Under the Boardwalk Read Online Free Page A

a psycho, just a... "jerk," she muttered.
    He ignored that. Fished her iPhone out of her bag and checked it. "Another text message," he said.
    "Well, duh," she said. He shot her a look and she decided to shut up.
    Then something in the message seemed to surprise him, because his expression turned even more intimidating, and he looked up at her with a cold, calculating expression that chilled her more than a frosty morning on Madrigal mountain.
    He set the gun down and started messing with the phone, typing something and apparently doing a lousy job of it from all the cussing he did under his breath. Then he stopped and glanced up at her. "Where's that place you went last week?"
    "Have you been stalking me, dude? That's so not okay."
    He picked up the gun to point it at her, and repeated himself, slowly: "Where. did. you. go. last. week."
    She shook her head, trying to think. "Um, SJB? San Juan Bautista," she said when he looked blankly at her. "Checking out the mission records?"
    "That's it." He started the typing routine again. "There." He smiled at her, a really creepy smile. "Now nobody's looking for you, princess."
    There was a sound above them. She cocked her head to listen, and so did he. the door to the basement opening, maybe?
    He put the phone back in her purse, then stood up. "We have company." He went out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
     
    ~*~
     
    "Where's Windy?" Hallie repeated.
    "She's fine," Dr. Lil said. The 60ish woman with spiky salt-and-pepper hair and wise dark eyes smiled reassuringly at her. "Just hold still so I can finish examining you."
    Hallie leaned back in the overstuffed leather chair. Why was she so fuzzy? She felt like the last few hours had been a series of unconnected vignettes. The bus ride from Davis, meeting Windy, then waking suddenly in the car, walking through the fields with Kyle Madrigal, then a flurry of phone calls leading to this: sitting in a big leather chair in the Madrigal living room, with two cops watching her warily from across the room and Dr. Lil shining lights in her eyes and writing things down in a little notebook.
    The doctor wrote something else. "I'm just old-fashioned," she said with a smile when she noticed Hallie watching her. "I intend to make it all the way to retirement without laying my hands on a computer keyboard."
    "But where's Windy?"
    "She's fine," said someone behind her.
    Kyle came around to the front of the chair. "Got a text message. She's off on another research trip. Loaned you the car 'cause she got a ride to San Juan Bautista. She's bummed about the little guy, but is glad you're okay. So that solves that mystery."
    Hallie looked down at the hands in her lap. "Okay...," she said tentatively. "But she was really excited about something."
    "When isn't she?" He smiled gently at her. "Relax. There's no mystery. You've just had a heck of a day." He turned to Dr. Lil. "So, will she live?"
    "I think so," Dr. Lil said with a smile. "But I'd like to run a few tests."
    "Tests?" Hallie asked. "Am I okay, or not?" She hated how doctors always hedged their bets, refusing to give any straight answers.
    Dr. Lil must have read something in her expression, because she said, "you'll be fine. There's nothing seriously wrong with you. But the memory lapse is always a concern. A CAT scan is definitely a good safety precaution."
    "Retrograde amnesia?" Kyle said to the doctor.
    "You always were my best student. Yup."
    "Amnesia?" Hallie scoffed. "Come on." She put her arms straight out in front of her and said in a sing-song voice: "Where am I? Who am I?"
    Kyle and Dr. Lil laughed.
    "Not exactly," the doctor said. "Retrograde amnesia just means you don't remember a period of time before your injury. Nothing mysterious about that."
    "You ought to try it from my end, doc."
    "Okay. I stand corrected. Nothing mysterious about it medically. I'm sure it feels disorienting."
    One of the cops said Kyle's name and he went over to talk to them.
    Hallie couldn't quite