Beyond the Shadows (24 page)

You can’t give up yet. Get up and fight. It’s what you’re trained to do.

Almost of their own volition, her hands shot out of the bath and latched around the man’s neck. In the same motion, she pulled with all the strength left in her body, tumbling him off balance. When he fell forward, her head broke the water and she sucked in a sweet life-giving draught of air. Forcing energy into her oxygen-starved limbs, she pushed the back of the man’s head down into the water and, using his body for leverage, stumbled out over the edge.

Water sprayed violently as he tore his upper half out of the bath and came after her, blinking furiously. “You could have had it easy,” he snarled, and stalked her, pulling a wicked looking blade out of his pocket. “Now you’re forcing me to give you a messy ending. I despise mess.”

“Don’t do it then. Problem solved,” she responded, trying to buy time while her mind worked feverishly for an escape plan.

His head tipped to the side. “Ah, Kelly. You underestimate your own importance. You are my biggest and most important mission by far. I can’t disappoint our Holy Father now, can I?”

She took an instinctive step back from the crazed regard in his gaze and her foot nudged a hard lump under her discarded clothes.
Oh God. Could that be what she thought it was?
Her pulse leapt with hope. He came closer and she retreated again, then gave a cry and fell to the floor, pretending she’d tripped. Keeping her eyes glued to his face, her hand reached under the material and encountered the cool plastic of her Taser gun.

Adrenaline surged through her as her fingers closed around the weapon.

“Stay back,” she warned and pointed it at his chest, her hands trembling with the effort of activating it. She cursed. A blind person could see her strength had waned after her near drowning.

His gaze dropped to the weapon, and he laughed aloud at her pathetic attempt to fire it. Lunging the remaining distance between them, he wrestled it out of her hands, his superior weight and size easily overpowering her. When he straightened, he had it pointing towards her.

“No,” she gasped and scooted backwards into the corner of the room, her back hard against the wall.

“Hmm. What does this do I wonder?”

She surreptitiously eyed the distance to the door and readied her limbs for one last chance to leap to freedom. Maybe she could duck under his arm before he fired. She knew what it felt like to be struck by the probes of the Taser and to have the electrical volts surging into her. It had been an essential part of her police training, and it had been far from pleasant. Afterwards, she’d been like a ragdoll unable to fend for herself. She would be at his mercy.

Bitter tears rolled down her cheeks as she lifted her chin. The shadow had prophesized her death. There was no escape. But she would do all she could to make it difficult for him. Hate burned from her eyes as she got to her feet and stood proudly, heedless of her naked state. His gaze drifted leisurely down her body, the evident hunger giving her pause.

Swallowing down the revulsion at the act she was about to put on, she softened her stance and thrust out a hip. “Have you stopped to wonder why God sent you to me?” she purred, taking a step closer. He waved the gun at her as a reminder, but his pants stirred at the crotch, betraying his interest. She refused to show the disgust on her face and slapped a sexy pout to her lips instead. The next step took her close enough for her breasts to brush against the fabric of his sleeve.

As if mesmerized, he brought a hand up to the curve of her breast, but he still had the presence of mind to swap his gun hand, keeping it out of her reach.

Kelly redoubled her efforts, her voice smoky and low. “He wants you to take me. Wants you to purge me from the inside out. That’s why you feel so hard and heavy, so desperate to be inside me. Take me—I’m yours. Only you can save me.”

His mouth parted slightly, and he licked his lips. “Perhaps God wills it so. I’ve never felt this way before,” he ground out, his eyes heavy-lidded as he watched her.

Ignoring the bile threatening to choke her, she unzipped his pants and reached inside stroking him lightly as she reached for his scrotum. “Doesn’t that feel good?” she whispered into his ear. “This is what God wants. Your gift for all the good work you’ve accomplished so far.” She held the soft sac in her hand, and forced her thumb to rub sensuously over it. He closed his eyes and groaned long and loud.

Suddenly, she wrenched his balls with one hand and jabbed him in the throat with the other. His scream cut into a gurgle as he fell to his knees, his hand over his crotch.

