The good humor on the large man's face vanished as he shot a look at the man holding her. Another chill traveled through her because she had no doubt who the boss was in this relationship. The man behind her shut up.
"No. They are all mine first," the large man said almost pleasantly.
The man behind her let go of her throat and she sucked in a much-needed breath before it was knocked back out of her when he pushed her forward hard enough to drop her to her knees on the hard floor.
The large man gripped her arm and yanked her back to her feet, sending shooting pain arrowing through her shoulder before smashing her to his chest. Up close, she could see dents in his face, and missing teeth from years of drug use.
Fighting tears, she tried to plead with him. "Please, just let us go."
Leaning back, he smiled before his fist came out and knocked her in the side of the head, making her see stars for a moment. She almost wished blackness would overtake her vision just to free her from the hell she was in.
"If I want you to open your mouth, I'll let you know when and how wide," he told her. "We're going to have a good time here, and then you're going to unlock these nice pretty cabinets with drugs in them."
The man's stinky spit splashed her in the face, making her shut her eyes for a brief second as she tried to regain her bearings.
"I don't have access to any of that," she told him. That was partially true. The sort of drugs they wanted had to come from the doctors.
The man slapped her again for her less-than-satisfactory answer. She tasted copper in her mouth and couldn't help the whimper of fear and pain that escaped. It was exactly what he wanted, but she still couldn't help herself.
He shook her for a moment before a gleam returned to his eyes. "I'll just have to get you a bit more relaxed and then you can give me what I came for."
"Where's Sandy?" Her voice was a bit stronger this time, but still not as forceful as she would have liked.
"Me and Sandy had a good time a few minutes ago. If you're a real nice girl, then both of you will get to walk away from this. Do you understand?" he said. He then began pulling her toward a curtained room.
"I get her next then?" the first man hollered as the giant continued moving.
"Don't worry. I'll get her nice and prepared for you," he replied back.
"Fine. I'm gonna search this place then." The first man stomped out of the ER.
Pushing Lindsey down on a hospital bed, her attacker leaned close as he pointed his disgusting finger in her face and smiled, his rotten teeth showing.
"We're gonna have us a good time, sweetness. If you cooperate and do what you're told to do, then no one gets hurt. If you fight me, then I'm going to carve you up into so many pieces they won't be able to identify your body unless they're real good with puzzles," he told her.
Then to make sure she understood he was serious, he took out a huge knife and stabbed it into the bed only a foot from her face.
"Where is Sandy?" she asked. The more she kept him talking, the more time she was giving herself.
"She's tied up at the moment," he said with a chuckle, standing there, admiring her. In that moment, Lindsey had a sick feeling that her friend was gone. He'd done what he'd wanted with Sandy, and then disposed of her like he was planning on doing to Lindsey.
"Please don't hurt me," she begged. She hadn't given up, but the situation seemed so hopeless.
He backed up a bit and Lindsey knew she had to try something. She lunged for the door. But she made it no more than a foot when his meaty hand wrapped around her arm and swung her back to him before shoving her face first into the mattress.
Time stopped having meaning as he yanked at the tie in her hair. When it was loose, he pulled the long strands while he pushed up against her behind. She choked back sobs and bile as he struggled to undo the drawstring on her pants.
If he got them off, the battle would be over. She continued fighting against him, but she knew she was losing. Tears streamed down her cheeks as the struggle continued. She could hear his belt buckle jingle and felt him fidgeting with his own pants. The sounds of his grunts and her whimpers mixed through the air. Then she could feel that he'd gotten his pants down and only her scrubs barred him from violating her.
"That feels good now, doesn't it, princess?" he jeered as he pressed himself against her.
As he struggled again to get her pants undone, Lindsey remembered the scalpel in her pocket. Reaching down, she managed to pull it out, and then she struck without giving it a second thought.
With all her might, she swung her arm backward, aiming as high on his leg as she could go, hoping to hit his femoral artery. God willing, he'd be too busy bleeding out to retaliate. Then she could call for help.
Lindsey knew she hit something, because his howl of pain and rage assaulted her ears before she managed to pull the blade out and push him away.
He stumbled back and Lindsey turned around, trying to decide whether to stab him again or make a run for it. He made the decision for her when he lunged back into her face, his cruel eyes completely arctic now.
His hands circled her neck, and instantly her vision blurred as he looked into her eyes with vengeful hatred. She knew if she lived through the night, that look would haunt her for years to come. Lifting her arm again, she stabbed him once more, this time in the side.
The man let go of her neck and punched her hard enough that the room went black. When she became aware again, she felt deep pain in her abdomen, and then felt the stickiness of blood as it trickled down her side.
Lindsey felt a tear slip as she realized she was going to die. There was nothing she could do to stop this man. It was over. The last thoughts were of the pain her family was going to go through. Her mother and father would be devastated. Her brothers would seek revenge. So much pain was going to be caused by this evil man, and she'd been too weak to stop it.
Devastation consumed her.
"I warned you to play nice, you stupid whore." He screamed obscenities at her as he lifted the scalpel and sliced her again. The pain stopped and she knew that was bad-knew that meant her time was almost up. She just hoped they caught this bastard before he could ever harm another person again.
As his arm lifted to administer the final blow, a gleam of victory in his eyes, his clear intent to go for her throat, a banging sound echoed off the ER walls.
Everything slowed down as she watched disbelief enter the man's eyes for the briefest of moments, and then his arm dropped and he fell on top of her, pinning her to the bed beneath his lifeless body.
The next few minutes were a blur as his weight was lifted and a torrent of activity overtook the room. Lindsey knew if she did make it through the night, her life would never be the same again. She came in and out of consciousness as she was lifted, her clothes removed, a needle painfully stuck in her arm-and then the lights went out.
CHAPTER ONE
Sitting in the corner of the pew, Lindsey kept her large bag beside her so no one would sit too close. Even with that layer of protection, her body was pressed uncomfortably hard into the wall as she stared straight ahead, not wanting to make eye contact-not wanting anyone to speak to her.
She hadn't told anyone she was coming to the funeral of Doctor Ted Stamos, but she couldn't miss it even though her injuries weren't remotely close to being healed.
It had been only a week since the stabbing, since the moment she'd nearly lost her life. The doctor had told Lindsey she was lucky she'd been assaulted in a hospital; otherwise, there wouldn't have been time to stop the bleeding.
Rubbing her fingers beneath her silk shirt, she felt the bandages on her lower abdomen and grimaced. Lucky wouldn't exactly be the word she would use.
Lucky wouldn't be a word she would ever use again. Luck had nothing to do with her coming out of that horrible event while two colleagues, two friends, had died. It had been the timing of the police force. But if she'd made a call when she'd initially had the bad feeling, then today she might be sitting around the cafeteria table sharing a laugh with the charismatic doctor instead of sitting in a church, crushed against a wall, while she fought back tears as people said their final good-byes.
Clenching her fingers into a tight fist, Lindsey took shallow breaths as she tried to tell herself she was safe. Her side ached where she'd been stitched back together, and her head throbbed because she'd refused to take her pain meds on this particular day.
Lindsey wanted to feel the pain of survival. She wanted the reminder that she'd lived while two other good people had died. It wasn't fair. None of it was fair. But even so, she didn't want to be dead either. She was just dealing with some major survivor's guilt.
The temperature in the room seemed to suddenly heat up, and there was a shift in the air that Lindsey couldn't possibly explain. But without turning her head, she knew who was next to her, knew who would dare sit so close when everything about her screamed that she wanted to be left alone.