Death at the Scottish Broch by Rose Kerr

Mia pedaled her bike through Lakeview City’s rush hour traffic. Motorists sped along the road, some dangerously close to the lane markers. Her thoughts were on the day ahead. Her last day before heading out to Scotland for a dig. This year had been a challenge. She loved working with students at the university, but the politics involved with academia didn’t sit well with her. 

Mia checked her side-view mirror and made the turn off University Avenue. She noticed a large black SUV following her. As she arrived at the Lakeview University building housing the Department of Archaeology, the SUV surged forward, cutting her off. She braked hard and flew over her bike. The vehicle stopped and two men jumped out. 

She struggled to stand as one of the men picked up her daypack. The other man grabbed Mia by the arm and pulled her to her feet. 

“I’m fine. Let me go.” Mia yanked her arm away from him. “My daypack, please.” She held out her hand for the pack, but the man holding it ignored her. 

“I’m sorry, miss. Our driver was following too closely. I hope you’re not hurt.” 

Mia took off her helmet, adjusted her glasses, and rolled her neck from side to side. “Nothing’s broken.” She glanced at her hands and winced at the scrapes. 

The man continued speaking, “Your bike’s damaged. Let me give you money to repair it.” 

He pulled out a wallet, fat with cash. “Please, we don’t want any trouble. It’ll cost this much to replace the wheel.” He thrust three one-hundred- dollar bills into Mia’s hands. 

“It won’t be that much. I can take care of repairing my bike.” She glared at the man holding her daypack. “My pack, now.” 

The man holding her daypack nodded at his companion. 

“Please miss. Take the money.” He raised his hands and walked away. His companion gave Mia her daypack and they hurried to their vehicle and left. Mia raised her hand to her head. The sidewalk appeared to sway back and forth. She sat on the curb, taking stock of what had happened. Her bike’s front tire was pushed in and some of the spokes were broken. Her khaki pants were shredded at the knees and her palms scraped. She dropped her head to her knees and the wave of dizziness passed as quickly as it had come on. Mia heard footsteps running on the sidewalk.