Page 68 of Pepper, the Biker & the Vanishing Body

“Help me.”

I recognized the gravelly voice even though it was only a whisper. It was one of the guys from the bookstore.

“Hold on. I’ll get you help,” I said as I hurried off him then yelled to Amy. “Get down here. It’s pitch black and I dropped my phone and can’t find it.”

Okay, so I omitted the part about the body, but she would have never come down if I told her there was a body down here, and a live one at that.

“Do I have to?”

“Amy, if you don’t hurry the rats are going to get me.” A bit of an elaboration, though the rat that ran had probably been eyeing up the guy on the ground for lunch. Not that Amy needed to know that.

“Rats!” she screamed.

“Amy, I need you!” I yelled and spotted a faint light that began to grow brighter. “Watch your steps, the stones are slippery.”

“I am not taking one step off the stairs,” she called out.

“That’s fine. Your light will allow me to find my phone.”

She almost blinded me when she nearly reached the bottom, the light from her phone hitting me.

“Oh my, God, Pepper, you’re bleeding!” she cried out.

I looked down to see blood covering the light blue knit shirt I wore. “Don’t panic. It’s not my blood.” I pointed to the ground.

Amy shined the light there and paled.

When I looked down, I saw the guy’s chest was soaked with blood. “We’ve got to get him help.”

The guy groaned, a rat squeaked, and Amy turned to run up the stairs and slipped, hitting her head on the step and knocking herself out.

CHAPTER 19

Amy was on a stretcher awake by the time Beau and Ian arrived ready to be transported to the hospital for tests to make sure she was all right. Beau was by her side in an instant, his eyes turning wide with worry when he spotted the large bump on her forehead.

“I’m fine,” she assured him, latching onto his hand when he reached for her. “It was my own fault. I panicked.” She shuddered. “Blood.” She shuddered again. “Rats.”

“Let’s get you to the hospital,” the ambulance attendant said, taking hold of the stretcher to wheel her to one of the two ambulances there.

“What about the man in the basement? He’s far worse than I am,” Amy said.

Leave it to Amy to find out what was going on with the guy since they hadn’t heard a word about him since Josh carried Amy out of the basement and ordered me to follow him.

“They’re working on him, but he’s lost a lot of blood,” the attendant said.

“I’m going with her,” Beau said with a force that threatened anyone to deny him.

“I want him with me,” Amy said, reinforcing Beau’s demand.

“Ian and I will be there as soon as I find out what’s going on,” I said as Amy’s stretcher slid into the ambulance and Beau hurried in beside her.

“I’m good,” I said, turning to Ian, knowing he would ask how I was.

“I am relieved to hear that being your shirt is covered with blood,” he said and went to take me in his arms to hug me.

I stopped him, not that I wanted to. I loved his strong, intimate hugs that let me know he never intended to stop loving me. “You’ll get blood on you.” I grinned. “Though I reserve the right to receive that hug later.”

“And much more,” he said and kissed me lightly.

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