Leah laughed out loud. “Or I should pay attention to where I’m going. Thank you.” She took the bag he handed back to her. “Lucky I didn’t dump my students’ papers in the collision. They would have been soaked.”
“Is that what’s in there? I would have guessed rocks. Your bag weighs a ton.”
“Oh, it’s full of all sorts of crap I probably don’t need. Sorry about the mess.”
“I’ll have the water mopped up in a jiffy. Have a good evening, Leah.” He glanced over at Sloan. “I’ll see you later.”
“Seven sharp.” Sloan maneuvered around the puddle.
“Good night, Edgar.” Leah followed her coworker past the vacated front counter. “What are you and Edgar doing this evening?”
Sloan pushed the front door wide as a blast of wind whistled through the opening. “Poker night with the boys.”
“No women allowed?”
His shoes slapped against the steps. “I don’t know if it’s actually written into the bylaws, but . . .”
She smiled at his teasing tone. “That’s okay. When Nina and Paige and I get together, we don’t allow guys to intrude, either.” Nearing her car, one of the few left in the lot, she reached into the pocket of her jacket and frowned. “Damn.”
“What’s wrong?” Sloan turned to face her.
“I must have dropped my keys in that collision with Edgar.”
“I can run back—”
“Absolutely not. Go home and enjoy your poker game tonight.”
“If you’re sure . . .” He hesitated.
“Positive.” With a wave, she hiked her bag farther up on her shoulder and headed toward the school.
Behind her, an engine started. The wind whipped through the parking lot, swirling her hair around her face as she picked up her pace. When her cell rang, she stopped to hunt through her purse. Finally, her hand closed over the familiar shape, and she pulled out the phone.
Too late.
She checked the screen. There was a missed call from Ryan. Tapping the notice, she called him back as Sloan’s car cruised past behind her, and the engine noise faded.
Ryan answered on the first ring. “Hey, beautiful, are you home yet?”
“I’m currently in the school parking lot, getting blown to pieces on my way back inside because I seem to have dropped my keys.”
“Want to come over here for dinner? My mom made enough lasagna to feed half the town. She put spinach and mushrooms in it instead of meat, so you can’t say no.”
Head down, Leah hurried toward the front steps. “That sounds wonderful. I need to go home first to feed Barney, and then I’ll come over.”
“Great, I’ll—”
Pain exploded behind her eyes, and the phone slipped from her hand. She pitched forward onto the pavement as the world went black . . .
* * *
Her head throbbed, a dull ache that made Leah want to curl into a ball to block out the pain. But a voice nagged at her, echoing in her brain. Her name, over and over and over . . .
She forced her eyes open and blinked, trying to clear her hazy vision as strands of hair tangled across her face. Unfamiliar hands brushed them away.
“Leah, can you hear me? Jesus. Hey, Pop, you’d better call for an ambulance.”
Awareness dawned as she focused on Jesse Vargas’s concerned brown eyes hovering above her. “What happened? God, my head hurts.”
“You hit it pretty hard. I don’t know if you slipped or what, but I found you lying on your face with a knot on the back of your skull and blood in your hair.”
Bits of gravel dug into her cheek. Pressing her palms flat against the pavement, she struggled to push up.
“Here, let me help you.” Jesse slid a hand under her arm and lifted her to a sitting position.
Her stomach roiled, and she fought against the tide of nausea climbing up her throat. Taking short breaths through her nose, she conquered the urge to puke. “Oh, geez.”
Edgar knelt in front of her beside his son. “I just called nine-one-one. They’re sending an ambulance.”
She reached up to touch the back of her head. “I don’t need . . . ouch!” Her fingers encountered a large knot. “Damn, that hurts.”
“Did you trip and fall?” Edgar asked.
Leah glanced from father to son and frowned. “I was talking to Ryan on my cell and . . . I don’t remember anything else.”
“Here’s your phone. Looks like the screen protector saved it when it hit the ground. The case is a little battered, though.”
She took her cell from Jesse and stared at the blood smears on the case. “My head must be bleeding.”
