LITMIR.BIZ

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hurt to breathe, to blink, to turn her head. Where was she and why was it an agony to move? She forced her eyes open, taking in the pearl-gray walls, the blur of white sheets, an antiseptic smell in her nostrils.

      I’m in a hospital. She tried to sit up.

      A hand pushed her back down. “Stay still. You’re at the Canyon County Medical Center. You have a mild concussion, and you’re fortunate it wasn’t worse than that, from what I hear.”

      Forcing her eyes open, she became aware that the hand belonged to her sister, Kate. Pale blue eyes, white-blond hair, wearing a denim skirt and a Cactus Café T-shirt.

      “What happened?” Madison croaked.

      “You would know better than anyone, but the report is that you were struck in the head at the bridal salon.” Kate finally smiled, quick and nervous. “If you wanted a good smack upside the head, you could have come to me.” She squeezed Madison’s fingers, and the pressure did more than any drug to ease Madison’s discomfort.

      She tried to smile back, but the pain shooting through her temples prevented it. In spite of the agony, she was thrilled to have Kate there, her precious baby sister. “How did you find out?”

      “I was halfway through my very first shift with my tray full of burgers and fries when the sirens started up. The whole town heard it. The restaurant emptied out so I ran over. An officer named Harrison was with you. I met his brother Sterling last week when I was here pounding the pavement, looking for work. Sterling was sweet, tried to help me find out where to apply for a job.”

      Officer Harrison. She recalled a fuzzy image of him leaning over her, holding her hand, saying something low and comforting.

      “I can’t tell you what I felt like when I saw who they were loading onto the stretcher,” Kate said, voice trembling.

      “Sorry,” Madison mumbled.

      Kate’s brows furrowed, and she let go of Madison’s hands. Their connection ended. “You’re digging into some story again, aren’t you?”

      “I was just going to ask a few questions when I heard a...”

      Kate pulled on her ponytail, a nervous gesture from childhood. “I don’t want to know. Why can’t you get a normal job and quit poking around in other people’s business?”

      Like Uncle Ray had done in theirs. His actions had ensured their father would go to prison, but Kate steadfastly refused to believe his guilt. Not her daddy, her hero, accused of killing a mother Kate did not even remember. Kate believed her life had been torn apart by Ray’s mission to unmask their father as a killer. Madison felt as if her life had just begun then, as if she was awakening from a long, numbing slumber. Kate had despised Madison for believing Uncle Ray.

      “I was just going to ask if the shop owner needed help,” Madison said, but she could see her sister did not believe her. “Where’s the doctor? I want to get out of here.”

      Officer Ken Bucks knocked softly on the door. “Ms. Coles? I’m glad to see you’re awake.” He nodded to Kate and stared at Madison before letting out a sigh. “I feel like I should have kept a better eye on you, and maybe this wouldn’t have happened. I should know by now that Desert Valley isn’t the sleepy town it pretends to be. I apologize, ma’am.”

      “It’s not your fault,” Madison said before introducing her sister. Bucks shook Kate’s hand.

      “We’re all curious to know what happened in the salon,” Bucks said. “Are you ready to give a statement?”

      Madison peered around him. “I, uh, I thought Officer Harrison would take it, since he was the one who found me.”

      “He’ll be along soon, but he asked me to get the details down now, before they’re forgotten.”

      “Well, I can’t really help you identify the man who did this. I just didn’t see him that well.”

      “Can you give me anything? Height? Hair color?”

      “Only that he was white, big and bald.”

      “Excuse me,” said the doctor from the doorway. “I’ve got to do an exam on Ms. Coles now that she’s awake.” She moved past Bucks and reached for the curtain to pull it around them. “Would you two mind stepping into the hallway?”

      Kate and Bucks retreated. While the doctor checked her chart, Madison tried to reconstruct exactly what had happened. She’d been attacked, and she could have been killed. She itched to know what the bridal salon owner had told the police. The doctor’s probing awakened new twinges of discomfort, but something else bothered Madison, too.

      Why exactly was she disappointed that it wasn’t James Harrison there to take her statement?

      * * *

      After getting an initial report from Bucks, James waited in the hallway while the doctor examined Madison. He introduced himself to a young woman who didn’t look much like Madison, but turned out to be her sister, Kate.

      “I’ve got to get back to work. My first day.”

      “Here in Desert Valley, your sister said.”

      “Yeah. I’m living with Madison in Tuckerville. Not too bad a commute.” She sighed and rubbed her eyes. “My dad would hate this little town.”

      “Did you get word to him about Madison’s attack?”

      She laughed, a hard bitter sound. “Somehow I don’t think the warden will issue him a leave pass.”

      Their father was incarcerated? James burned to ask her about it, but she had already turned away and stridden down the hallway. He’d find out. Later.

      The doctor finished his exam and left the room. James was about to enter when he heard sniffling. Madison. The crying awakened the protective instinct that had gotten James into plenty of trouble in his lifetime. What was it about a woman crying that got right inside him? He remembered his teen crush on sixteen-year-old Paige who’d cried on his chest about some injustice or another. It had awakened such a strong feeling of protectiveness inside James. All these years later and a woman’s tears still got to him. Ridiculous...and dangerous.

      Madison’s tears were perfectly appropriate. She’d done nothing, threatened nobody, yet someone had assaulted her. With the doctor gone, her sister absent, she was likely feeling lonely. And why exactly should he care? She’d been nosing around, trying to rake up some dirt for a story, no doubt. “Aww, just get in there and do your job,” he muttered to himself before he knocked on the door.

      “Yes?” she said in a small voice.

      “It’s Officer Harrison. May I come in?”

      There was a pause and another sniffle. “Sure,” she said after a moment.

      She was wiping her face with a tissue, rust-colored hair trailing over the pillow like a spread of fall leaves, freckles showing on her pale cheeks.

      “Hi,” he said, suddenly awkward at the sight of her.

      She flicked a glance around. “Where’s Hawk?”

      “He’s with another officer right now in the lobby. He’s not the best behaved in a medical setting. He eats things he shouldn’t.”

      She smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. “If I had any food, he could certainly have mine. I’m not a big meat loaf fan. Don’t suppose they serve sushi around here.”

      His nostrils flared. “Sushi? Raw fish stuff?”

      “Not all of it is raw, but yes. You’re not a fan.”

      “Er, no. I prefer eating things that have been up close and personal with the grill.”

      She chuckled, wincing at the pain.

      “How are you feeling?”

      “Like someone used my head for a soccer ball.”

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