Page 41 of Shadow Angel
“Get your bag.” Jackson scowled at her. “You don’t expect me to carry it for you, do you?”
Fear gripped Beth by the throat. He was bigger and more powerful than she’d imagined. It would take all her skills to come close to defeating him. Without warning, he lunged forward and grabbed her around the waist and tossed her inside the van. Face down in a muddle of stinking sheets and pillows, Beth had no time to take a breath before he tossed her over to face him as if she weighed nothing. Instincts raging, she pushed down the overpowering need to fight back. He was so strong and what he wanted was for her to struggle. Acting passive should throw him off guard. She went limp and just stared at him gasping for breath.
“You know what this means, don’t you?” Jackson leered at her. “All alone in the woods with a man. You know what I want, don’t you?”
She’d confused him but it wouldn’t stop him. The violence would start very soon. He needed a reaction, to fuel his fantasy. The fighting and struggling was all part of it. He’d have many ways to make her scream and fight back. She’d need to be strong just long enough to take him out. She looked at him and shook her head. “No, what do you want?”
“You’re making me angry.” He slapped her face and sat back on his heels waiting for a reaction.
Not reacting and not showing she cared when people abused her had been the only weapon she’d possessed as a kid. Abusers fed on negative responses. Levi Jackson was no different. He’d not get a whimper from her no matter what he did.
“What’s wrong with you?” He slapped her again and pinched her breast.
Blood trickled into Beth’s mouth, the metallic taste coating her tongue. Pain shot through her chest bringing back memories long hidden. Her dark side rose like an avenging angel. No way was this monster ever going to restrain her. The second he reached for her left hand she reared up, pulled out a hatpin, aiming for his ear—and missed. The pin barely pierced his neck and he snapped back, screaming with rage. She had one second to escape. Scrambling for the door, Beth jumped from the van and bolted along the dirt road, moving deeper into the forest. Seconds later, Jackson was behind her, roaring like a raging bull.
Fit and very fast, Beth ran along the path blindly into darkness. The uneven trail was a nightmare to negotiate. Shrubs and vegetation reached out to snag her clothes, slowing her down. Her big jacket was a burden and she stripped it off as she ran. The heavy breathing and curses were gaining on her and in desperation, she left the path and zigzagged between trees. Right behind her branches cracked, and a heavy weight slammed into her as he tackled her to the ground. The air rushed from her lungs. She gasped for air as terror gripped her. He was so strong and tossed her over like a rag doll to face him. This was what it was like to be a victim.
“That’s better.” Jackson smiled down at her. “I like a good chase.” He grabbed both her hands and pulled them together over her head. “This is gonna be so much fun.” One hand fumbled at his waist.
He’s going for his knife.Time seemed to slow as her instinct to survive kicked in. Gasping for breath, she glared at him. She had one more chance to spoil his fantasy, one more chance to kill him before he sliced her up. That’s how it went. She’d read all the details of his kills. His face was close to her, his hot cigarette-tainted breath brushing her cheek. “You had the mothers. Why did you kill the kids?”
“What?” Jackson stared at her confused.
Trying to gather her strength, Beth needed time to act. “I know about the women you raped and murdered, but why the kids?”
“How did you know?” Jackson shook his head like a dog dispelling water, his eyes dark pools of surprise above her.
She’d destroyed his fantasy and his mood changed from frantic to puzzled. Beth tensed her muscles. “I know everything about you and what you did. I’ve read what you posted on the dark web. I’ve seen the crime scene images. If I’m going to be part of your trophy collection, at least tell me why you killed the kids?”
“A mother will do anything to save her kid.” Jackson laughed and shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was saying. “Killing them in front of them made them fight harder. I like it when they fight back.” He shook his head. “You figure you know about me and yet you came along? I’ve heard about women like you. You want a bad boy? Bad boys get you killed.”
Playing dumb, Beth shook her head. “No and I didn’t know it was you until you attacked me. I’ve read about the murders and checked them out. I’m a hacker, is all.”
“If you figure keeping me talking will make me go easy on you, think again.” Jackson grinned at her. “I’ll just kill you slower. I have all night.”
Any doubts that Jackson was the psychopathic killer she’d been hunting vanished in that second. Pinned and helpless, she’d become like all his other victims. Gripped in an uncontrollable rage to find justice for the women and children he’d murdered, her dark side kicked in with a burst of adrenaline.Do something now or die.In a fight for her life, she reared up and headbutted him square on the nose. He bellowed in pain and the grip loosened on her hands.
