Throttle's Seduction: Insurgents Motorcycle Club (Insurgents MC Romance Book 7) (35 page)

Her blood pumped as she tried to get to the panic button, her hands tingling from the lack of circulation caused by the tightly bound rope. All she could think of was survival. Just as she reached the alarm panel, she was jerked backward by her arms. The pain ripping through them made her think he’d pulled them from their sockets, but compared to the terror weaving around her nerves, the pain was minimal.

“That wasn’t too smart. I pegged you as one of my brighter students.” He began pulling her backward to the bedroom.

Frantically, she tried to free her hands, but she couldn’t.

She heard loud footsteps on her porch. Her heart leapt as hope replaced terror.

The duct tape across her mouth prevented her from screaming out. With renewed vigor, she kicked behind her, hitting his shin. He released her and she dashed to the front door, throwing her body against it.

“Police. Open up!” The loud voice cut through the wooden door. Once again, she threw herself against the door.

Then the madman yanked her by the hair and dragged her to him. It felt like her scalp was ripping away from her skull.

When they entered her bedroom again, she heard the front door splinter. Then the rush of footsteps. He released his grip and she dashed out, tears streaming down her face as she gazed into the faces of several deputies.

He was behind her, the knife blade cool on the back of her neck.

“Sir, put the knife down,” one of the deputies said.

“Stay away or I’ll kill her.” His voice hitched. He whispered against her hair, “I
needed
you.” He pushed her forward a bit and let out a despairing scream as he plunged the knife in the base of her neck.

Searing pain tore through her and she screamed against the tape, her eyes tearing. As blood seeped out from her wound, dizziness overcame her, and she began to go down. It was in that moment that she saw Throttle pushing his way in, his face tight and blanched.

She slammed face down on the hardwood floor.

And then everything went black.

T
hrough the haze
of the night, Throttle followed the flashing lights until they turned into the ER driveway at Pinewood Springs Hospital. He secured his bike and ran inside only to be stopped by security.

“Sir, you can’t go back there. You have to wait in the lobby.”

“Fuck that. My woman was stabbed. I need to be with her.” He rushed through the metal detectors, the alarms beeping at a high pitch. When he came up to the massive metal doors that led to the emergency area, he reached a roadblock—the doors were locked.

The security officer ran over to him. “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to step back out. I need to check you for weapons.”

“Fuck off!” Throttle pounded on the metal doors. “Open the goddamned doors!” From the corner of his eye, he saw the technician pick up the phone. Figuring she was calling the badges, he decided to calm the hell down; if he got a courtesy ride to the town jail, he wouldn’t be there for Kimber. He whirled around. “Where do you want me to go?”

The security guard’s face relaxed a bit. “You have to go back out and come through the detectors again.”

Throttle followed him and placed his chains, rings, money clip, belt, and pocket knife in the yellow basket. He took off his biker boots, then walked through without setting off the detector. He’d left his gun and two knives back in the saddlebags in his Harley; he didn’t have time to fuck around with the badges over a few simple weapons.

As he slid his belt in the belt hoops, a round-faced woman with short hair smiled at him. “Who are you here to see?”

“Kimber Descourts. She was just brought in.”

“Let’s have a look.” She stared at the computer screen. “Yes, she’s being put into a room right now. I’ll let you know when you can go back. Please have a seat.”

Not able to stay still, Throttle paced the length of the room, his eyes darting to the large wall clock every few seconds.

On his tenth lap around the waiting room, Hawk and Cara came through security with Banger and Rags behind them. A warm feeling spread through him when he saw his brothers. He tilted his chin to them.

“Do you know anything?” Cara asked.

He shook his head, and Hawk, Banger, and Rags came over and clasped his shoulder, striking their chests with their fists in a show of solidarity. Throttle returned the gesture. Cara brought him a cup of coffee and he gulped it, the bitterness making his lips pucker. They sat in silence, the three men staring at the television on a shelf in the corner of the room while Cara leafed through a magazine.

Images of Kimber’s face, bloated from fear, and the blood streaming down her shoulders assaulted him. If he’d only been there with her, none of it would’ve happened. She was his woman and he was supposed to protect her, but he’d failed her. Over and over his mind played out the events—he couldn’t stop the images. He sat with his elbows propped on his thighs, his head in his hands. After a few minutes, he felt a hand on his arm, and he looked up into Hawk’s face.

“I’m here for you, brother. We all are. Lean on us.” Hawk squeezed Throttle’s arm once, then let go.

“Fuck. I don’t know what I’m gonna do if something happens to Kimber. I should’ve been there.” His voice broke and he turned away.

“I understand what you’re going through. I went through the same thing with Cara. It fuckin’ sucks, but don’t be blaming this shit on yourself. We can all say we should’ve done something, but we never know what would’ve happened or not. It seems like this motherfucker was aiming for her and would’ve struck another time. Sometimes shit just happens. The strength comes in how we deal with the shit when it’s thrown at us.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s just that I wanted to protect her. I didn’t want this to have happened.”

“None of us wants our women hurt, but you did your best. You’re here for her now. She’ll do okay. She’s tough. She’s got a helluva lot of fight in her. You know that.”

Throttle smiled weakly. “Yeah, she’s quite a woman.”

“Sir, you can go back now,” the round-faced woman said. Throttle rushed up to the counter. “It’s room fifteen. Go through the door, turn left and it’ll be at the end of the hall, to your left.” She pushed a button and a loud buzzer sounded.

Throttle walked through and searched for Kimber’s room. When he arrived, he saw the curtain drawn around her bed. He waited outside her room until two people exited. A blonde woman stopped and asked, “Are you here for Ms. Descourts?” He nodded. She smiled and extended her hand. “I’m Dr. Haines.”

