Page 48 of Overkill

I chuckled.

“I think something is going on.” I watched her for any signs of protest. “Don’t you?”

Her phoenix eyes…damn them. I could curl up in them and never leave.

It felt like I’d always dreamed of her face without even knowing it. A delicate chin with curved brows. Soft, smooth, flat cheeks and a small nose. An expressive mouth that belonged to a silent film star.

She didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. The sparkle in her gaze and the light blush on her russet cheeks was answer enough. Melody felt it, too.

And just that bit of acknowledgement was enough for me. Enough that if I had seen some Cyphertruck going after her, I’d have pushed her out of the way and gratefully died in her stead. I think she understood.

“She won’t go to the hospital.” Miriam’s little voice broke the spell, and the whole world intruded on our moment.

The ambulance, the fire truck, the red brick schoolhouse at my back, and the traffic detouring on either side, redirected by Sheriff Whitlaw as people gawked on the sidewalk.

“She won’t?” I asked Miriam.

I knew what the kid was doing. She saw I had her sister’s attention. Wanted me to convince Melody to go.

Miriam was a good kid. I thought the other one would have been helpful too, but her brother was on his phone, scrolling.

Melody stared into the distance, at a little shop called Timeless. Jewelry? I’d seen it plenty when I went about town but never thought about going in—never really gave it much thought at all. She seemed to like it, though.

Interesting. I’d have to remember for later.

“I’m gonna get them home, then lie down.” She put her hand on Miriam’s bare forearm, and the sisters exchanged a look. A look I couldn’t quite read.

“Mellie.” Captain Lyons stepped forward, thumbs hooked into his belt. “If you’re not going to the hospital, I can’t stop you. But I would really recommend that you don’t drive right now.”

He had Ian Gray in tow. The kid had probably volunteered to drive one of the ambulances.

“You gonna have Whitlaw arrest me, Riles?”

The two looked and talked like close friends. I didn’t like it.

“Mels, I’m not trying to tell you what to do. But if you’re not going to the hospital—”

“Why aren’t you?” I interrupted, turning to her. “You got hit by a car, honey. You should get checked for a concussion, or at least sprains and breaks. Your adrenaline…”

Her knee started bouncing.

“I’m fine,” she whispered.

“Baby—”

“Don’t call me that!” She said it through gritted teeth, but I flinched at the rage behind it.

Fuck.

I shrugged it off. “I can take them home. You should get checked out.”

“We can walk home if we need to,” Miriam whispered.

“Over my dead body,” I said a little too fast for a man the kid didn’t know. “I’ll drive them home, then I’ll take you to the hospital.”

“No.”

“Melody!” I was annoyed beyond reason. But she was hurt. She could be very hurt. And it would be a damn emergency if no one took a look at her.