“Yeah, that’s some lump you have. You gave me a scare when I saw you out cold on the pavement when I drove into the lot to pick up Pop.”
With her head pounding like a bass drum, thinking was an effort. “How long ago was that?”
“Only about a minute before you came to.” When she shivered, Edgar removed his jacket to drape over her shoulders. “I’d just locked the front doors when Jesse stopped his pickup and yelled.
Fragments of memory returned. “I couldn’t find my keys. I was coming back to look for them when my phone rang. Ryan asked me to dinner, and then . . .” The recollection faded. “Next thing I remember is Jesse saying my name.”
Tires squealed, and an engine roared as a vehicle took the corner off the access road into the lot. A moment later, Ryan stopped his Jeep near them and threw open his door. “Leah!”
“I’m okay.” She let out a relieved breath as the other two men stepped back.
“Jesus. You stopped talking, and I heard a thud. Then nothing.” He crouched beside her and touched her cheek. “What happened?”
When sirens sounded in the distance, growing louder, Jesse turned toward the road. “Here comes the ambulance.”
“What?” Ryan’s voice rose. “You’re definitely not okay.” Gently, he touched her hair. “There’s blood.”
Leah leaned against him as a chill shook her. “I hit my head when I fell.”
“She was unconscious when I arrived.” Jesse crossed his arms over his chest as an ambulance followed by a patrol car rounded the corner and cut their sirens.
Two paramedics got out and hurried over. One carried a red emergency duffel bag.
Chris Long followed. “I heard the nine-one-one call come through. I left here not twenty minutes ago, Leah. What the heck happened?”
“I hit my head. My memory of the specifics is a little hazy.”
The female EMT, who was the same one who’d attended to Ryan’s mother after her accident, frowned. “If you don’t mind, Officer, let us check her out first before you question her.”
“Of course.” Chris backed up a few steps.
Ryan didn’t move. He held Leah’s free hand while the paramedic took her vitals then shined a light in her eyes. Her partner pulled on latex gloves before carefully examining the knot on her head.
“Miss, can you tell me what day it is?”
Leah nodded, then winced when the motion aggravated her pounding head. “Tuesday. I’m fine other than a splitting headache. I don’t need to go to the hospital.”
The paramedic directed the light from her right pupil to her left. “Your name?”
“Leah Grayson. I was a little fuzzy when I first came to, but my memory returned pretty quickly.”
Ryan’s grip on her hand tightened. “Maybe you should go to the ER to get checked out. You could have a concussion if the fall knocked you out.”
The EMT regarded her steadily. “How long were you unconscious?”
“I’m not sure. It’s probably been five or six minutes since I woke up.” She glanced up. “Jesse, do you know . . .”
“She came to about a minute after I found her, which was when my dad called nine-one-one, but I don’t know how long she was lying on the ground before that.”
Ryan glanced at his watch. “It’s been eight minutes since our conversation was cut off when you dropped your
phone. I broke speed records getting over here.”
The paramedic behind her stopped probing her wound. “You were unconscious for a couple of minutes, then.” He stepped around to face her. Kind blue eyes regarded her from a weathered face. “If you don’t want to go to the hospital, I’d recommend you see a doctor for a thorough assessment. I don’t suspect a skull fracture, but it’s still a possibility. Also, that wound needs to be cleaned and dressed. Do you have any pain in your hands or wrists from breaking your fall? What about your knees?”
“My right arm hurts a little. I must have landed on it. Can Ryan drive me to the doctor’s office instead? It should still be open if we hurry. I don’t need to go to the emergency room, and I’m not sure what my insurance will cover.”
The woman returned her equipment to the bag. “Of course, but I’d advise you to see a health care provider right away.”
Her partner nodded. “You were hit pretty hard, so don’t delay treatment.”
Leah stilled. “What do you mean, hit?”
“Based on the abrasions on your chin and cheek, I’d say you were hit squarely from behind and fell forward onto your face. You don’t remember falling?”
