Fatal Vendetta. Sharon Dunn

      Her heart raged in her chest as she zigzagged, turning in a wide circle back to where they’d been. The sound of his footsteps dimmed. She ran faster.

      The abandoned house came into view. She slowed her pace. No human noise reached her ears. The trees thinned, becoming more like bushes. She crouched lower.

      She slipped out from behind a bush. Still bent over, she started toward where she remembered the car being. The landscape was nothing more than shadows.

      She peered through the darkness, trying to discern objects. No car. She must have come around to the back of the house. A branch broke off to the side of her. Desperate to hide, she scrambled toward the house, slipped inside and pressed against a rough wooden wall. The drumming of her heart in her ear threatened to drown out all other sound.

      She still couldn’t see the car through the window. It must be on the other side of the trees.

      She crouched on the floor, working her way toward the door. Her eyes adjusted enough so she could make out the outline of an object on the floor. She crawled toward it, careful not to make the floorboards creak.

      Her hand reached out, touching the cold metal of a chain. The air left her lungs with a whoosh as a chill struck the marrow of her bones. Groping in the dark, she followed the chain to a set of manacles at the end. Her lungs compressed. The abduction had been planned. He was going to keep her as a prisoner here.

      A foot padded on wood. She whirled around to see a hulking figure in the doorway.

      She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Terror embedded deep into her muscles. She couldn’t move.

      He pounded across the floor, grabbed her by the elbows and lifted her up.

      “Don’t you dare try to get away from me.” Rage colored every word.

      Spit hit her face. His anger gave her the will to fight. Even though her ribs hurt, she kicked and twisted her body. But it was no use. His arm didn’t budge from around her waist. A claw-like hand grabbed her hair, rendering her immobile.

      Below her, the chain glistened in the moonlight.

      “I want to know...what I did to you. I want to make it right.”

      “Liar.” He tossed her to floor, the impact sending reverberations up her knees and agony through her ribs. He reached for the chain. She crawled on all fours to get away, but he grabbed for her. His grip on her ankle was like iron.

      She could feel herself shutting down and the world going black as ten-year-old memories crashed in from all sides.

      Oh, God, help me.

      Adrenaline coursed through her like a raging river of fire. She was not going to be his prisoner. And she was not going to die out here. She clenched her teeth, flipped over and kicked with her free leg.

      Bright lights shone suddenly through the broken glass of the window. A car was coming down the hill toward the house.

      He let go of her ankle, grabbed her at the shoulders and pulled her close.

      “Looks like the cavalry is here. But that doesn’t mean you’re safe. Just remember, the next time you go to a story, it might be me who created it to lure you there. You will never feel safe again.”

      His words seemed to linger in the air even as his footsteps pounded across the floor. She sat stunned. A car engine started up outside.

      Footsteps pounded toward her. Arms surrounded her and lifted her from the floor.

      “It’s going to be all right, Elizabeth. I’m here. The police are on their way.” Zach’s voice reverberated softly in her ear.

      She pressed close to his chest and thanked God Zach had found her.

       THREE

      Zachery placed the steaming cup of coffee in Elizabeth’s hand while the activity of the police station buzzed around them.

      He pressed his hand against hers, making sure she had a grip on the cup. “Probably not the tastiest, but it will warm you up.”

      Elizabeth stared straight ahead, not focusing on anything. His heart squeezed tight with empathy. This was not the same confident woman he enjoyed bantering with. He’d seen the same effect on soldiers. The violence she’d witnessed must have stripped her bare, left every emotion raw and exposed and turned her brain into shredded mush.

      “Go ahead, have a sip. I put three sugars in it.” His hand still covered hers. He feared she would drop the coffee if he pulled away.

      She drew the cup to her lips. He sat in the hard plastic chair beside her. He couldn’t leave her, not in the state she was in.

      “It’s not too bad.” She stared down into the steaming liquid. “Thank you.” She spoke in a monotone.

      He knew the thank-you was for more than the bad coffee. “My pleasure.” He glanced around at the officer assigned to her case, who typed away on his keyboard. “Busy night. I’m sure he’ll be able to take your statement soon.” When the cop glanced up from his keyboard, Zach offered him a raised eyebrow as if to say hurry up.

      The night had been long enough already. Elizabeth had gone through a medical exam that revealed she had bruised ribs.

      Another policeman walked by them, punching Zach in the shoulder as he passed.

      She lifted her chin. “Do you know everyone in this town, Beck? You haven’t lived here that long.”

      Her voice still lacked the old fight he’d gotten used to, but at least she was feeling well enough to take a shot at him.

      “What can I say, people just gravitate toward this handsome mug of mine.” He rubbed his chin.

      She shook her head. “Yeah, right, that must be it.” Her smile faded and she gazed back into her coffee cup.

      The brief moment of humor passed, and a taut silence coiled around them. What had happened to her out there in that house? He knew more than he wanted to about the terror connected with being abducted.

      Experience on a very personal level told him what she needed. “I’ll stay,” he said.

      “What?”

      “I’ll stay while you give your statement...if you want me to.” He didn’t want to seem forward. “Or I can call someone.”

      “There’s no one to call. I have friends but...my father is really the only one I would want here. He died a few years ago,” she said. “I moved back here from Seattle, then he got sick and I took care of him at the end.”

      “Sorry about your dad.” He was surprised to hear there was no one else important in her life, though. A beautiful, smart woman and no boyfriend to call? He mentally kicked himself. Why was he even entertaining that thought? The last thing on his radar was a girlfriend. “It’s settled, then. You’re stuck with me, Betsy.”

      “Is that right?” She picked a piece of invisible lint off her jacket. “I guess this means I owe you.”

      “You don’t owe me anything,” he said. And he meant that.

      “That’s not the way I see it. I’ll find a way to repay you. I can’t give you some sort of scoop on a story because you always beat me to them already. But I’ll think of something.”

      The police officer rose to his feet. “Miss Kramer. Sorry for the delay. I’m ready to take your statement now.”

      She took in a sharp breath, and her back stiffened. It was clear she dreaded having to relive everything she’d just been through.

      He wanted to wrap an arm around her, to calm her, but instead he pressed his shoulder against hers. “It’s going to be okay.”

      The