Page 4 of Nowhere to Hide

No hope.

I was pinned like one of those butterflies in a display case and would be just as dead if I didn’t get some air. The lights above went spotty as blackness crept in. He dropped to kneel between my legs, and I wanted to scream but there was no air.

The squeak of metal being pried from wood dented the spotty gray of my vision.

Then the rope loosened, and I gulped in air, my eyes snapping open in time to see feel something cold and metal against my thigh. He loomed over me, those soulless eyes swam into view. Heavy lidded and older, with wicked ebony brows, showed his excitement. Then his hand circled my throat, pinning me to the pier.

Darkness came for me.

It was preferable to the knife or rape that was my alternative.

Suddenly my throat was freed, and the blast of a horn gave me the strength to battle for my survival.

I heaved under him, and he snarled just as a spotlight blinded both of us.

The unmistakable sound of a boat gliding into the dock gave me another burst of will to live.

A guttural voice shouted for the man to stop.

The dark man above me somehow became even more malevolent. In the harsh light, his patrician features became inhumanely severe, then his knife sunk into my thigh before he pushed off me and ran.

Something warm and wet pooled under me as I stared up at the sky.

It was so dark out here.

So dark that I finally could see the stars.

I heard the thump of something heavy on the pier then nothing as the rope pulled again.

CHAPTER 2

LOCKE

Distantly,I recorded the height and weight of the man who sprinted away to memory. Six-ish feet, give or take because of the distance. Runner lean, but not quite as fluid as one. Black on black clothing with a structured hood that hid most of the shape of his face. Training urged me to follow—to take him out at the knees and pin him to the docks.

I locked it down.

Not your problem.

You’re no one’s savior.

Sure as fuck no one’s Good Samaritan.

I jumped off my boat and took a moment to hook a rope around the post so my boat wouldn’t drift.

Go back on the boat and call for the Coast Guard or the cops.

My gaze tripped over to the prone woman.

Just walk away.

Call for the real help.

Cops.

Civilized people.

The man thundered up the pier to the stairs leading to the parking lot. Every instinct screamed for me to follow.