At the side exit leading to the teacher’s parking lot, Mary froze. She’d wanted nothing more than to flee like a scared rabbit ever since she’d received the button, which she squeezed so hard that it would leave an imprint in her palm. She wanted to throw it away but she couldn’t pry her fingers open and see it again. If she couldn’t face that just yet, at least she could put some distance between herself and the school.
Mary gripped the cold, metal bar that would open the door, if only she’d press down on it. She wished Thom had ignored her assurances and stayed. With him by her side, Mary knew she could face the terror head on. His confidence, his strength, his conviction, made her believe they could overcome this situation, even if it wasn’t true. And now, she had to face her fate alone.
Outside the glass door, the faculty parking lot appeared still. This morning even with the activity of arriving teachers, Mary hadn’t had the courage to face the site of her attack. Only with Thom watching over her had she managed that extraordinary feat.
Now there was no one. No teachers. No parents. No Thom.
At least no one she could see. Her attacker could be waiting, lurking behind a car or crouched behind a bush.
He watched her every move, just like Thom had warned that he would. He followed her back to school. Saw the children in her class. Waited for his chance to strike. He almost certainly lurked in the parking lot, expecting her to make a run for it.
Better to lead him away from the school and the kids than to risk him punishing her by hurting one of her students. She must leave school now and never come back. Maybe then the children would be safe.
Mary dug her keys out of her pocket. With her car key poised at the ready, she ran flat out down the walkway to the parking lot. She darted between the cars, running for her own white Subaru.
Once she reached it, her hands trembled as she fought to stab the key into the lock. Was it her imagination, or did she hear footfalls in the parking lot? Her skin tingled as she expected to feel the strangling hands closing around her throat. Choking. Choking.
Mary stifled a sob of relief as her key finally slipped into the lock. She swung open the door and practically dived in. The forgotten cup of coffee from that morning tipped, sloshing on the floor. Without thinking, Mary snatched the cup and flung it outside before slamming and locking the door.
Fumbling with the keys, Mary dropped them on the floor. She snatched them up and crammed the key into the ignition. The engine roared to life. She shoved it into reverse with a terrible grinding sound and then stomped on the gas and lurched backward out of the parking space. Barely hitting the brakes long enough to shift gears, she slammed it into drive and peeled out of the lot like a scalded dog.
Giving no heed to the speed limit, Mary raced away from the school. A moment later, the squeal of tires shattered the peaceful suburban atmosphere. In the rearview mirror, she saw a monstrous dark truck lunge after her.
It was him. He was coming after her. Thom had been right. He was never going to leave her alone.
Mary hit the gas and sped away, with the dark truck closing in behind her. Its larger engine roared like a hell hound running down its prey. As she jerked around a corner, Mary glanced back at the truck. She couldn’t see the driver, just the flash of the bright headlights aimed at her. It flew around the corner without even slowing down.
“Go away!” Mary screamed. Her heart slammed in her chest as fast as the pistons in her engine.
The truck accelerated, swerved out into the passing lane and raced up beside her. It honked wildly at her. Menacingly, it inched into her lane, squeezing her car toward the curb. On instinct, Mary hit the brakes. The truck shot past her, spun in a wild U-turn and drove on the wrong side of the street straight for her.
Mary threw the car into reverse and stomped on the gas. She didn’t even glance in the mirror to see where she was driving. The grill of the truck closed in on her like the jaws of a beast snapping closer with each second.
Her scream ripped through the air as the car jumped the curb backward. Fighting with the wheel, the vehicle zigzagged through the grass. With the deafening crunch of metal, the car crashed to a stop against a tree trunk. The force of it ripped through Mary like a body blow, snapping her neck backward.
Mary gasped, trying to regain her wits. The engine still revved uselessly, shoving the car harder against the tree. She fought with her shock frozen mind to tear her foot off the gas.
Not deterred, the dark pick-up truck followed Mary over the curb and chewed up the lawn until it nosed up against the front bumper of her car.
“No!” Mary screamed. She cranked the car into drive and gunned it against the truck, trying to push it out of the way but to no avail. While she desperately struggled to dislodge her car and escape, Mary noticed someone leap out of the truck and run to her passenger side door.
Her tires spun in a high-pitched whine but the car only shuttered against its bonds.
“Mary!”
“Go away!”
The window of the passenger side door shattered under the blow of a gun butt. The man reached in the broken window and unlocked the door. He jerked the door open with enough force to rock the car.
Mary screamed and struggled to unlock her own door.
The man climbed in and grabbed Mary before she could escape. “Mary! Stop!”
“Thom?”
With a tight grip on her shoulders, he held her at arm’s length and examined her. The sharp green gaze slashing rapidly over the length of her made Thom appear dangerous and scared at the same time. His gun, momentarily forgotten, rested on the seat between them. Despite her sharp words, he’d not left her to fend for herself. Thom gathered Mary to him and hugged her tight. “Are you all right?”