She raced for the door but slipped on wet tiles and landed heavily on her hip. Scrambling up, she risked a glance over her shoulder at her attacker and gasped in horror. He laid there, teeth gritted in pain and rage with the Taser leveled at her. Desperately, she regained her feet and grasped the handle, only to have the prong sink itself into her bare buttock like a bee sting.

Electricity arced through her, shocking her entire system. Every nerve ending in her body sizzled and her mouth opened in a silent scream. Her fingers clutched the round knob of the door like a claw. While her body collapsed to the ground, her back bowed. And then it was over, and her hand collapsed to the floor.

“That was interesting,” he rasped, still cupping his balls. “I’ve heard a person doesn’t die from the shock of one of these. Shall we test that theory? I’ve got all day.”

Her panting filled the air as she struggled to maintain some control over her body, trying to get her legs underneath her.

He squeezed the trigger again. The pressure inside her chest built and her heart pounded, threatening to explode. If she could pass out she would, but the volts kept her conscious. This time, her scream rent the air.

The third time he pulled the trigger, her scream was as prolonged, but with less volume.

Rough hands spun her onto her back and she was helpless to resist. Her strength ebbed with each attack and he knew it. Judging by his triumphant smile, it was what he’d been waiting for. He straddled her hips, placed his hands around her throat, and squeezed.

Her hands rose weakly. She tried to buck him off, but her body refused to obey.

“Do you feel it, Kelly?” he whispered softly, staring with lover-like intensity into her dimming gaze. “I knew you were the ultimate, but I didn’t know how hard you would be to overcome. Looks like I passed the test. Now, the Lord is calling you home. Repent and you will know the glory of God.” He leaned forward and kissed her numb lips all the while choking the breath out of her. And she could do nothing about it.

Her thoughts turned inwards to escape the last few torturous moments on earth.

Goodbye, Nate. If only we’d had a chance. It could have been so good.

Chapter Thirteen

The smell of Thai food wafted over from the passenger seat making Nate’s stomach growl. He smiled in anticipation of good food and great company, and maybe if he was lucky, more mind-blowing sex.

Sex. He frowned at the word. What he’d shared with Kelly had been more than mere sex. It could only be described as lovemaking.

Was he in love with her?

He waited for the panic, the denial, but all he felt was peace and belly-deep excitement. The notion appealed to him. A grin stretched across his face as he accepted the fact. He pressed down on the accelerator eager to get home to share the discovery with her and the car leapt forward.

And then a thought came to him that froze him to the bone. What if she told him she’d been mistaken? She hadn’t been in love with him. Or if she had, after the cruel way he’d rejected her feelings, what if she’d come to her senses? What if she no longer cared? His chest ached at the thought, and he rubbed a palm against it. Is this how he’d made her feel? His very soul cried out for her—needed her for completion. If he thought of a future without her, unending sorrow yawned before him. He could sense it, taste it like a bitter pill on his tongue.

An overwhelming need to see her had his foot depressing the pedal harder. He’d make her listen. Attack while she least expected it, catch her off guard. If he declared his love for her while she was still prone in the bath, she couldn’t escape so easily. His lips curved at the image.
If she accepts me.
His chest grew tight.
God, please let her accept me.

Nate drove as fast as he dared, fingers tight-knuckled on the steering wheel, and Kelly’s features forefront in his mind. Something shimmered at the edge of his vision, and at first, he paid it no heed. His concentration was focused on the road ahead.

Hurry, Nate.

His head whipped around at the familiar voice filling his head, his eyes widening on the apparition of his sister sitting in the passenger seat.

“Shit!” The car veered off the road and the wheel shuddered under his hands. He righted the vehicle, taking his eyes off her for the moment. The prickling sensation, like electricity in the air, assured him she was still there. “You’d think I’d be getting used to this by now.” His gaze alternated between the road and the impossible and shook his head.

Kelly’s in trouble
—
she needs you now. Go!

“What?” The apparition faded before his eyes. “Wait! Thea! Don’t leave me so soon. Tell me what’s wrong!” But he didn’t need telling. Sick dread lodged like a stone in his gut.

