False Start - Jessica Ruddick Page 0,46

have been looking for empty ones.”

“What the hell? Shouldn’t they have put out an alert or something?”

“They probably will now. The other apartments were actually empty.” She let out a shaky breath. “It could have been so much worse, Carson. What if my bedroom was closer to the front door? He could have walked right into my room, and I wouldn’t have known because of those stupid headphones. Or what if Lucy had been home? Oh God. He was in her room.” Her calm expression was replaced by a panicked one, like what had happened was finally registering.

“You’re okay,” I said firmly. “That’s what matters.” I put my thumb under her chin and tilted her face up so she was forced to meet my gaze, holding it until she settled again.

“Excuse me,” the police officer from earlier said. “I’d like to finish up now so we can all get on our way.”

“Sure,” Becca said then turned to me. “Can you call my dad? I don’t think I can deal with him right now.” She winced. “That sounds bad, but you know what I mean.”

I knew exactly what she meant. Tony Zizzo was going to lose his shit when he learned that his baby girl had been attacked. The Zizzo men’s protective nature was embedded in their DNA.

I gently pressed my lips to Becca’s forehead. “Got it covered.” Then I climbed out of the ambulance to make room for the officer and EMT.

CHAPTER 11

Becca

I WATCHED FROM inside the ambulance as Carson talked to my dad, catching brief snippets of the conversation.

“She’s a little banged up, but she’ll be fine. You raised one tough girl.” He paused so my dad could talk, and I smiled. Carson knew exactly what to say to my father to calm him down. However, the best that could be expected was to take him from an eleven down to a ten. No doubt he would be on the phone to the Bleaksburg Police Department first thing in the morning to inquire about the incident. “No, sir. I don’t think you need to come.”

Shit. I was worried about that. I loved my dad, but he could be overwhelming at times like this.

“Miss Zizzo?”

I turned my attention back to the officer. “Sorry.”

“I have the description of the perpetrator you provided earlier, but there’s not much to go on. Is there anything else at all you remember?”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I was too stunned to look for any distinguishing marks or characteristics.” The officer blinked at my words. “My father is a cop.”

The officer smiled kindly, and I snuck a glance at his name tag for at least the third time. Officer Perez. He’d told me his name earlier, but I couldn’t seem to remember it. Stupid concussion. I hadn’t shared that gem of a diagnosis with Carson yet because he’d been freaked out enough.

I was angry with myself. Though Bleaksburg was a safe town, my complacency was unacceptable. My father had taught me better than that. This might have been prevented if I’d done the simple task of locking the deadbolt. It had probably only taken that guy seconds to pick the lock on the door handle.

I declined yet again to be taken to the hospital, and Carson assured the EMT he would keep an eye on me. Once the woman realized that Carson was a football player, she felt a lot better about his ability to monitor my concussion. After the ambulance left, Officer Perez escorted Carson and me to my apartment so I could pack a bag.

“You didn’t tell my dad about my concussion, did you?” I asked on the way to Carson’s place.

He frowned. “No, because when I talked to him, I didn’t know you had one.”

Shit. My brain really was fuzzy. I’d just been thinking that I hadn’t told Carson about it. “Well, that means you didn’t lie to him.” I closed my eyes and rested my head against the headrest. The shock from the incident was wearing off, so I was feeling the effects of the concussion more. My head was pounding. Ugh. I did not have time for this shit. I’d just been patting myself on the back for being ahead in my classes, but now, I would likely fall behind. I inhaled deeply and wrinkled my nose at the scent of fried food. Carson’s vehicles normally smelled like new cars because, well, they were usually new. He switched out his cars more often than a lot of people switched out