“Oh, Thom!” The tears ran hot rivers down her cheeks. She buried her face in the curve of his neck and inhaled his warm, masculine scent, feeling unaccountably safer simply enclosed by his warm aroma. She shivered, feeling small in his strong arms and pressed against his muscled chest. The presence of him filled her car like a larger-than-life super hero and crowded away her spiraling fear. His hands rubbed up and down her back, soothing away her panic. With a shuddering sigh, Mary surrendered to Thom’s comfort, allowing her tension to uncoil.
As if she weighed nothing, Thom lifted her out of the passenger side of the car and set Mary on her unsure feet. Her legs felt boneless and he caught her before she could sink to the ground. Thom scooped her into his arms and carried her to his vehicle. Without the paranoia blinding her, Mary could see that he drove his SUV. From the grillwork on the front, she’d confused it with a pickup truck. Her anxiety twisted her perceptions and her judgment, making her see danger everywhere. She’d run from Thom because she hadn’t been thinking straight… in more ways than one. Being honest with herself, she realized she hadn’t been able to think clearly since the abduction. A layer of fear hung over her, affecting her every thought. In her heart, she felt as though part of her still remained tied to the headboard in a maniac’s basement. He still wielded his control over her and obviously intended to continue to do so. And what of her role in all this? Should she keep running? Leave town? Leave the country? Could she ever run far enough to escape that basement? Would she choose to remain a victim of it forever? Did she even have an alternative?
Thom settled Mary sideways into the passenger seat, so her legs were dangling out of the doorway. She felt his presence reassuringly close around her as if they were the only two people in the world. With one foot resting on the running board and his arms leaning against the opened door and the frame, he encircled her, blocking out the rest of the world with his bulk. The space he created sheltered her from prying eyes and dark fears.
“Why were you driving like a lunatic?” A mixture of rebuke and relief strained Thom’s voice. “I thought someone in the car with you h
ad forced you to drive that way.”
“I saw you come after me when I left the lot. I thought you were him.” Mary felt something on her face and wiped at it. Tears. They coated her face.
Thom dug a paper napkin from his glove box and handed it to her. While she mopped her face, he combed back her tangle of hair with his fingers. Under his caress, the trembling fear subsided. “You were running before you got to your car. I was watching.” He waited for Mary to stop dabbing at her eyes before he scooped her face in his gentle, yet unyielding, touch and angled her so she sank deeply into his velvety green eyes. Those eyes snared her, pried past her defenses and laid her soul bare. He wouldn’t let her sidestep the question this time. Since the beginning, Mary dodged his help but he’d seen her through anyway. Even if her promise barred her from telling him everything, perhaps if she could explain why she couldn’t talk, why he shouldn’t have police cruisers patrolling her neighborhood, perhaps together they could find a way to keep the children safe.
Mary held out her fist, palm up and opened her hand. The button glistened innocently in the sunlight.
“What’s this?”
“This is a button from my sweater,” Mary whispered. She didn’t feel strong enough to uncoil the secret she’d been carrying in a louder voice. “The sweater that he kept.”
Thom lifted the tiny button between his forefinger and thumb but from the relief she felt when he removed it from her hand it should have weighed a ton. “Go on.”
“At recess, one of my kids brought this button to me.” Mary wiped her nose on the tissue again before continuing, “She said the man who gave it to her had said…” The words choked in her throat. Hands, grabbing her throat and squeezing. Mary reached up but found no physical hands crushing her windpipe. Thom slipped his fingers under hers, caressing her neck, gently soothing away the rising panic. She could breathe. She could speak with effort and she forced the words out. “He reminded me to keep my promise.”
Thom’s touch slid down to on her shoulders and massaged reassurance and strength right into her blood where it sent a zinging vibration into inappropriate regions of her anatomy. No matter how hard she tried to shake off the memories she only managed to push them into a corner of her mind where they waited, crouching, poised to spring out again at the first unguarded moment. Thom claimed he could protect her if she let him. She wanted to believe him. Thom watched her and, by the sheer force of his expectation, she found herself explaining.
“I was tied to a headboard,” she began.
Chapter Nine
Despite his effort to keep it neutral, Thom felt his expression change, hardening around his mouth, as he fought to control his anger. Casually, he transferred his hands from her shoulders to the doorframe. The muscles in his arms flexed as if he might crush the metal of the SUV’s frame with his bare hands. The anger boiled in his guts.
“I was lying on the bed, blindfolded.” She closed her eyes. “He was there. Beside me. His head rested on my shoulder.” Mary gestured feebly at her shoulder, as if the impression of that awful touch reemerged to haunt her.
As much as it sickened and infuriated him, Thom could visualize the scene she described. For someone like Mary, so unaccustomed to the minor evils in life, a major experience like that could unhinge her psyche. Even if he caught this guy, he could only give her justice but he could never erase the experience.
“I don’t know what made me start talking to him. I guess I hoped I could talk my way out of the situation.” Mary stared at her wrists, which still bore the bruises from the bonds that forced her arms uncomfortably over her head. While her attacker could have done anything to her, he chose to cuddle up next to her instead.
Thom closed his eyes and bit back his anger. It could have been worse, he reminded himself. In fact, next time he could guarantee it would be. Predators always escalated their attacks, growing bolder each time. Next time, his victim wouldn’t get off so easily. And if he still stalked Mary, as she claimed, she might star in act two as well.
