Page 63 of His Forgotten Colton Fiancee
Now that flashes of her memory had returned, she needed to be around other people, hear the laughter of good times, the animated chatter of interesting conversation. Findout what happened to this town.
Find out what happened to her sister, Demi.
And in doing so, find out where she stood in the midst of it. Answers wouldn’t come knocking at her door.
Quinn looked through the closet, found a cute coral-pink sweater with glass beads and slid it on.
After grabbing her keys and a purse with some money, Quinn checked her appearance in the hallway mirror.Eyes too big for her face, a few cuts and big purple bruises on her cheek and neck.
I look like I’ve been in a bar fight.
She found makeup in the bathroom, touched up the bruises, lessening their impact. West liked her without cosmetics. He wasn’t here.
Well, it was dark. Maybe no one would notice. Then again, the entire town seemed to know what had happened to her, so what did itmatter? She donned a lightweight jacket and took her keys and then locked the apartment.
West ordered her not to leave, but a walk in the fresh air would clear her head, maybe lift this horrid fog. It was barely dark, the streetlamps blazed and no one would dare stalk her in the busy downtown area.
After locking the downstairs shop door behind her, she emerged out onto the sidewalk. Thenight was cool, crisp air blowing from the west. Quinn jammed her hands into the pockets of her jacket, enjoying the feel of the breeze against her heated cheeks. Streetlights illuminated the sidewalk, circular pools of protection from the dark.
Red Ridge was a cozy small town where everyone knew each other. The cards and letters penned in crayon offering her good wishes and a speedy recoveryhad led her to believe the townspeople cared about what happened to her.
Maybe she didn’t know her own history in Red Ridge, but the support she’d received while hospitalized showed her that she had a history. A good one.
Her short heels clicking on the sidewalk, she passed several storefronts, all dark now that night had fallen. Quinn hurried along. The streets were deserted, as if everyonehad abandoned downtown when the lights came on. Only a group of people two blocks away were mingling in front of the bar she’d seen earlier.
As she started to walk faster, wishing her legs were longer and could eat up space like West’s stride did, Quinn felt a prick of unease. Shadows dappled the sidewalks, and not even a car passed by on the street.
The bar seemed closer. She walked faster,but her body was still healing and felt sore, too sore to move quickly.
Footsteps echoed behind her. Quinn’s heart galloped.
Probably nothing. Another pedestrian trying to get home, or out to dinner...
The steps came quicker. Harder. More forceful. Glancing over her shoulder, not stopping, she made a mental note of the person following.
A man, sticking to the shadows close to theshops, wearing a heavy coat and hat. Hard to make out his face. She drew in a lungful of air and stumbled.
The smells assaulted her memory. Cigar smoke wreathing a man’s head as he smoked, his gaze hard in the dimly lit room...the office stank of it.
The smoker was Tia’s killer.
And he was right behind her.
Panic iced her veins, but Quinn forced herself to keep walking briskly.It could be an innocent man. But he followed her too closely.
An alleyway lurked to her right, shadowed and long. A perfect place to pull someone in for an attack.
I may be short, but I can pack a punch.
The memory burst back like a firecracker. She knew self-defense, knew how to free herself from danger.
Defending herself had caught West’s attention. He’d always dismissed heras a frail, fragile female in need of protection.
The first time she’d thrown him to the ground had caught him off guard, sputtering in anger and surprise. Then he’d laughed.
And since, he’d taught her a few more moves certain to aid her in danger.
Krav Maga self-defense. It was all about energy, realizing how your attacker came at you. Just as she’d been taught to turn into a curvewhen her car swerved to one side, Quinn remembered to use her own energy against this assailant.
