Chapter 13

Sam walked out of the bookstore holding her prized possession clutched tightly in her hands. It was a rare copy of a book she had been searching for a long time. Of course, it was long out of print and had been very difficult to find. She had finally found it though by searching the internet and then word of mouth. That was why she was in Seelo, a city about two-hundred miles away from her home.

Amy had wanted to come along but Sam had argued that she could drive down, pickup the book and drive back by that night.

"You know it would be very uncomfortable for you to spend that much time in the daylight while we drove. Just let me go down there and come back. I'll be fine Mom," she had said, teasing Amy.

At last, reluctantly, Amy had agreed. Sam had left early in the morning and arrived at the bookstore early in the afternoon. She purchased the book, placed it on the passenger seat of her car and prepared herself for the long drive back home. Sam was reaching for the ignition key in her car when she heard a scream of terror from the alleyway nearby. The scream was cut short. Without even thinking, Sam jumped out of the car and rushed in the direction of the scream.

She burst on the scene just in time to see three men dragging a struggling girl toward a parked car. One of the men placed something over the girl's face and her struggles ceased almost immediately as he continued to drag her to the car.

"Hey, what are you doing? Let her go," Sam yelled.

Two of the men turned to face her and to Sam's consternation, two more got out of the car.

"Lady, you are in the wrong fucking place at the wrong fucking time," one of the thugs said.

With the hand-to-hand skills she had learned, Sam felt confident she could have bested one of the thugs and even possibly two, but four was entirely too many. She was not Amy after all. Sam turned to flee out of the alley and get help. Sam raced toward the alley entrance but the pounding footsteps and heavy breathing of her pursuer informed her that she would never reach it before she was overhauled. Her training took over without thought. In one fluid motion, Sam spun, dropped into a crouch, lowered one shoulder and as the surprised thug flew over her shoulder, struck out knife-like with her hand. She struck him squarely in the crotch as he sailed over her to tumble to ground behind her and double up in agony. Sam paid him little attention as she faced the next thug who skidded to a halt facing the unexpected menace. Instead of the helpless woman, he had expected he found himself face-to-face with an adversary who was, he surmised, at least his equal.

Two passersby started walking across the alley entrance. The two thugs closest to the car scrambled back into it and with a squeal of tires, it shot forward.

"Come on Enrique," one of them yelled as the car paused for just a second beside the thug.

"We have the little bitch we were after and we don't have time to snatch that one," the driver yelled. Enrique dived into the back seat and the car shot forward again straight for Sam. At the last moment, she dived to the side and avoided being struck as it sped past and skidded out onto the street.

"Call 911," Sam yelled at the two people at the alley entrance as she picked herself up off the ground and hurried over to make sure the remaining thug stayed down on the ground. She knelt placing her knee squarely in the small of his back. She reached down grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled his head back at a painful angle.

"The police are coming but in the mean time if you try to get up or resist in any way I'm going to hurt you some more," Sam said in a terse voice.

"I won't move lady," he answered. His groin was still in agony.

Sam released his hair abruptly. He was straining so much against this painful angle that his head had been held in that the sudden release caused it to snap forward slamming his nose against the cement. It almost instantly started bleeding profusely.

A few minutes later, a squad car screamed into the alley. Both front doors swung open almost before the car stopped and the two uniformed officers took cover behind them. Both of them drew their guns and pointed them at Sam and the thug she held down. At their orders, Sam raised her hands and placed them on top of her head. After they had ascertained that Sam and the thug were unarmed, one of the officers approached. He had Sam stand up and back away while he and his partner kept them both under cover.

A few minutes later, two more squad cars screamed to a stop behind the first. Finally believing her, they cuffed the thug, jerked him to his feet and placed him in the rear of one of the cars for his trip to jail downtown. Despite her protests of being all right, she was hustled into another squad car for a trip to Mercy Hospital to be checked out. While she was at the hospital, a detective showed up to get her statement. He flashed his badge and then spoke.

"Good afternoon Miss. I am detective Fenmore. Could you tell me exactly what transpired in your own words please," he said as he took out a pen and pad. After what seemed like hours, Sam told him she needed to make a phone call.

"Sure Miss... ," he started.

"Crowley," she finished, "and I wish to use the phone in privacy, officer."

"Of course," he said and stepped away.

Sam removed her cell phone from its belt clip and dialed Amy. As she waited for Amy to answer, she looked down in dismay at her new pantsuit that was now tattered and torn in many places.

"Hello," Amy's voice answered.

"Hi Amy, this is Sam..."

"Sam, what's the matter? Where are you? Are you ok?" Amy said in a barrage of questions because she detected the quiver in Sam's voice instantly.

"I'm ok Amy," Sam said fighting to control the terror she felt now that the incident was over.

"Are you sure," Amy asked.

"I'm sure," Sam, answered.

"Amy, I'm at Mercy Hospital. I got into a little scuffle and the police are here asking me a lot of questions..." Sam started.

"What!?" Amy interrupted. "Sam, you stay right there. I'll call you back on my cell. I'm on my way. Don't you go anywhere until I get there," Amy ordered.

Amy flew out of the house and jumped into her Porsche. "Time to see if you are as fast as your reputation says you are," she said speaking to the car and turning on the ignition. With squealing tires, Amy fishtailed onto the street and headed for the highway. The automatic gates closed behind her but she was long gone before they finished closing.

Once she got on the highway she opened the throttle even further and called Sam.

"I'm coming Hon. I'll be there soon, just sit tight. Hav ta go for now Sam and pay attention to my driving," Amy said and broke the connection before Sam had a chance to protest and tell her to be careful.

Sam sat down preparing for a long wait until Amy arrived at the main waiting room of the hospital. Detective Fenmore took a seat across from Sam, content for now at least to dispense with the questions.

"Can I get you something to drink Miss Crowley?" he finally asked.

Sam looked at him for a moment and then said, "Tea or lemonade would be fine."

He got up and headed for the snack bar saying over his shoulder, "Now don't get any funny ideas and leave Miss, please."

A little over two hours later, there was a commotion at the front doors and then Amy burst into the room. She took a quick look around and spotting Sam, ran across the room. She took one look at the torn clothes Sam was wearing and asked, "Are you sure you are ok Honey?'

"Yes Amy, I'm fine, just ruined my new pantsuit is all." Sam answered.

Amy gave her a bear hug.

"Amy, how were you able to get here ... the sunlight, you know..." Sam asked.

"I'll explain later Sam, right now we need to get out of here and get a room," Amy answered.

"Amy, they won't let me leave," Sam said.

"We'll see about that," Amy answered. She pulled her cell phone out of its carrying case on her hip and dialed a number. "We are going to be staying here in town for tonight at least Sam," she said as she waited for them to answer on the other end. When they did, she entered into conversation.

"Hello, this is Amy Bedford; I need a room for at least tonight ... Yes ... Yes, is a suite available? Fine, then get it ready, we'll be there in about thirty minutes. Here's my credit card number. Thank you," she finished and hung up just as the detective returned.