Page 31 of Everything Christmas

She planned to redeem herself a little by telling him she kept candles and matches on hand. She was definitely going to be more conscientious. No one deserved a space-cadet girlfriend.

As she walked down her upstairs hallway, the flickering flame cast long shadows on the wall. Making love by candlelight the first time would have been so romantic. Too bad fate and his beer-swilling friends had conspired against them.

When she walked into her room, she set the candle on her nightstand. Then she screeched as a sweaty hand covered her mouth.

“Shut up, bitch. We don’t want your cop boyfriend up here until I’m ready for him.”

The voice hissing in her ear was unmistakable. Johnny. He dragged her to the bed and forced her face down across the mattress. He jammed a wad of rough fabric into her mouth, then with his hand hard and unrelenting on her neck, told her how it was going to go down.

“Once I have you tied up, you’re gonna call for lover boy. When he gets up here, I’m going to beat the shit out of him for fucking up my life. Then, if he’s still conscious, he can watch me fuck you. That will rock the bastard’s world.”

Shaking her head, she kicked and squirmed beneath his hold. By chance, her booted foot caught him square on the knee and he released her, crying out in pain. She took that brief moment of freedom to spit out the gag and scream. But he recovered quickly and shoved her face into the mattress so hard she couldn’t breathe, much less warn Reese.

“Fucking bitch!” Johnny snarled.

Hard metal against her temple gained her immediate attention, and she froze as paralyzing terror encompassed her. Expecting the worst, she closed her eyes and prayed, which was all she could think to do.

At the sound of pounding footsteps on the stairs, he dragged her off the bed. “I guess the show is gonna start a bit early.”

With her in front of him, he faced the door, using her as a shield as he waited for Reese. He burst through the bedroom door a heartbeat later, service weapon in ready position. The streetlight shining in through her window was enough to make out his lethal expression. His gaze shifted from Johnny to her and back to the gunman, sizing up the situation in an instant.

“Let her go,” he demanded in a voice as steely cold as the gun against her head.

Her captor laughed, the jarring sound grating on her already frazzled nerves. “I’ve got the upper hand, Sergeant Morgan. Not you. Do what I say, or I put a bullet in your girlfriend’s brain right in front of your eyes.”

His words penetrated her terror-fogged mind. He knew Reese’s name, but how?

“If you harm her, you’re a dead man.”

“Oh, I’ll harm her all right. And you get to watch.” Still holding the gun to her head, he brought his other hand up and grabbed her breast, squeezing hard enough to leave bruises on her tender flesh, and she cried out in pain.

“I heard you in the garage. You look sweet as pie, but you like it rough, don’t you, bitch?” His cruel laughter continued as he twisted and pulled hard on her nipple.

Although her pain was physical, she could see the emotional torment etched on Reese’s face. Only the slight twitch in his cheek hinted at the effort he exerted to keep his fiery rage in check.

“You won’t walk away from this, man. But it will be better for you if you let her go.”

“I could have walked,” Johnny erupted angrily, “but you just couldn’t let it go, could you, fucker? I lost my job and everything because you and your asshole buddies wouldn’t stop breathing down my neck.”

This unexpected news surprised Merry. She had considered the incident with Johnny closed.

Reese answered many of the questions swirling in her head, and a few she hadn’t thought of the next instant. “When I thought you were just an asshole trying to get in her pants, I let you walk. But when I found out you were a serial abuser, I couldn’t let that pass. She’s been under surveillance. The men outside will only let you leave in cuffs or on a stretcher. Don’t make things worse for yourself.”

The sound of sirens wailing in the distance had Reese’s mouth curling into a humorless smile. “We’ve been waiting for you to crawl out from underneath your rock again. And surprise, surprise, when you did, you beat up another woman. The last one died this morning, fucker. Her brain swelled from the beating you gave her. Now your assault charges have jumped to murder one. That is not gonna happen with my woman. Take your hands off her and cooperate. It’s your only chance to stay alive.”

Merry’s terrorized mind was reeling. Did Reese say murder? If she hadn’t forgotten to pay her electric bill, she would have walked in on him, all alone. She would have been his next victim and he would have had his revenge on Reese all in one. As panic and horror rose within her, her knees buckled, which threw her off-balance, and she fell into her assailant.

The next few moments were a blur. The room exploded with sounds—breaking glass, yelling, cursing, more pounding footsteps. Hard hands pulled her away from her attacker and shoved her down. Acting on blind instinct, she crawled away, rolling under her bed for cover just as shots fired over her head. Clamping both hands over her mouth, she fought to suppress her screams and the rising tide of hysteria, determined to remain hidden and unnoticed.

After what seemed like an eternity, silence enveloped the room. Merry stopped breathing as she waited. A loud thud followed the brief stillness. Turning her head, she saw Johnny only two feet away. Lifeless, staring blankly at her as he bled from a gaping chest wound onto her new bedroom carpet.

Merry’s ear-piercing screams began at that moment. They continued—shrill, screeching, unrelenting—when hands encircled her ankles and hauled her out from under the bed. She didn’t go easily, clawing and kicking, doing anything to get away. Mindless with fear, and uncertain of what fresh horror awaited her next, her voice broke as she shrieked Reese’s name.

“Merry! It’s over. I’ve got you now.”

The sound of his voice cut through her panic. She looked up at him, bending over her, breathing hard but unharmed. Her gaze darted around the room, searching for other threats.

Her bedroom, once a sanctuary, had become a crime scene, filled with at least a half dozen men. They were obviously cops. A few wore shoulder holsters; others had badges clipped to their belts, all of them holding weapons. She recognized the tall blond who’d answered Reese’s door earlier, squatting beside Johnny, checking for a pulse.

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