Watch Over Me (Detectives Kane and Alton #28)
Prologue
Friday
A shiver of fear shuddered through Ellie McBride as she peered into the darkness.
Leaving the school so late had been risky, as anything might happen to a woman walking alone.
She’d dashed to her vehicle and locked all the doors before driving into the night.
Snow built up on the wiper blades of her SUV as she turned into the parking lot of the new convenience store on the corner of Pine and Stanton.
She glanced around nervously. Going out after dark in Black Rock Falls had become a recipe for disaster but she had no choice after running out of essentials.
Living alone meant she had no one to blame but herself.
She’d worked late without noticing the time.
Gathering her courage, she scanned the parking lot for anyone hanging around and found it empty apart from a couple of eighteen-wheelers.
It was a little after eleven and her headlights picked up the rust-colored streaks of Ice Slicer in the wall of snow left from the snowplow.
She parked alongside it, to avoid the arctic blast of wind buffeting the truck, and pulled her hat down over her ears.
Stepping out into the night, the drop in temperature made each breath cloud around her in steam.
Glad she’d worn thermals under her clothes, her thick coat and gloves would keep her warm but didn’t prevent the icy chill and snowflakes freezing her cheeks. It was so cold her eyes hurt.
The pharmacy at one end of the store had a large sign: pay here.
The man behind the counter stood wearily from where he’d sat fiddling with a tablet and totaled her bill.
She paid with her card and headed back to the counter and smiled at the sight of a jukebox in the corner.
The owners had gone all out to make this place look genuine.
No wonder the kids loved it. They’d never seen anything like it before.
She wondered why it stayed open twenty-four hours a day, when the door opened in a blast of freezing air and more men walked in shaking the snow from their coats and hats. New and popular.
Her stomach growled at the smell of onions frying and she wished she had the courage to sit at the counter, order a burger and fries, and then just sit there eating alongside the men.
Most modern women would do it without a second thought, but she had a problem communicating with any male over the age of about fourteen.
Of late, she’d become more cautious than ever.
So many people had gotten murdered in her town, she didn’t plan on making herself an easy target.
After paying for her things, she stepped out into a wall of cold and scanned the parking lot.
Outside the yellow glow of the street lights, the perimeter was black, with pinpoints of light far into the distance.
Steam crawled from her nostrils as she stood on the mat outside the store.
Silence surrounded her. The heavy blanket of snow had dampened the usual noises.
Her gaze swept the snow-covered eighteen-wheelers.
The dark windows of the cabs reflected the neon sign.
A couple of them steamed and made slight ticking sounds as the engines rapidly cooled.
Ellie stepped onto the icy sidewalk and walked into the eerily quiet night, keeping her head down.
She crunched through the snow to her SUV.
Based on the piles of snow on each side, an attempt had been made to clear the parking lot earlier, but now the latest falls had turned to a sheet of ice.
The next coating of Ice Slicer wouldn’t be spread until the following morning and she didn’t have time to wait.
The weight of the grocery bag in one hand unbalanced her slightly as she made her way back to her vehicle.
She fumbled for her keys and they fell into the snow.
When she picked them up, she pressed the key fob, but the hatch refused to open.
Had she damaged the key just by dropping it?
She tried again and sighed with relief at the familiar sound when the hatch popped open.
She dropped the groceries in the back and straightened.
The smell of strong cologne close by froze her to the spot.
The next instant, a smelly hood dropped over her head.
She cried out and turned, ready to fight.
Sharp pain slammed into the side of her head.
Stars danced across her vision and her legs buckled.
Everything around her spun in a sickening wave of agony and she slid into oblivion.
Senses came back in a wave of pain, and cold seeped through her clothes.
Ellie wanted to shout to tell someone to turn down the noise.
Loud music battered her ears and her head throbbed with the beat.
The hood pressed against her face sticky and wet, and the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth.
I’m bleeding. She went to touch her face, and rough rope tore at her wrists.
Using swollen fingers, she dragged off the hood, but darkness surrounded her and she couldn’t stretch her legs.
Heart racing, she forced herself to take deep breaths, lifted her bound hands, and touched the interior.
Engine sounds and the vibrations beneath her confirmed her prison was the trunk of a vehicle.
Terror gripped her as claustrophobia rose like an uncontrollable creature.
The driver swerved and then the vehicle bumped along an uneven surface before stopping.
A door opened and closed. Footsteps came close and Ellie panicked and pulled the stinking wet hood back on.
Next came the unmistakable sounds of someone pumping gas and the odor of petroleum seeped into the trunk.
She lay still and waited. The hatch opened and a light came on.
A hand shook her but Ellie controlled her breathing and tried not to flinch.
If they hit her again, they might kill her.
“Dammit. I’ve killed her.” An amused but muffled voice came close to her ear. “What a shame. We’d have had such fun.”
A blanket fell over her and the hatch slammed shut.
Footsteps disappeared. Heart racing, Ellie removed the hood again and wiped blood from her eyes with her sleeve.
She should try to escape before he returned.
It had been snowing heavily for the last week, so they’d be parked undercover if she could hear his footfalls.
How long had she been unconscious for? There was no way of telling.
They could be anywhere in the state, but she figured they’d be at a roadhouse.
From the slivers of light peeking into the trunk, she made out the inside of the vehicle.
It was like her own. On closer inspection she could feel the cover above her head was the same as inside her SUV.
She rolled over and ran her fingers along the inside until she found the seat release.
Both back seats fell forward to make the space larger and light seeped through from the windows.
Moving like a caterpillar she edged her way into the back of the vehicle and peered carefully out of the window.
They were at a large roadhouse. The parking lot was filled with eighteen-wheelers.
Inside the roadhouse several men in trucker hats sat around eating meals.
She’d try to get out and get help. Panic came in terrifying waves.
Which one of the customers kidnapped her? She couldn’t trust anyone.
With difficulty, she managed to get her fingers around the door handle.
She had a big problem. The moment the door opened, the interior light would come on.
With luck, she might get out and shut the door before her abductor noticed, or he’d come out and hit her again.
Everyone was so busy eating they wouldn’t notice.
She would need to move fast. Head swimming, she pushed open the door and fell onto the driveway.
She hit the ground hard and kicked the door shut with her feet.
On hands and knees, she scanned the area, trying to decide which way to go.
She couldn’t just walk into the roadhouse and start screaming.
The servers would be safer, and most of them were women.
Keeping the SUV between her and the roadhouse, she crawled to the end of the vehicle and, keeping down, made it to the line of dumpsters alongside the building.
She looked behind her at the line of footprints in the snow, but she couldn’t worry about that now.
Dizzy and staggering, she headed for the back entrance and kicked at the door.
It took forever before it opened. A wall of warmth and comforting aromas surrounded two wide-eyed women.
One pointed a can of bear spray at her. The other let out a scream of dismay, and swaying, Ellie held out her bound hands.
“Help me! Call 911! I’ve been kidnapped and the man is in the diner. ”