in her skull. Her vision blurred. She fell forward.
Toby’s barks faded away.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Skip looked at his watch again. “When did Mommy say she’d be home?”
Edie scrunched up her face. “Seven-ish.”
“And she said she was going to the vet?”
“Yes, Daddy, to get Toby his shots.” Her tone was impatient.
Better not ask her again.
Eventually the child’s impatience would turn to anxiety when she realized the implications of her mother’s absence.
Because it was now seven-twenty-five.
He’d called Kate’s cell phone at seven-fifteen. It rang several times and went to voicemail. He’d texted her. No response. Which made no sense. If she was sitting in the vet’s waiting room she could text him back. If she was on her way home, she’d have answered with her Bluetooth.
Then he’d called their veterinarian’s office. The receptionist there had informed him that Toby did not have an appointment that evening, and he wasn’t due for any shots until June.
He’d also called Manny who reported that he’d followed Kate home and she’d waved to him from the porch so he’d left. “She seemed to be in a big hurry to get home, but she didn’t say anything about going out again.”
Worry and fury were doing battle in Skip’s chest. Why had she ditched Manny and lied about where she was going? How could she be so reckless?
He got up off the sofa and walked into the kitchen to get away from the noise of the video playing on the TV. He took out his cell phone and replayed Kate’s message from that morning.
“Uh, sweetheart, I need to go out for a little while this evening. It’s kinda complicated so I’ll explain when I get home. But I just wanted to give you a heads-up. I should be home by seven or seven-fifteen at the latest. In plenty of time to snuggle up with you and the kids and watch a video.”
Edie appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Aren’t you gonna watch the movie with us, Daddy?” There was a bit of a whine in her voice.
No wonder. Now she has two preoccupied parents.
“In a minute, Pumkin.”
She went back into the living room.
Skip sat down at the kitchen table and tried to sort this out. The phone message didn’t quite jive with what Kate had told Edie. It did imply that she was going to come home and then go out again, but why didn’t she just say she had to take the dog to the vet? How could that be “kinda complicated?”
Did this have something to do with Josie Hartin’s case? Worry overrode his anger.
He punched Manny’s speed dial number on his phone, then quickly disconnected. What the hell could Manny do? There was nothing
to do.
He had no idea where his wife was. He grabbed a hunk of hair and yanked.
All he knew was the dog was with her. He hoped that was enough of a deterrent if anyone truly meant her harm.
He glanced at his watch again. Seven-thirty.
Based on her message, she was only fifteen minutes late. No need to panic yet.
Yeah, right!
He tried her cell phone again.
~~~~~~~~
Something rough and wet ran up her cheek. Hot breath in her ear. She jerked away.
A whining noise. The rough wetness on her neck. It tickled.
She opened one eye. Dark, blurry shadows.
Where the hell am I?
Pain came roaring back, memory right behind it.
She rolled over on her side, tried to focus her eyes.
Another whine, then a bark.
Sharp pain shot through her head. “Shush, Toby.”
Her vision cleared enough to make out that the poor dog was dangling half out of the backseat. His front paws were on the asphalt, his harness holding his back end inside the car.
He stretched his nose toward her and licked her face, whined again.
“It’s okay, boy,” she said, even though it wasn’t.
She managed to sit up. The blurry image of a dark parking lot tilted to one side. Her stomach churned. She leaned over, gagging, but there was little in her stomach. Every dry heave shot ice picks through her brain.
She closed her eyes and swallowed, willing the gagging to subside.
Toby whined.
She opened her eyes. When the world stopped spinning, she scanned the area around her. This end of the parking lot was deserted. Her eyes searched the pavement near her. Her purse was gone. But her keys were just under the edge of the car.
She picked them up. Pushing herself up on her knees, and trying to ignore the pain ripping off the top of her head, she managed to shove the dog back up on the backseat. “Stay, boy.”
Grabbing the armrest on the inside of the back door, she pulled herself partway upright, then got her feet under her and stood up. The parking lot did another slow spin.
Please, Lord, don’t let me pass out.
She closed the back door and grabbed for the handle of the driver’s door. The panic she’d been holding at bay now overwhelmed her. She ripped the door open, jumped in and hit the lock button.
The thunk of the doors locking was somewhat reassuring. But she had to get out of here.
She looked down at the keys still clutched in her hand. Her eyes went out of focus. There was no way she could drive.
“Call 911.” No response from her Bluetooth.
Panic threatened to swamp her again. Her cell phone was gone.
Wait, no. It’s in my pocket.
She patted her pocket to make sure. Yes, the phone was still there. Had it been damaged in the fight?
What fight? He knocked you out,
a voice in her head said.
Oh yeah, the car needed to be on for the Bluetooth to work. She fumbled the key into the ignition switch and turned it. The engine roaring to life in the quiet night made her jump.
She looked at the dashboard clock. Eight-fifty.
My God, Skip will be frantic.
But first things first. “Call 911,” she said again.
Nothing happened.
She fumbled the phone out of her pocket to make sure it was on. It was. Her fuzzy brain remembered that the phone needed to be within a certain distance from the Bluetooth. She laid it on the console.
“Call 911.”
A disembodied voice said, “911. What is the nature of your emergency?”
“I’ve been mugged.”
“Are you safe now, ma’am?” The voice was calm and urgent at the same time.
“Yes, I think so.”
“Where are you?”
“At the vet’s.”
