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Blind Alley

by Ellen Butler

About the Author: Ellen Butler is an international bestselling author of the Karina Cardinal mystery series and award-winning historical spy fiction. Fans who enjoy the suspense of Melinda Leigh and the humor of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum will fall in love with Butler’s Karina Cardinal. Her experiences working on Capitol Hill and at a medical association in Washington, D.C. inspired the mystery-action series.

Excerpt

If there is a special place in hell for particularly heinous acts, I will be going there, because I just bounced a blind man off my front bumper. TV news promos will say: “Woman runs down blind man at the local Organic Market, details at ten.”

I threw the car into park and jumped out to check on my victim. He lay on his back, glasses askew, his black hoodie half unzipped. Sinking to my denim-clad knees, I pushed aside the tails of my peacoat. “Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead,” I mumbled under my breath, as I checked for a pulse with shaking fingers. Relief. A steady beat throbbed.

A woman in a camel dress coat and high-heeled boots strode up with a phone to her ear. “I’m on with nine-one-one,” she explained bending over the two of us. “Is he alive?”

“He has a pulse.” I was afraid to check the back of his head, but I had to. His dark hair was military-style short and tickled my fingers. No blood gushed forth, but a purply-red lump had already formed. I removed my red scarf and pillowed it beneath his head to provide padding against the concrete.

The good Samaritan returned to her conversation with the operator. “He’s alive, but unconscious. I don’t see any bleeding. Yes, the woman who hit him is still at the scene. I will remain until the police arrive.” She hung up and bent over next to me.

“Where did he come from? I swear, I checked before pulling forward,” I murmured to myself.

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