Page 32 of Scorched (Killer #2)

“Please, take me. Don’t hurt my son.” Elise begged on her knees in the mud. She’d say anything, do anything to keep her son safe.

As she pushed against the ground to rise to her feet, her hand closed around a stone the size of a baseball.

She curled her fingers around it and hid it behind her back, hoping her aim was as good as it had been when she’d played softball in high school.

She’d have to be good. The rock and her brain were her only weapons in the face of certain death.

“What you don’t understand, Alice , is that I’m in charge here. You don’t get a say in what happens.”

“My name is Elise.” Anger washed over Elise’s fear, pushing it aside to make room for more rage. “Who are you, anyway?”

“Your boyfriend doesn’t talk about me? He never mentioned Trevor Cain?” He snorted. “Figures. ”

“What boyfriend? I’ve never heard of you, and I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“The man you slept with last night. Don’t play dumb with me. I know what’s going on.” He kicked at the boy lying on the ground. “You and these brats are all he cares about.”

“Did Paul have you sent to prison or something?”

The man laughed. “Hardly. I’m one of the good guys. I put the bad guys behind bars. Besides, he’s not smart enough to figure out who’s responsible for the deaths of those women. And I’m not going to give him the opportunity to figure it out. Helps when you don’t leave any witnesses.”

Elise’s body went cold. She gulped hard to keep from screaming.

She’d suspected as much. This man wouldn’t be telling her as much as he was if he planned on letting her go.

That went for Luke as well, which made it all the more imperative that she keep a level head and figure a way out of this on her own.

“Paul’s smarter than you are. At least he doesn’t have to go around killing innocent women to prove he’s a man. ”

The man’s mouth tightened until his jaw twitched.

“Fletcher hasn’t got anything on me, except pure dumb luck.

He couldn’t even figure out this case before two women died.

Make that three.” He nodded at the gun in his hand.

“Now, not only will he lose his golden-boy prestige, but he’ll also lose the woman he’s gotten stupid over.

Seems like a fair trade to me. My career for his girlfriend.

I’ll bet you even helped him solve the Dakota Strangler case.

What, were you and him doing it on the side while your husband killed those women? ”

Anger flared inside her over his callous words.

As Paul had said, Stan was responsible for the murders in North Dakota, not her.

And just like Stan, this man was responsible for the deaths of Lauren and Mary.

She couldn’t let her emotions take over.

She had to use her head. How ironic, when her husband hadn’t wanted her to be smart or think for herself. Now she had to...or die.

She sucked in a deep, calming breath. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.

None of this is making any sense.” She inched closer, her worry for Luke outweighing her concern over the gun pointed at her chest. In order for the rock in her hand to be of any use, she had to get close enough to hit her mark.

“What is your career, anyway? Murdering women?” Keep him talking, maybe she’d figure out some way to disarm him and get Luke away. Far away.

“No, murdering women was only my way of showing the world Mr. Perfect Agent Fletcher isn’t so great after all. While he was out playing with you, women were dying, and he could do nothing to stop it.”

“Paul will stop you.” If she didn’t stop him first.

“Sorry, but he won’t. And he won’t be able to save you or your son in time.

Now won’t that just kill him?” His laughter echoed off the concrete and steel of the underside of the bridge.

“And the beauty of it all is that once you’re gone, he’ll lose his job and I’ll be promoted in his place.

With no one the wiser. The country will think the Dakota Strangler is still alive and killing. ”

Her heartbeat faltered. She knew Cain was a murderer but hearing him promise to kill her and her son made it all the more frightening. What he might not fully appreciate was that she wasn’t going to die yet, nor was Luke, and she refused to go down without a helluva fight.

While he’d been talking, bragging about his prowess as a crafty murderer, Elise had worked her way closer until she stood within range to do some damage with her rock, if her aim struck true. Please, please, please remember everything Coach Wright taught you about throwing a ball in high school .

One shot was all she’d get.

“It’s time.” Cain turned his gun on Luke. “Should I start with him or you?”

Her arm tensed. As she drew it from behind her back, a flurry of motion burst into her peripheral vision.

Before she could react, a small, dark shadow slammed into the man’s arm, knocking the gun loose.

It flew across the sloping concrete, skittering to a stop three feet short of the rising river water.