“Can you give me the address?”
Kate had no idea what the address was. “I don’t remember. It’s in a shopping center. I used my GPS to get here.”
“Are you hurt, ma’am?”
“Yeah. He hit me in the head, and cut my nose.”
“Stay on the line, ma’am. I’m sending the police and an ambulance. The police can track you through your cell phone signal.”
Kate’s eyelids were drooping. She shook her head, then wished she hadn’t when pain shot through her skull.
“I can’t stay on the line. I’ve gotta call my husband.” A thought meandered into Kate’s mind. “Please contact Judith Anderson. This is related to a case of hers.”
A half beat of silence. “Okay, but you need to stay on the line, ma’am.”
“I’ll call back. Disconnect. Call Skip.”
Kate’s head lolled to one side.
Toby whined in the backseat.
~~~~~~~~
Seven minutes of nine. The credits were rolling on the Disney movie.
Bile rose in Skip’s throat. His insides were tied in knots. He looked at his kids, stretched out on their stomachs on the living room floor.
My God! Their mother may be dead.
Pain surged through his body, threatened to explode his chest wide open.
Edie rolled over on her back. “Where’s Mommy?” she said in a sleepy voice.
He opened his mouth, not at all sure what he would say. His cell phone buzzed. He snatched it off the coffee table.
Kate’s cell
, the screen read.
“Kate, where the hell are you?” he yelled into the phone.
“I don’t know.” Her voice was plaintive, her words slurred. “I’m so scared.” Toby barked in the background.
Oh my God!
“Where are you?” He tried to calm his voice without completely succeeding.
“At the vet’s.”
“No, you’re not. I called the vet.”
Silence, then, “Not our vet. Josie’s vet.” Her voice sounded a little steadier.
He glanced up. Edie was standing in front of him, biting her lip. Billy clung to his sister’s arm.
He took a deep breath. “Darlin’, where is Josie’s vet?”
“I don’t remember the address.” The words were slurred again.
“Are you hurt? What happened?”
Edie was crying now.
“It’s okay, Pumkin. It’s gonna be okay.” Into the phone, “Kate?”
“I called the police. They’re on the way.”
“Good, good.” He tried to smile at his kids. He had no idea how successful that effort was.
“Kate, did you use GPS to get there?”
“Yeah.”
“Call up recent addresses on the GPS.”
A long silence. His heart pounded.
“Okay.”
“What’s it say?”
“One, one two… Can’t read it. There’s two more numbers. My vision keeps going in and out on me.”
“What’s the street name?”
“Delaney something.”
Probably Delaney Valley Road.
“Okay, you’re doing fine, darlin’. The vet’s office? Is it in a house, an office building, a mall?”
“No. It’s a little shopping center.”
“Okay, I’ll find you. Hang on!”
He jumped up and headed for the door. Halfway there it dawned on him that Maria wasn’t home. Would it be better to leave Edie in charge, or take the kids with him?
There was a killer out there, who’d attacked Kate. He didn’t dare leave them alone.
“Come on, kids.” he gestured for them to hurry. “We need to go get your mother.”
Once in his truck, he called Rose.
“What’s up, partner?”
“I need your help.” He tried to keep his voice calm, for the sake of the kids. “I’m on my way to pick Kate up. I may need you to–”
“What? Manny checked in earlier and said she was home. Who’s with her?”
He didn’t want to go into details with little ears listening from the backseat. “Nobody. It’s a long story.”
“Is Kate okay?” Rose’s tone was sharp. “What’s going on?”
“Not sure. I’m on the way to get her. The kids are with me.”
“What do you need?”
Skip almost lost it.
I need my wife!
Struggling to keep his voice even, he said, “I need you to come get the K-I-D-S.”
“Daddy, I can spell!” Edie said from the backseat.
“I know, Pumkin.”
“I can spell too, Daddy,” Billy yelled.
An hysterical bubble of laughter rose in his throat. Skip desperately shoved it down. “I know, son.”
He gave Rose the partial address.
“We’ll find it!” she said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Toby went ballistic, almost covering the sound of knuckles rapping on glass.
Kate jumped. Her eyes flew open.
A young man’s face stared at her through the window of her car. “Ma’am, you called 911?”
A siren in the distance.
Still some instinct told Kate to be wary. “Who are you?” she mumbled.
Toby kept barking.
“S’okay, boy,” Kate told him.
The man held a badge up to the glass. “Police, ma’am.”
“Good.” Kate drifted off to sleep.
Sharp rapping. Toby barking.
“Ma’am, unlock the door!”
“Who are you?”
“Police, ma’am.” A badge mashed against the window.
“’kay.” She fumbled for the unlock button.
~~~~~~~~
“Stay here!” Skip ordered. He jumped out of his truck and hit the button on his key fob to lock it.
“I’m her husband,” he kept shouting as he pushed past police officers. Ten feet from her car, his way was blocked by a very large and determined sergeant.
Skip tried to see past the man’s bulk. The dog was barking nonstop, the silhouette of his head bouncing around in the backseat, but no other silhouettes.
“I’m her husband. I gotta see her.” He choked on the lump in his throat. “Is she okay?” He managed to get past it.
The cop pointed toward an ambulance twenty feet away. “She doesn’t seem to be seriously hurt.”
Suddenly Edie was at his elbow. He grabbed her arm. “I thought I told you to stay in the truck?” He heard the harshness in his voice.