Page 113 of Betrayed

Her window of opportunity was approaching.

Miles, who had been fairly quiet for the last ten minutes of the drive, said, “We can be grateful the owners of this house don’t believe in home security and are out of the country right now. Not really sure why the doc told me all about their trip. Sure, I’ve been selling pharmaceuticals to him for years, but he had no idea what I was planning.” He let out a sardonic laugh.

Was this man pure evil? The derision in his voice motivated her more to make a run for it as soon as he let her out.

He drove up in front of a large house. The owners were not going to be happy a sociopath had brought his kidnap victim to their pristine home.

But with any luck, she’d never go inside.

Miles parked and turned off the engine. “Sit tight, and I’ll be right with you.”

She was tempted to spit in his face but resisted the urge. She needed to act like she was submissive, so she could catch him off-guard.

He opened the car door and reached in to unbuckle her. “All right, let’s go have a nice dinner.” He stepped back to give her enough room to climb out.

She had to time this right or he’d grab her, and she wouldn’t get anywhere.

She walked toward the house without waiting for him to take her arm. He pushed the door shut, then put his hand loosely on her back.

Wait for it. He’d have to open the door … maybe he’d step ahead.

He did just that. As soon as he moved slightly past her, gaze fixed on the front door, AJ spun and ran. She let the hoodie fall from her shoulders.

Miles swore and came after her.

As she ran, she lifted her arms into the air and slammed them down against her abdomen. The plastic gouged into her wrist before it finally snapped. She reached up and ripped the gag out of her mouth and tossed it to the ground.

With her arms free, she increased her speed and ran down the driveway.

She didn’t know where she was going, but she didn’t care. She had to get away from Miles.

Lights from a neighbor’s house flashed as she ran past the trees. She dared to dart that direction. She couldn’t see, but neither could Miles. If she could get to someone, she could call 911. She could call Logan.

Miles gained on her.

Her toe caught on a root. She flailed but managed to keep her feet underneath her and not fall. But it slowed her down.

She needed to get out of the woods. Once on the neighbor’s lawn, she’d be able to pick up her speed again.

But was it worth running to the front door? What if they weren’t home?

As soon as she broke through the trees she yelled, “Help! Someone please help me.”

Miles caught up, and he tackled her.

She flew forward and slammed into the grass. Her head narrowly missed an edging stone around a flower garden.

Her breath was gone. She couldn’t scream. The seizing of her lungs finally eased, but with Miles’s weight on her, she still couldn’t catch her breath. Not enough to scream anyway.

No lights flicked on inside the house. No curtains shifted to indicate someone was checking on the noise. No one was home.

And she was back in Miles’s grasp.

God, no, don’t let him—

Miles cut off her prayer by flipping her over and slamming her onto her back. Nasty words flew from his mouth. He slammed his fist into the side of her face.

She swung her arms at him and hit him as best she could. It wasn’t much, but it blocked his attempts to punch her again.