Oh, God. It was Brandon. Elise held her breath as her son scurried across the concrete to stand in front of Luke, his face fierce and scared at the same time.

“You little brat!” Cain dove for the gun.

“Duck, Brandon!” Elise cocked her arm, prayed for a miracle and let loose.

Throwing into a stationary catcher’ s glove was a lot easier than at a moving target.

But her rock hit Cain in the head, stopping him short of his gun.

He stumbled and fell, rolling over and over until he tumbled into the water.

The current picked him up and carried him downstream, past the bridge and out of sight of the flashlight Elise held.

Brandon ran for the gun and kicked it into the dark, muddy water roaring past.

“Run, Brandon!” Elise scooped Luke up in her arms. His little body wiggled against hers, filling her with relief. “Hold still, little guy. We’ll get you home.”

Uncertain whether Cain had been revived by the cold river water, Elise knew she had to get to her car as quickly as possible.

Brandon stumbled behind her, slipping in the muddy ruts left by Cain’s truck.

Weighed down by Luke, Elise slowed and turned, extending the hand holding the flashlight for him. “Grab the flashlight and hold on.”

Brandon latched onto the light and pulled himself up next to her. Then he let go and charged forward. “Come on!”

Getting to the top of the hill seemed to take forever. Elise slipped at least another five times, crashing to the ground on her elbows. She rolled to the side to keep from crushing Luke. Brandon had disappeared, hopefully making it to the car and the cell phone to call for help.

Luke wiggled to get free. “Let go, Mom. I can walk. ”

Unable to push herself back to her feet without letting go, Elise released him.

Once free, Luke stood in the mud, slipped and scrambled to his feet, running after Brandon.

With rain dripping down in her eyes, and mud coating her arms and legs, Elise struggled to get up.

Before she could take a step, the ground shook behind her and a large hand grabbed her ankle.

Barely balanced to begin with, Elise crashed to the drenched earth, the wind knocked from her lungs. But she held onto the flashlight, its heavy batteries making it the only weapon she had left to save herself and her boys. “Run, Luke! Run, Brandon! Hide!”

Fingers grabbed the back of her calf and Trevor Cain crawled up her body, one hand at a time.

Trapped on her stomach, Elise rolled from side to side, unable to flip onto her back. She swung the flashlight out to the side.

His grunt told her she’d made contact, but not enough to get him off her back.

Again, she swung the heavy flashlight.

He let go of one of her legs long enough to grab the flashlight and yank it from her grip, tossing it into the bushes, the light shining off in another direction.

Now, it was her against him. Darkness swallowed them, rain pelting her face and running into her eyes. She kicked, she rolled, but he was heavy, and the mud made it too slippery for her to gain purchase. Elise needed a miracle about now to save her and her boys .

Cain climbed onto her back, straddling her hips with his. He yanked a handful of her hair, pulling back hard until she thought her neck would snap.

“I should have killed you first.” He slammed her face into the mud.

If the ground hadn’t been so soft and moist, the force of his brutal slam would surely have broken her nose. As it was, her mouth and nostrils filled with mud, choking off her air.

He lifted her head again for another slam.

Elise spit and blew the mud from her nose, gasping for breath. Was this the way it would end? She prayed Luke and Brandon were far, far away and hiding low in the bushes. She prayed it would all end very quickly and painlessly.

“Say goodbye to your boys. They’re next.” His hand tightened on her hair and his body tensed for the next slam.

Then Cain jerked off her back and fell across her legs, sliding down the muddy slope.

Stunned, Elise kicked free of Cain’s legs and rolled to the side, scuttling to her feet to bump into a broad, solid chest.

“Paul!” She fell into his arms, her body sliding against his, coating him in a layer of mud.

Paul clutched her to him, regardless of the mud. Feeling her soft body against his helped to slow his heartbeat and steady his breathing. He’d never been more scared in his life than when he’d seen Cain brutalizing her. Now, he didn’t want to let go of her. Ever again.

“Stay with Elise. I want to take care of this.” Melissa pushed around Paul’s side, gun drawn, and stalked down the hill toward the man who’d terrorized Breuer for the past week.

“Don’t kill him, Melissa,” Paul called out. Much as he wanted to see the man die for all he’d done, Paul knew he had to live by the laws he’d sworn to uphold. “The families of the victims will want justice.”