Free Adelaide Upset by Penny Greenhorn Page B

came
to mind. If not my relationship with Luke, than whose was I about
to lose?
    I should have been more
focused on that reading, not about the knight of swords’ identity,
but the devil’s, because he was right behind me.
    A breezeway separated the
two units. As I passed I felt a tremor of nervous fear slip out,
trailing after me. I jerked around, but the man had already
emerged, dressed in black, a living shadow. He caught my arms,
pulling me down the empty passageway.

Chapter 10
     
    I was dragged behind the
motel, a large hand pressed over my mouth and nose, keeping me
quiet through the breezeway as I was forced into the
dark.
    I tried to bite him, but
his hold was so tight that it was all I could do to simply breathe
around his salty palm. Bucking, I tried to break free, knowing I
wouldn’t have to run far for help, but he was massive, both tall
and thick, his frame easily engulfing mine.
    He dragged me to the
storage shed where Sterling’s kept its cleaning cart, yanking me
around the corner as my heels scraped along the grass. He shifted,
his hold going slack as he released my face. I didn’t have time to
catch my breath before his fingers were back, fumbling under my
chin. I tried to jerk away, but he shoved a scrap of cloth into my
mouth, wedging it roughly between my teeth as I gagged.
    With his hand clamped on
my neck like a vice, he gave me one hard shove and I stumbled back,
my head crashing into the rippled tin siding. A metallic clank rang
out, echoing into the dark and we stood, utterly still, both of us
unmoving. My breathing was harsh, animalistic to my own ears,
winded prey. His emotions poured into me, overlapping with my own,
but the fear we shared. He was scared, reluctant, nervous, but
resigned. He was also a hairsbreadth away from guilt. Whatever was
happening, whatever he planned to do or say, it was unpleasant to
him, repugnant even.
    “ You’ve been asking about
David Smith?” I could just make out his silhouette in the dark. He
was tall, the threat in his voice drifting out from nearly a foot
over my head.
    I shook my head violently,
knowing that a lie was my best option. This man had a conscience,
and if he wasn’t certain of his plan, it would crumble.
    In one swift move I was
jerked forward and back, my head cracking against the shed before I
had time to react. It was harder than the first time and the
metallic ringing from impact pulsed in time with my
pain.
    He didn’t believe me,
which meant he knew for certain that I’d been asking, and he knew
who I was. Had Bill Shrader told him? No, I hadn’t given Bill my
full name, only Samantha Phelps had that, and with it the means to
find me. So who was this? Marks? I scrambled for answers, wondering
how I could appeal to his sense of right and wrong.
    “ You lie,” he said, his
gruff voice sounding flat. “But it’ll be true soon enough. Tonight
you’ll learn not to go asking questions.”
    He shifted again, reaching for something in
the dark. I couldn’t see what he held, but it seemed to solidify
his commitment, as if the deed were already done.
    I tried to pull away,
launching myself sideways. His hand slid from my neck and for one
moment I was free. In the next he grabbed my arm, pulling me to the
ground so I was hunched next to him as he knelt down.
    I reached up with my free hand and pulled
the cloth out of my mouth, throwing it to the dark.
    “ Scream and I’ll break
them all,” he warned, and I knew that he meant it. Could feel it,
could feel that he almost hoped I would cause trouble. If I did it
would relieve some of the niggling guilt.
    “ Please,” I begged, trying
to pull my wrist free. He had my arm twisted around in front of
him, my chest flat against his back. He pressed my palm to the
shed’s concrete foundation, and I jerked harder, a fox snared in a
foot trap.
    “Spread your fingers or I’ll break more than
one.”
    “Please, you’ve made your point. I’ll do
whatever you say, just, please, don’t