Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
T he rest of the day passed uneventfully. Leaving the building after work, she made her way to the parking garage. She released a loud sigh in her car before she drove out into the busy afternoon traffic.
As much as she wanted to drive directly home, she needed to stop and pick up groceries. Shopping on the weekends would be ideal, yet she still needed the money from cleaning to keep them afloat.
She promised herself that as soon as she managed to earn a few full-time paychecks from Hollingsworth, she would be able to quit the cleaning jobs.
She shook her head at the lie she was telling herself.
She had estimated her budget during lunchtime.
Money was going out the door almost as soon as she could make it.
She parked at the grocery store and went inside. Pulling up the grocery list, she started at the fruit section then went down each aisle. She decided to splurge on Glory’s favorite ice cream and put it in the cart.
Tired, she checked out, helping the cashier bag the groceries to make it quicker. Then she left the store and pushed the cart to the trunk of her car, thinking ahead to what she could make for dinner that would be quick. Her early mornings were catching up with her.
Shutting the trunk, with one hand still on the cart, she felt a jerking motion as the cart was pushed away.
“Wha—”
A scream rose in her throat as she was slammed into the back of her car. Rough hands twisted one of her hands behind her back while her purse was yanked off her other flailing arm.
“Scream, and I’ll slit your fucking throat!” a harsh voice whispered in her ear.
Biting back her scream, she wildly tried to turn her head to see who was robbing her. A hiss in her ear was the only warning she was given before her hair was yanked back then her forehead was slammed into the rear windshield.
A whimper escaped her at the pain as the watch on her hand was ripped off.
“You fucking move when I let you go, and I’ll shoot your ass.” With another hard shove, Sage felt herself released.
Too terrified to move, she lay limply against the car. Several minutes passed before she had enough courage to raise her head to see a couple walking into the store, staring at her curiously.
“Do you need some help?” the man called out.
“Yes …” Registering her voice was barely above a whisper, she raised it. “Could you please call the police?”
The couple rushed toward her. Dizzy, she reached a hand out to brace herself on the car. Pain shot through her hand, forcing a whimper out of her. Clutching her aching wrist to her chest, she blinked back tears.
“Poor thing.” Concerned, the woman took her by the other arm. “You need to sit down. Where are your car keys?”
“I have no idea.” Brushing her hair out of her eyes, she tried to concentrate on where the keys had been before she was mugged.
“I found them,” the woman exclaimed. “They were on the ground.”
She was helped to the front of the car while the woman’s companion was on the phone with the police, and slid into the driver’s seat.
Kneeling next to her, the woman placed the keys on her lap. “My name is Kris. Can I get you anything?”
“I’m Sage. Thank you for stopping.”
“I wish we had been earlier and would have been able to stop it from happening.”
“I’m glad you weren’t. He threatened me with a knife, and to shoot me.”
“He couldn’t make up his mind?”
Lifting startled eyes to the woman, Sage felt a bubble of laughter. “You’re right. I didn’t see either weapon. If I had, I probably would have passed out.”
Kris’ eyes searched her face. “I don’t think so. You’re handling this better than I would have. I would have been screaming bloody murder.”
“I would have if he hadn’t threatened to cut me.”
The woman who appeared to be around her age shivered. “That’s frightening.”
Sage placed her uninjured hand to her throbbing forehead. “It was.”
Fortunately, a police car arrived to take a report. Kris and the man with her left, but not before giving her a slip of paper with her phone number.
“Please, give me a call in a couple of days and let me know how you’re doing.”
“I will,” she promised.
Satisfied at her promise, they moved on into the store after giving the policemen their information and stating they hadn’t seen what had happened.
“Ms. Riley, there’s an ambulance on the way. Is there anyone I can call for you?”
There was no way she was going to upset Glory. She would tell her what happened when she got home.
“I have a friend I can call. I won’t need an ambulance.” Grateful that her phone hadn’t been taken, she called her neighbor, asking her to sit with Glory and the girls until she was able to come home.
The ambulance arrived just as she disconnected the call.
“I told you I don’t need an ambulance.” All she could think at seeing the blinking red lights was the money it would burn through if she accepted their help.
