Betrayed (Rosato & DiNunzio, #2)(38)

“Judy!” Mary appeared at her side, but Judy couldn’t see more than her outline against the cloudy sky.

“Somebody hit me…”

“Oh my God!” Mary threw herself on the ground and put her hands on Judy’s face. “Are you okay? Stay awake! Is there blood?”

“I’m fine, I’m okay.” Judy waved Mary off. “Get the guy. Find the guy. Find Penny…”

“Are you really okay?” Mary cradled Judy’s upper body, and Judy reached for her shoulder, trying to get to her feet.

“Let me get up, I’m okay. I have to find Penny.”

“She’ll be fine, just be still. You could have a concussion. Where did he punch you?”

“No, he hit me in my head, with something.” Judy struggled to stand up, and a light went on in the kitchen in the back of her aunt’s house, illuminating the backyard.

“Judy, is that you?” her mother called out, opening the back door. “What’s going on? What are you doing here?”

“Mrs. Carrier!” Mary shouted, panicky. “Come here quick! Somebody hit Judy!”

“Oh no!” her mother wailed. “Mary, is that you? Be right there!”

Judy scrambled to her feet, weaving slightly. Her head pounded. She couldn’t hear Penny barking anymore, and it terrified her to think that something had happened to the dog. “Penny! Penny!”

“Honey?” Her mother hurried toward her with Aunt Barb, both of them in bathrobes.

“Judy, what’s happening?” Aunt Barb reached her and helped her up by the arm. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, really.” Judy stood up, leaning on Mary. She looked around wildly. The backyard was empty. The rosebushes drooped with rainwater, their fading blooms glistening in the light from the window. The man was gone and so was Penny. “There must have been two men.”

“How do you know?” Mary asked, urgent.

“Two what?” her mother joined in, shocked. The back porch lights went on in the house whose backyard bordered Aunt Barb’s, then the house next to it, as the ruckus roused the neighbors.

“Two men.” Judy struggled to piece it together through the pain. “Penny saw them before I did. That must be why she freaked out in the car. I didn’t see him until he hit me.”

“Hit you?” her mother repeated.

Aunt Barb gasped. “Two men, in my backyard? Sweet Jesus!”

“What did he look like?” Mary gripped Judy’s arm, steadying her.

“I didn’t see him, I couldn’t tell.” Judy felt shaken, trying to process what just happened. “That must have been what Penny chased after. Not a squirrel, a person. Otherwise she would have stayed with me. There must’ve been another man who hit me, then ran away. So there were two men.”

“I don’t see anyone around.” Mary swiveled her head left and right. “I don’t hear a car starting. They must’ve gone.”

“We can’t let them get away.” Judy took off toward the street, but wobbled, dizzy.

“Judy, stop, no, you’re hurt.” Mary hurried after and caught her arm. “We have to take care of you first.”

“But we could see the car or a license plate.” Judy tried to go, but Mary held her back.

“No, it’s too dangerous. We’re lawyers, not cops.”

“Then call 911. My phone’s in my purse.” Judy steadied herself, touching her head where she’d been hit. A lump swelled under her fingertips. She hadn’t seen what he’d hit her with. A rock? It hurt like hell, and when she pulled her hand away, her fingertips glistened darkly.

Aunt Barb said, “Your forehead’s bleeding, honey! Oh my God!”

“Let’s get in the house!” Her mother came to her side. “They could still be out here.”

“No, wait, I’m worried about Penny.” Judy felt the warm wetness sliding down her forehead, but she’d never forgive herself if anything happened to the dog, who’d been trying to protect her. “Hold on a sec, okay?”

Aunt Barb squeezed her other arm. “Penny will come back. She knows where the house is.”

“Penny!” Judy hollered, turning. Suddenly she heard barking and faced the direction of the sound, beyond the privet hedge that bordered her aunt’s property. “Penny, come!”

“I think I see her!” Mary yelled.

“Me, too!” Judy almost cried with happiness when she spotted the golden retriever racing toward them from the neighbor’s backyard, trailing her leash. Penny bounded panting to Judy, then jumped up on her, almost knocking her to the ground all over again.

“Thank God!” Judy buried her knuckles deep in the dog’s thick ruff, curly with sweat. Penny didn’t look injured, but she emitted a weird, primal smell.

“Hurry, please let’s go inside.” Her mother led the way, and Mary came around her other side.

“Judy, come on. We’d better call 911.”





Chapter Eighteen

Half an hour later, a line of black-and-white Kennett Square police cruisers parked out front of Aunt Barb’s house, their light bars flashing silently. Wooden sawhorses cordoned off her aunt’s section of the street, and a few neighbors stood outside the perimeter, drawn by the unaccustomed activity in this quiet section of town. Uniformed police officers searched Aunt Barb’s house, as well as her garage, backyard, and the environs, carrying long-handled Maglites that flashed jittery cones of high-intensity light over the heirloom roses and privet hedges.