Throttle shook her hand. “Is she gonna be okay?”

“She’s going to be fine. There will be a bit of recovery time, but she should be back on her feet in two to three weeks. You can see her.” The doctor opened the curtain.

Kimber lay under a white blanket, her black hair a stark contrast against the pillowcase. “Babe?” Throttle approached the bed, then took her cold hand in his warm one. Her eyes fluttered open, a glassy look covering them. “You gonna get outta here fast for me?”

A smile tugged at her mouth.

“She’s very groggy due to the sedatives we gave her. She is one lucky lady. The knife didn’t cut any arteries, and the wound wasn’t so deep. I stitched it up. I’ll keep her in the hospital for a week to make sure she’s free from infection. When she does go home, she’ll need help cleaning and changing the bandages. Will she have help with that?” Throttle nodded. “Excellent. I’ll leave you alone with her. Since she’s being admitted to the hospital, we’re waiting for a room so she can be transported there from the ER. It shouldn’t take more than an hour. Do you have any questions?”

“No.” He watched as the doctor left; then he walked over to the bed and kissed Kimber on her forehead. “You scared the fuck outta me, babe,” he said in a low voice as he held her hand tight.

She looked at him, her eyes not entirely focused. “Sorry,” she rasped.

“I know you got some strong drugs in you, so go ahead and sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up and after that.”

“Come closer,” she whispered. He leaned down, his ear next to her mouth. “I love you.”

Her declaration made his heart soar, and for the first time since he’d learned she was in serious danger, lightness descended on him, pushing away all the heaviness from the past twelve hours. “That’s good to know because I’ve been in love with you for a long while.” She closed her eyes, and he brushed his lips over hers as she drifted to sleep.

*     *     *

The room’s walls
were concrete and painted a steel-blue. A cheap light fixture hung down from the paneled ceiling, casting dark shadows in the corner of the windowless room. Detective McCue sat on one of the plastic chairs opposite to Dr. Redman. The Lingerie Bandit sat with his hands folded on the metal table, a cocky smile played on his lips.

McCue blew out a long breath and locked eyes with him. Instead of apprehension, the detective saw confidence in the man’s brown orbs.
He thinks he’s going to beat this.
Shaking his head, he leaned back in his chair. “You’re in quite a jam, aren’t you?”

Redman chuckled then leaned back, crossing his leg over his thigh. “Why do you say that?”

“You stabbed one of your students in front of me and several deputies.” He took a sip of his coffee.

“I was driven to the brink of insanity by Ms. Descourts. She’d invited me to come over to help her with some problems she was having in my business class. She threw herself at me then threatened to expose me to the school’s Board of Directors and to my wife. I don’t know why she wanted to destroy everything I worked so hard for, but she did. I think she was in love with me and became vindictive when I spurned her.” He shook his head. “I feel sorry for her.”

“So you stabbed her?”

“I felt cornered. It was like she was toying with me. You know, like a cat does with a mouse. I lost it. Women can be that way. Twisting and turning men inside out. They know they have that power and they enjoy it.” He placed his hands behind his head and smiled.

White rage shot through McCue but he knew he had to keep his anger at bay if he ever hoped to garner a confession on the other murders. “You sure you don’t want a lawyer?”

“No reason for one. I went insane for several moments. I’m a family man with children.”

“Is that right? Does your wife know about your late night strolls?”

Redman scrunched his face. “Night strolls? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The walks you take when you want to watch women undress. I’m sure it’s pretty exciting.”

The man’s face turned bright red as his nostrils flared “I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to pin the break-ins and murders of that pervert the papers have named the Lingerie Bandit. I won’t stand for this.” He began to stand up.

“Sit down. You’re not going anywhere.” It was McCue’s turn to smile. “You sure you don’t want that lawyer?”

“No.”

“Your shoe prints match the ones found at several of the crime scenes, many of the victims were either former students of yours or attended the college during the time you were employed there, and I’m more than sure your DNA is going to match the one we collected at the crime scenes.” The detective’s gaze never wandered from the killer’s.

Redman’s cocky demeanor crumbled. Looking stunned, he stared at McCue. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Just tell me what happened. We’re going to find out. We have search warrants in our hands and are ready to execute them at your residence and place of work.”

Panic spread over his face. “My wife likes an orderly house. You can’t have your men tearing it apart. It’ll just crush her if the house is out of order.”

“You’re the one controlling this. You can tell me about Deputy Manzik, and it’ll make things a lot better for your family. You don’t want them plastered across the breaking news, do you?”

“No,” he said in a low voice.

The detective sat sipping his coffee waiting for Redman to take the lead.

“It’s hard to believe this is happening. I didn’t mean for any of it to go this way. I only wanted to watch the women, but it got to be that it wasn’t enough.” He raised his eyes searching McCue’s for understanding.

Nodding his head, the detective said, “So you wanted to kick it up a bit to get the thrill back.”

“Yes. I wanted so much more.” He bowed his head, his shoulders slumping. “I always felt shame and disgust when I’d be home sleeping next to my wife. I’d promise myself that it would be the last time, but it never was. The urge was too strong….”

“So if you hadn’t been caught you would’ve continued raping and murdering women?”

“I was hoping not but I can’t really answer the question… I only know that I struggled with it daily.”

“And Deputy Manzik?”

“She was beautiful. I desired her when she was at the college. I’d seen her photo recently in the paper, and it reminded me how pretty she was and how much I wanted her. I took it as a sign, and I sought her out.” He rested his head between his hands. “I had a lot of time with her. I filmed our time together. I’m sure your deputies will find it. It’s about three hours, I think.” A long pause ensued before he cleared his throat. “I’m so horribly ashamed of the despicable crimes I’ve committed.” His voice broke and deep sobs shook his body and filled the small room.