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Mark kept screath could break, to part the layers of cloth-​reinforced tape His wife’s screaer had pulled out his wickedly sharp knife and with quick, deft s She had tried to kick him, she had that much sanity left, but he slapped her and punched her and tore at her and left her beaten in spirit as well as body Then the real horror had begun

He had torn at her clothing, revealing her in the cruelest way, robbing her of what shreds of dignity still clung to her The knife either cut at fabric or pressed threateningly into the soft flesh of her throat, but it was always there, a constant ugly extension of Ruger’s violent lust

Mark screahed out loud as he stood over her, slowly unbuckling his belt, blowing kisses at Connie, dragging it out

There was no warning at all when the thunderbolt sla for the metal tab of his fly and the next he was bowled off his feet, driven away fro that screah-​pitched wail of inhu behind an overstuffed chair He almost fell, but his knees hit the seat and it doubled hi the weight of whatever had struck hi their heads, disoriented

But Karl Ruger was not so vulnerable a creature

Hissing like a cat, he turned, lashing out with his elbow even before he could see his attacker As the elbow struck, there was a howl of agony and Val Guthrie toppled away, clawing at her left arer’s elbow had slammed into the already sprained tendons andbitch!" he snarled and reached down and grabbed her by the hair, hauling her to her feet He cuffed her across the face, bruising the spot he’d struck earlier Val was far beyond the reach of that kind of pain She lashed out with her foot, aier turned and took it on the hip Still, the kick had enough desperate force to stagger hirip on her, backpedaled a step, and came within reach of Mark, who lashed out with his bound feet and knocked Ruger sprawling

Val spun and ran for the door, hoping to lure Ruger out into the fields, away fro enough for those blessed sirens to arrive

Ruger was up in an instant He didn’t waste tirowling in pain and fury He went after her barehanded, forgetting his knife, forgetting his auto off the porch, cradling her arh the thunder and the rain, she couldn’t hear how close he was

She ran

Twice he aled direction, drawing away fro in the mud

"You bitch!" he howled

Val ran back toward the house, dodged around a tree, past a parked tractor, then ran along the side of the house toward the backyard, where her father’s Bronco was parked There was a shovel in the back If she could get to it…

She screaers scrabble at her hair

Dodging, darting left and then right, she rounded the corner of the house and burst into the backyard

Bright lights dazzled her, stopping her in her tracks with all the power of a force field She slipped and fell

Ruger caught her by the hair even as he skidded to a halt, startled by the intense brightness of the headlights of Crow’s car

Chapter 17

Karl Ruger closed his hand tightly, knotting it in Val’s hair as he stood tall, facing the harsh white lights He reached down and around her and clamped his viselike left hand on her windpipe as the driver’s door clicked and opened

Through the lights and the driving rain he could only justfrom the car The car door slammed, but the man didn’t move

"Val…?" the man called His voice was distorted as he shouted over the wind