LITMIR.BIZ

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      She held on to the anger that warred with the simultaneous urge to cry. She detested Frank’s continual sarcasm. “The truth always hurts,” she replied. With that, she started off at a lope down the wet, deserted sidewalk. Why did she even bother coming home? Christmas would be in three weeks, and she’d have to endure the Holts until after the holiday. Then she could escape to the serenity of her father’s Del Rio ranch for the last week of her military leave.

      Hitting stride, Kai glanced down at the Rolex. It had been a gift from her father, a twenty-five-hundred-dollar gift, Susan had cattily informed her. Recently Kai had broken her other watch at the hospital. For a moment she stared down at the fourteen-carat gold and stainless steel. Her father had given it to her because of her nursing duties. Didn’t a nurse always have a reliable, practical watch? Paul had asked, smiling. A slight warmth buoyed Kai’s sagging spirits: Rolex put out another model of the same type that was made entirely of fourteen-carat gold. Her father had had the wisdom and insight to realize she wouldn’t have accepted a gift that was such an obvious symbol of wealth. Of course, Frank and his sisters would have wanted nothing less than the most expensive model. And then it would have been merely a bauble, something to coo over, flaunt and wear for a week before becoming bored with. Kai would wear this watch forever….

      Grimly she bent her head as the rain began coming down more heavily. She would be soaked by the time she returned home, but she preferred the fresh air and cleansing rain to Frank’s torment.

      After the first mile she was thoroughly warmed up, her legs loosened, her heart beating a strong, steady rhythm in her breast. Running was an exhilarating lift, and Kai raised her head and challenged the slash of raindrops while a smile played on her parted lips. This was a little slice of heaven!

      The irritating honk of a horn intruded on her glorious reverie. Kai pulled her scattered thoughts together and looked to her left, slowing to a walk. A dark olive-green van pulled up beside her. The driver, a heavily built man, rolled down the window and gave her an apologetic smile.

      “Excuse me, but we’re trying to find Westheimer Avenue. We’re new to the Houston area.” He pulled the map toward Kai as his companion handed it to him. “Could you tell us where it’s at, miss?” He unfolded the bulky map as she walked across the strip of grass to the curb. Kai leaned over, studying it intently. Finally she found the street and traced the route with her wet, slender finger.

      “Sure,” she gasped, “you’re on Maconda right now, and—” She felt a sharp, stinging sensation in her right thigh and became vaguely aware that a man stood nearby. Kai blinked and straightened, her hand automatically moving to her leg. She heard the driver snarl an order. The world tilted. She frowned. What was going on? Danger! her instincts screamed. Kai tried to take a step away from the man hovering close by, but her legs refused to obey her. She gave the driver a puzzled look. He was grinning tightly, watching her as a cat would its intended prey. A small cry escaped her as she felt her knees begin to buckle.

      Before blackness swallowed her, Kai saw another man emerging from the van, his face set. It was the expression in his gray eyes that registered on her spinning senses. He looked grim, his mouth molded into a hard, flat line. But his eyes broadcast a silent concern and unspoken terror for her just as she lost consciousness….

      * * *

      THE COLDNESS and shock of water being thrown on her face revived her. She groaned, dimly aware that her hands were tied tightly behind her. Pain was the first feeling to register in her drugged brain. The warmth trickling down her wrists toward her fingers could only be blood.

      “Come on, rich bitch. Wake up!”

      More water was thrown on her, and Kai struggled to gain a foothold on consciousness. She forced her eyes half-open. The nakedness of the solitary light bulb suspended from the ceiling made the grimy plywood walls seem surrealistic. She winced from the strong glare. She was a nurse, and she knew that something was desperately wrong with her. Nothing would come into focus. Voices were distorted as if they were bouncing in an echo chamber. Nausea threatened to engulf her, but she forced herself to concentrate on her current condition.

      Kai was lying on her side with a wiry wool blanket beneath her. It was a bunk of some sort or a makeshift bed that she was lying on. Kai saw the legs of the two men, who were standing very close to the bed. Panic began to seep through her dulled state.

      “Hey!” a man with black hair and dark brown eyes snapped. He leaned over, gripping her shoulder in a viselike hold. He gave her a shake that made her feel as if her neck would snap off. “I said wake up! Now if you know what’s good for you.”

      “Easy, Bennie,” the second man cautioned. “You heard Taylor. He don’t want no rough stuff with the broad. She’s gotta be left in good condition.”

      “To hell with Taylor. He’s Garcia’s boy, not mine.”

      “Yeah, well Garcia is runnin’ this operation, Boyce. He put Taylor in charge, not you.”

      Boyce grinned, running his hand down her wet arm, allowing it to come to rest on the long curve of her thigh. He squeezed her leg with his splayed fingers. “This ain’t hurtin’ her, Wright. Is it, honey?”

      Kai felt his strong, cruel fingers massaging her thigh. Sheer terror coursed through her. She couldn’t even lash out, since her ankles were securely bound. Stiffening, she screamed weakly, but only a muffled protest was audible. The gag they had placed in her mouth was so tight that she was beginning to drown in her own saliva. Her eyes enlarged, Kai shrank back against the wall, trying to find escape. The door was jerked open, and the shadow of a third man loomed over Kai.

      “Get your hands off the merchandise, Boyce.”

      Boyce slowly straightened and removed his hand. “Ah, come on Taylor, ease up. I was only having a little fun.”

      Kai sobbed, tears streaking down her pale, drawn face. Her vision was blurry, but she recognized those same gray eyes. Eyes that now sought her out. Trembling violently, Kai gave him a pleading look for help.

      Taylor glared at the two men. “Get out. Both of you.”

      “But—”

      “I told you to untie her, Boyce, and make sure she was kept warm.”

      “Well,” he growled, “we were gettin’ around to that.”

      Taylor jerked his head. “Get the hell out there and keep watch. We don’t need any nosy security guards dropping in on us unexpectedly.”

      Kai closed her eyes, barely able to maintain a thread of coherent thought. She heard the door slam shut. Moments later she felt his hand on her. Automatically she shrank from his touch, her eyes wide with terror.

      He scowled, his dark brown brows dipping as he leaned over her. “I won’t hurt you.”

      In seconds he had released the gag, and threw it with disgust on the dusty wooden floor. His touch remained gentle as he ordered Kai to roll over onto her stomach so that he could untie her hands.

      “Damn,” he muttered.

      Kai clenched her teeth. No matter how careful he was in releasing the biting ropes that bound her wrists, that wasn’t careful enough. Tears of pain squeezed from beneath her tightly shut eyes. Her wildly beating heart began to calm. Just his presence assuaged some of her fear. Who was he? Why wasn’t he like the other two? Oh, my God, Kai thought disjointedly, who are they? What do they want? The last rope gave way; suddenly her numbed, cramped arms were free. They fell to her sides as if she were a rag doll. Pain soared upward through her extremities, and Kai felt blackness engulfing her once again. Just the thought that the stranger named Taylor was nearby gave her solace as she slipped over the welcome edge of oblivion and escaped the living nightmare….

      Matt knelt down beside the bunk, his hand resting protectively on the damp shoulder of her sweat shirt. She had fainted. Compressing his lips, he pushed several strands of auburn hair away from her tear-stained cheek. Dammit, this shouldn’t have happened. He knew little about Boyce except that the ex-con had a history

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