“Leave him for the cops,” I said, sliding my arm around Hayley’s shoulders. “I’m taking her home.”
“You’re not supposed to,” said another bro. “Cops need her statement.”
“That guy kidnapped her,” I growled. “If I stay here any longer, I’ll kill him.”
“Whoa,” the guy said, backing away from me. “Okay, you take her, man.”
Sirens howled in the distance as I half carried Hayley to my pickup. She drooped against my side, stumbling often, and made me think she was in fact injured. I helped her onto the front seat, and pushed her hair from her waxy pale face.
“Do you need the hospital?”
She offered me a wan smile. “No. Just some aspirin and a soft bed.”
“You got it.”
Not caring if the bystanders, now busy helping the driver from the wreck, noted my truck’s plate number, I turned it around and drove us both the back we’d come. Hayley, her head resting on the seat’s rest, rolled her face toward me.
“You followed me,” she murmured. “Right?”
“I did. And it’s a good thing, too.” I glanced at her pale features illuminated by the dash lights. “I saw him hit you and push you into the car. But I was too far away, and it happened so very fast.”
“Yeah.”
“Who was that?”
“Brad. My ex. He’s been stalking me.”
“I should have killed him.”
“Then you’d go to jail.”
I barked a short laugh. “Not me, little girl.”
***
Though I’d promised Hayley a soft bed, she only made it as far as my plush and oversized couch. She lay curled on her side, her face more pale than I liked. She wasn’t bleeding anywhere and as far as I could tell, she hadn’t broken any bones. I sat gingerly beside her, brushing her silver gilt hair from her face.
“You’re really nice right now,” she muttered.
“I do have a nice side.”
“Why haven’t I seen it before?”
I chuckled. “I like to hide it. It keeps people guessing.”
“Too bad. I sorta like it.”
“Now that you’ve seen it, I expect I can’t keep it hidden any longer.”
“May I have that aspirin now?”
“Sure.”
From a cabinet in my kitchen, I fetched her the aspirin and a glass of water. I assisted Hayley in sitting up so she could swallow them without spilling. She lay back down. I sat once again, and began picking shards of glass from her hair.
“What are you doing?”
“You’re covered in glass.”
