Page 68 of I'm Watching You

‘No, baby. Just as long as his food is tasty and hot, I’m good. It doesn’t take much to make Madge happy.’

As the phone rang, Madge handed Lindsay a stack of pink telephone messages before picking up the line.

Lindsay shuffled through the messages. Dana had called again. Ruby called once. And Zack called at 11:32.

Out of habit she reached for her cell in her purse. But she had no purse and no cell. Both were in her office. She felt naked without them. ‘Damn.’

She considered returning to the conference room to return the calls, but her stomach grumbled. Eat first, and then tackle the calls, she decided.

Outside, midday heat warmed her skin, which had been chilled by the hours in the air-conditioning. For a moment, she just stood and drank in the warmth. She opened her eyes and stared into the cloudless sky before returning her gaze to the pink message from Zack. The ‘Please Call’ box was checked. A lightning quick image of Zack’s piercing,unreadable gray eyes flashed across her mind. Her stomach clenched and her heart quickened. She wondered if his lips still tasted the same.

Not good. She crumpled her messages and shoved them in her pocket.

She started across the parking lot. A quarter mile down the road there was a fast-food joint where she could grab a burger. Not her first choice but it would fit the bill.

Halfway across the parking lot she heard, ‘Lindsay O’Neil!’

The gruff voice had her turning to find a tall man wearing faded jeans and a Redskins T-shirt. He weighed about 200 pounds and was losing his fine blond hair to age. He quickly closed the dozen feet separating them.

‘Yes?’ Lindsay said. The sun shone in her eyes, forcing her to squint.

The man’s jaw tightened, released. ‘My name is Burt Saunders.’ He dug calloused fingers into his jeans pocket and tossed her rumpled business card back at her. It fluttered to the ground and landed near her feet.

Saunders. Gail Saunders. This man was married to the woman she’d seen yesterday at Mercy Hospital. So this was the creep who had beaten the hell out of his wife. Damn, he must outweigh his wife by a hundred pounds.

Bloodshot eyes glared at her as he advanced a step. ‘Where is my wife?’

She glanced back toward the building and wondered if anyone on the other side of the tinted glass could see her. Wasn’t there supposed to be a security guard by the door? ‘I don’t know.’

He swayed as if he’d been drinking. And he reeked of beer and vodka. ‘She moved out last night. All she left me was a goddamned note that said good-bye and not to come looking for her.’

Good for her! Lindsay would gladly have gloated over the victory but she wasn’t a fool. Burt Saunders was a big man, he was drunk, and he was real pissed. ‘I don’t know anything about your wife’s whereabouts, Mr Saunders.’

‘You know where she is. She had your card.’

She took a step back. ‘I don’t know anything.’

He moved with lightning speed, wrapping his hands around her throat. With a violent shove, he ground her back into the hot metal of a parked car, which quickly started to burn through her cotton top. ‘Bitch, I’ll kill you if you don’t tell me where my wife is staying.’

The pressure on her throat made speaking difficult. She thought about the mace she carried in the purse she didn’t have. ‘Get your hands off me,’ she managed.

He snarled and put his lips to her ear. ‘I ought to choke the life out of you.’

Lindsay grabbed his hands and tried to pry them from her neck, but his grip tightened. Black spots dotted her vision. She coughed and gasped for air. Soon she’d black out.

Without warning, Saunders released his grip and lifted his weight off of her. She staggered away from the car and fell to her knees. At the same moment, Saunders dropped to the ground with tremendous force. He was clutching his own neck.

Lindsay looked up, squinting into the sun.

Looming over Saunders was Zack, who was alreadyremoving cuffs from his waistband and reciting Saunders his Miranda rights.

Warwick was right behind Zack, gun drawn.

Zack didn’t take his gaze off Saunders as he shoved the man down on the ground to his belly. Zack then wedged his knee into the man’s back and forced his face to the ground. Cuffs clamped on wrists.

Saunders had regained a little of his composure and started to fight the cuffs. ‘Fuck you!’

Zack pressed his knee deeper into Saunders’s back. ‘Don’t you speak one more word.’ He glanced over at Lindsay. ‘Are you all right?’

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