Critical Instinct(12)

That guy didn’t make eye contact with Paige. “My bad. Sorry about that. She has the same scarf as you.”

“Are you okay?” The third one reached down to help Paige, but she scooted away. She didn’t want anyone to touch her right now.

“I’m fine,” she said in the strongest voice she could manage. “You guys should just go.”

The boys didn’t seem to want to stick around, probably afraid they would get in trouble. They glanced at each other and left, quickly.

Somewhere in her subconscious, Paige knew she was safe. Those boys hadn’t meant her harm. It had just been a misunderstanding.

But she couldn’t get her body to stop shaking; couldn’t get the muscles of her legs to work so she could stand upright. She needed to call Jacob to come get her, but her phone had fallen when the boys had first grabbed her and lay on the ground.

She scooted herself over to the phone almost in tears when she saw the screen cracked and no life in it whatsoever. Jacob’s number was programmed into the phone, and right now she couldn’t get her brain to function enough to recall any numbers from memory.

Even with the boys gone she still felt eyes on her. Wasn’t sure if that was just residual panic or true danger. She needed to get out of this alley and back down near the market. Her breathing became labored again as she saw the inky blackness seeming to tendril out the alley behind her.

Paige forced herself up from the ground, wincing at the pain in her elbow. Everything seemed to be spinning as she took unsteady steps away from the mouth of the alley. She didn’t know what was wrong. She hadn’t been hurt by the boys, just scared. She hadn’t felt this disoriented since…

Since the attack two years ago. The last thing she remembered from that day was feeling just like this before she blacked out and then woken up in the clutches of a madman, thrust further in darkness.

Her vision was dimming again as Paige took more steps. She wasn’t sure which direction she was even heading, she just knew she needed to get away from here. From the blackness.

She put her broken phone in her jacket pocket, trying to steady herself. And she felt it. A business card.

Brett’s card from last night.

“Ma’am, are you okay?”

Paige spun jerkily around at the words, and through her hazy vision could see a woman pushing a stroller. This person wasn’t the blackness, but the blackness was still nearby.

“Could you please call the policeman on this business card? Tell him Paige needs him to come get her.” She could barely get the words out.

The concerned mom helped Paige sit down on a nearby bench. The world kept spinning around her and ice seemed to have permeated her veins. With chattering teeth she watched as the woman looked at the card and dialed the number.

Then Paige just focused on keeping the darkness away.





Chapter Nine





Brett didn’t tend to play games with women. When he said he would call, he called. And calling Paige today had definitely been part of his plan. He hadn’t intended on making either of them wait and wonder.

But receiving a call on his personal cell phone from a stranger who told him Paige was sitting on a bench downtown in some sort of shock? That he hadn’t been expecting.

“Can I please talk to her?” he’d asked the woman.

“Br-Brett?”

“Paige? What happened, honey? Are you okay?”

“Somebody grabbed me. I was walking. Somebody grabbed me.” Her breathing was so labored it had been hard to make out her words.

“Where’s your security team, sweetie?”

“Not here.” Her teeth seemed to be chattering. “I— not here.”

“I’m coming, okay? Just stay right there. I’ll be there in just a minute.”

He’d talked again to the woman who’d initially called him, making sure he didn’t need to send an ambulance — was Paige bleeding, have broken bones? The thought that she’d been hurt again made him sick to his stomach.

But the woman had assured him that physically Paige seemed fine, although maybe in shock. He’d already been running out the main door of the station before disconnecting the call. Fortunately he wasn’t far from downtown.

Thank God Paige had his card in her pocket. Why had she been alone? Where was her security team? From everything he’d heard, everything she’d told him, she rarely left the house alone, if ever.

Breaking quite a few traffic laws, Brett made it to Paige’s location in record time. From where he parked he could see her huddled on a bench. The lady with the stroller was still with her.

“Paige?” Brett crouched down directly in front of her and placed his hands gently on her cheeks, brushing back the hair that had fallen over her face. She instantly began pulling away from him. “It’s Brett, sweetheart.”

“Brett?” Her voice was tiny, but at least she stopped pulling away.

“It’s okay, alright?” He stroked her cheek again. “Nothing around here to hurt you.”

The toddler in the stroller began crying and Brett looked over at the other woman.

“I’ve got to get him home,” she said. “Is she going to be okay?”

He nodded. “I think so. I won’t leave her alone. Did you see anything? Know what happened?”

“No, not really. I saw some teenagers running away, then saw her walking, unsteady and shaking. Her phone was broken but she had your card.”

“Yes, I’m with the Portland Police Department. I really appreciate you helping her.”

“It’s no problem. I would hope someone would do the same thing for me if the roles were reversed.” The toddler’s wail got louder. “I hope she’s okay. You don’t need me for anything else, right?”

“No. Thanks again for your help.”

Brett sat on the bench as the woman left. Paige was shaking. He took off his jacket and put it around her, even though it meant his belt holster was exposed. He pulled her close to him and just hugged her.

Anyone walking by would’ve thought they were lovers enjoying a rare beautiful day in Portland. Eventually Paige’s tremors eased and she relaxed against him.

Brett just held her. He had questions, but wanted to give her time to regroup.

And certainly sitting here with her in his arms was no great hardship.

“It was such a beautiful day, I decided to come down to the Saturday Market,” she finally whispered. “It’s the first time I’d done that since…”

Brett nodded. She didn’t need to say the words.

“After walking around a while, I decided to get a sandwich.” Her quiet laugh was humorless. “A grilled cheese from a food truck I knew was on the other side of the highway.”

“Little T American Baker?”

She nodded.

“Oh hell yeah. I used to have dreams about those when I moved to South Florida. Embarrassing dreams, inappropriate to mention in polite company.”

That got him a ghost of a smile. Totally worth getting her off topic for. He could feel her pulling herself together, finding her strength.

“I got a little spooked at the thought of cutting through the alley.”

“Not wanting to walk through an isolated tunnel isn’t a paranoia.”

“For most people, probably. For me?” She shrugged. “Before I even got to it somebody grabbed me from behind, in a bear hug.”

Brett muttered a foul word under his breath, but let her continue.

“My scarf got caught up around my face when I started to struggle. I couldn’t see.” All the tension was back in her small frame. “I could only think that it was… It was…”

Happening again. Her panicked mind had thought that the attack was happening again. Brett didn’t finish the sentence for her, but he easily could have. He let her trail off.

“It was some dumb teenagers, Brett,” she told him after long minutes. “They thought I was their friend and were just messing with her. I think I broke one of the kid’s nose when I was trying to get away.”

“Good.” Brett was damn sure not going to let her feel bad about popping some dumbass kid in the nose. “Do you want me to try to go after them? A broken nose could probably give me a pretty good lead.”

“No.” A ghost of a smile touched her lips again. “They didn’t mean any harm, I could tell once I saw them. It was my own stupid reaction that allowed things to get out of hand.”

He turned so they were more fully facing each other. “No, not stupid. Completely understandable.”

Embarrassment tinged her cheeks. “I was so proud of myself for going out alone. And now look at me.”

“Look at you what? You’re sitting on a bench, enjoying a beautiful day, taking a breather after an event that would’ve shaken up anyone.”

“I was sobbing on the ground, shivering, with a broken phone, unable to remember any phone numbers. If that lady hadn’t come by, I probably never would’ve been heard from again.”

He was relieved to hear a little spunk back in her voice.

“I was so scared, Brett.” And just like that the spunk was gone.

He hooked a finger under her chin so she had no choice but to look into his eyes. “You had every right to be scared. This happening to you the first time you went out alone is the most crappy coincidence in the history of the world.”