15 #3
parked two houses down to avoid drawing notice, but it was probably an unnecessary precaution. With the sheets of rain coming
down and the occasional cracks of lightning across the sky, everyone was safely inside.
Everyone but him.
Jenn had brought him to this . . . No, not Jenn. Glory. He gave a mental shake of his head to clear out the old memories.
This was about Glory and her transgressions, the ways that she’d let him down. Jenn was forever gone now, he reminded himself—just as Shara would be once he was finished with her.
But that would be later. For now, he had to get Glory.
Buffeted by wind and rain the second he stepped out of the SUV, Mike kept his head down. Water washed over the sidewalks.
Thick storm clouds darkened the day until it seemed more like evening.
Deciding to approach her house from the back, he pressed forward. Movement to his right drew his attention. With a quick glance,
he noticed an older woman peering out the window of the house next door. Without acknowledging her, he continued on, as if
he were heading home. No reason to deal with nosy neighbors.
With that thought in mind, he went to the other side of Glory’s yard, where the neighbor wouldn’t see him. To his utter shock
and gleeful satisfaction, he found Glory there. She stood just inside an empty terrace, holding the end of a long leash attached
to a small mutt, who was busily sniffing the grass along the edge of pavers.
His heart thundered as satisfaction swelled.
Finally, he had her.
When his cell phone rang, Kam glanced at the screen and almost ignored the unfamiliar number. He’d be at the gas station to
meet Tanner in only a few more minutes. With the weather so bad, he’d driven slower than he wanted to, but he wouldn’t chance
a wreck that might cause him to miss this opportunity.
On the third ring, he answered and put it on speaker. “Hello?”
“Get back home. Now. Glory needs you.”
His blood froze in his veins. “Who is this?”
“Glenda, damn it, the neighbor. I got your number from the tree farm website. I’m telling you to get here now.”
Pulling into the next driveway to turn around, Kam asked, “What’s happening?”
“A man snooping around, that’s what. He headed straight for Glory’s house, but when he saw me looking out my window, he didn’t
go to her front door. He went around the side.”
“Shit.” Warning bells blared in his head. “I’m on my way.”
“I saw you leave, so I knew you couldn’t have gone far. I’ll call the cops next, but hurry—and be careful!”
She disconnected, and Kam dropped the phone to the cup holder in the console and pressed on the gas. Scenarios sped through
his brain. He thought to call Tanner, but didn’t want to slow down to do that.
And Old Lady Simmons! Did the woman miss nothing? Right now, he could only thank God that she was so vigilant. If they all
got through this, he’d kiss the old gal in gratitude.
As the tires of the BMW went through a puddle, water sprayed out in an arc. He’d trust his heavier SUV more in this weather,
but he was still making good time. He sped around a corner and slid but quickly righted the car. He risked pushing through
a stop sign, already seeing that the roads were empty. He’d be there very soon—but would it be soon enough?
It had to be. He couldn’t lose Glory.
Not now. Not ever.
Standing inside the covered terrace, Glory avoided the rain while PB did her business right along the pavers. It amazed her
that the dog, despite her nerves, would brave the weather.
Then again, it probably hadn’t been the weather that had spooked her. It was more the tension from the humans.
PB had been homeless, Glory reminded herself. Her poor dog-ter had lived outside, suffering the elements—even weather like this—without shelter, and without anyone to love her.
That knowledge, along with her worry for Kam, conspired against her. Her chest tightened and her nose tickled with the threat
of tears, but she fought off the emotional upheaval. The last thing the dog needed was more of her moodiness.
PB did look at her a few times, then she hurriedly piddled and started back. Before the dog could reach her, Liz stepped outside
with a towel. “I’m going to dry this little baby for you.”
Hearing the word baby made Glory’s heart trip, but she quickly recovered. “You mean PB. Yes, I’m sure her paws, belly, back . . . Well, everything
is probably wet.”
Liz grinned. “No problem.” Going to one knee, she briskly took the towel over PB’s wet fur. The dog loved it.
Never before had she seen her aunt with an animal, so she’d definitely never witnessed her toweling one dry. Awed by the novelty
of it, Glory smiled down at them.
When movement in the yard drew her attention, Glory glanced up—and there stood Mike.
The sight of him rocked her foundation, making it impossible for her to move. Mike, here?
He was supposed to be at the park. Kam was headed there to confront him. But instead . . . The puzzle pieces finally snapped
together. It had all been a ploy to get her alone. Except she wasn’t alone. Aunt Liz was here, and now she was at risk, too.