“Just pain exploding in my head, then nothing until I came to with Jesse hovering over me.”
“Maybe you crumpled forward rather than going down hard, which probably saved you a nasty wrist sprain.”
“You think I was hit?” Her voice rose. “Someone attacked me from behind?”
“That would be my assessment.” His gaze held hers. “Are you sure you want to decline immediate medical treatment?”
She couldn’t think, couldn’t process what he was saying. Tightening her hold on Ryan, she nodded. “Yes. I’ll go see my own doctor.”
“Make sure you do.” He gave her a compassionate smile before he and his partner headed back to the ambulance.
Ryan’s lips pressed into a tight line as he slid an arm around her. Slowly, he lifted her to her feet. “Let’s get you to the doctor.”
Edgar stepped forward to pat her shoulder. “You take care, Leah. I can’t imagine anyone would deliberately hurt you. That’s just crazy.”
She leaned against Ryan. “I have to agree. Maybe the paramedic was mistaken.” Her eyes widened. “Oh, my keys. I dropped them earlier when we bumped into each other in the hall.”
“I’ll go back inside to find them.”
Chris Long crossed his arms over his chest. “You do that, and then I’m going to need to take formal statements from everyone here.”
Ryan’s grip on her waist tightened. “Can you get one from Leah after she sees a doctor?”
“I suppose—”
“My purse.” She glanced around the area and frowned. “Where’s my tote bag?”
Jesse raised both hands. “There wasn’t a bag anywhere nearby when I found you.”
Her knees threatened to buckle as she clung to Ryan. “Are you kidding? Whoever hit me must have taken my purse.”
He held her even tighter. “And could have killed you in the process.”
Chapter Sixteen
The damn film wasn’t in the bitch’s purse. He sorted through the pile of crap he’d dumped out on the ground for the third time, shining a light over the accumulation of odds and ends just to be sure. Definitely not there. Math papers scattered in a gust of wind, blowing toward the parking lot. Not that he gave two shits at this point. Everyone had long since departed the school grounds. After he’d ditched the bag in the woods, he’d waited until it was safe to come back to search through it. The last thing he’d wanted was to be caught with the damn thing by some fluke, and he still hadn’t replaced that burned-out taillight. Better not to risk having incriminating evidence found in his possession if he was stopped.
Rising to his feet, he shoved the few dollars he’d taken out of Leah’s wallet into his pocket to make the cops think it was a simple robbery, then gave the bag a hard kick before heading back toward the parking lot, keeping the flashlight beam low.
What a colossal waste of time watching for a chance to knock the woman out had been. The freaking film was nowhere to be found. Not in her house or her car or her bag. He’d even snuck into the school after hours when he’d found the cafeteria door propped open for a delivery, jimmied the lock on her classroom door, and searched her desk . . . for all the good it had done.
Taking a quick look around, he ran up to the dumpsters where he’d parked out of sight of anyone cruising past the school. No reason to advertise his presence. Breathing hard, he sat in the dark interior of his car and stared out at the night to ponder his next move. When his phone rang, he answered without bothering to check the display, knowing very well who would be calling.
“Yeah.”
“Well, what happened?”
“I grabbed her purse and searched it. The film wasn’t there.”
“Fuckin’ A!”
He let out a slow breath and held his temper. “I’m beginning to think she actually lost the roll for good. Maybe tossed it out with the trash or something by accident.”
A short silence followed. “That would certainly be a lucky break for us. Still, we can’t assume we’re safe.”
“Then we’ll keep our ears open. Surely if the damn thing shows up, Leah will mention it to someone, and word will get back to one of us.”
“I guess that’s the best we can do at this point.”
He slumped against the seat in relief and changed the subject. “How’s the search for a sacrifice going? We don’t have much time left.”
“Nothing definitive yet. I picked up a prospect hitchhiking, but then she called her boyfriend before I could get the phone away from her. Too risky after that.”
Apparently I’m not the only one who screws up. Not that he’d ever say so. Even if he hated the fact he hadn’t been voted the Chosen One, he wouldn’t show flagrant disrespect to the man who held that honor.
