Page 70 of True Valor
Holding her from behind, he whispered in herear.
“Sweet Julie.Taekwondo Julie.We’re going tohang out here until later tonight.Then we’re going to the cabin.You know…where you killed my deputy.”
Julie shook her head violently.That earnedher a blow to the back of the head that staggered her.
“Shall we go into your parents’ room?Hmmm?”
Again, she shook her head, this time pushingback with her feet.
“Don’t wanna go in there, sweet Julie?”
He turned her to face him.“I know thecleaning crew’s been here.Surely, all the blood is gone?”Thelight went on in his eyes.“Oh, it’s not that, is it?You justdon’t want to get down and dirty in the bedroom, huh?Well...”
He put his hands on her butt and pulled herclose, grinding his groin into her.“Now that you mention it.”
Her stomach roiled with panic.Please, God.No.If she’d had even an inch...
But her eyes must have shown what she wasthinking.This time, he hauled his fist back and cold-cocked her.The world went black on her way down.
When Cruz burst into the house, Nic hadalready pulled up the newspaper article on the computer.He’dcalled DQ and gotten permission to fly to Susanville, taking Cruzand any volunteers from Bravo Squad he could find.They’d call it atraining mission.But the LT warned that nobody better get hurt orarrested.Heads would roll.
At Cruz’s questions, Nic simply pointed himin the direction of the computer.While Cruz read, Nic dialedinformation and got the Galloways’ home number.He’d already triedcalling the number from which Julie had left the message.There wasno answer.Dread squeezed hard in his gut.
The phone rang.It was completely dark.Themammoth headache, though, brought Julie back to the present, eventhough it took a minute to figure out where she was.
And the phone continued to ring.
She was in the tub.The bathroom door wasclosed and there was no window to let in light.Her hands werestill cuffed behind her back, and the duct tape was still on hermouth.But now, her feet were taped as well.If there’d been waterin the tub, she’d have drowned.
Her heart raced and she struggled to catchher breath.Calm down.You know how to do this.Calm the heckdown.
Finally, the ringing stopped and Julie moanedbehind the gag.
They were all at the house.Well, all butQuillen.They’d heard the details of the past few weeks and had anupdate on the current situation.Cruz and Nic were flying up north.No one else was obligated to do so.
Hell, the whole thing might be a falsealarm.
“Yeah, right.”Chris Gabriel leaned againstthe kitchen counter, his arms crossed.He’d come from work andstill wore his flight suit.So did Will.
Matt was first to jump in.“Well, hell, I’min.Action is action.”
When all was said and done, none of them werewilling to be left behind.Once Cruz made a few calls—his planewouldn’t safely carry them all—he would have a meeting time andplace.Meanwhile, Nic made arrangements to rent a vehicle bigenough to carry them and their gear at the other end.
If Raines was still in the house, there wasno evidence of it.The phone rang again and again, torturing her.What was even worse was laying completely helpless.Nothing didn’thurt.There just wasn’t enough room to maneuver to a standingposition.On top of that, the ceramic that surrounded her was cold.By the time the phone began ringing for the third time, Juliecouldn’t stop shivering.
An eternity passed.But then, she heard himcoming.The door opened and Raines paused, silhouetted in thedoorway.Julie blinked when he flipped on the bathroom light.
He no longer wore his uniform, but wasdressed instead for the cold.He looked bigger than Julieremembered.His face was drawn, lines etched in stone.There was nolight left in the man.It was truly frightening.
He roughly dragged her to her feet and pulledher out of the tub.
“Time to go, Julie.”
It was full-on dark as Raines hauled Julie tohis car parked in the alley.She mentally calculated.It had to beat least five o’clock.What was the latest Nic or Cruz would gether message?It could be days.Nic’s life wasn’t lived by theclock.
And what if they did get the message?Shehadn’t been alarmed when she’d left it.Why would they be?Herparting words to Nic wouldn’t encourage him to play Batmanagain.
Even if they did come, would they be in time?Would they die trying to save her?