“Ma’am.” The policeman gave her a kind gaze, as if he could read her thoughts. “The cost of the ambulance will come from a fund for victims of violence. Go with them and get yourself taken care of.”
Sage looked down at her hurt wrist; it was beginning to swell. “I’ll need my car to get home and for work in the morning,” she explained.
“I’m getting off in an hour. My wife is picking me up. She can drop me off here, and I’ll drive it to the hospital for you. My wife can drive me home from there.”
She wanted to cry at the compassion she saw in his eyes. “I can’t ask—”
“You didn’t. I offered.” The policeman motioned for the EMT, moving away before she could argue any more.
“He took my purse and has all my information …” Her voice broke off, terrified for Glory and the girls.
The policeman gave her a commiserating glance. “This store has cameras pointed at the parking lot. I hope we can have him ID’d before you get out of the hospital.”
Assured, she let the EMT help her to the ambulance, where she weakly lay back on a cot so she could be checked out.
When they arrived at the hospital, she was wheeled into the emergency room.
Three hours later, she was signing herself out when the policeman was allowed into her room to see her.
“Did you find him?” she asked hastily before he could get a word out.
“Not yet. We’re still working on it.”
Seeing her worried expression, he tried to assure her again. “I’ll keep you informed when we do. I’m sorry I don’t have better news.”
“It’s okay. I’m sure you’ve done everything you can.”
“Are you able to drive?”
“Yes. I have a slight concussion, and my wrist is sprained. It could have been much worse.”
From his expression, he was in agreement.
As they walked together, he convinced her to let his wife drive her home while he followed. Too tired to argue, she gave in, not really wanting to be alone.
The officer’s wife didn’t offer any conversation on the drive, and she didn’t try to break the silence.
When she had been in the emergency room, she had called the bank and credit agencies to block all her cards and freeze her credit.
She had done everything she could think of to minimize the damage the mugging had caused.
When they reached her apartment building, she thanked the officer’s wife. Instead of going directly into the building, she opened the trunk to remove the groceries.
“Let us help you with those.”
“I would appreciate your help, if you don’t mind. You can place them in front of my door. I don’t want my sister to become alarmed when she sees a policeman coming into the apartment.”
“No problem. Whatever makes it easier for you.”
It took the three of them to carry the groceries to her apartment. True to his word, the officer and his wife set the groceries outside the door.
Sage unlocked the door with her good hand and stepped into the quiet apartment.
Her neighbor took one look at her and jerked up from the reclining position on the couch.
“What—”
Putting her fingers to her lips, she shushed Tayla. “I had an accident on the way home from the grocery store,” she explained in a muted voice. “I’m fine. It looks worse that it is.”
“Can I do anything to help?” Coming from around the coffee table, Tayla took the bag of groceries she was carrying from her.
“There are four other bags outside the door. If you could bring those in, that would be a big help.”
She set the bag she had carried in onto the counter and started putting the groceries away as Tayla brought the other bags inside.
“Are they asleep?” she asked Tayla, starting to put away another bag.
“The girls were ready for bed after spending the weekend with their grandmother,” Tayla said. “Glory fell asleep about twenty minutes ago.”
“I appreciate your help. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Opening a drawer next to the fridge, she took out an envelope of cash, which she kept on hand for Glory. She took out two twenties and she handed them to Tayla.
“I don’t want your money …” Tayla started to protest.
“Please,” she pleaded. “It’ll make me feel better. I don’t know what’d I do without you.”
Tayla started unloading the last bag. “You’d make it work,” she said pragmatically. “We’re tougher than we look.”
Sage didn’t disagree with her. She didn’t know how many more times she could keep bouncing back onto her feet. It seemed anytime something good happened in her life, something just as bad knocked her off her feet.
“Can I do anything else for you?”
“No, you get to bed. You have to be as tired as I am. I saw you leaving for work the same time I did.”
Tayla yawned. “If you need me, just call.”
“I will.”
Locking the door after her, she was folding the grocery bags when she realized Tayla had missed one item. She pulled out Glory’s melted ice cream and watched the vanilla bean drip from the carton and onto her hand.
After placing the ice cream soup in the freezer, she started cleaning up drips. She wasn’t upset the ice cream had melted. Her mom had a favorite saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”
She guessed Glory would be making milk shakes instead of banana splits .