think I should probably file a police report or something…" I trailed off, hoping he'd fill in what that or something should be.
"Are you hurt?" I could hear rustling in the background, like he was suddenly on the move.
My hand went to the goose egg I could feel forming on the side of my head. "No," I lied. "We're fine." I looked to Ava for confirmation.
She nodded.
"Where are you?"
"In the East Bay. We're in a Walmart parking lot." I glanced at the street sign on the corner and rattled off the name to him.
"Stay there," he commanded. "I'm about half an hour out, but I'll have someone from the local PD meet you there."
I was about to protest that he didn't have to come down personally—I knew we were out of his jurisdiction, and I was sure he had more pressing matters to attend to than a fender bender.
But I didn't get the chance as he disconnected.
"What did he say?" Ava asked.
"He said he's sending someone out."
She nodded, eyes cutting to the Walmart. "How long?"
I shrugged.
"Think I have enough to time run in there and go pee?" she asked. She sent me an apologetic smile. "I have to go when I'm nervous."
Being almost run off the road was enough to make me nervous too, so I nodded my understanding. "Go. I'll wait here."
I watched her jog off in her heels, then sat back down in my Jeep to wait for the cavalry. It wasn't long before a black and white police car pulled in next to us and a young, clean cut officer approached. By the time Ava came back, I'd given him pretty much all the details I could—which, sadly, was not a whole lot.
The car had been a gray sedan, though neither Ava nor I had noted the make or model. I hadn't had to time to read the license plate number. And as far as the driver went, our description wasn't stellar—tall, dark hair, male. Likes hats and sunglasses. Which could apply to half the male population of the Bay Area, where gray sedans were not an anomaly either.
I could tell the officer had much the same thoughts on our description, as he didn't sound too hopeful about finding whoever had rammed us. In fact, if I had to guess, he wasn't even 100% believing our story that the ramming had been intentional.
He was just taking down my insurance information when Grant's black SUV pulled into the parking lot behind us.
As soon as he got out of his car, he immediately stalked toward me, eyes going to the knot at my temple. "You called EMTs?" he asked the officer.
Officer Clean Cut shook his head. "They said they were fine."
"Well, they're clearly not," Grant barked back.
"They can hear you, you know," I said.
Grant shot me a look but continued addressing the officer. "Get medical personnel out here."
"Yes, sir," the officer said, ducking his head as he quickly walked back to his black and white.
"That's not necessary," I protested.
He ignored me, taking a step closer, his gaze roving the rest of me as if doing his own visual medical assessment. "You hurt anywhere else?"
"No. And this is just a little bump."
"Little?" He shook his head, his hand going to the spot at my left temple and ever so gently brushing my hair away.
At the unexpectedly tender gesture, I felt tears back up in my throat. Between the car chase, the narrow escape, the pain in my head, and Grant's soft touch, it was hard to keep it all together. A girl can only be so strong. "It only hurts a little."
He sucked in a breath, tearing his eyes from the injury to meet mine. "What happened?"
"Someone hit my car."
"Someone?" he asked. I could tell he knew there was clearly more to the story than that.
"I'm pretty sure it was Stalker Guy."
He frowned. "You mean the person you thought was following Gia?"
I nodded. "He was driving a gray sedan. I gave the description to the officer." I gestured to the guy, who had Ava corralled near the black and white, taking her info down on a tablet.
Grant pulled in a deep breath. "Okay, let's start at the beginning. What were you doing in the East Bay in the first place?"
I was afraid he'd ask that. "Uh…shopping?" Kinda. I mean, we had been to a shop.
"Shopping." His eyes cut to the Walmart behind me. "Really?"
"Really. Ish."
He tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. "Emmy." The one word carried