Set Me Free (26 page)

"You got all that from a glimpse?" Jaeda wrinkled her nose making Liesl shake her head.

"I know it seems weird, but I can see it like a photograph in my head. Square face. White blond hair. Pale green eyes."

"What did you just say?" Zach jerked away from the car.

Liesl glanced up at him. "Um, I was just describing the guy."

"Middle aged. Pale green eyes?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "What's the matter? You look like you're about to pass out."

Zach ignored the question, pulling his keys out of his back pocket. His fingers trembled as he tried to hold the car key straight. "Which way did you say he was going?"

AJ frowned, glancing at the girls before looking back at Zach. "That way." He pointed down the road, stealing the air from Zach's lungs.

"I gotta go." Zach didn't have time for an explanation. As he sprinted across the road, all he could visualize was the picture of William Tenner that he'd held in his hands only two days ago. White blond hair. Pale green, soulless eyes.

"Shit, no, please." Zach breathed as he started his car and checked the road before doing a quick U-turn and accelerating down the street in the direction of his house...and Lucy.

Chapter 31

LUCY

I ran my fingers under the water and flicked off the droplets. The temperature was good. The bath was nice and deep so it'd take a while to fill. I was tempted to strip off and jump straight in, let it fill around me, but I also liked the idea of Zach coming home and undressing me again. That sensual look in his eyes as he studied my body, made fire rush through my center. My sweaty running clothes were in the hamper, but my panties and bra were still in place...unless I went and changed into clean ones. It'd probably be kind of gross for him to take off my smelly underwear.

I wrinkled my nose, deciding instead to strip as soon as I heard him coming up the stairs. I could maybe strike a pose against the vanity.

I rolled my eyes and sniggered. What was Zach turning me into?

With a little hum, I tied a knot in the shower curtain to keep it out of the way, before rolling up a towel for a headrest. I was just searching the cabinet for some bubbles when I heard the front door click. I'd purposely left it unlocked to make Zach's journey to me as fast as possible.

I grinned.

"I'm upstairs if you'd like to join me!"

I silently giggled at my boldness, not in a million years would I do this with anyone else, but in the love department, Zach was turning me into a brave, secure woman.

Woman.

I rolled my eyes again, feeling more like a naughty kid as I stretched up from my crouch and went to unclasp my bra.

"Hello Lucy."

A chill swept through me. My hands dropped to my sides, my eyes bulging wide as terror tried to turn my muscles to ice.

I didn't need to look around to see whose voice it was. The waves of nausea coursing through me were my best indicator.

William Tenner.

I thought my eyes might roll out of my head as I turned to face him. Petrified wasn't even close to what I was feeling. My ice muscles were melting, feeling as powerful as water droplets as I pressed my butt against the vanity.

His pale green eyes studied me while his mouth toyed with a smirk. I swallowed as his gaze slowly travelled over my near naked body. I wanted to cover myself, but couldn't loosen my grip on the vanity. I checked the gap between him and the door. He was a big man and I had no show. Running wasn't an option this time.

He must have read my mind, because his teeth flashed as he raised a pistol at me.

"You've got nowhere to go, sweetheart. This is the end of the line...and it's about damn time too."

"How'd you find me?"

How I managed to speak, I don't know, but the words came out calm and even.

He scoffed. "What kind of moron steals an FBI ID and then uses it to get evidence from the warehouse? You think I'm stupid?" He tipped his head. "That was a bright red flag Lucy-Lu. As soon as I heard the story I headed down to L.A. You think a little hair dye's going to fool me? I flashed your photo around the taxi stands, which easily led me to the motel and then straight here. Your idiot boyfriend paid with his credit card. Tell him to use cash next time."

"So the Feds know you're here then?" I looked straight into those eyes of his...the ones that usually turned me to putty.

"Nice try. I told them I'd handle the case. They trust me."

"They shouldn't." My fear gave way to a spark of anger.

Tenner grinned before pushing his tongue into the side of his cheek. "So where is your little love muffin?"

I didn't even flinch, just pressed my lips together and kept my gaze steady. I wasn't giving him a thing. All I could hope was that Zach wouldn't show up anytime soon. My death now seemed inevitable, but his didn't have to be. I had to act. I had to do something to get Tenner out of this house.

My eyes skittered down the edge of the doorway.

"He helped you break into my office, didn't it?"

My gaze shot back to Tenner. His pale eyes were now cold, the usually malicious amusement now replaced with a look of barely controlled rage.

"Oh yeah, I knew someone had been in there." His voice was tight. "My stupid kid couldn't even hold out for one round of questioning. He told me all about the sexy girl he lost it to...in my office. MY office!" He punched the doorframe. I couldn't help flinching and hated myself for it. He took a step into the room, pointing the gun at me as if it were his index finger and he was telling me off. "You've gotten pretty ballsy, haven't you Lucy? I kind of like this new you...apart from the fact you used my son! How dare you." He growled. "How dare you come into my home and steal from me."

