Page 109 of Passionate Defense

Lanie pushed through the panic bar and swung the door wide, grateful to have a weekend to recover from this very stressful week. It closed with a thud and a click, locking to prevent a return without going through security. She didn’t get beyond the shadow of the overhang before harsh fingers wrapped around her upper arm and wrenched her to the side, so violently she dropped her briefcase.

In her sightings and bad dreams, he never touched her because he’d never been real. Now, he was here, as repulsive as she remembered, his fingers digging painfully into her flesh.

“How are you here?” she gasped.

His grin dripped with malevolence when he replied, “Incompetence at the Dallas PD and luck blowing my way for a change. Let’s go.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you!” she cried, twisting and pulling at her arm to get free.

“Lanie!” came Ethan’s desperate shout.

She glanced at him, but he was yards away with a fence in between them, as she struggled in a vicious murderer’s hold. Morton Deevers was stronger than he looked, his grip unbreakable as he dragged her in the opposite direction.

“Stop,” she demanded. “I helped you. Why are you doing this?”

“To kill a snake, you have to cut off the head. The same goes for a woman who no matter how hard you try, you can’t get out of your head.”

The ghastly crime scene photos of his “alleged” victims were burned indelibly on her brain. After he toyed with them, he started slicing off body parts. She didn’t recall the head being one of them, but at that point did it matter? Was this new grisly act straight out of a horror film what he planned for her? She fought and clawed to no avail then his fist connected with the side of her head. After an explosion of pain and white light, she knew no more.

***

ETHAN, WHO HAD BEENwatching the door for Lanie to appear, never saw the man hiding in the shadows. Not until he grabbed her, knocked her unconscious, and carried her away. He would have flown over the fence and parking lot to get to her if he could have. Instead, lacking superhuman strength and abilities, he had to go around, sprinting at full speed. But he was too far away. By the time he reached the door and rounded the corner of the portico where he’d last seen them, they’d both disappeared.

“Fuck!” he exploded as he pulled out his phone. He dialed 911 and informed the operator of the situation as he ran along the back of the courthouse to the far corner. There, he scanned the area, but there was no sign of his unconscious wife draped over the shoulder of a serial killer.

Helpless, out of breath, and shaking with fear for her, Ethan ran to the front to alert courthouse security and begin a search. As he rounded the corner, two squad cars pulled up. Other than a description of Lanie and her abductor, there wasn’t much to go on.

Trying to think like a psychopath, he asked himself where would Deevers take her? To his elderly mother’s, perhaps? Did she still live in Boston? Or the creepy friend Lanie had mentioned during the trial. More questions exploded in his head, like why he was here when only days ago he’d been incarcerated in Texas. But his appeal was pending. Had they actually released the motherfucker?

Ethan pushed that insane possibility aside as he battled the crowd to get to the police. After they found her, alive and unharmed, would be time enough for answers like why the hell someone from Dallas didn’t have the courtesy to call and alert them that Deevers had walked free.

***

HER HEAD POUNDED ANDher ribs ached from something hard digging into them. When Lanie opened her eyes, the world was wrong side up and a Wrangler’s tag was staring her in the face. The jeans it was attached to were ill fitting, so she knew they weren’t Ethan’s. Besides, he was a Levi’s man.

Something foul assailed her nostrils. She pushed up on the back of the man carrying her and looked around. The alley was in shadow and her vision was fuzzy, but she could make out overflowing dumpsters.

At least she had one answer to her many questions.

“Stop squirming,” the man ordered gruffly. “Or I’ll knock you out again.”

Fear, cold and stark swept through her. It was Deevers. She’d never forget his voice. Everything came flooding back.

Frantic to get away, Lanie fought like a cornered animal, screaming and clawing, biting and kicking. It worked. He released her. But in doing so, dropped her on the asphalt. Her hip and shoulder took the brunt of the impact with pain waves shooting through her body to her already pounding head.

Roughly, he pushed her facedown on the hard ground and zip-tied her wrists behind her back. Her screams for help were cut off when he shoved a wad of cloth into her mouth. Then, she was wrong side up again, her head hanging by the seat of his baggy jeans, and he was carrying her again. To where she didn’t know, but she remembered vividly for what.

***

THE POLICE WEREN’Tmoving fast enough. They’d called for backup after hearing Ethan’s initial report, but that was ten minutes ago at least. Time that Lanie didn’t have was ticking away while they stood around waiting. Ethan felt like he was coming out of his skin.

“We need to search for her now. He couldn’t have gotten far carrying her.” He waved at the bumper-to-bumper traffic on the streets surrounding the courthouse. “And he sure as hell didn’t drive away.”

“We don’t know where he’s taken her, sir. As soon as more officers arrive, we’ll—”

“Ethan!”

The feminine cry cut through the chatter and traffic noise. He spun around, desperately hoping by some stroke of luck Lanie had escaped, but it was Victoria Studor rushing down the steps toward him.

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