Page 90 (1/2)
When he swung toward the front door, Dallas took a chance and stepped into the kitchen doorway, pulling at his grip “My purse—”
The words were barely out of her ainst the frarabbed her by the throat
“I told you to forget about that da off her air and silencing her vocal cords
He hurled more abuse and obscenities at her, but Dallas was beyond hearing them She opened her mouth for air, but none came in and no sound ca to weaken its stranglehold on her throat with no success
With her lungs screa, she tried to fight hies of her vision But she could feel her strength ebbing away, fading even as the pain grew to an intense level—her ears, her head, her whole body roaring with it
Blackness swirled, a relief offered somewhere in its dark void Even as it closed around her consciousness, the pressure abruptly lifted But there was no strength in her legs to hold her upright, and Dallas sluulps, a hand lifting to her painfully throbbing throat
A loud crash finally penetrated her dazed senses With an al of her head, Dallas looked around for Boone, fear surfacing anew
Then she saw hi with Quint She had no idea where Quint had come from—or when or how
A kind of joyous relief quivered through her, but it didn’t last as Quint blocked one blow from Boone, buthied after hi
Her own eyes warned her that Boone was bigger, stronger, and a good forty pounds heavier than Quint This ti and dance out of Boone’s trap But Dallas didn’t kno long he could hold him off without help
Forcing her liered to the telephone on the corner desk Behind her she could hear the gruntings of breath, the shuffle of feet, and the s above the radio’s tender ballad
With cluers, she clutched the receiver to her ear and dialed the eency nu clearly across the line
“What’s your eency please?”
But Dallas had troubleher bruised vocal cords work “Send the police” It was raspy and weak She sed and tried again “It’s Boone Rutledge He’s gone crazy”
As if in e across the floor and crashed into the wall, the racket of it loud enough for the operator to hear