Mike’s narrowed gaze darted everywhere, seeing and discounting Liz. He wore a chilling smile, until he took in Glory’s injuries
and unkempt appearance. Facial features contorted into a mask of disgust, and he lost his smile.
The intimate scrutiny sucked all the air out of her lungs.
A slow deep breath didn’t ease the restriction in her chest—a restriction that had nothing to do with injured ribs.
Could he hear the erratic thundering of her heart?
Given her physical shape, she didn’t stand a chance of running. But even if she could, Liz was still down on one knee with
PB, oblivious to the danger.
Lunging at her before Glory could do more than gasp, he finally gained Liz’s and PB’s attentions.
“You should have been alone. It would have made everything much easier.”
The little dog went wild, snapping and snarling.
Poor Liz dropped back on her tush. “What in the world?”
“Shut up,” Mike said, as he roughly jerked Glory around to lock her back against his chest. The rough handling sent piercing
pain lancing through her.
Liz scuttled to her feet. “Stop that! You’re hurting her.” Barely maintaining her hold on PB’s leash, she reached out.
And Mike wildly swung his fist at her face.
Glory gathered enough breath to scream, but she wasn’t loud enough to be heard over the storm. In reaction, Mike crushed her
closer, stealing her breath and sending agony through her shoulder and ribs.
With the way her vision blurred, it took her a second to realize he hadn’t struck Liz, had in fact missed her, but only because
Liz had fallen back again, harder this time, landing mostly sprawled on the floor of the terrace. PB got free and immediately
clamped her teeth onto Mike’s leg.
Cursing, Mike loosened his hold enough to kick at the dog. He missed, PB darted back to bite him again, and Mike lifted his
foot to prepare for a stomp.
Glory grabbed him. With both hands.
Where she found the strength, she didn’t know, but her pain became secondary to protecting PB. In a guttural snarl of her
own, she snapped, “Don’t you dare.”
It was as if her words froze everything else in the room. PB went still. Liz blinked. And Mike stared at her as if he’d never seen her before.
“Jenn?” he whispered, his confusion evident.
Wondering if he’d lost his grasp on sanity, Glory searched his bewildered eyes. “Who’s Jenn?”
Only a second later, the fog cleared and he viciously gripped her arms, yanking her to her tiptoes. “You will not speak to
me like that, Glory. Do you understand?”
Yup, the stabbing pain returned in a rush, but at least PB darted out into the rain. Mike wouldn’t be able to hurt her, but
would she get lost? Injured?
Struggling for every shallow, agonizing breath, Glory wheezed, “Please . . .”
Excited approval curved his mouth. “Yes, that’s better. You will do exactly what I tell you to, isn’t that right? You’ll be
more malleable this way, not so mouthy. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you—once we’re away from here.” He licked his lips
and whispered, “I can’t wait to get you alone.”
“If you had any furniture out here, young lady, anything at all, I would use it to bludgeon this cretin. A wrought iron side
table would be especially helpful right now. Or even a potted plant.”
With Glory still suspended in Mike’s hold, they both peered at Liz.
Her aunt half sat up on one hip, brusquely rubbing the shoulder she’d landed on. “Take that as a lesson to always finish furnishing
your home, inside and out. If you’d needed assistance, you should have told me so.”
Her complaint was so nonsensical in the moment that Glory gaped at her through the haze of nearly unbearable pain.
Then Liz brutally kicked outward, nailing Mike right in the knee.
His leg awkwardly buckled, and he fell half out of the terrace and into the rain—almost taking Glory with him. She couldn’t stop the raw, broken groan that ripped from her throat, made worse by the way Liz caught her. Even shallow breathing was awful, and her shoulder screamed in pain.
“I’m sorry, Glory. So sorry,” Liz crooned to her, petting on her as much as she’d petted PB. “Here, rest back against this
support beam.”
The world swam around Glory, fuzzy grayness closing in. I cannot pass out. If I do, what will happen to Liz?
“Easy. Easy now,” Liz said. “Kam is here. He’ll take care of everything.”
Kam? The blurriness receded and she became aware of hard thumps and brutal cracks of fists on flesh. Cradling her arm and trying
not to move a single inch, Glory opened her eyes enough to see Kam throwing hard, fast, relentless punches that kept knocking
Mike back. He tried to defend himself, but it was like a puppy up against a pissed-off wolf. For every punch Mike threw, or
tried to throw, Kam hit him three times. His jaw, his gut, left, right . . . Where had he learned to fight like that? Other
than Mike’s grunts and groans, both men engaged in silence.
After another particularly vicious punch to the temple, Mike’s head snapped back, his eyes rolled up, and his legs crumpled