Total pages in book: 181
Estimated words: 171979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 573(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171979 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 573(@300wpm)
“Scream, and I’ll slit your fucking throat!” a harsh voice whispered in her ear.
Biting back her scream, she wildly tried to turn her head to see who was robbing her. A hiss in her ear was the only warning she was given before her hair was yanked back then her forehead was slammed into the rear windshield.
A whimper escaped her at the pain as the watch on her hand was ripped off.
“You fucking move when I let you go, and I’ll shoot your ass.” With another hard shove, Sage felt herself released.
Too terrified to move, she lay limply against the car. Several minutes passed before she had enough courage to raise her head to see a couple walking into the store, staring at her curiously.
“Do you need some help?” the man called out.
“Yes …” Registering her voice was barely above a whisper, she raised it. “Could you please call the police?”
The couple rushed toward her. Dizzy, she reached a hand out to brace herself on the car. Pain shot through her hand, forcing a whimper out of her. Clutching her aching wrist to her chest, she blinked back tears.
“Poor thing.” Concerned, the woman took her by the other arm. “You need to sit down. Where are your car keys?”
“I have no idea.” Brushing her hair out of her eyes, she tried to concentrate on where the keys had been before she was mugged.
“I found them,” the woman exclaimed. “They were on the ground.”
She was helped to the front of the car while the woman’s companion was on the phone with the police, and slid into the driver’s seat.
Kneeling next to her, the woman placed the keys on her lap. “My name is Kris. Can I get you anything?”
“I’m Sage. Thank you for stopping.”
“I wish we had been earlier and would have been able to stop it from happening.”
“I’m glad you weren’t. He threatened me with a knife, and to shoot me.”
“He couldn’t make up his mind?”
Lifting startled eyes to the woman, Sage felt a bubble of laughter. “You’re right. I didn’t see either weapon. If I had, I probably would have passed out.”
Kris’ eyes searched her face. “I don’t think so. You’re handling this better than I would have. I would have been screaming bloody murder.”
“I would have if he hadn’t threatened to cut me.”
The woman who appeared to be around her age shivered. “That’s frightening.”
Sage placed her uninjured hand to her throbbing forehead. “It was.”
Fortunately, a police car arrived to take a report. Kris and the man with her left, but not before giving her a slip of paper with her phone number.
“Please, give me a call in a couple of days and let me know how you’re doing.”
“I will,” she promised.
Satisfied at her promise, they moved on into the store after giving the policemen their information and stating they hadn’t seen what had happened.
“Ms. Riley, there’s an ambulance on the way. Is there anyone I can call for you?”
There was no way she was going to upset Glory. She would tell her what happened when she got home.
“I have a friend I can call. I won’t need an ambulance.” Grateful that her phone hadn’t been taken, she called her neighbor, asking her to sit with Glory and the girls until she was able to come home.
The ambulance arrived just as she disconnected the call.
“I told you I don’t need an ambulance.” All she could think at seeing the blinking red lights was the money it would burn through if she accepted their help.
“Ma’am.” The policeman gave her a kind gaze, as if he could read her thoughts. “The cost of the ambulance will come from a fund for victims of violence. Go with them and get yourself taken care of.”
Sage looked down at her hurt wrist; it was beginning to swell. “I’ll need my car to get home and for work in the morning,” she explained.
“I’m getting off in an hour. My wife is picking me up. She can drop me off here, and I’ll drive it to the hospital for you. My wife can drive me home from there.”
She wanted to cry at the compassion she saw in his eyes. “I can’t ask—”
“You didn’t. I offered.” The policeman motioned for the EMT, moving away before she could argue any more.
“He took my purse and has all my information …” Her voice broke off, terrified for Glory and the girls.
The policeman gave her a commiserating glance. “This store has cameras pointed at the parking lot. I hope we can have him ID’d before you get out of the hospital.”
Assured, she let the EMT help her to the ambulance, where she weakly lay back on a cot so she could be checked out.
When they arrived at the hospital, she was wheeled into the emergency room.
Three hours later, she was signing herself out when the policeman was allowed into her room to see her.