Page 29 of A First Sight

I half-expected someone to stop me, but no one said a word as I hurried across the street.

“Are you all right?” I crouched next to her, barely able to resist the urge to touch her.

She slowly shook her head, and my heart dropped. I ran my eyes over her, searching for whatever injury was causing her distress. The side of her face was red and swollen, a thin trickle of blood making its way down her cheek from when he hit her with that case. My rage boiled up again, and I tempered it down.

She hadn’t looked up to see who I was. I was close enough to touch her, yet she didn’t so much as glance at me. I followed her gaze and understood what she meant about not being all right.

Her violin was in pieces. I knew little about the instrument, but it was beyond repair. It was splintered with the strings snapped. The bow was broken in half and the hairs shredded.

“Did the person who ran it over stop?” The question came out before my brain processed what I saw. Things clicked a moment before she answered my question.

The case was intact.

“No one ran over it.” With a shaky hand, she brushed her fingers across the edge of the case. “Only a single bump, I think. But that didn’t cause this much damage.”

I knelt next to her, her voice low as she continued.

“He did this earlier. My boyfriend destroyed my mom’s violin because I went to my brother’s wedding when he had told me not to.”

A fresh wave of anger rushed through me.

My heart broke for her as I understood.

“Dale knew how much it meant to me.” Maggie’s voice had the flat tone of someone in shock. “He knew it belonged to her…and he destroyed it. That was my only connection to my mother.”

“I’m so sorry, lass,” I said as I cleared my throat, my voice thick with emotion. I had a few items of Belle’s that it would kill me to lose, and I couldn’t imagine the pain Maggie was in right now.

Her head suddenly came up. Her eyes were still dazed, but she looked around as if she was processing her surroundings now. Color rushed to her cheeks as she took in all the people watching. She struggled to stand, and I reached for her as I got to my feet. She gasped when I touched the arm Dale had grabbed.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” I kept my voice even and slow, concentrating on getting back to the American accent I’d taken on over the years.

She shook her head and winced. Her body seemed to fold into itself, as if she was curling inward to protect herself. Then she saw the police cars across the street, and resignation took root. She slumped, and her slight body swayed.

I reached for her again, lightly putting my arm around her, keeping the touch enough to steady her but not enough to make her feel trapped.

“Thank you,” she said quietly. “I’m going to have to speak to them, aren’t I?”

“I think so,” I said, dropping my arm. I kept a hand near her back, just in case, but didn’t touch her. “But I’ll stay with you, as long as you need me.”

And I’ll let no one hurt you again.

I wished I could’ve said it aloud, but she would freak out to hear that from me, but it didn’t matter. I meant the words. No matter what I had to do, I would keep her safe.

TWENTY-SIX

MAGGIE

He looked familiar.

The thought surprised me, cutting through the shock and pain and surrounding noises. I heard him when he asked if I was okay, though I wasn’t sure why. Other people were background noise, asking questions, talking to each other, but I tuned them out. I wasn’t able to see anything but my violin.

My heart twisted again, an agony that had nothing to do with my physical injuries. Those I barely noticed.

Him, however, I noticed.

I didn’t have time to figure out why, though, because two uniformed police officers were standing in front of me suddenly.

“Hi, I’m Officer Chiles,” the taller man said. “This is my partner, Officer Hedley. I understand there’s been some trouble this morning?”

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