Expert Witness: A Romantic Suspense Novel Read Free

in front of her, the bat now dangling in his right hand. “Are you okay?” He was shouting though he was right in front of her. “Did he cut you?” His eyes traveled down her body.
    “What?” she asked. The word came out resembling a sea lion’s bark as a result of the damaging pressure on her throat. She had no idea what Derek was talking about.  
    His gaze had shifted behind her, so she turned around. Only then did she see the knife lying on the ground next to the figure. A feeling of dread washed over her and she fought the nausea turning her stomach. Her legs wobbled like Jell-O. She glanced around for somewhere to sit before it was too late and she joined the man on the ground.
    “I’ve got you.” Derek placed her arm around his waist so he could support her weight. Then he guided her to his car.  
    After using his free hand to open the passenger’s side door, he eased her into one of the Corvette’s deep-gray bucket seats. She pulled her hands up in front of her chest and wrung them together in an effort to still her quivering limbs. The trembling didn’t stop. Her whole body vibrated now.  
    Grabbing his cell phone from his front pocket, Derek dropped down in the seat next to her and began dialing. Jordan could hear the voice on the other end.
    “Nine-one-one operator. What is your emergency?”  
    “Yes, my friend has been attacked.” Derek rattled off the street address to their office. “We need an ambulance right away.”  
    She looked over at the crumpled figure who lay on the ground not twenty feet from them. He was unmoving, still in the same position. Tearing her eyes away from the limp body, she realized Derek had ended the call and was speaking to her again.  
    “Everything is going to be okay. An ambulance is on its way to take you to the hospital to get checked out.” He rested his hand on her shoulder.
    Jordan closed her eyes. She’d mistakenly thought Derek had requested the ambulance for her motionless assailant. Forcing the thoughts to become words, she stated, “I don’t need to go to the hospital. I’m okay. He didn’t cut me, only tried to drag me away…” She trailed off. Nothing she said felt real. She’d worked with trauma clients enough to realize she was suffering from shock.
    He gave a heavy nod. “I’m sure everything is fine, but it won’t hurt to check.”  
    She didn’t have the strength to argue. She’d used up every bit of energy she’d had to fight her attacker.
    It seemed like an eternity had passed when they saw the blue lights cutting through the darkness though, according her watch, it’d been only a few minutes. Two squad cars and an ambulance simultaneously pulled into the parking lot.  
    The officers exited the vehicles. One started toward them, while the other headed toward the figure on the ground.  
    “Hey. Is everyone okay?” the closest officer called out as he surveyed the scene around them.  
    Both she and Derek nodded as he came closer.
    “Who’s Derek—the guy who called this in?”  
    Derek lifted his hand up midway. “I am.”
    “Tell me what happened. What’s going on here?” the officer questioned.  
    Derek provided a statement on what he’d witnessed, while the paramedics checked the vital signs of the unconscious man. Jordan turned the other way, as the sight of him made her stomach churn. On the other side of the parking lot, several more squad cars showed up, and officers began taping off the crime scene.  
    A new officer approached her and began to ask her questions. She was surprised at how calm she sounded as she answered him. It was as if her body were on automatic pilot and she were but a spectator. Watching from the safe place her mind had conceived, she saw her assailant being loaded onto a stretcher and into the ambulance.  
      “Do you need medical attention?” the officer asked. “I’ll be glad to call another ambulance.”  
    “I think that’s a good idea,” Derek said before she could