Page 4 of Thunderstruck

What if this is that guy? The killer?

Where the hell would he have gotten police lights, though.Hysteria claws its way up my throat and strangles me, leaving me breathless and terrified.

There’s a tap at the glass and I look up into a dark face. “Put the window down, Allie!” A harsh, grating voice rattles through me and quickly following that is relief. I don’t even try and analyze that.

Rolling the window down, I sag with relief when I see Raymond’s big body outside my window. My relief is short-lived when he growls at me.

“What the hell are you doing driving like that, Allie? I should drag your little ass out of that car, take you home and paddle you! You’re lucky it’s late and the traffic is light.”

I can’t answer him. The tears clog my throat and then one sob works its way out and he recoils in horror. Then he yanks the door open and squats down beside me so he can look me in the eye.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay, honey. What’s wrong? Just tell me and I’ll fix it.” His big hands clench at his side and he grunts. “Did that asshole, Smitty come back? I’ll kick his ass.” He goes to stand up and I grab his hand, the tears falling down rapidly now.

“Not him,” I wheeze, sobbing and trying to talk at the same time.

He leans over and picks me up out of the car and carries me over to the hood of his cruiser. “You know you didn’t have your seatbelt on, right? What is going on with you?”

His big hands rub and soothe my back and then move to my arms, running his hands up and down them until the chills and fear start to slip away.

“I-I saw something, Raymond.”

His blazing amber eyes narrow. “What did you see?”

“I was leaving the gym and the lot was empty.”

“Why were you coming out of there all alone? There should never be one person working in the evening. That’s dangerous. Anything could happen. Who decided that you should be all alone and closing up?”

I hold up a hand and put it over his mouth. My head is splitting open and his grumbling rant isn’t helping anything.

His lips move and then I feel him drop a soft kiss on my fingers. I jerk my hand away and glare at him.

He grins and just like that, anger pours over me, driving out the fear.

“Really, Raymond? I see a dead guy and the killer and you think you should flirt with me?”

“You saw a dead guy and you didn’t say that first!What the hell? Lock your car and get in the cruiser! We need to go see if it’s still there.”

I cringe and then he picks me up and drops me to the ground. “Go lock the door and let’s go.”

I quickly lock the door and then get in the passenger side of his car. He glares at me. “I should make you sit in the back.”

Glaring right back, I click my seatbelt in and then scrabble for the door as he whips the car around. He hits the lights and sirens and I grip the door with my hand, the other slammed down on the seat to keep from slamming into his big, hard body as he whips around another corner.

I’ve never seen him like this. His scruffy jaw is clenched and his big hands are wrapped tight around the steering wheel as he slams the gas pedal to the floor.

He jerks the wheel and takes another corner like he’s in a Nascar race and I swear as I have to hold on so tight that I feel a nail tear.

This guy is intense. Raymond isn’t the jokester that I always see. He’s scary as hell and yet I feel safe with him.

I think maybe I hit my head because that is not normal. I may need to go to the hospital and get a cat scan.

As soon as I survive Raymond’s driving.

We pull into the light and there’s the car parked over in a dark corner. We slow down and he slides up alongside it, his dark eyes focused.

“Stay in the car, Allie.”

Then he steps out and slams the door, locking it.

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