I guess that I expected it to feel differently.
What I didn’t expect was for my face to get hot, or sweat to bead on my upper lip.
I also didn’t expect the pounding headache that followed almost instantly.
Kerrie’s eyes were narrowed, as if he was literally about to kill me.
I gasped and clawed at his hands, feeling the soft, thud-thud-thud of my heart pounding in my ears.
My face started to tingle, and I could no longer feel my lips.
I was making a gasping, gurgling, choking sound that was hurting my ears, and my eyes started to water.
With tears running down my face, I tried one last ditch effort to get away, because my strength was quickly waning.
With a great heave, I pushed back off the wall, levered my legs upward, and then kicked Kerrie for all I was worth in the thighs.
He went back several feet, thankfully letting go of my neck in the process.
I drew in a great, heaving breath, and went to run.
Only, I didn’t get far because before I could even blink, Kerrie had a hold of my hair and he was dragging me backward.
Just before he caught me up in his arms, I saw a flash of black.
A menacing growl—one that I’d heard earlier which had caused me to give up my donut—and then a pain-filled scream.
The pressure on my hair released, and I whirled around in time to see the black dog on top of Kerrie, followed by a large man hurrying in the direction of the dog.
The soft curse of the large man, filled with Kerrie’s scream of pain again, had me backing up until my back hit the dumpster.
I stepped into something sticky, but I didn’t care.
I couldn’t care.
My eyes were locked solidly on the large man pulling the dog off the now-prone Kerrie.
“Bobo, heel,” the large man growled ferociously.
Bobo heeled, but not before he got one more good bite in.
Kerrie screamed all over again.
My phone rang on the ground, and I couldn’t make myself move to answer it.
Sirens sounded in the distance, and soon the red and blue flashing lights were bouncing off the narrow confines of the alley walls.
I, on the other hand, was still frozen in fear.
I slid down the metal container, wrapped my arms around my knees, and stared in shock at the bleeding and crying Kerrie.Chapter 11
You never know what I’ll have up my sleeve. Today, for example, it was a pair of Asa’s underwear.
-Text from Booth to Dillan
Booth
“You okay now, buddy?” I asked, pushing my son’s hair out of his face.
“Yeah,” Asa sighed. “Daddy, can we watch something cool?”
I chuckled and took the seat next to my son—the one I’d been occupying almost the entire night—and flicked on the television.
My stomach was in knots as I stared at him.
Asa had started throwing up again yesterday at around two in the afternoon and hadn’t stopped since.
I now had an appointment with his pediatrician today to talk to her about what was going on.
My kid had literally had dozens of these bouts of sickness randomly over the last few months.
And, after talking to Delanie yesterday, I’d realized that she’d had a few with him, too.
It wasn’t until we were comparing notes that we realized that the situation was a lot more serious than we’d thought.
Speaking of Delanie.
My phone rang, and I frowned.
It was three-fifteen in the morning. Was she really that worried?
“Hello?” I answered hesitantly.
“Oh, God. Booth,” Delanie gasped. “Dillan is being strangled by Kerrie outside of the donut shop!”
I was on my feet in an instant, gathering Asa in my arms.
“Did you call 911?” I asked as I all but sprinted out the door.
“Yes,” she cried. “I was on the phone with her. The call dropped, but something made me go and check the feed just in case. And I saw Kerrie attack her. She’s in the alley behind the donut shop. She was taking out the trash, and he ambushed her there.”
I put Asa in his car seat, strapped him in, and ran to my side of the vehicle.
The engine roared to life, and I wasted no time in getting my truck moving.
By the time I arrived at the scene, it was to find the entire place swarming with cops. One of those being my dad.
I walked up to him and handed him Asa.
Asa threw his arms around my father and hugged him tight.
“Papa,” Asa said. “Is Aunt Dillan okay?”
I shouldn’t have answered the phone on speaker, but I hadn’t thought it would matter. Now I knew I was wrong.
“Everything’s okay, little bear,” my father said. “Why don’t I take you to the car?”
Without my son to worry about, I focused on my woman.
Hurrying toward the alleyway, I was a little taken aback when I saw the sheer amount of people standing there.
“Laric saved me,” I heard Dillan’s husky, not quite sounding right voice, say. “If he hadn’t been here with Bobo, I would’ve died. Or worse.”