Poetic Justice by Andrea J. Johnson

Author:Andrea J. Johnson [Johnson, Andrea J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Polis Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 19

The smell of sulfur was the first thing I recognized—that stench of rotten eggs mixed with the underlying musk of decaying produce. The combination stung my nostrils and caused a sour mucus to form at the back of my throat.

I coughed.

The sound reverberated around me, but I could also hear the voices of a female and a male arguing above me.

“You’ve got to get her out of there. Is she all right? Should I call an ambulance?”

“Hold on. She’s breathing. Thank goodness—I shouldn’t have let her out of my sight.”

“How were you to know? How was I to know? She just sent me a—wait. You’ll drop her.”

“Do you want me to do this or not? We can’t just leave her in the dumpster.”

The sound of their voices detonated in my skull.

Blinding flashes of white-hot pain shot through my neck and back. I longed for my vision to clear, but no further input arrived other than sharp tingling sensations from my hands and feet. Even still, I was grateful for the pain. Pain was the one thing I recognized. Pain let me know I was alive. I laid there for a couple more inhalations. My back rested against something lumpy and unfamiliar.

The male voice spoke again. “I’m going to lift you out of here with a fireman’s carry, but I need you to tell me if I’m hurting you. Okay?”

I blinked rapidly and hoped the male voice understood I was listening. Blinking was the only thing that didn’t take maximum effort.

Seconds later, the comforting warmth filled me of another body bending over me, followed by the giddy sensation one experiences when rising in an elevator. My aches were still there, but they seemed to matter less once I began floating and the smells changed from sour to sweet.

“Which way?”

“Through there to my office. Steady. You can put her down on the sofa. I’ll fetch some tea.”

The female had an accent I recognized as Jillian’s. I had trouble placing the first voice, the male voice, so I decided to test my eyes again once I’d stop floating. Cushions cradled my back and a hand the size of a catcher’s mitt engulfed mine.

My eyes swam into focus.

“Are you in pain?” Ashton sat on the opposite arm of the overstuffed couch looking down on me. “We should get you some medical attention.”

“No,” I croaked. “I’m fine. Freezing, but fine.”

I swallowed hard. My throat was scratchy. The throbbing in my neck and back continued, but being inside helped everything else. “Chance sent you a warning… and I think I saw Phyllis.”

“Chance did this?” Ashton took off his jacket, revealing the hoodie he wore underneath. “And he’s with Phyllis? Dodd? The chemist?”

I nodded and propped myself up against the arm of the sofa so Ashton could wrap the jacket backward across my chest like a Snuggie.

I tried my voice again. “How’d you find me?”

“I saw you come out from behind the lab, but you kept walking. I figured you wanted to be alone to finish your texts, so I hung back.

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