Free No One Left to Tell by Karen Rose Page A

Going the defense attorney route might be safer, after all. I tried to talk to Ramon’s old attorney, but he passed away a few years ago. Do you know any others?’
    ‘A few. Where are you now?’
    She pulled her keys from her pocket. ‘In a parking garage. About to come home.’
    ‘ No .’ He barked it with such intensity that she flinched. ‘Not yet,’ he added.
    ‘What the hell’s wrong with you?’ she snapped. ‘You gave me a heart attack.’
    ‘Check your truck for a tracking device. Look up under the bumper.’
    ‘Damn reporters.’ Paige crouched, doing as he’d instructed. ‘Why here?’
    ‘A, it’s the easiest place to hide a tracking device, and b, it’s where I found mine.’
    She paused, her hand up under the grille. ‘Before or after you visited Maria’s family?’
    ‘Before. I drove to the office and switched vehicles with Alyssa. I told her to take the day off and just drive wherever she wanted to go.’
    Paige chuckled. ‘They’ll be spending a lot of time waiting outside the nail salon if they’re tracking Alyssa.’
    ‘Exactly.’
    Paige’s fingers closed over a small device and she pulled it free. ‘Found it. Asshole reporters.’ Her knees, still sore from her hard landing, started to protest the crouch and she rose stiffly. ‘I need to stretch my—’
    The next word was forgotten, the step behind her the only notice she had before an arm like iron wrapped around her neck. From the corner of her eye she saw the glitter of a blade and she twisted, jabbing her elbow into a rock-hard gut and throwing her body to the right with all her strength.
    Get away . She twisted again, slipping free. Momentum sent her to the concrete floor and out of sheer instinct she rolled to her back, striking a vicious kick to the man’s knees.
    He was a mountain, a goddamned mountain, and her kick might have been that of a child. As fast as she had been, he leaned forward to grab her hair, the knife in his hand, coming at her. I’m going to die. I’m going to die. Fight. Fight .
    Watch the knife . She struggled to kick out at him again, her eyes on the knife.
    And then the mountain crumpled, the man staggering to his knees in a thump that made the floor shake. Paige kicked, sending the knife flying to land harmlessly under her truck. The sound of the knife skittering along the concrete echoed in her ears.
    The man fell forward, as if in slow motion, and Paige rolled out of his path.
    Lying on her side, she looked up, her racing heart beating a hole in her chest.
    Him .
    It was him. Grayson Smith. He stood over the knife man, face dark with fury, his arm still outstretched, a briefcase clenched in his fist.
    A warrior in a three-piece suit.
    Time began to move again as Smith reached to grab the man, who leapt to his feet and ran. Smith started to chase him, then cursed and dropped to his knees beside her, his briefcase hitting the floor with another loud thud that made her flinch. ‘He got you.’
    Paige’s hand flew to her throat. Warm and sticky. She stared at her hand, covered with blood for the second time that day. ‘Shit.’
    Smith yanked a handkerchief from his breast pocket, pressed it to her throat, then lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. ‘Who the hell are you?’ he snarled.

Chapter Four
     
    Tuesday, April 5, 12.02 P.M .
     
    G oddammit . She was white as a sheet. Blood steadily flowed from the slice on her throat, turning her red coat black. Grayson gently tilted her face up to the light, willing his hands not to shake as he continued to press his handkerchief against her wound. An inch lower and she’d have been dead. Her pulse was like a goddamn rocket.
    He spared a glance in the direction the man had run. The bastard was gone. He fumbled for his cell phone, managed to call 911 while keeping pressure on her throat.
    ‘This is 911. What is your emergency?’ the operator asked.
    ‘A woman’s been stabbed in the throat. I need an ambulance at the parking garage four