“You bitch.” He held his face rocking back and forth.
Scrambling to get away, Beth’s feet slid in the damp fallen leaves covering the forest floor as she ran weaving between the trees. When darkness surrounded her and the dense forest offered sanctuary, she dropped, panting at the foot of a tree shrouded in bushes. In the distance, she could hear him, cursing and stumbling after her. Her psychopath side, the hidden part of her that gave her the strength to hunt down monsters, slipped away. Suddenly transported back to her childhood, it was the night the man she’d loved, her father, had changed her forever. Terrified, shocked, and in fear of her life, she’d witnessed him murder her mother, slicing and stabbing. He’d laughed as he cut deep, offering no quick death. He’d made sure she died in excruciating pain. In Beth’s mind the time was now. Every second played out the recurring nightmare. The image of her mother’s terrified eyes as she fought for life, her screams of agony, and her last words to her as she died.
“Run.”
A new reality closed in around her as she relived the memory. Instantly a defenseless little girl, she could see the blood dripping from the cutthroat razor and smell her mother’s blood. She’d ran into the woods to escape her father. Reality and memory merged, and Beth couldn’t find a way back to the real world. Trembling, with sweat streaming into her eyes, she rolled into a ball unable to move. Terror had her by the throat. The sound of a man searching the forest, the heavy footsteps, and breaking of branches came closer. He was coming. Coming for her.
FORTY-FOUR
Sweat ran between Beth’s shoulder blades in an annoying tickle, and her lungs ached with each ragged breath. The dark forest spun around her and damp leaves brushed her face. She shook her head as reality slid firmly back into place. It had happened before, the shifting of time, as her mind thrust her back to that night. The memory never left her and talking to Styles had brought it back to the surface, not in a dream this time but right now, when she needed all her skills to survive. It was a vulnerability no one could know existed. Heart pounding, as Jackson moved through the bushes, she rammed the memories deep into the recesses of her mind and forced her legs to move. Rising up, she exploded from her hiding place and darted from behind the tree. She needed to attack from behind and ran in a semicircle in an attempt to get behind him.
As she’d crossed his path, he’d glanced her way. She’d underestimated Jackson. Enraged and pumped with adrenaline, he was on top of her in a few long strides. His thick hand closed around one arm and her head jerked back as he spun her to face him. Beth raised one knee to his groin but he turned away and she kneed him in the thigh. Gasping, she stared into wild eyes. Spittle running down his chin, glistening in the moonlight, as he cursed her. She punched him hard in the face. “Let me go.”
“Yeah, keep fighting, make me work for it.” Jackson suddenly grinned. “I knew I’d make you scream.” He raised the knife in his hand to show her. “This is gonna be fun.”
His stinking breath washed over her, and out of options, Beth drew back her fist and slammed a punch into his throat. As his eyes widened, and as he gasped for air, she lifted her knee and this time connected. Wrenching her arm from his grasp, she pulled out the hatpin and drove it deep into his ear. As he howled in agony, she dragged it out. When his head fell forward, exposing his neck, she plunged the hatpin into the base of his skull severing his spinal cord, instantly paralyzing him. Twitching, Jackson made a gurgling sound, spittle dripped from his fixed grimace. His eyes rolled back in his head and he fell heavily on top of her.
Panic gripped Beth as Jackson pinned her beneath him. He twitched in the last throes of death and it made her sick to her stomach. She gagged as the stink of his bowels and bladder relaxed. Gasping for air, Beth pushed at him using her knees and hands. After many attempts, she finally managed to roll him onto his side and wiggle out from under him. She checked his pulse and was horrified to find him alive.What does it take to kill this guy?
Under her fingers his heart thumped weakly and then missed a few beats before it stopped. She sat staring at him for a long five minutes before checking him again. Nothing. Breathing a sigh of relief, she removed the pin and wiped it on his shirt. She’d need to search the van for the other one. Leaving evidence behind would see her behind bars in no time. Suddenly exhausted, she pressed her back against a tree, and sat for a time dragging in deep breaths. This kill had been brutal and slipping away from Styles unnoticed had been more difficult than she’d imagined. When her heart rate returned to normal, she took out the tarot card and, sliding it from the wrapper, pushed it deep into Jackson’s open mouth. It was over and Beth flopped back on the damp leaf-strewn ground staring at him. “That’s payment for all the women you’ve murdered and their innocent kids.”
