Vulnerable: (McIntyre Security Bodyguard Series - Book 1) (42 page)

Jake gave Shane his location, and Shane parked just a couple blocks away and walked up to the front passenger door of Jake’s black Bronco Raptor. He wrapped on the window, and Jake unlocked the door.

“Where is he?” Shane said, settling into the front passenger seat. He’d seen plenty of surveillance photos of Kline since they’d started watching him, but he’d never seen the man in person. He’d been too focused on Beth. But now, feeling edgy and restless because Beth wasn’t talking to him, he had a burning need to see Kline in the flesh.

Jake pointed down the block. “There, in the shadows on the side of that liquor store.”

Shane grabbed a pair of night vision binoculars and trained his gaze on two people who were standing close together in the shadows of a run-down brick building. He could barely make out the shape of a man leaning against the building. Another figure, presumably a female, was on her knees in front of the man.

“She’s a meth addict,” Jake said. “I got a good look at her face, or what’s left of it.”

Shane swore as he watched the man ramming his cock deep into the woman’s throat. Kline had a hold of the woman’s long, stringy blond hair, and he was using it to hold her close as he fucked her mouth. It made his gut clench hotly to think that this prick had once had his hands on Beth. And the thought that he might try to get his hands on her again made Shane sick.

Kline bowed his body sharply as he came in the prostitute’s mouth, shoved so deeply down her throat that she was gagging. When Kline finally released her, she leaned over and vomited on the ground.

“Jesus,” Shane muttered.

Through the binoculars, he watched Kline zip his pants and begin walking in the direction of Jake’s vehicle. It was pitch black outside, and the street lights were all burned out, so there was little risk of Kline seeing them watching him. As Kline neared, Shane made out his long greasy comb-over and his fat, flabby belly hanging out from beneath his stained t-shirt.

Shane laid down the night vision binoculars and reached inside his jacket for his gun.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Jake said, his voice tight.

“I can end this once and for all,” Shane said, pulling the slide back to load a round into the chamber.

“No, Shane.” Jake clasped the barrel of the semi-automatic. “I won’t let you do it. Not like this.”

“This fucker wants to hurt Beth!” Shane said.

“She’s not in any immediate danger. We’re watching Kline 24/7. He can’t get within a mile of her, and you know it.”

“Yeah, but as long as he lives, the threat will continue to hang over her head,” Shane said, eyeing his brother. “One way or another, I’m going to remove the threat.”

“Fine. But you’ll do it right, when the law’s on your side. If you do it this way, it’s cold-blooded murder, plain and simple, and I won’t let you do that. Now, holster your weapon.”

Reluctantly, Shane returned his semi-automatic to its holster. The two men sat still as Kline ambled past, well hidden behind the darkly tinted windows of the Raptor.

Chapter 37

The next morning, Beth was even more desolate than she’d been the day before. She’d tossed and turned all night, unable to stop her mind from reliving the confrontation with Shane in his office over and over again. Every time she closed her eyes, she could feel his arms around her, cradling her in his lap as he’d sat with her in the ladies’ room floor. She couldn’t get the memory of his expression out of her head. He’d looked... destroyed.

Shane’s text messages started up again in the morning, although not nearly as often. Beth had to keep her phone on silent because knowing he was reaching out to her and not responding to him was killing her.

Before she left for work, she ate half a bagel and drank a cup of hot tea. She ended up driving to work, because she just didn’t have the energy to walk. And now that she knew Miguel was following her during the day, she found herself watching for him. She spotted his Mustang two cars behind her on her drive to work. After she parked in the employee lot and got out of her car, she spotted him in the visitor lot and waved at him as she walked up to the front entrance to the library. He waved back, and that had made her smile.

She helped a couple of students in the morning, then catalogued some new materials that had come in the morning’s mail. But she had no energy, and her lethargy was compounded by an overwhelming sense of loss. 

