“Good work,” said Ziggy once I finished the call. “Now I need you to call Sam, tell him we have a situation and need backup. Give him the address. Okay, Miss Cooper?”
“Got it.” I repeated the process, giving Sam the details and address. Ziggy kept his gaze moving between the guy on the ground and our general surroundings the whole time. “Sam is on his way.”
“Excellent. Good job.”
“You’re the one who did all the work.”
“I wouldn’t say that. Actually, I think we make a good team.”
My smile was a weak tremulous thing.
“Now I want you to get in the vehicle, lock the doors, and remain in there until we’ve got more people on scene, okay?”
“No.” I picked up my handbag and got back onto my feet. Though I retrieved a silk scarf out of it first. “Let me see the cut.”
“Stay back please.” Ziggy gave me his best I’m-very-serious-about-this eyes. “Do not come any closer.”
“Give me your arm.”
“Mae, it’s not that bad and I need you safe. Don’t worry about it.”
“Blood is dripping off your fingers. Stop playing the tough guy and let me stop the bleeding before your arm falls off or something.”
He just looked at me.
“I’m not going anywhere until you let me see it.”
With a sigh, he held out the damaged limb. The knife had slashed through the suit and shirt, the cut a good hand’s length at least. Whoa. Lots of blood. I wrapped the scarf around the wound, firmly but not too firm. At any rate, it seemed to be about the right amount of pressure to slow down the flow of red stuff. It’d been a number of years since I’d completed my first aid course at summer camp so I could only hope I’d done it right.
“It needs stitches. Doesn’t seem to be too deep, but it’s probably going to scar.” I carefully tied off the knot. “However, that scarf’s new season Chanel. It wouldn’t surprise me if you’re all better in an hour or two.”
“Magical designer wear, huh?” He half smiled. So pretty. Made my heart beat hard for a whole new reason.
“What the hell is going on out here?” Lena ran toward me across the parking lot, followed fast by Zane.
“Oh my God.” His eyes went wide at the sight of the man lying on the ground.
Guess the asshole took his failure to stab me pretty hard since h
e’d started crying. Or maybe it was due to his broken nose and busted balls. Hard to say.
Zane pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and carefully picked up the bloody knife. “I’m guessing this will be needed for evidence. Goodness gracious. Wish I’d seen the bodyguard take him down. Bet that was exciting.”
“He’s the one who sent you those boxes?” asked Lena.
“Probably,” I said. “It seems likely, doesn’t it?”
Lena just blinked. “Oh, boy. Check out his cap…”
“Yeah, I saw. Guess he’s a fanatic who thinks I broke the ex’s heart or something. Hence all of the symbolism of sending me the lumps of dead bloody meat.”
“Your ex sure does have some dedicated fans,” said Zane. “I wonder if you can sue him over this for emotional distress or something. You probably can, you know? Or at least, sell your story and give a really dramatic interview. I could coach you, it’d be great. What do you think?”
I sighed. What a day. “Dude…no.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
By the time Detective Ortega arrived with a couple of uniformed officers to take our statements and drag our attacker away, a couple of hours had gone by. Sam, Adelaide, and Bon arrived to help deal with the press then Bon took Ziggy to the hospital to get his arm looked at while Sam and Adelaide escorted me home. It all happened with military-like precision. These people knew their business.