Read Online Melody Unchained by Christa Maurice - Free Book Online Page B

it would be enough. She had plenty of experience waiting.
    Her purse strap jerked. Automatically, she grabbed for it, stumbling forward when it kept going.
    A skinny man with a hood pulled over his head had the other end. He yanked and she lost her footing. The pavement pounded into her knees and the material on her jeans gave way. She held onto the purse strap with both hands.
    “It’s mine! Let go!” she shrieked.
    “Hey! What’s going on?”
    The other person let go of the strap. Melody fell forward, her elbows connecting with the cement before her cheek. She heard footsteps running away under the pain rattling through her head from the impact. Pain flared in her knees, elbows and cheek.
    “Lady, are you okay?”
    Melody squeezed her eyes shut. Okay. Jerry always asked if she was okay. But Jerry hadn’t wished for her. “I’m fine.”
    “You’re one tough chick.” The man helping her to her feet beamed at her. He sort of looked like Jerry. Blue eyes, blond hair. A little more hair, a little softer around the jaw. “You need an ambulance? Want me to call the police?”
    The police. Jerry would come and he would be disappointed that she couldn’t take care of herself. He might even be repulsed because she was such a hopeless case. “No, I don’t need the police.” Melody stood and inspected the knees of her jeans. They were a total loss. Huge holes in both knees that were now covered in blood. Her elbows were much worse. Even though she hadn’t been dragged by them, they hadn’t had the protection of denim.
    “Lady, you really need to get that looked at.”
    A dark-haired man jogged up to them and then bent over with his hands on his knees. “Got away.” He gasped. “Couldn’t catch him.”
    Sirens screamed in the distance and a woman came out of her house carrying a dishcloth. “I called 911,” she said. “That man has been lurking around here for days. I didn’t know what he was doing, but I was sure he was up to no good. Here, wipe off your elbows.”
    Melody had seen the tight-lipped blonde working in her yard a few times on her way to or from the coffee shop, but hadn’t been able to get more than a suspicious “hi” out of her before now. She patted the cloth on her elbows and wondered why it didn’t hurt. Everything was hazy and distant. “I’m all right. I don’t need to go to the hospital.”
    “You have to give a statement to the police,” the woman insisted.
    Oh no, they had already called Jerry. He would be here soon and he would be so disappointed. “But I don’t want to.” Melody took a step back, but the sidewalk moved and she staggered.
    The blond man caught her arm. “You should sit down or something.”
    “I just want to go home and take a bath,” Melody muttered as the two men guided her to the curb. The world wavered.
    “The paramedics are here. You might as well let them look at you,” the dark-haired man said, easing her down. The paramedic truck came around the corner and rolled to a stop in front of them. Another siren approached from the opposite direction.
    “Hi there.” One of the paramedics knelt in front of her, flashing a penlight in her eyes. “Can you tell me what happened?”
    “Some guy tried to grab my purse and I didn’t let go.” Melody frowned. Why hadn’t she let go? On television they always said it was safer to let go.
    “You hit your head?” He turned her face to inspect her cheek. His hands were soft and warm. He had nice blue eyes too. He didn’t seem at all disappointed in her, and the confident way he tended to her made her feel safe.
    “That was the last thing that happened. I went down on my knees and then my elbows.”
    “Ow. That looks nasty.”
    The patrol car arrived and a uniformed officer climbed out. Not Jerry, then. The other paramedic opened a box of first aid stuff.
    “How come your boyfriend wasn’t walking you home?”
    Melody’s mouth went dry. She could hear the other people talking to the police officer