"How dare you steal from me!" My anger sparked again.

His eyebrows rose in surprise. "I've never stolen anything from you."

"You stole my family! My life." The spark within me landed on a powder keg that seemed to explode. It smoked over my fear as I let go of the vanity and stood tall. "You asshole! You slimy, lying son of a bitch! I'm gonna finish what my dad started and you are going to burn."

His gloved fingers danced over the gun as his eyes narrowed. "Give me the evidence and I'll kill you quickly." His jaw clenched.

"I'm not giving you anything."

He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. "Lucy, don't make me torture you. As much pleasure as I would get from that experience, I just really don't have the time today. Now all I need are the bank statements. The rest is useless."

I wanted to laugh at him. No it wasn't. My dad's work was going to destroy him. It was an effort not to grin with triumph. "I don't have them."

"Damn it, Lucy, you're pissing me off."

He aimed the gun at my leg, just the way he'd done with my mother. My fear returned and I inched away from the weapon. The bath water was still running into the tub. I needed to turn it off before it started to overflow, but I didn't want to take my eyes off Tenner or that gun.

"It's in the hands of a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle."

He froze, his eyebrows puckering . "You lie." His malevolent gaze flashed with worry.

"You know I'm not lying."

Tenner licked his lower lip, striving for control. "Tell me his name."

I gripped the vanity again, determined to hold out no matter what he did to me.

"Tell me his name!"

He stepped towards me, ready to press the gun into my leg and fire.

I lunged.

With a feral cry I grabbed his wrist and pushed the gun away from me. A shot flew past my shoulder, the vanity mirror shattering. Chunks of glass fell into the sink, one large piece bouncing onto the floor at my feet. Still yelling like a banshee, I pushed my shoulder into him and ran. He stumbled back against the wall before finding his wits. I was trying to smash his armed hand against the wall. Maybe I could knock the gun from his grip, but before I could give it a second try, he grabbed me by the back of the neck and pushed me towards the bath.

His strength made my knees buckle. I tried to brace my arms against the edge of the tub, but he was too strong for me. I barely caught my breath before my head was plunged into the water. I struggled and kicked, the hot liquid scalding my senses. I bucked against his grip, but his arm was straight and strong, holding me steady until I thought my lungs would burst.

They would. In a moment, I'd have to let the water in. It would fill my lungs, suffocating me. Zach would come home and find me dead. The thought was a puncture wound to my soul.

Zach. My sweet Zach with his tender smile, his soft hands, his sweet words, his cute little stories about Discovery Channel and crocodiles.

I stopped struggling.

Crocodiles.

Letting my arms go limp, I clung to the last of the air in my lungs and relaxed into the water. Closing my eyes, I focused on counting, really slowly, waiting until Tenner thought my limp body was dead. I thought I heard a mumbled curse as his grip went slack.

Crocodiles.

I lunged out of the water, pushing him off balance before scrambling for the piece of glass I knew was somewhere near my knee. Before he had a chance to grab me again, I plunged the sharp shard into his belly. He grunted, slipping on the wet floor. The glass shard sliced my palm as I held it steady, his free hand pushing at my face.

A dull sound went off to my left. I didn't realize what it was until a searing pain tore through my torso. I buckled, but wouldn't let go of the glass. I had to end this and a shard of glass in his stomach wasn't going to stop that gun from going off again. Yanking my makeshift weapon free, I forced my body to react in spite of the pain. I held on tightly to the glass and jabbed it down with the final remnants of my waning strength.

It sliced into his neck, his eyes bulging wide as he scrambled to pull it loose. The gun slipped into the overflowing bath, clunking into the bottom of the tub. As Tenner struggled, his elbow slid along the wet surface. His head cracked against the edge of the tub. He went still.

I slumped backwards, crying out with the movement. Blood was flowing from my side, a bright red spot that told me my time was coming. My hand was stinging, sliced deeply by a shard of glass that saved my life.

At least I hoped it had.

I kept my gaze on Tenner, unwilling to look away in case he suddenly came to and finished me off once and for all.

The water was still running, spilling over the tub in gushing waves that were now cold. I didn't have the strength to turn it off. Instead I struggled back to the wall, pulling a towel off the rail.

I whimpered as I pressed it into my side, the pain making me want to dissolve. Leaning back against the wall, I stared at the man who had taken so much from me. His pale, limp body suddenly looked pathetic. All the power he'd wielded over me for so many years was gone. The longer he lay still, the more I could convince myself of that fact.

This was over now.

There was a sense of freedom to the moment that was poignant and sweet.

It was over.

Tenner wasn't going to win this round...or any round after.

I was free.

Closing my eyes with a soft sigh, I let my mind drift on that thought.

I was free.

Chapter 32

ZACH