Free Kendel Lynn - Elliott Lisbon 02 - Whack Job by Kendel Lynn Page B

couldn’t stop coughing and choking. Tears slid down my cheeks. I grabbed my phone from my pocket.
    “What’s your emergency?” a tiny voice said.
    I must have dialed, though I couldn’t remember. “Hello? Help?”
    I heard distant thumping. I scrambled deeper into the closet, and in a whisper, sputtered out the Goodsen’s address. I searched the floor in the dark for a weapon. I wrapped my hands around the discarded paint can and hoped to hell the nozzle wasn’t pointed at my own face.
    My hands shook and tears continued down my cheeks. Mostly from the earlier choking, but my reaction angered me. I was cowering in the closet like a sorority sister in a horror movie, scared and helpless and alone.
    A door slammed and I scurried back until I hit the wall. So much for angry and brave. The door whipped open and a flashlight shone straight into my face.
    “ In here ,” a man yelled. “I’m Officer Prickle with Sea Pine Police. Who are you?”
    “Elli…” I started to stay. I cleared my throat and said in a scratchy voice, “Elliott Lisbon. I called dispatch.”
    The light switch flipped on and I saw Corporal Parker.
    “Elli!” She helped me to my feet. “Are you ok?” She spoke into the handset attached to her shoulder. “Is medical on scene?”
    “One minute out.”
    “Is this your house?” Officer Prickle asked me.
    “No,” I rasped out. “Gilbert and Jaime Goodsen.”
    We walked through the bedroom and out into the living room. We stopped near the side door.
    “Do you have permission to be in the house?” Office Prickle asked. He stood about a foot from me. A scowl on his face, which I could plainly see now that every single light in the house was on.
    “Um, well, I needed to talk to Jaime,” I stuttered out.
    “Place your hands on your head and turn around,” he said.
    “What?” Parker asked. “Russell, it’s Elliott. She’s the victim.”
    “Yes, I’m the victim.”
    “She’s also an intruder. She could’ve easily tossed this place.” He grabbed my arms, roughly I might add, and handcuffed my wrists behind my back. “Let’s go.”
    He dragged me out the front steps to the waiting ambulance.
    “Hey, I have permission to be here,” I said and tried to walk tall, but my arms hurt, my neck was throbbing, and I was pissed. And teary.
    He let Parker remove the cuffs so I could sit on the gurney, but then he handcuffed me to the rail. As if I might hop off and run like the wind, an escapee in a 1940’s cops and robbers movie. As if my Mini wasn’t parked ten feet away.
    The medic checked for injuries. He asked questions and I answered, mostly about the attack and where the man touched me. Parker took notes while Prickle glared, ready to pounce should I make a run for it.
    I snapped my arm close to my body when I saw the medic with an IV bag. He gently pulled my arm toward him and started tapping on my hand.
    I yanked it back. “Nope.”
    “I need to start an IV, ma’am.” He reached for my arm and I tried to slap his hand away, but my wrist was still shackled to the gurney rail and I nearly yanked my hand clean off. “Shit. That hurt. Stop already.”
    “I haven’t started. Let me have your arm back.”
    “Are you refusing medical treatment?” Prickle said. “I’ll take you in right now if you want to skip the hospital.”
    “I’m refusing to let this man jab me with the needle.” As soon as I said the word needle, I got lightheaded. He tapped my hand again and I gritted my teeth. “Listen to me. No IV for shit’s sake. Can’t you just hand over some extra-strength Advil and a band-aid?”
    “What a surprise seeing you here, Elliott,” Ransom said from behind me. His words pleasant, his tone friendly. His musky cologne floated over me all heady and divine. After swooning over Matty earlier, and now Nick, I was beginning to believe smell was my strongest sense.
    I admired Nick’s beautiful tan suit and elegant blue shirt before I saw the look on his face.
    “Hey,