Planting his foot hard down on the accelerator, he weaved in and out of traffic, his heart thumping against his ribcage. “Get out of the way!” he yelled and flattened his hand on the horn, wishing he were driving a squad car. “Stupid man,” he cursed himself repeatedly. “Listen to your instincts, I taught her. Why didn’t I follow through on mine?”

Seeing the red light ahead and cars waiting for their turn, he took a calculated risk, mounted the sidewalk, and overtook them, blasting the horn all the way in warning. The engine bucked and screamed as he downshifted at speed, maneuvering the car around another with right of way. He caught a glimpse of a pale-faced driver, mouth open in shock before his wheels caught traction, and he lurched away with the merest of bumper touches.

Once through the intersection, he pushed the accelerator to the floor and shot into the apartment’s parking lot. The speed bumps jarred his clenched teeth. Not wasting time on parking, he screeched to a halt outside the entrance, leapt out, and pushed the elevator button.

“Come on, come on,” he muttered, watching the light blink its slow way down to him. Just as he contemplated taking the stairs, the doors dinged and slid open. He stabbed the button for the nineteenth floor conscious of the seconds ticking by as it ascended so painfully slow. At the eighth floor it stopped. Nate stepped to the side, reached under his shirt, and palmed his gun. A large man in his late fifties tried to get in and Nate blocked him, his gun hanging loose in his hand, his gaze feral.

“Get out. Police business.” He pressed the button again and this time, rode uninterrupted.

Not wanting to alert the bastard to his arrival, Nate ran up the last flight of stairs. Darting his head around the corner, he eyed the long corridor. Empty. He moved quickly, keeping to one wall, his eyes trained ahead over his gun. Clearing his mind of all but the most important thing, Kelly’s rescue, he stopped at his door and listened hard. What he heard brought bile to his throat and ice to his veins.

Screaming. Kelly was screaming!

He reached for the handle.
Shit! Self-locking doors!
Rummaging in his back pocket, he pulled out the card, swiped it, and burst inside. A familiar dark shadow loomed outside the bathroom door before drifting through the wood into the room beyond.

Uncaring of the noise he made now, he charged down the passage and shouldered the door open. The scene greeting him would haunt him for the rest of his life.

A man, with his back to Nate, straddled the form of a naked, lifeless Kelly. He held a scalpel in his hand.

“Get off her!” Nate roared and trained his gun on the back of the man’s head. His finger tightened on the trigger, but from his position, there was a risk of the bullet hitting Kelly in its trajectory. Relaxing the tension on the trigger took almost all the willpower he possessed. With teeth bared, he stepped into the room and eased to a better position. “I said get off her—right now—or I will put a bullet in your brain.”

“I am on a mission from God. You cannot stop me from accomplishing His will,” the man said calmly and whirled, throwing his scalpel with deadly aim.

It all happened in slow motion. The scalpel spinning end over end towards him, and his finger pulling the trigger. The bullet punched a neat hole into the center of the man’s forehead, his expression one of pure ecstasy as he fell back to the ground in a posture eerily like that of Jesus on the cross. Nate jerked his shoulder back at exactly the same instant the blade whistled past by mere millimeters. It embedded itself in the wall with a
thwack
.

Even while the blade still quivered, his gaze sought and found Kelly’s face. Fear, stark and deep curled into a hard ball in his chest. She was so still. Blood smeared her chalky-white skin and her lips were tinged blue. With a cry, he gathered himself to leap towards her but found his body frozen. Worse, the shadow that had been hovering in the corner glided over and settled itself like a thick blanket over the bodies. His eyes widened in horror.

“No! Don’t touch her!” He fought against the invisible bonds with every atom of his being. Adrenaline flooded through his veins, the overflow running down his body in rivers of sweat. Obscenities ripped from his throat, leaving it raw. But it made no difference. Every muscle in his body burned as if they had been put through the mother of all workouts. His eyes blazed with hatred at the shadow intent on taking the woman he loved. “You can’t have her, you bastard. I’m not giving up.” Gritting his teeth, he redoubled his efforts.

Relax, Nate.
Thea appeared by his side, her voice sympathetic but firm.
You will be released soon. Watch.