“Back off!” he roared.
Blue gripped it with both hands and pulled, but he didn’t let go. Instead, he pushed her hard with one hand. She stumbled back and felt herself falling. Her head connected with something, and then everything went dark.
She woke feeling disoriented,and then the memory of what happened filtered into her foggy brain. Man, sketch pad, fall.
Blue rolled onto her side slowly and then climbed onto her hands and knees. So far, so good, except for the pain in her head, which had started throbbing. She pushed herself upright, gripping the back of the sofa as she wobbled.
“Asshole,” she whispered, thinking about the man who had stolen her sketch pad.
Breathing slowly to steady herself, Blue closed the front door and then made for the kitchen, where her phone was charging. Other than her head, she felt good. Surely falling like that hadn’t hurt the baby? Panic slithered into her body.
She found the Lyntacky Police Station number, then put through a call.
“Lyntacky Police?—”
“Dan, it’s Blue.”
“What’s wrong?”
“A man broke into Jay’s place?—”
“Is he still there, Blue?”
“No—I think…. No, he’s gone,” she said.
“Lock yourself in somewhere. I’m coming now.”
She didn’t have the strength to move, so, clutching her phone, she headed back to the sofa and sat down. The light was too bright, and she felt nauseous now. Closing her eyes, Blue rested her head and hoped she wasn’t going to throw up the contents of her stomach.
The thud on the door minutes later had her wincing.
“Blue!” It opened, and Dan appeared in uniform.
“Here, Dan.”
His eyes found her on the sofa, and in a few strides, he was there, crouched down before her.
“Are you hurt?”
“I was knocked out when he pushed me backward.”
“Fucker,” Dan snarled. “Okay, we need to get you checked out now, Blue.”
She didn’t nod. “Pants,” she whispered because anything louder wasn’t an option with the pain in her head.
“You want some pants on?” Dan said.
“I do.”
“Where?”
“Upstairs, in my room.”
“Okay, I’ll find it and your pants, but first I just need to do a quick sweep, okay?”
“’Kay.”
It didn’t take him long, and then he was back with some exercise pants, which he helped her pull on.