He needed her to tell him everything, no matter how much the details pained them both. While in his heart, he wanted to comfort her, he couldn’t do his job unless he forced her to relive the memories, one painful step at a time.
Thom gazed at Mary again, focusing on snatching any small detail in her account that might point him in the right direction. “What did you say to him?”
She smiled weakly. “I told him about my cat.” She corrected herself, “I lied to him about my cat. I said he was sick. I spun a whole tale about how no one else could get close to him, because he was so timid. I said no one else could give him his medicine and if I didn’t do it he would die a painful death.”
Thom arched back with surprise. “And he cared?”
Mary shrugged. “I think he might be a bit mentally retarded. He did care very much about Fizgig, although I didn’t tell him his name.” She smoothed her long skirt, a thoughtful gesture, Thom guessed, rather than a nervous one. Mary spotted a weakness in her abductor and exploited it. She’d managed to find leverage in an otherwise powerless situation. Good for her.
“So he let you go.”
Mary bit her lip and nodded.
Lip-biting, he noted. A classic sign of holding something back. He probed, “Just like that?”
She nodded again. Too quickly that time, he thought. Not quite the truth.
“And what was the promise about?” He twirled the button between his fingers. “The promise he sent you this to remind you of.”
Mary half turned from him, pretending to look out the windshield, as if she’d rather avoid that detail. Thom covered her fidgeting hands with his and the smoldering attraction he’d tried to ignore jolted into a fireball that bounced around inside him. As if she felt it too, Mary jumped at his touch.
Finally, she admitted, “I could tell he was softening. He wanted to let me go but he said he couldn’t, even to save my cat, because I would report him to the police. Actually, he said I would ‘tell on him’. That was another clue to his mental state, I think.”
Mary pinched the lightweight cotton skirt between her fingers and nervously twisted it. She tried to scan the street and see if anyone was watching them but Thom filled her field of vision. The usual golden glow of her skin paled to a pearly luminescence. Thom glanced down at Mary’s pleasantly perky chest and estimated her breathing rate at one per second. Too fast. She’d hyperventilate and faint on him in a few seconds if he didn’t get her to calm down.
Thom twirled a silken ribbon of her warm blond hair, which framed her face, around his finger and gave a little tug. “Hey.” Her focus snapped to him. “You’re going to hyperventilate if you aren’t careful. Here,” he pressed her palms to his chest, “match my breaths.”
The ripple of desire that spread through his chest where she touched him coursed lower. Thom caught his breath, then focused on breathing himself before they both passed out. “Better,” he murmured as the ruddy glow returned to her cheeks. “You’re doing good, sweetheart. Just focus on me.”
“Okay,” she nodded.
“Are you ready to continue? What was the promise?”
“I swore I would not tell anyone about him, if only he’d let me go.”
He squeezed her knee. With mild rebuke, he said, “There is more to it than that.”
“How do you know that?” She frowned. “Do you have some built-in lie detector?”
“It’s a cop thing.” Thom offered her a slight grin to ease the tension that had returned. “Actually, you crinkle your nose when you lie.” He stroked a finger down the bridge of her nose playfully.
“I do not,” Mary rubbed her nose.
“So what aren’t you telling me?”
Mary whispered through her shame, “He said my promise wasn’t good enough. He said I had to swear on…” Mary’
s voice squeaked. She touched her throat again, fingering the bruise marks beginning to show beneath her makeup. “I’ll never forgive myself.” The words slipped out almost too softly to hear. “I swore…on the lives of…my students.”
Thom stepped back, his hands coming up in a “whoa” gesture. From the bombshell she just dropped on him, his job just escalated from protecting one woman to protecting the entire population of an elementary school. For a police department the size of Stony Bend’s that was a logistical nightmare. Mistaking his shock for rebuke, Mary collapsed in on herself.
“Hey now, don’t fall apart on me.” Thom wrapped his arms around Mary and squeezed her tightly. “You did the right thing.”
She shook her head.
“You did the right thing by saying and doing anything you had to in order to get away from that man and you did the right thing by telling me.” He pushed her back and turned her face up to his so she could see the truth of what he spoke.
“How was betraying my children the right thing?”
“Just trust me. A guy like that doesn’t need an excuse, promise or no. Everyone is in danger as long as he is free.” He searched her almond colored eyes. With the pads of his thumbs, he smoothed away the fresh flow of tears. “You are going to cooperate completely with me now and we are going to catch this lunatic before he can hurt anyone else. Right?”
“No!” She recoiled. “I just told you about the promise so you could understand why I can’t cooperate. So you could understand why you and every other police officer must stay as far away from me as possible.”
“Forget it, Mary!” He snapped, “It’s not going to happen. I’m not going to risk your life, or anyone else’s, on this guy’s word. I’m going to stick to you like glue and I’m going to swarm the area with cops and we are going to hunt this dog down, whether you like it or not.”
Her Dangerous Promise - Part 2: (Romantic Suspense Serial) Page 4
