You’re going to be okay. We’ll make sure of it.
Though Sasha would never tell Megs this, Megs was like a second mother to her.
Ellie walked through the door, syringe in one hand, a bag of IV fluids in the other. “I’ve got more pain meds, and I want to change out those fluids. Is it still your ribs that are bothering you most?”
Sasha nodded. “It hurts… to breathe.”
“Broken ribs are miserable.” Ellie held up a glass vial. “I’ve got a bolus of morphine here. We’ll get you feeling more comfortable, and then I’ll check your vitals.”
“Thanks.” Sasha closed her eyes, knife-sharp pain splitting her side every time she inhaled or exhaled.
“Here comes the morphine.”
Relief was swift, leaving Sasha floating.
“This room looks like a florist shop. You’ve gotten so many bouquets that they’re all around the nurses station, too.”
Sasha opened her eyes, saw that Ellie was right. “Who sent them?”
“After I get your vitals, I’ll gather the cards for you.”
Sasha drifted off for a moment, her eyes coming open when the blood pressure cuff began to tighten.
“BP is good. No fever.” Ellie hooked her stethoscope around her neck. “Let’s see who’s sending you flowers.”
She walked from bouquet to bouquet and gathered the cards, glancing inside at the senders’ names. “This one is from Megs and Mitch. This is from your parents. Nicole sent this one. The big one here is from Joe and Rain.”
Joe and Rain Moffat ran Knockers, the local brewpub.
Ellie wasn’t done. “The florist at Food Mart must be out of flowers by now. These are all from Scarlet Springs residents.”
That made sense. The sheriff hadn’t yet released the her name to the media. Sheriff Pella felt it was best to keep things quiet for now.
After what happened when Mitch was hurt, I’m afraid we’d have reporters all over Scarlet. We’ll keep your identity out of our reports for now, if that’s okay with you. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention the hit-and-run part of this just now.
Sasha wasn’t sure what he’d meant by that, so she’d decided to tell people who didn’t know better that she’d crashed her bike.
Ellie wrapped the cards in a rubber band and set them on Sasha’s overbed table. “You can read through these when you get a chance.”
Then Sasha remembered. “I need to call my manager.”
Ellie smiled. “You talked to him this morning. I was standing right here.”
“Oh. Right.” Sasha remembered that now, too. “Sorry.”
Scott had wanted to run to the press with the story about her accident. He’d hoped that one of the big sports magazines would pay good money for an exclusive interview with photos. Sasha hadn’t had the strength to argue with him, so Ellie had taken the phone, told him Sasha wouldn’t be doing interviews for a while, and ended the call.
“No apologies necessary. Between the morphine and your concussion, it’s a wonder you remember anything.” Ellie took Sasha’s good hand. “All you need to worry about now is healing so you can get back to climbing. We’ve got your back.”
This was why Sasha loved Scarlet. The people here weren’t fancy, but they took care of their own.
“Thank you, Ellie.”
“You try to get some sleep now, okay, sweetie?”
“Okay.” Sasha was asleep before Ellie reached the door.
Darius left his vehicle at the sheriff’s substation and rode shotgun in Deputy Marcs’ service vehicle to the site of the hit-and-run, listening to her assessment of the situation along the way.
“You’ll be able to see where they accelerated. They left a lot of rubber on the road. They weren’t pointed down the highway. They were headed straight for Sasha. I don’t see how this could be anything but deliberate.”
Darius had to agree. “That seems unlikely.”
“I’ve asked Jason Chiago to meet us there. He’s a former Shadow Wolf and a Deputy US Marshal. He’s Tohono O’odham and an expert at cutting sign. If there’s anything I missed, one of the two of you will hopefully find it.”
A former Shadow Wolf and a DUSM.
Darius was impressed.
“Here we are. And there’s Chiago, waiting for us.”
Deputy Marcs pulled into a vehicle turnout. “This is where Sasha said they were waiting when she cycled past them. I already searched the area, but I didn’t find anything besides litter here.”
“Let’s see what the road can tell us.” Darius climbed out of the vehicle, watched for traffic, then made his way to where Chiago stood, his gaze on the asphalt.
Chiago looked up, held out his hand. “Deputy US Marshal Jason Chiago.”
Darius shook his hand. “Detective Darius Silva, DPD Major Crimes Unit.”
Deputy Marcs joined them. “What do you think, Chiago?”
“I think you’re right. They struck Sasha deliberately.” Chiago backtracked. “They came out of the vehicle turnout, drove a short distance, and then turned the wheel and accelerated over the centerline, straight toward her.”
“That’s exactly what she said when I interviewed her.”
Darius had a look for himself, saw the thick rubber that crossed the yellow line—and the rubber where they’d slammed on the brakes to keep from crashing into the trees. “I concur. They intended to hit Ms. Dillon. Whether they knew her and targeted her specifically remains to be seen. Did you locate the vehicle?”
Deputy Marcs nodded. “It was found abandoned in the parking area adjacent to Boulder Falls.”
“Cams?” Darius was reasonably certain he knew the answer.
Deputy Marcs shook her head. “They might have had another car waiting for them or hiked out or even thumbed a ride into town. People are pretty relaxed about hitchhiking around here. If we could get a description…”
At the sound of an approaching engine, the three of them walked to the shoulder of the highway.
“Did Ms. Dillon see them?” He’d read the report, but sometimes basic details got left out by mistake.
“The man in the passenger seat flipped her off, but she didn’t see his face. She heard them laughing before they drove away, and one of them yelled, ‘Die, bitch!’”
“What kind of security do you have on Ms. Dillon’s room?” Darius was pretty sure he knew the answer to this question, too.
“The hospital has security, and the staff know to watch out for strangers.”
Good grief.
Chiago grinned. “It’s Scarlet, man.”
“I don’t suppose she has a bodyguard or private security?”
Deputy Marcs shook her head.
Darius shouldn’t have to point this out. “Until we’re sure that this wasn’t personal, there should be someone outside her hospital room round the clock. If she wants to hire personal protection, that’s fine, too.”
Chiago got a call and stepped away.
Deputy Marcs nodded. “I’ll contact the Scarlet PD and see what Chief Randall can do. Everything within the town limits is his jurisdiction. He’s pushing seventy-eight and about as curmudgeonly as an old cop can be. The Town Council keeps pushing him to retire, but he ignores them. He won’t be happy about this.”