“Too bad, but now that I don’t have to focus exclusively on looking for the film, I’ll venture further afield. Maybe take a trip over to the university.”
“Sounds like a solid plan. Keep me in the loop.”
“Right.” He disconnected and dropped his cell on the seat, then started the engine. To hell with Leah and the damned roll of film. He’d find a sacrifice instead. Someone worthy. A surge of raw power shot through him in anticipation. Only two weeks until Samhain.
He could hardly wait.
* * *
Leah leaned against the counter in his mother’s kitchen and sniffed air scented with the aroma of garlic and herbs. “Wow, dinner smells terrific. What can I do to help?”
Ryan pulled the lasagna dish out of the oven to set on the cooling rack. “Sit. Right now, all you need to do is take it easy.” Brushing past her, he pulled out a chair at the table and guided her toward it.
“Absolutely.” His mom peeled back the foil covering the baking dish. “I can’t believe you were attacked here in Siren Cove. At the elementary school, of all places. What is this world coming to?”
“Apparently, no good.” Ryan studied Leah’s tight lips and wondered if the pain meds she’d taken were strong enough. “At least Dr. Carlton said you only have a mild concussion.”
“Isn’t that just peachy.” Her tone was laced with irony. “No brain damage.”
He couldn’t help smiling. “Good thing you have a hard head.”
She glanced over at his mother. “You raised a funny boy, Mrs. A. I bet you’re proud.”
“Oh, I am.” She paused with her good hand on the refrigerator door. “But I like knowing you can put him in his place.”
“Everyone needs a hobby.” Leah planted an elbow on the table and leaned her cheek against her open palm. “Thanks for the dinner invitation. I’ll admit I’m not up to cooking right now.”
“You just sit back and relax.” His mother set a salad bowl on the table then returned with plates and flatware, maneuvering competently despite her cast. “Ryan, the bread in the broiler
should be done. You can slice the loaf.”
He followed orders before loading the waiting basket with the slices. “Are we ready to eat?”
“I’ll just pour a round of iced tea. I’d offer wine, but Leah probably shouldn’t mix pain meds with alcohol.”
She straightened in her chair. “Please, you two go ahead.”
“No, we’ll all have tea.” His mom let out a yell. “Don’t even think about it, Charlie!”
Ryan spun, then made a lunging grab as his cat sprang from the tile floor toward the lasagna resting on the counter. He caught him mid-leap and locked gazes with irritated gold eyes. “Bad cat.”
“Bad cat?” Leah snorted as he set Charlie on the floor and pushed him toward the doorway with his foot. “That’s how you discipline your fur ball? And I thought I was lax with Barney.”
Using a pair of potholders, he set the steaming casserole dish on the table. “I guess we’re both suckers when it comes to our pets.”
“Better to be a sucker for an animal than to spoil kids.” His mom joined them at the table.
“Oh, I have a firm hand when it comes to my class.” Leah took a sip of her tea then squeezed a slice of lemon into it. “I don’t let them get away with much.”
“I meant if you two have . . .” His mother’s voice trailed off as she met his grim stare. “Never mind. Here, have some lasagna.” She served Leah a large scoop.
After that, the conversation became general, mainly a discussion of the psychological thriller his mother was reading for her book club. One that Leah had also apparently enjoyed. Ryan was happy to eat in silence. The last thing he wanted was his mom assuming his relationship with Leah was permanent. . . and flapping her mouth about it. At this point, they didn’t need that sort of pressure.
“Ryan?”
“Huh?” He dismissed his brooding thoughts when Leah jogged his elbow.
“I asked if you could drive me back to the school to get my car.”
“Oh, sure.” He pushed away his empty plate.
“Right after I help with the dishes.” She rose to her feet, steadying herself with a hand on the chair back.
“I’ll take care of those.” His mom sprang up from the table. “I’m great at loading the dishwasher one-handed. If Ryan will put the leftover lasagna in the refrigerator first? That dish is heavy.”
Buried Truth Page 15