She lifted her head. The person she saw wasn’t her. This girl was trembling. Her pupils were dilated, her cheeks flushed. Kali was suddenly very hungry…and not for human food.
“This shouldn’t be happening,” she whispered.
Pressing her forehead against the cool surface of the mirror, Kali brought her hand against the glass. “What are you?”
It took some time, but she eventually regained enough composure to face the world again. When she cautiously stepped into the corridor, it was downright deserted. No one, not even a theater worker, was in sight. Kali was relieved. At least if she made a fool of herself again, nobody would see it.
Kali made for the exit, and immediately got the impression of someone watching her. Half expecting to see the stranger having another laugh at her expense, she whirled around. No one was there.
Why am I so jumpy?
Relax.
But as she went outside, her anxiety only multiplied. She blamed it on the dark and crossed the parking lot as quickly as possible, searching for the car keys as she did so. Kali shook her purse and heard them jingle somewhere near the bottom. “Come on. Come on,” she said nervously. Someone or something was out there.
What if it’s the wolf again?
Kali almost squealed aloud at the thought. Then she shook her head. She was being silly.
“I’m going to have to give up scary movies,” she muttered.
Clenching the keys in her fist, Kali closed the distance between herself and Greg’s SUV in four long strides. It was the only vehicle in sight. She climbed inside and promptly hit the door locks. Exhaling deeply, she started the ignition and vaguely wondered why the smell of stale popcorn filled the interior.
Maybe it’s the dumpsters.
Her stomach rumbled, and Kali remembered that she had yet to have dinner. She glanced at the clock. There was time enough to grab something from a drive-thru before she needed to pick up Rozzy. A gruff whisper came from the back seat, interrupting her thoughts of fast food.
“Hey, pretty girl.”
Kali jumped violently. The eyes of the villain leered at her from the rearview mirror. Twisted onto his face was the smile of a predator. Her veins turned to ice. The sweaty pervert had broken into the car.
Easing her hand toward the door handle, Kali took a bet on the safety feature that would automatically unlock the door when pulled from inside. She didn’t take her eyes away from the man as she made her move, attempting to jump from the car before he could react. But the man’s size belied his speed. He seized a fistful of Kali’s hair and yanked hard enough to snap her head backward. She screamed. The sound became a painful gasp as her neck stretched over the head rest. Air couldn’t reach her lungs. Needles stung like fire, pouring through her scalp and radiating into her shoulders.
Kali really did not want to end up in the backseat with the maniac. She managed to hook both feet into the steering wheel. But her back was arched over the console, every fiber in her upper torso wrung beyond its limit. The pain was excruciating.
As the man continued to pull, a cry slipped from Kali’s lips. She had to do
something
. Kicking wildly at the keys dangling from the ignition, Kali finally hit the right spot. The horn blared repeatedly. The car’s lights began flashing. Panic buttons had a purpose after all.
“You’re going to pay for that,” he snarled into her ear.
He didn’t waste time delivering on that promise. With strength reflecting madness, the man pulled even harder. Tears blurred her vision and wet her cheeks. Pain gripped Kali’s head like a vise. It was difficult to see anything beyond it. She was either going to have to let go of the steering wheel or hide a bald spot the size of a small grapefruit.
Kali shut her eyes and let go. A second later, the pressure on her skull relented and she was snatched into the backseat. Her attacker’s enormous girth actually softened the impact. The smell of popcorn got stronger. Kali realized he was the source.
She struggled to reach for one of the rear passenger doors but couldn’t move. The man was holding her back with an iron grip. Something cold and sharp pressed against her neck. Kali froze. She prayed it was not a knife but knew in the same instant that it was.
“Where’s your boyfriend now?” he taunted viciously.
When she didn’t respond, he flicked the blade against the delicate hollow of her throat. Kali felt her blood trickle and went limp with fear. Behind her surrender, the man relaxed his hold. Hard calluses scraped against her soft skin as his hand explored her body. When his fingers slipped underneath her bra, she bit back a sob.
“I told you I’d put my hands wherever you wanted them.” He laughed. His belly quivered against her back. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
Her stomach rolled in revulsion, and Kali fought the urge to vomit. Clenching her teeth, she refused to make a sound. Fear was what he wanted. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she could not believe the attack was really happening. What a horrible way to start off the weekend. Raped and then killed, or killed and then raped, or just raped. The options weren’t looking so good.
“You’ve already met my little pet. He liked you but you got away.” He kissed her neck. “I’m going to have to show you how a little girl like you should behave.”
Kali whimpered. She didn’t want to think of what would happen next, knowing she was powerless to stop it.
Suddenly, the rear window exploded and shattered glass rained inside. Kali instinctively closed both eyes and turned her face. She felt the fat man’s body convulse and the knife fall away from her throat. Another window shattered. More glass flew. Someone was screaming. The villain. It was his voice shrieking into the night. Kali opened her eyes to see him being pulled feet first through the opposite window. But the opening was much too small to accommodate his bulk. The man’s face contorted with agony. Blood spilled where his skin split against broken shards of glass. Red streamers poured down the door panel. The villain had become the victim.
He cried out and clawed at the seat, desperate for anything to hang on to. He even tried reaching out to Kali. She plastered her body against the door to keep away from his flailing hands. Eyes bulging, his blubbery face vanished. His final scream was cut short.
Kali was shaking uncontrollably. She stared through the shattered window. Nothing but the empty night lay beyond it. The inside of the SUV had gotten a serious makeover. The leather was ripped. Blood covered the doors and seats.
Greg is
never going to let me use this car again.
Then a face appeared in the window. It was the hero, the stranger who had rescued her before the movie. Even while slipping into shock, Kali was somehow able to appreciate how attractive he was. The dimly lit theater hadn’t done the guy enough justice. Set aglow in street-light, his features were absolutely stunning.
