Page 91 of Protecting Maggie
“Not yet. He could go south toward Mexico, but it’s unlikely he’d try to take her across the border. I just put out an alert for her, so if he does think that’s the best route, she’ll be found. He could also hit the interstate, then go north toward LA, try to get lost there. Maybe give her to one of the drug dealers he was attempting to sell to when she was pulled over years ago. That seems like something he’d feel was appropriate.”
“Asshole,” Preacher muttered.
“I’m watching her, but I’m going to call Kevlar. Give me a minute.”
Preacher nodded, relieved that backup would be on the way but hating to lose the connection to Tex, and thus to Maggie, at the same time.
Preacher took the time while Tex was radio silent to say every curse word he could think of, trying to relieve some of the tension he felt. It didn’t help. By the time Tex came back on the line, Preacher was even more wound up than he’d been when he realized Maggie was gone.
“She’s slowing down. Oh shit.”
“What? Tex? Where is she?”
“On the road map, it looks as if she just pulled over on the side of the road, but when I look at the satellite, there’s a small strip of sand. There’s thick vegetation blocking the beach from the street.”
Preacher pressed his foot down harder on the gas. “Where?” he barked.
“Two miles past the parking lot of her apartment, take a left,” Tex said.
Preacher’s heart was in his throat as he followed Tex’s directions. Time was running out. He could feel it. Every second it took for him to get to Maggie was one second too long.
“I’m comin’,” he said under his breath as he drove like a maniac to get to the woman he loved. “Hang on, Maggie. I’m comin’.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Maggie’s heart was in her throat when Roman slowed the vehicle. He pulled off the side of the road, thick bushes and small trees scraping against the side of the car as he did. She prayed they’d leave a mark; it would be one more piece of evidence against Roman.
He shut off the car and turned to look at her. The smile on his face made her blood run cold. “Ready for some fun?” he asked. “Well, fun for me maybe, not so much for you.” Then he laughed as he opened his door and got out.
Maggie braced herself.
The second he opened the back door, she was moving.
She leapt forward as best she could from her seated position and raked her nails down his face.
He stumbled backward but grabbed her as he fell. They both landed on the asphalt, and Maggie immediately tried to get up and run.
Roman caught her ankle and she went down, hitting her chin on the street so hard, her teeth rattled in her head. Roman was on her then, holding her face down, wrenching her arms behind her until her shoulders felt as if they were being pulled out of their sockets.
It was just her luck that there was no traffic at that moment. Any other time, there would probably be tons of people driving by, but it felt as if she and Roman were the only two people on the planet right then.
Roman yanked her to her feet, still holding her hands behind her, and shoved her toward the bushes.
Maggie opened her mouth and screamed as loud as she could, hoping against hope that someone, somewhere, would hear her and call the police. But almost as soon as sound left her throat, Roman’s hand clamped over her mouth and nose. Cutting off her air.
He was taller than she was by almost a foot. Stronger too. Maggie couldn’t win in a physical fight against him, and right now, all she could think about was getting air into her lungs.
She didn’t notice the scrapes of the bushes against her body as Roman pushed them through to the small strip of sand on the other side. The early-evening sun glinted off the water, and she vaguely noticed how pretty the sunset was with the clouds.
She thought of a different beach, a different time. When she and Shawn had lain on the sand and looked up at the stars. She’d loved that beach, and didn’t want the feelof sand on her back to forever remind her of this moment…if she survived.
Just when Maggie thought she was going to pass out, Roman removed his hand from her face.
She gulped in air, trying not to hyperventilate. In her desperate attempt to get oxygen to her lungs, she didn’t notice how close they’d gotten to the water until she felt the wetness on her feet.
She tripped over the rocks at the shore, making it easy for Roman to push her to her knees. The water lapped at her thighs as she renewed her struggle to get away from her would-be murderer.
But he simply laughed at her attempts to escape. “You’re more trouble than you’re worth,” he said as he bent her farther, so her face was almost touching the water.
