Have You Seen Her?

She screamed again. Ru

And having a hard time of it, he noted as he drew his weapon. She managed to kick two of them away, but the other two shoved her against the brick wall. Her cry of pain ripped at his gut.

"Stop! Police!" he shouted, trying to see who was who in the dark, swearing he now saw five boys where just a moment before there had been only four. He pointed his gun upward and shot a warning round into the air when no one stepped away from her. "Police!"

There was cursing and scuffling and the two took final parting shots at her face before ru

Neil stopped ru

Hopefully Je

The fifth boy froze, then backed up slowly, straightening.

"Hands out where I can see them."

The boy's hands stuck out stiffly at his sides.

"Neil, it's okay." The cupped palm she held over her mouth was dripping blood.

"Shit, you're bleeding." He shrugged out of his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt with one hand while holding his weapon steadily on the boy with the other. He pulled off his shirt and threw it to her. "Here. Use that on the blood. It's clean. Mostly."

She held the shirt to her mouth. "Neil, put the gun down. Josh was helping, not hurting me."

Josh. Neil let his weapon drop to his side, his fingers still tight on the trigger. 'Turn around, son." And waited while the big boy turned. And saw a face he hadn't seen in many years. Josh Parker. Josh Lutz. They hadn't bothered to change their other son's first name. Neil guessed the Parkers weren't as worried about the effect of a scandal on a boy of Josh's apti-tude. Or lack thereof. There would be no college scouts watching their other son. No future to protect. Josh stood looking at him, his hands still out at his sides, that same vacant look in his eyes that he'd had years before. "Just back up, son. Back up and tell me what you were doing here."

If Josh recognized him, he gave no sign of it. One of the boys curled up on the ground moaned and cursed. Neil took a step back to see them clearly. "You two on the ground holding your dicks, put your faces in the dirt and your hands out to your sides." When they made no move to comply he shoved one of them with the toe of his shoe. "I said on your faces or I'll let the teacher here give you another kick." Immediately both rolled to their bellies, groaning pitifully, hands outstretched, like snow angels in reverse. "Next time you decide to fuck with a woman, make sure she doesn't have a fucking brown belt," Neil snarled and both boys made whiny whimpering sounds.

Josh Lutz glanced at the two on the ground. "They were hurting her. I had to do something."

"You did, Josh," Je

Neil pulled his phone from his pocket, dialed 911, then tossed the phone to Je

Je

Steven. Hah, Neil thought, sorry sonofabitch, caring more for his petty ego than the safety of this woman. "Good luck. He's probably halfway to Virginia by now."

Her hand stilled on the cell phone and she lowered it to her side. "What do you mean?"

He debated for a moment telling her, knowing it would hurt her, then told her anyway, knowing it was lor her own good. "He passed me on my way out of here. Doing about eighty."

Even in the darkness he could see her pale. "He was here?"

"Yes."

"He saw us talking then." She paused. "He saw me kiss you good-bye."

Neil flicked a glance at Josh, then looked back at her. She was trembling now. Partly the shock of yet another attack. Partly the shock of knowing it wouldn't have happened had her volcano not blown. Mostly the shock of realizing Steven hadn't trusted her. "I'm sorry, Je

"So am I," was all she said before turning back for the front of the school.

"Wait. Where are you going?"

She turned and he could see the lines cutting through the grime on her cheeks. Tears. Dammit, she was crying and there wasn't a damn thing he could do.

"I… don't know," she whispered.

"Well, sit down," Neil said irritably, mad at his own helplessness. "Those other two are still somewhere around here. Just wait till the cops get here."

One of the boys on the ground twisted to look up at him, snarling. "You said you were a cop."

Neil bared his teeth. "Substitutes are a real bitch, you know? All the responsibility with none of the authority." He pressed his toe into the thug's back and if it was a bit harder than necessary, who was going to tell? Not Je

Je

"You're not calling Thatcher, are you?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

She smiled, grimly, then winced at the pain in her cut lip, using his shirt to dab at the flow of blood. "No, I'm not calling Steven." She dialed and listened. "Dad?" she said, starting out strong. Then her voice wobbled. "Can you come get me please? I'm at the school."

Thursday, October 13, 6:45 P.M.

Steven stopped a few miles away, pulled into a parking lot, and switched off the motor. Tried to force his heart to calm. The pain inside was… excruciating. Worse than Melissa. Much worse.

Je

Neil Davies. Steven's blood churned at the thought. The man disrupted his investigation, distracting his people from the real killer while two more girls were stolen. Then he had the nerve to move in on his woman.

But Je

How could she? Maybe she didn't.

He lifted his head from the steering wheel and blinked. But she had. He'd seen them.

What did you see? Her. Kissing him.

She was kissing his cheek. Just like you've kissed Liz's. But it wasn't the same.

And why not? Because it's Neil Davies? Because you've felt wary of him since you've met? Because he looks at her, wanting her? Yes, that's why.

But has she ever looked at him the same way?

He bit his lip and stared at the night sky. No. In all fairness, no she had not. He glanced at the clock and felt his blood go cold once again. She was waiting for him, all alone. Vulnerable.