“That’s twice in one night I’ve saved you.” His voice was calm and reassuring. Kali’s fear started to melt away. “Don’t move,” he told her.
But when his face disappeared, panic seized her chest. In the next moment, the stranger was behind her. His strong arms were gentle as they wrapped around her waist, tugging her free of the backseat. Kali’s knees buckled as soon as her feet touched the pavement. Every ounce of adrenaline was spent. She sagged against him. His hands steadied her.
“It’s okay. You’re safe now.”
Those soothing words would be the last thing she heard that night. The world around her muted as if someone had remotely pushed a button. Her vision dimmed. Black tendrils weaved between gleaming pin-points, blurring the sight of his face. And then there was nothing.
Chapter 5
The stranger caught the young woman in his arms as she fell limp against him. He held her close, tilting her face to the light. Her appearance was somewhat different. Her raven locks were shorter but with the same silky feel. Her eyes were as he’d carried them in memory for so long, a piercing deep brown that commanded whatever they wanted. And from what he’d seen tonight, her fierce temper had remained very much intact. Kalista was as beautiful as he remembered. And she had finally come back to him.
He was angry at himself for creeping her out and then leaving. Danger had been so close. Already several miles away when the urgency of the car alarm reached his ears, he’d raced back to the theater. Seeing her attacker had felt like a flying kick to his gut. He had made a huge mistake. Never underestimate anyone or any situation. He smiled mirthlessly. That lesson would be repeated until he learned it. How many more would die before then?
Lifting her gently, he carried her across the parking lot and loaded her limp body into the passenger side of his vehicle. He reclined the seat so it would appear she was only sleeping to any curious passerby. Though encountering a decent citizen at this hour that actually cared enough to report suspicious activity was highly unlikely. He strapped the safety belt across her lap and chest. And then he lingered, reluctant to leave again even for a minute.
He glanced back at the man that lay motionless on the pavement and frowned. Closing the door, he turned to survey the surroundings. His eyes and ears were alert to anyone else that may have been summoned by the alarm. Satisfied with the silence, he returned to the SUV. It had seen better days before this one.
He retrieved the purse from the floor-boards, shaking it free of glass. It was a flashy thing, impractical and very full of stuff. Not seeing anything else she might miss in the morning, he went to deal with the large man sprawled belly up on the pavement. He considered his options. The body couldn’t stay where it was. Come morning, someone would see it. There would be screaming. There would be cops. With those guys came a lot of questions. And he didn’t particularly like dealing with questions.
The man had gone down basically without a fight. And a relatively small amount of blood had been spilled. But even a little blood wasn’t good for his leather seats. The stranger let out a resigned sigh. Had he known he was going to have to kill tonight, he would have come better prepared.
Grabbing the body by the ankles, he hauled it over to the truck. Another idea occurred to him as he deliberated the tool-box in the tail bed. His eyes moved down to the fat guy and then up to the tool-box again. It was going to be a tough squeeze. Slinging the purse over his shoulder to free his hands, he hoisted the body up into the bed. As an afterthought he checked for a pulse.
Dead.
There was a reasonable amount of space to accommodate the corpse after he’d tossed out a few items. He shoved the man inside and packed him down with his feet. Then he strapped the tool-box tight with bungee cords. If the lid popped up and the body fell out, it would be a terrible thing. Even Bill Clinton couldn’t explain himself out of that one.
He cleared the glass from the lot and drove the SUV to a nearby parking garage. He would have to retrieve it later. Starting out at a jog back to the theater, the stranger stopped when sirens suddenly screamed in the distance. Their wails grew louder, as did the roar of two engines pushed to the max. He crouched low and slid into the shadows of nearby landscaping. His heart thudded. He hoped it wasn’t the cops. Every muscle tensed as the vehicles came in view. He relaxed. It was only a pair of first responders racing to a fire. The stranger waited a few beats more to be on the safe side. He had already screwed up enough for one night.
When the sirens fell to a distant hum, he left the cover of the shadows. A few minutes later, he sat in his truck waiting for the GPS to find the address from her license. The moody little contraption got a hit on the second attempt.
Only the drone of tires moving over faded asphalt and the occasional whump of the body in the toolbox kept him company. But the drive wasn’t a long one. His eyes drifted to the passenger seat for the millionth time.
She sighed softly and stirred. He placed a hand on her shoulder, hoping to still her sleep. The brief contact lit every single nerve ending on fire. It was as if he’d stuck his hand over an open flame and held it there until the skin bubbled. Both pain and pleasure spread through his body, multiplying with the irresistible song that called his flesh to hers. It took everything he had to keep the truck on the highway. At last, the feeling subsided and he tore his hand away.
“Okay. Think baseball,” he muttered.
The stranger swore as he nearly drove past the street sign marking her subdivision. The brakes squealed in protest to the swift deceleration. He winced, and glanced over anxiously at the passenger seat. She still slept. Relief washed over him.
Cutting the headlights, he aimed the truck into the driveway of a suburban home with features identical to at least fifty percent of the houses in the neighborhood. The engine didn’t make any noise in neutral as it coasted toward the two-car garage. He watched nearby houses to make sure no curtains moved or lights came on. A neighbor witnessing him carrying an unconscious woman into a dark house could make trouble.
By the time he managed to locate her keys, exasperation was almost on his doorstep. It was as if she had tried to pack an entire store inside of the purse. Gently lifting her from the cab, he carried her to the front door, shifting her weight to work the lock. The damn thing stuck. The deadbolt eventually gave and he opened the door. No need to turn on the lights. Other senses would guide him through the unfamiliar contours of the house.