Page 64 of Fallen Dove

I shook my head, and my keys jingled in my hand as I crossed the parking lot.I’d had to park out back because the Social Club had been packed.

I clicked my fob, and my headlights flashed.The lock thunked open and I adjusted the strap of my bag.I was already planning what I needed to do tomorrow in my mind.Footage to sort, notes to transcribe, and brunch with mom.

Movement flickered at the edge of my vision.

I turned, scanning the shadow pooling between two trucks.

And then pain slammed into me from the opposite side.

The air whooshed from my lungs as I hit the gravel hard.My keys flew and clattered uselessly out of reach.Beside my head, something landed with aclink.I blinked and realized it was the jagged half of a pool cue I had broken earlier.

“How does that feel, bitch?”

The voice was gravel and venom.Close enough that I could feel spit hit my cheek.

I scrambled and tried to push up off the ground.

A boot caught me square in the stomach.

Pain radiated out, and I curled into a ball while gagging on bile burning the back of my throat.

Another kick landed higher.My head snapped sideways and bounced off gravel.White sparks exploded across my vision.

My body folded.My breath staggered out in shallow gasps.The world tilted and dimmed.

This… this was not at all how I thought my night would end.

And then everything went black.