Carol Ericson - Brody Law

A Boy Scout troop marched by and the fresh, innocent faces of the kids calmed her nerves.

Nerves? When had she started feeling anxious? The press of people didn’t bother her; even after coming from the wide-open spaces of Montana, Elise had reveled in the crowds and excitement of the city.

It must have been the noise from the firecrackers that had set her teeth on edge. Or the warning from Auntie Lu.

Ridiculous. She already knew to be careful after her encounter with a killer. Auntie Lu wasn’t telling her something she didn’t already have imprinted on her brain, and Auntie Lu probably issued that warning to all young women.

Standing on her tiptoes, Elise clapped loudly and whistled as the winner of the boat race passed by displaying his victorious boat. The kids in front of her covered their ears. She got the attention of her kindergartners by whistling—worked every time.

With each passing parade participant, the people behind her pressed in closer and closer. She leaned back, not wanting to push the children into the street. By now she could barely move, barely turn her head.

The dragon float made its appearance, its head shaggy with crepe paper tilting back and forth to the delight of the crowd, which surged forward. Elise hooked her arms around the kids’ shoulders to protect them.

The dragon undulated forward, its body twisting this way and that way. Another round of firecrackers exploded so close Elise could smell the acrid gunpowder.

A sharp pain stabbed her thigh and she lurched forward, knocking the kids off the curb.

“I’m so sorry.”

They giggled as she tried to pull them back onto the sidewalk. Elise couldn’t even drop her arms to her sides to feel her leg. Someone must’ve had something sharp in a purse or pocket, or maybe a little kid had jabbed her with some trinket from the knickknack shops that lined the streets.

The last flick of the dragon’s tail signaled the end of the parade, and people began to shuffle away, giving everyone a little more breathing room.

“Are you guys okay?” Elise finally had room to bend forward and check on the kids.

They nodded and scampered away.

Elise trailed her hand down the back of her thigh toward the sore spot. The material of her jeans gaped open, and she drew her brows over her nose.

What the heck had gouged her?

Her fingers probed the ripped denim and her skin beneath, and she gasped as they met moisture. She snatched her hand away and brought it in front of her face.

Her stomach lurched and a scream ripped from her throat. The people milling around her backed away, creating a ring of space around her.

She dragged her gaze away from her hand and tried to focus on the faces swimming before her. Only one face stood out—Auntie Lu’s as she hovered in the doorway of her restaurant, her dark eyes sharp amid the lines of age.

Elise swallowed and gasped to no one and everyone. “I’ve been stabbed.”

Chapter Seven

The woman had been stabbed, her throat slit.

Sean massaged his temples. So much blood. Had that been the fate this maniac had intended for Elise?

He pounded his fist on his desk, and the pencils in the holder jumped and rattled. He slid one between his fingers and rat-tatted it on the blotter.

Elise hadn’t called him yet with her phone number. He checked his watch. She and her friend had a lot to talk about over lunch, and the Dragon Boat Parade was probably still going on.

He ran his finger over the receiver of his desk phone. He could call Central Station to see if her car was still parked in the lot.

As if by magic, the phone rang beneath his hand, and he wrapped his fingers around the receiver. “Brody, homicide.”

“Detective Brody, this is Officer Yin with Central. We have a situation here with one of your witnesses, Elise Duran. She requested that we call you.”

“A situation?” Sean’s pulse picked up speed.

“Someone stabbed her on the parade route.”

The pencil in Sean’s other hand snapped. “Is she all right?”

She had to be. She’d asked for him.

“The wound just broke the skin. She’s okay, but understandably upset. We’ve got an ambulance on the scene, but she doesn’t want to go the hospital and insisted we call you first.”

“Does she need to go the hospital?” Sean had already grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair and swept his keys into his pocket.

Elise needed him.

“My guess is she’s going to need stitches.”

“Get her in that ambulance and tell her I’ll meet her at the hospital. And I’m gonna want your report.”

“You got it.”

For the second time in as many days, Sean raced to the hospital to see Elise—only this time it was much more personal.

When he got to the emergency room, he found her sitting on an examination table, her legs swinging and hospital paper wrapped around her waist.

She jerked her head up at his approach. “Can you believe this? He got to me. I swear I wasn’t followed.”

In two steps he was at her side. “Tell me what happened.”

“I was standing in a big crowd of people watching the parade. When the dragon float passed by, everyone surged forward. I could barely breathe. I was just trying to keep my balance when I felt a sharp pain in my thigh.”

She rolled onto the side of her hip and pointed to a bandage on the back of her leg.

Sean flinched at the spot of blood forming in the center of the white gauze bandage. It was not as if he hadn’t seen his share of blood. Hadn’t he just left a bloodbath on the shore of the bay? Seeing Elise injured made his blood boil. She’d endured enough already.

How had he gotten to her?

She continued. “When the crowd cleared, I reached down to feel the sore spot and found sliced jeans and blood instead.”

“Did anyone see anything? Notice anybody?”

“Not that I know of.” She twisted her lips. “I screamed bloody murder, and I think that scared everyone away. The cops asked around, but nobody noticed anything.”

“Cameras in the area?” He knew that some cameras were stationed in Chinatown, but closer to the banks on the edge of the area.

She shrugged and her eyes widened. “How’d he find me, Sean? I’m sure nobody followed me. I kept my eyes glued to that rearview mirror.”

“Maybe this was just a random attack. Were there any other reports of violence along the parade route?”

“You don’t believe that. I can tell by your voice you don’t believe it. You don’t have to try to make me feel better.”

Oh, but he did. He wanted to run his hands across the smooth skin of her face and brush away all the pain and fear.

“Just trying to look at all possibilities.”

A doctor poked her head into the room. “Are you Elise’s husband?”

“I’m Detective Brody, SFPD Homicide.”

The doctor’s brows shot up. “Homicide?”

“We think this attack is related to a murder. Is Elise going to be okay?”

“She’ll be fine. We cleaned the wound and I’m going to put in a few stitches. You can wait in the hallway or the waiting room.”

“I want him to stay...if he wants to.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” He shouldn’t have made a promise he couldn’t keep. He couldn’t be Elise’s round-the-clock bodyguard and protector—but the wobbly smile she’d just aimed at him made him want to try.

The doctor snapped on a pair of gloves, and the nurse wheeled a cart of instruments next to the cot.

“Lie down on your stomach and we’ll get this stitched right up.”

The paper on the table crinkled as Elise scooted back and rolled to her stomach.

Sean sat in a plastic chair in the corner while the doctor and nurse went to work. The killer must’ve followed Elise from the bridge parking lot and she hadn’t noticed. That meant he’d been lurking around waiting for her. Someone that bold would make a mistake sooner or later.