Free Beyond A Reasonable Doubt by Linda S Prather Page A

level. “Police! Put your hands on your head!”
    “Crap!” Jenna exclaimed, turning toward the sound just as Harry rounded the other corner of the house.
    “It’s okay, Jake,” Harry said, holstering his gun. “Miss James, are you all right?”
    “Do I look all right? No, damn it. I’m not all right. I’m tired, dirty, locked out of my house, and facing an idiot still holding a gun on me.”
    Jake grinned and holstered his gun. “Well now, ma’am, how’d you get locked out of your house?” He walked closer, her face coming into view. “And how the hell did you get that shiner?”
    “Mr. Savior, I assume?” Jenna asked.
    Jake nodded. “At your assistance.”
    “To make a long story short, my kidnapper kept my purse, my phone, and my keys.” Jenna turned back to the broken window. “And I could use a little assistance here, please.”
    Harry walked over and checked the back door. “No top lock?”
    Jenna shook her head.
    He took a card from his wallet, popped the lock, and opened the door. “Little something I learned in grade school.”
    Glancing inside the door, he pulled out his gun again. “Looks like you’ve had company. Jake and I should go in first.”
    Guns drawn, Jake and Harry stepped through the back door, stopping just inside to listen. Jake motioned with his gun for Harry to go to the right. They stepped over broken dishes littering the kitchen floor and slowly did a full walk-through.
    “All clear,” Jake called from the living room. “Well, I wouldn’t say exactly clear. Looks like somebody went through here with a bulldozer.”
    Jenna joined him, her face paling. Her sofa and matching chair had been ripped apart and the stuffing pulled from them. Lamps lay broken around the room as if tossed aside carelessly. “Any idea what they were looking for?” Jake asked.
    Jenna picked up the broken frame holding a picture of her mother and father and wiped away a tear. “They weren’t looking for anything. He just wanted to make sure his message hit all buttons—physical and emotional.” She held up her right hand, sporting the broken finger. “Like this one.”
    Jake frowned, his jaw tightening. “Let me call this in. Then we’ll get a statement and go hunt this bastard down.”
    Jenna sighed. “You can’t call it in.”
    Harry joined them in the living room. “Upstairs is pretty much in the same shape. They did leave you a few pieces of clothing.” He glanced from Jake’s angry face to Jenna. “Have you called it in yet?”
    Jenna swiped at another tear making its way down her cheek, burning as it reached her cut lip. “If you call it in, I’ll be dead before the paperwork is even in the system.”
    She kicked her way through the debris and back to the kitchen as Harry and Jake followed her. “If you really want to help, we still have a coffeepot. Would one of you two do the honors? I need a hot shower, and I really, really need it now.” She turned to them and shrugged. “I could use your help, and if you want to hear the story, I’ll tell it, but it could take a while.”
    Harry picked up the pot and rummaged through the mess on the floor until he found the coffee. “Go ahead. Shift ended five minutes ago. You got any place to be, Jake?”
    Jake grinned, stooping to pick up a package of coffee filters. “Hot bed and warm wife, but she’s probably sleeping. Go take your shower.”
    Jenna returned thirty minutes later with a roll of medical tape and a towel around her neck. “Either of you two know how to fix a broken finger?”
    Jake examined the badly bent pinky. “I don’t think it’s broken, but it’s still gonna hurt like hell.”
    Jenna handed him the tape. “It already hurts like hell.” She stuffed one end of the towel in her mouth and held out her hand.
    “Close your eyes. They say it doesn’t hurt as bad if you can’t see it,” Jake said.
    He grabbed the finger and quickly popped it back in place then taped it to the two next to it.
    Jenna took