Be careful what you
wish for…”
Excerpt from chapter 47 (© 1999
After many trials and tribulations,
some near-fatal, Mike and Emily finally become lovers and marry. But their
troubles aren’t
over yet. Here is an excerpt from the final chapter.
MacCauley ran out to his car; sped for home as fast as he
possibly could, breaking every rule in the book on the way. He glanced
repeatedly at his watch. It was ten to seven now. Ten minutes to get home if he
drove like hell; another hour and a half before the rest of the squad arrived
and saw the fax. The sensible thing to do would be to ring the chief’s private
number assuming his mobile held enough charge. Wait for backup.
He ought to call
Jason, too.
But what would
that degenerate psychopath do to Emily while her husband was being sensible?
God help us both…though maybe He
could do with a hand.
* * *
Emily woke to the
sound of a door creaking.
“Funny,” she
murmured. “I thought I heard Mike leave earlier. Maybe it’s the wind.”
Still naked after
their memorable night together, not to mention this morning, she got out of bed
and stretched luxuriatingly. Her nipples still throbbed with pleasure, along
with a more intimate part of her anatomy, and just the thought of the way he’d
used her body an hour ago made her wish he was here so he could do it again.
Half hopefully she looked out the window. His car was gone.
Oh, well, it must
have been the wind.
For a moment she
toyed with the idea of going back to bed, but what was the point? Mike wasn’t
here to go with her. Besides, she wanted to go shopping today; get a bottle,
maybe two, of champagne and something special for dinner. After all, this was
an occasion for celebration—he was going to hand in his resignation.
No, it was time
she got moving. Maybe a cup of coffee to wake her up.
I’d better put
something on first, though. It’s a bit nippy standing here with no clothes on.
She fished out her
pyjamas from under the pillow. Her favourite pair—emerald green satin with
white cats printed on them. More sort of embossed, really, a raised outline you
could trace with your fingers: the most rascally-looking bunch of felines she’d
ever seen. “Horny tomcats, if you ask me,” Mike had said with a grin the first
time she’d worn them, “But why wouldn’t they be, next to the naked body of a
gorgeous woman like you?”
Emily smiled at
the memory as she scrambled into them, and pulling on the matching robe, she
headed for the kitchen to put the kettle on. The moment she stepped through the
door, she felt herself grabbed from behind. Roughly; offensively; a hand
clamped hard over her left breast, a metallic coldness pressed against her
temple.
“Hello Emily.”
Steve! How can he
be here? He’s supposed to be in jail…
“I decided I’d had
enough of my present surroundings so I made an unscheduled departure this
morning. Still, I could hardly leave town without paying you a visit
first—after all, we’re old friends, aren’t we? Plus we’ve got some unfinished
business to take care of, in case you’ve forgotten. I haven’t, I promise you
that.”
“W-what do you
want?” She tried to hide the fear in her voice. Thank God she’d put on some
clothes before she came out of the bedroom! The thought of being naked while he
looked her over in that offensive, absolutely disgusting way made the
blood in her veins turn to ice.
“Why, I just want
the pleasure of your company, angelface. Until your husband gets back, that is.
I don’t imagine he’ll be long—he’d have heard the news that I broke out of jail
this morning by now. In fact, I’d say he’s on his way here right this minute.
Alone, too. I’m prepared to lay odds he didn’t wait around to ring for backup
when he found he couldn’t get through on your line.”
He stroked the
pistol down the side of her cheek as he spoke, his air of controlled calm more
terrifying than if he’d offered her violence.
“Of course I’ll be
lying in wait, so when he comes through that door I can knock him cold. Then
I’ll tie him up and gag him. No blindfold, though. When he wakes up I want him
to watch while I settle an old score with you. You know I can’t stand not being
able to pay my debts, and you’ve got something coming to you, haven’t you,
angelface?” He smiled as he said it, a slow, cruel smile that sliced through
the facade of calm she was trying to hang onto; peeled her wide open to the
core of fear lying beneath. “After that, I don’t know…maybe I’ll kill you
both.”
His voice faded to
silence while he paused to gloat over his next idea. She could see it in his
eyes.
“Then again, maybe
he’ll suffer more having to live the rest of his life with the memory. Me
helping myself to his wife, and him not able to do a thing about it. What do
you think?”
Emily stared at
him, wide-eyed. She could feel the aura of menace that emanated from him, so
powerful it was almost palpable, and she didn’t doubt for a moment that he was
prepared to carry out his threat. Mike had saved her the first time—and quick
reflexes and sheer good luck had saved her the second time—
But how in the
name of God could she save herself now?
And what about
Mike? Once he walks through that door he’s in as much danger as I am.
“What, nothing to
say? That’s not very friendly of you, angelface. Well, we won’t have to sit
here long.” Steve glanced at his watch. “He should be here in about—oh—fifteen
minutes, I’d say. Then we’ll be able to put on a nice little show for him,
won’t we? Now you sit right there…” He pointed to the sofa. “…so I can put some
of the rope I brought with me to good use. Only temporarily: you’ll need your
hands free later for what I’ve got in mind. But I don’t want you causing me any
trouble while I’m dealing with lover-boy. I seem to remember it’s not a good
idea to turn my back on you.”
“You won’t get
away with this,” Emily said, trying hard to sound confident. “Mike’s colleagues
know about your connection with him and me. This will be the first place
they’ll head.”
“You know, you’re
right.” Steve’s face looked thoughtful: then he grinned. “But they won’t find
out until they get in to the office, will they? And that won’t be until close
on half-past eight: I’ve had a mate on the outside keeping tabs on their
routine for a couple of weeks now. I’d say another ten minutes to get here
after that…which means we’ve got well over an hour to have some fun together.
I’ve had four years in a jail cell, remember, to dream up all the things I can
to do to you in an hour.”
His grin became
feral, terrifying.
“I just hope Mike
appreciates my efforts. What do you think, angelface? Do you think he will?”
He produced a
length of cord from his jacket; bound her wrists and ankles together, taking
all the time he needed to make the knots secure. Next, he pulled a roll of tape
out of his pocket and wound it four times around her mouth. “Don’t want you
singing out and warning him, do we? That’d spoil all the fun…there, that’s
fine.”
He stepped back to
admire his handiwork; heard a key start to turn in the lock. Swiftly, silently,
he moved behind the front door.
MacCauley eased
the door open, trying to keep noise to a minimum, to the sight of Emily tied up
on the lounge. The moment he met her fear-filled eyes he forgot everything he’d
ever been taught about the right way to enter a room.
Christ, no! The
bastard’s got to her already…
That was all he
could think of. He had no room in his mind for anything else. It was second
nature to him to use the door as a shield: to slam it back against the wall in
case anyone was behind it. But for the first time since his police academy days
he threw procedure aside.
And then his world
went black.
(End of excerpt)
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