Page 110 of Sugar & Ink
I turned.
She was still on the floor with her eyes wide, with her hand still to her throat. I pulled my phone from my pocket and called 911 while crossing to her.
“Emergency services, what’s your emergency?”
“There’s a woman locked in the walk-in freezer at Scoop & Swirl on Main Street,” I said, crouching in front of Josie. “She attacked the owner with a knife.”
Josie’s lower lip trembled.
“Is anyone injured?” the dispatcher asked.
“She has a small cut on her neck. She’s conscious. Breathing.”
“Is the attacker contained?”
“Yeah.” Brandi screamed from the freezer, pounding harder. “She’s contained.”
The dispatcher kept talking. I answered what I needed to answer.
Address.
Names.
Knife location.
No, Brandi didn’t have the weapon.
Yes, she was locked away from us.
Yes, we’d stay on the line until officers arrived.
I set the phone on speaker and placed it on the floor beside me.
Then I reached for Josie.
Slow.
Careful.
“Baby.”
She stared at me like she couldn’t quite see me.
“Josie.”
Her eyes focused and then her face crumpled. I pulled her into my arms and she collapsed against me.
Her whole body shook as I held her tight enough to keep her together because it felt like she might fall apart in pieces.
“I got you.”
She sobbed into my shirt.
“I got you, baby.”
My hands moved over her back.
Her hair.
