Chapter Six
Olivia couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. Her feet were stuck to the sidewalk as if they were glued down.
“Hey!” Nicki yelled. “Get off her.”
Nicki’s shout snapped Olivia out of her flashback trance.
The man turned toward Nicki, a hand raised, poised to strike her.
“Oh, no you fucking won’t.” Olivia’s instinct—and the self-defense techniques Lincoln had taught her—kicked in.
Even if she’d wanted to hand over the purse, the way the man was yanking on it prevented her from slipping the strap over her head.
Instead, she used the leverage to pull herself closer to him and stomped on his foot, her pointy kitten heel skewering the soft mesh toe of his sneaker.
“Fuck!” He yanked hard on the purse strap, jerking Olivia sideways, off his foot.
Nicki raised one leg and front-kicked his kneecap with her giant boot. He spun to absorb the blow on his thigh, grunting as the lug sole connected. His leg buckled. Cursing, he released Olivia’s purse and turned toward Nicki.
Olivia’s fear dissipated instantly, and rage flooded her.
If he lays one hand on Nicki, so help me . . .
“Don’t you fucking touch her!” She pulled her purse strap over her head and swung it in a circle to gain momentum, like a knight winding up a mace.
At the apex of her swing, she shifted her balance.
With the forward flick of her wrist, she struck him upside the head with the bag.
The electronic tablet and weighty power bank inside connected with the front of his skull with a solid thunk.
He stumbled backward, his arms windmilling, falling onto his ass.
A hand slapped down, the palm splayed on the concrete for balance.
He didn’t stay down for more than a second.
Pushing off his hand, he scrambled to get his feet under him, his eyes narrowing with anger and determination. Olivia felt his focus—and hostility.
She pulled back her purse, ready to strike again, although she doubted the same move would work twice.
She’d taken him by surprise the first time.
He hadn’t expected her to fight back. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.
He moved forward, his attention riveted on her with the fixation of a coyote stalking a rabbit. “You bitch.”
As he strode toward her, Olivia walked backward, toward the foot traffic on the busier street half a block away.
If she turned and ran, could she reach the crowd before he caught her?
She contemplated throwing her purse in the opposite direction, hoping he’d go after it and not her or Nicki.
There was nothing in the purse that was worth her life or Nicki’s.
But she’d have to throw it as far as possible to give them time to reach the safety of the main street.
Nicki stepped in and bashed him with her water bottle. The stainless steel rang on his temple like a gong. The reverberations rang in Olivia’s bones. The man face-planted into the sidewalk and lay still. He moaned and turned his head.
Not dead.
Olivia moved toward him, the fury at seeing him turn on her niece making her want to kick him in the head a few times. But getting close enough for him to catch one of her feet was the wrong move.
“Let’s get out of here.” Nicki grabbed Olivia’s arm and tugged her toward the main street. Ahead, she could see the steady stream of Sunday-afternoon foot traffic.
They raced down the sidewalk and into the next intersection, cutting between a half dozen cars crawling toward the traffic light.
Olivia’s heart sprinted in her chest, urging her to run faster.
She kept her niece in front of her, ensuring that her own body was always between the attacker and Nicki.
Drivers honked and hit their brakes. Olivia slapped a palm on a hood for balance as she maneuvered between a sedan and an SUV.
Nicki reached the curb first. Olivia joined her, panting, lungs burning.
Pedestrians moved around them. Now that they were on the other side of the intersection and within the relative safety of a crowd, Olivia paused and glanced backward.
The sidewalk where they’d been accosted was empty. The man had vanished.
“He’s gone,” she said, bending forward and resting her hands on her thighs while she caught her breath. The adrenaline mainlining through her bloodstream ebbed. Its absence left her vaguely disoriented, nauseated, and lightheaded.
Two college-age women, a blonde and a brunette, rushed toward them. “Are you OK?”
The blonde waved her phone in the air. “I called for help.”
Olivia could only nod and squeak out a breathless “Thanks.”
A few minutes later, she heard the sound of an approaching siren, and a campus police vehicle pulled to the curb. An officer stepped out. “Someone reported an attempted mugging.”
“Me! I did,” the blonde said.
