Page 67 of Sinner's Sacrifice

He jumped down and took two steps toward the piece of garbage, before the man seemed to realize what had happened.

He looked at Yvgeny and his eyes went wide.

Yvgeny took another step toward him, savoring the terror on the other man’s face. He was going to enjoy this so much.

“No, please, I didn’t hurt her,” the man said, putting one hand up while the other tried to lever himself up.

“You had your hand around her throat,” Yvgeny growled. “You were going to kill her.” The attempt was a sin that couldn’t be forgiven.

“I was...I was following orders.”

“Whose orders?” Yvgeny asked. It wouldn’t save this idiot’s life, but it would buy him a few more minutes, maybe even an hour.

“Yvgeny?” The voice was Sam’s, but not Sam’s. He’d never heard her sound this careful, this tentative.

He turned to find her crouched in the back of the truck, one hand protectively over her neck, the other wiping blood from her face.

She had a red bruise on her cheek and there was smeared blood on her lower lip and chin.

“I’m going to rip him apart,” he promised her. “He’s never going to hurt anyone else ever again.”

The idiot scrambled to his feet and took off as fast as he could.

Yvgeny turned, intending to give chase, but Sam’s voice stopped him.

“Yvgeny, I...I need you.”

Again, with the cautious tone. Why did she sound like that?

He went to her and saw what the most immediate problem was. Her shirt had been nearly ripped off her. The bra underneath was blood stained as well.

He slipped out of his suit jacket and helped her into it. As he did so, a police car pulled up, then a second one arrived.

The cops tumbled out of their vehicles, weapons drawn, yelling, “Freeze, back away from the vehicle!”

Yvgeny scooped Sam up in his arms and turned slowly. “I’m not the bad guy here,” he said. “The driver bailed while his friend was assaulting my girl...friend in the back.”

“Put the woman down,” one of the officers ordered.

“He’s telling the truth,” Sam said, her voice high and tight. “The man who tried to kill me ran away.”

Behind the police, a crowd of people had gathered. Several of them called out to the officers.

“I saw a guy run away.”

“He ran toward the river.”

“Yeah, that’s not the guy who was driving either. The driver jumped out right before the truck ran into the cars.”

The cops slowly put their weapons away.

“Okay, we need another ambulance,” one of them said to the other.

“This isn’t an ambulance,” Yvgeny told them. “Take a closer look. It’s an armored truck that’s been painted to look like an ambulance.”

The officers came forward, looking at the back of the vehicle, then at the sides.

“Shit,” the other one said. “He’s right. Why would anyone try to pass an armored truck off as an ambulance?”

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