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“No! Help!” she cried, and saw the car swerve wildly and hit the shoulder. Gravel sprayed, the wheels slid and for a second she was certain the vehicle would crash. But the driver managed to get control and skid back onto the road. Someone threw something from the passenger window. Glass shattered, shards spraying on the asphalt.
Chloe backed up. Damn, she couldn’t take a chance on stepping on the broken pieces. She shined the flashlight toward the road where bits of glass glimmered and caught the light.
“Idiots!” she murmured, her spirits sinking as the glass sparkled brightly.
Too brightly.
What?
And then she heard it. Aside from the fading noise of the disappearing sports car, there was a deeper rumble, fast and ominous, approaching from behind her. From the way she’d just come.
Another car!
Another chance?
Whirling, she was caught in the headlights of the larger vehicle, a pickup or . . . or . . . Oh, sweet Jesus, it couldn’t be! Not the monster who’d abducted her! He was locked up. In his own damned prison. She’d clicked the padlock closed herself. No way could he have . . .
Her heart took a nosedive as she recognized the van with the broken window as it bore down on her.
She couldn’t let him catch her again. She wouldn’t! Spi
She veered quickly to the right, shined her flashlight over the terrain. She could vault the ditch, climb over the fence, and . . . Crap! The fence was wire, thorny strands of twisted barbed wire held up by ski
Fine.
Whatever.
Brakes squealed as the Dodge skidded to a stop.
Over the idling of the engine, she heard a door fly open.
Pulse hammering in her ears, she kept moving. Fast! Fast! Fast!
Blam!
The crack of a rifle thundered through the night.
Holy Christ! A gun? The freak had a gun?
He won’t kill you. If he was going to, he would have already. You heard him; he’s not going to murder you until he has Zoe. But that was all before she’d locked him up. Before she’d nearly taken his life. How, for the love of God, did he escape? Who cares? He’s here and shooting at you! Keep moving. Get out of his line of fire. For God’s sake, Chloe, RUN!
Heart in her throat, she threw herself over the ditch, her body sailing through the darkness to land hard.
“Ooof!” All of the air came out of her lungs. As she hit, both phone and flashlight fell from her hands. And she could hear him getting closer, nearly upon her. The horrifying crunch of heavy boots on gravel, the crackle of glass smashing under his weight—all the sounds of his hulking body moving through the night sent alarm shrieking through her.
Move, Chloe. Now!
Fast as she could, hugging the ground, she crawled. Mud caked her fingertips as she scuttled toward the fence only to hit it full-on, rusted barbs piercing her skin, a sharp post scraping her shoulder.
“Ow,” she cried, then bit her tongue.
His boot steps sounded closer and he was ru
It did.
Then the thud of boots stopped and he was airborne, jumping into the ravine. His flashlight’s beam bounced over her. She cringed and tried to get away, tried to slide beneath the lowest strand of wire.
She just needed a few more seconds. With her body flat against the ground, she slid, trying desperately to reach the other side, praying she would make it, pulling herself, inch by inch . . .
Until the horrid T-shirt caught on one of the sharp barbs, yanking her back.
She lunged herself forward, heard the T-shirt rip with a sickening hiss just as a huge hand clamped around her ankle. “No, you don’t,” he wheezed, his voice a harsh whisper. “You’re not going anywhere.”
CHAPTER 21
T he water was cool, refreshing, ru
Stroke, stroke, stroke.
He swam easily with the current of the river, the smell of the water filling his nostrils. God, why didn’t he do this more often? Steal away at night; get away from Prescott and their old man. Jase didn’t want to think of them, they were murky images while the water was clear and cool and touching him in the most intimate of places.
God, was he going to get a hard-on right here, alone in the damned water? How in the world was that happening? But the water was like velvet, soft and caressing. He blinked and realized he wasn’t alone; someone else was in the river, a gorgeous woman swimming around him in circles, her hair fa
“I’m a mermaid,” she said from under the water, air bubbles floating around her, a sexy smile teasing her lips.
He recognized her. Aria
“If you’re a mermaid, what am I? A merman?”
“Oh, no . . . more like a mere man.” She laughed at her own joke, then trailed her fingers over his wet skin. Her fingertips traced the muscles of his shoulders, then slid over his chest, causing him to gasp. Arching an impish eyebrow, she let her hand dip even lower, to dance around his erection. “Uh-oh,” she breathed, her eyes gleaming with an interested, amused light as she discovered he was hard. “A naughty mere man,” she said. Her touch was like magic as her fingers stroked. Or was it the water? He couldn’t be certain; he didn’t really care. The sensation of euphoria that came with her silken stroke was incredible, mind-blowing.
He groaned in the water, sure he would come.
“You like?” she whispered, the air coming out of her mouth and nose rising upward, bubbles tickling him, her long hair feathering around her features and disguising her to the point he wondered if this sexy creature were Aria
Oh, I like, he tried to say, but the words were trapped in his throat and he closed his eyes, concentrating on the warmth radiating from the juncture of his legs. Don’t ever stop.
But she did.
In an instant.
Either Aria
She’d vanished as quickly as she’d come.
Aria
“I was wrong about you, Jase. I thought you were a good guy.”
He turned in the river, fighting the current. Where was she? Where had the voice come from?
Fear closed around him as he treaded water, searching the darkness. He couldn’t see her. Arms flailing, he thrashed through the water. Aria
She didn’t respond.
He swam again, searching the black night.
In a panic.
Sweating in the cool water.
Where the hell had she gone?
One second she was close, stroking him, laughing with him, seducing him, and then a moment later, she disappeared.
He rotated in the water, tried to yell for her. Again, no sound. Frustrated and scared, he caught a glimpse of her not far away, just a flash of white skin and dark hair. He swam toward her, cutting through the water with speed as he sensed the river changing around him. The water grew darker, filling with an invisible evil. The flash came and went. He saw her, lost her, and then she appeared again, caught in a whirlpool that spun, wildly, the water churning and frothing.