The word mugging didn’t sound accurate, but Olivia said, “Yes, a man tried to steal my purse.” She gave a quick description of the incident. “He was several inches over six feet tall, but his face was covered.”
The young women and Nicki confirmed Olivia’s account with their own.
“They beat the crap out of him,” the brunette said, her voice filled with admiration.
The cop took notes. “But you didn’t see his face because of the bandanna?”
“That’s correct,” Olivia said. “I’m pretty sure he had a beard, though.”
His gaze swept over her. “If I were looking for a target on this street, you’d be it.
You look like you have money. Show me where it happened.
” The cop followed them back to the spot.
He turned in a circle and studied the surroundings: the sides of residential buildings.
“No entrance facing this direction, so no cameras. Too far from the intersection for the traffic cam to have caught the incident.” He frowned.
“I’ll file a report, but without a description, a photo, or video, I don’t know how we’d find him.
Half the kids on this street are wearing jeans and a hoodie.
And even if we did find him, how would we prove it was him? You don’t know what he looks like.”
“He’ll be the one with the big bruise on his head.” The brunette touched her own temple, her voice slightly disgusted.
The cop ignored her and scratched his head. “Neither one of you is injured? He didn’t get anything?”
“We’re fine,” Olivia said, knowing this was the end of it. “Thank you for taking the report.”
The cop returned to his vehicle. The two young women disappeared into a store. Nicki started down the street.
Olivia jogged to catch up. “Where are you going?” She can’t still want to go to brunch . . .
“The café.” Nicki didn’t break stride. “He’s gone, and I’m still hungry.”
Still on edge, Olivia stuck close as they walked the additional block to the café. Olivia chose a table outside and handed Nicki a credit card.
Nicki set her laptop on the table. Miraculously, she hadn’t dropped it while fighting off their attacker and fleeing. “The usual?”
“Please.” Olivia put her back to the building and faced the street, watching traffic in case he decided to look for her in a vehicle or on foot.
She would not be caught by surprise again.
But they were on the main street now. The sheer number of pedestrians would deter an additional attempt to rob her.
Still, she kept the strap around her body and tucked the purse in her lap.
In an attempt to settle down, she turned her face to the sun, trying to enjoy its rays.
She didn’t want to sit and warm her face.
She knew that using technology was the next step in finding Zoe, but Olivia was still antsy from the attempted mugging and subsequent adrenaline crash.
She irrationally wanted to do something physical, even if that wasn’t logical.
Nicki returned, handing Olivia her green tea and egg white soufflé.
Nicki drew a long pull of her creamy, syrup-laden latte and unwrapped her bagel sandwich.
Strips of bacon hung over the edges, and melted cheese dripped onto the wax paper.
“I doubt that was a random mugging. There isn’t much crime here, and the crowd is mostly students.
That dude was way too old to be a student. ”
“If it wasn’t random, then we were targeted.”
“You were targeted.” Nicki narrowed her eyes. “He followed you here.”
“You could be right.” A creepy sensation crawled through Olivia’s belly. If she’d been followed, she hadn’t even noticed. She needed to be more vigilant.
Shit—Dylan! Olivia pulled out her phone and dialed his number.
“Did you find something?” he asked without a greeting.
“No,” Olivia said. “I just wanted to check in. Someone tried to snatch my bag.”
“You think it has to do with Zoe?” he asked.
“I have no evidence of that, but check outside your apartment.”
“OK.” Footsteps sounded over the line. “I don’t see any strange vehicles in the parking lot.”
“Lock your doors and watch your back anyway, OK?”
“OK. You be careful too,” he echoed before ending the call.
“Nothing on his end?” Nicki asked.
“He didn’t see anyone, but I didn’t see the guy who jumped me either. Why would someone follow me and not Dylan?”
“No offense to Zoe, but Dylan isn’t exactly nuclear scientist material. He’s so focused on himself, he wouldn’t notice an elephant behind him.”
“That isn’t nice,” Olivia reproached.
“Still true.” Nicki sipped her latte.
“You’ve only met him a few times.”
“Zoe hired me to help him plan the initial social media campaign for his fitness influencer business,” Nicki deadpanned. “But he wouldn’t listen to me. So I stopped. I didn’t want to take Zoe’s money for nothing. Also, I didn’t want my name or company to be associated with Dylan’s account.”
“Why not?”