Page 42 of Switch
“Did you hit your head or something?”I pull out my phone to use the flashlight, and that’s when I see it—a bruise blooming across his temple.
Fallon’s breathing is ragged and shallow.He puts a hand to his forehead and winces.I look around the windows of the flower shop to see if I can get help, but the place appears to be closed.
“Hey, looks like they got you.Let me see if that art shop has any ice for your head.They sell slushies, so they ought to, right?”
“No.”Fallon’s hand grabs mine, harsh and urgent.“Please stay.”
That I can do.“We should get you to a hospital.You might be concussed.Are you able to stand?”
“My head’s fine.I’m a little rattled, that’s all.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, PJ, I’m sure a stranger coming out of nowhere to try and whack me with a baseball bat is a little bit startling.”
“About the concussion,” I say as I help him up.As gently as possible, I slide my hand over the bruise.There’s a small lump.“Can you tell me what day it is and everything?”
“PJ, I’m fine.”
“Don’t fuck with me on this, baby.We need to be sure you’re all right.Did you get a good look at the guy?”
“PJ.”He slides a hand along my cheek.I can’t help but grab on, and I doubt he can convince me to let go.“I’ll make a deal with you.Take me home.Put me to bed.If it’ll make you feel better, you can check on me throughout the night.If I’m still alive in the morning, we’ll talk about the fact that you’ve been following me.”
My nostrils flare with a heated breath.Taking him home to bed is exactly what I want to do.Also, if he isn’t the picture of health come morning, there’s going to be hell to pay.
“I wasn’t following you for that long.”
He gives me a stern look.Gets my blood stirring, if I’m being honest.
“Okay, let’s get you home.”
Fallon smiles, and I take hold of his hand.“Let me check this alley first.See if the person dropped anything that might tell us who they are.”
It’s a long shot, but it’s something.
Fallon nods.“I went to Cotton and Linen to see if they could tell me who had bought the cards.But the woman didn’t remember them even carrying any that looked like that.She suggested I try this flower store since I guess they sell some of them here, but I’ll have to come back in the morning.”
“When you come back, you should bring me with you.”
He gives me another look.I make a mental note to look into putting a tracking app on his phone.Should have thought of that sooner, honestly.
We venture into the passageway that roughly divides the entire block in half.The downtown is full of alleys that run crisscross behind the shops so that unsightly things like garbage pickup and deliveries don’t have to happen on the street.
Unsurprisingly, there’s nothing of note—some stacks of crates, several dumpsters, and random things like a skateboard and a bicycle.The bakery around the corner has a delivery van parked out back with nobody in it.The doors are locked.
A sound has us both freezing as we head back to the street.I shove Fallon against the wall and pull out my knife.After a few seconds, the door at the back of the art shop opens, and a woman comes out.We’ve turned off our lights, so it’s not easy to see, but she’s wearing so much jewelry that she jingles.There’s no way she could be a threat, making that kind of noise.The person who hit Fallon didn’t make a sound.
We wait while she hops on a bicycle and disappears down the alley.
Fallon, still gripping my hand, collapses against the cement wall behind him.“I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’m so glad you’re here.”
“So am I.That was fucking scary.”I hate to say it, but… “Fallon, you might want to talk to the police.The thing with the card and now this; it’s convenient timing.”
“I guess I do.”He doesn’t move except to grab my shoulder with his other hand and to squeeze me even harder.“It’s so stupid.I thought I could be like the heroine in my books, you know?Snoop around and get to the bottom of things.”
“Baby, I’ve read part of the first book in your series.Betty nearly gets killed at least four times by sticking her nose in places she shouldn’t.”
“Five if you count the skateboard that was ‘accidentally’ left by the stairs.”
