Free Scattered Ashes by Maria Rachel Hooley Page A

him to the corner just ahead, she broke into a sudden run, desperate to catch him.
    “Nicole?  What are you doing?” Sarah called from behind.  “Wait up!”
    Nicole pretended not to hear and managed to get right behind him before he rounded the corner, then forced herself to slow and say, “Excuse me.”
    The man turned, and while she had expected amber eyes and a Michael C. Hall smile, the features were all wrong--foreign.  It wasn’t Jordan.
    “Yes?” the man said, frowning.
    Nicole stumbled backwards a step.  “I’m sorry.  I thought you were someone else.”  She averted her eyes in embarrassment and turned away.
    He gave her one last look, shook his head, and walked off, just as Sarah caught up with her.  Even though she had stopped running, she was breathing hard, suggesting just how out of shape she was.
    “What the hell, Nic?  You know I don’t run or jog.”
    Nicole stared out into the deep green water of the canal, and her eyes took on a far-away look. She didn’t seem even to hear her best friend speak.
    “Nic?  What’s wrong?  What happened?”
    Nicole swallowed hard, trying to come to terms with the excitement that had so quickly turned to disappointment.  “I just thought he was someone else.”
    A knowing expression filled Sarah’s face.  “No, actually it wasn’t because you thought he was someone else.  You wanted him to be someone else, didn’t you?  You wanted him to be Jordan, right?”  She touched Nicole’s arm.
    “It doesn’t matter," she said, pulling away. 
    Sarah was about to argue when a stranger zipped up behind them both, wrapped his fingers around Nicole’s purse straps, and jerked at them.  Nicole’s eyes widened, and she tried to hold on.  She might have  been able to had the thief not used the strap to slam her face-first into the brick wall.  Nicole groaned, and the world seemed to blacken  instantaneously. 
    “Somebody help me!” Sarah yelled.  Nicole could hear her best friend even beneath the warped blackness that now tried to wash her away, and she wanted to tell Sarah just to be quiet so the pain pounding in her brain would leave her alone, but she couldn’t muster the energy.
    “What happened?”  This voice was different—masculine and deep.
    “Someone took her purse and threw her against the wall.  She’s bleeding.”
    I’m bleeding? Nicole thought.  Then blackness washed everything away.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Six
    “Miss?  Can you hear me?”
    Pain radiated through Nicole’s head, and she just wanted to be left alone.  “Head hurts.  Go away,” she mumbled, trying to push away the hand she felt touching her forehead. 
    “I need you to open your eyes,” that same deep, calm voice said.
    “Is she going to be all right?”  Sarah’s voice sounded anything but calm, almost like she were going to burst into tears at any moment.
    “We need to get her awake,” the guy said.  “What’s her name?”
    “Nicole O’Roarke.”
    Figuring if she didn’t force open her eyes, Sarah was going to go off the deep end and this guy would never leave, Nicole blinked…and was immediately rewarded with pain.
    “Damn!” she swore and clenched her eyes shut.
    “Well, I’d say the chances are good she’ll be all right,” he said, chuckling.  “Nicole, I need you to open your eyes again, please.”
    “It makes my head hurt,” she said, trying again to get away from him.
    “I know.  But I need to see your pupils so I know whether we need to call an ambulance.”
    The thought of having to go to the hospital got her attention, and she forced open her eyes in spite of the pain.  At first, everything was blurry. She could tell by the shapes where both Sarah and the guy were.  Sarah hovered in the background while the stranger knelt beside her, leaning close.
    “Well, her pupils are normal-sized, so that’s a good thing.”
    Nicole lifted her hand to her head, but the stranger stopped her.  “Easy