A scream tore through the night.His senses sprang to action and unease made his palms moist.He turned toward the sound coming from the back of Dez’s building.Keeping the flashlight in his fist, he broke into a run, pulling the gun from its holster at his hip as he rounded the brick corner.
A gravel drive led to a small parking lot.Sweat collected at his collar as he charged across the stones.“Police!Freeze!”
He blinked in the darkness, swinging the yellow orb around the lot.A woman lay on the ground, a mass of dark curls spread around her—Desiree.His throat constricted.Keeping the gun trained in front of him, he moved swiftly toward her form.“Desiree, it’s Aiden.Are you hurt?”he asked, stopping next to her body.He kept his voice loud and stern so the attacker would know he was there, despite the urge to drop to her side.
After scanning the darkness for any signs of movement, he slowly lowered himself next to her and placed his flashlight on the ground.
She wasn’t responding.Sonofabitch.He reached for his radio.“I need backup and an ambulance.”He rattled off his location and then brought his hand to Dez’s hair.Collecting her locks in his hand, he moved her strands out of the way.
The moon caught her pale cheek in its glow.Anger coursed through him.He grabbed the flashlight again and shined it on her face while keeping the gun propped in his left hand.Red, swollen blotches circled her eyes and a trickle of blood rolled down the side of her head.Someone had attacked her—and he’d scared them off.
She squinted against the bright light then turned her face toward the gravel and moaned.
“Hey, it’s me,” he said again.“Aiden.What happened?”
She blinked and then squeezed her eyes into slits.“You’re hurting my eyes,” she said drowsily.
“Sorry,” he said, wetting his lips.If he hadn’t been paralyzed with rage he’d have smiled at her response.
Sirens sounded in the distance.He shoved his gun back in its holster.No one would be stupid enough to attack him with backup on the way.He slid a hand under her neck, holding her head a couple of inches off the ground.“What happened?”
She grabbed his shoulder and hoisted herself into a sitting position.
He quickly put the lit flashlight on the ground and caught her waist with his other hand.“Wait.You need—”
“I’m fine.Just sprayed myself with bear spray.”She rubbed her eyes again, her grumpy tone telling him she was slightly PO’d at herself.
“Did you knock yourself out, too?”
She snorted.“No, you ass.Someone...someone came at me.”Her grip stayed firm on his sleeve.“They shoved me against the car and put me in a chokehold.I sprayed them, and while I was trying to get away, they grabbed my ankle and I fell.I screamed and then they cracked me on the head with something.”
As she shifted so she could rest against his chest, he kept his hand on her waist.Shudders shook her slight frame.He’d left his jacket in the car, so body warmth would have to do.He scrubbed his hands up and down her arm and back.The fragrant scent of cinnamon sugar filled his nostrils.Her teeth smacked gently together, telling him shock was setting in.Goddamn it.
“What are you doing here?”she asked, through broken gasps.Her tone held confusion, but also a layer of relief.
“I was driving by your shop on my way home and thought I’d check it out.The criminal always returns to the scene,” he said, keeping his tone light.“I heard you scream and came running.”
She shifted away from his chest but didn’t push out of his arms.“Thank you for checking on my store.”
Headlights pulled into the parking lot.“Don’t mention it.Now tell me you got a good look at the sonofabitch.”
***
Numbness settled overDez’s skin as she pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders.So much for her night ending with Netflix and wine.
More like arnica and bed.
She’d refused to lie down on the gurney or go to the hospital.She had a mild concussion and her eyes still sizzled from the bear spray, but those were the least of her worries.Besides, she wouldn’t get a minute of sleep in a hospital and that’s what she needed.
Her gaze swung away from the frowning paramedic to Aiden’s form as he waltzed toward her.He’d hovered in the background while she’d given her statement.Part of her wanted to tell him he could go home, the other part was grateful he’d stayed.
He shoved his hands into his pockets, stopping less than a foot from where she sat at the back of the ambulance.“How’re you making out?”
“I feel fantastic besides my burning eyes.”
The paramedic snorted.“You’re not fooling anyone.”
Aiden narrowed his eyes.“Are you giving him trouble?”