To make matters worse, her period still hadn’t started yet. It was overdue now by at least a couple of days, and she was starting to get nervous. She’d never really given much thought to the idea that she might be pregnant. It had just seemed so unlikely that they’d get pregnant after just one episode of unprotected sex. But now she was officially late, and if it turned out that she was pregnant, well, she’d just broken up with the father of her hypothetical baby. Talk about rotten timing! If her period didn’t come by the end of the week, she’d have to take a pregnancy test. But right now, it was the last thing she wanted to think about.

She found herself sneaking peaks at her phone and reading his incoming text messages. Some of them were pleas for a second chance, some were declarations of love, some were apologies. A few of them came across as frustrated and even angry. But the ones that got to her the most were the ones that simply asked how she was doing.

Please tell me you’re okay.

She supposed some might consider the constant stream of messages creepy, but she found them comforting. At least she knew he was still out there, still thinking about her.

“Beth, talk to him,” Mary said. Mary was sitting at her desk, answering e-mails, but her attention kept wandering to Beth.

Beth just shook her head.

“I have to run to the restroom,” Mary said, rising from her chair. “I overdid it on the coffee this morning, and my bladder’s about to burst. Will you be okay alone for a few minutes?”

“Of course,” Beth said.

“I’ll be right back.”

Beth checked the time. It was just a few minutes before her next student appointment at 11 a.m. She checked her calendar and saw the student’s name: Maggie Swenson. She remembered Maggie from previous visits – a small, sturdy blond, very intelligent and highly-driven. Good. Working with a dedicated student like Maggie would help her focus.

The bell to the Special Collections door chimed, and Beth got up to let Maggie in. She opened the door and saw Maggie standing there with a bright smile on her face.

“You look happy,” Beth said, returning Maggie’s smile.

“I
am
happy,” Maggie replied, showing a matched set of dimples. “I got an ‘A’ on my anatomy midterm!”

Beth chuckled. “Congratulations! Come on in, and let’s get started.”

A hand shot out of nowhere, shoving Maggie sideways, so hard she toppled to the floor, shrieking loudly as she landed hard on her backpack.

“Maggie!” Beth cried, reaching for the young woman.

Beth had barely taken a step toward Maggie when Andrew Morton appeared in front of her. He shoved Beth back into the Special Collections room with a palm to her chest, and Beth stumbled backward, fighting to keep from falling, too.

“Andrew!” Beth cried, catching herself on the edge of a study table. “What are you doing?”

Andrew stalked into the room and slammed the door behind him. “You stupid bitch!”

“Andrew!” Beth gasped, shocked by his fury, both in his voice and in his expression. He was absolutely livid.

“Thanks to you and your fuckwad boyfriend, I’m screwed! My dad took away everything! My car, my credit cards! Everything!”

Andrew advanced on her, his hands fisted at his sides. His face was bright red, his eyes screwed up in rage, and there was spittle on his chin.

“Andrew, I’m sorry!” Beth cried, edging around the table as she tried to keep some distance between them. “I never meant – ”

“Shut up, bitch!” he yelled. “Your God-damned boyfriend thinks he’s so fucking hot! He thinks he owns you, and no one else can have you. Well, he’s wrong!”

Andrew kept coming, moving faster now with intent. Beth scooted backwards, not wanting to turn her back on him. When he started gaining on her, she had no choice but to turn and run for the inner office. She’d made it just inside the room and was reaching for the phone on her desk to call campus police when Andrew grabbed her. He yanked the phone receiver out of her hand, then he pulled the phone free from its cord. He threw the phone across the room where it bounced off one of the glass walls and hit the floor with a loud ringing thud.

Andrew grabbed Beth’s arms and shook her hard, her head rocking forward and back. His fingers squeezed her arms hard, so hard she feared he would tear the flesh off her bones.

“Andrew, please!” she gasped as she tried to catch her breath.

Andrew released her abruptly, and she dropped to the floor like a stone, striking the back of her head against the metal leg of her desk. She rolled over, attempting to get up on all fours, but just as quickly, he hauled her back upright and struck her in the face with his fist, knocking her right back down to the floor.

“No one tells me what I can or can’t do!” he screamed down at her. “No one! Certainly not you and your prick of a boyfriend!”

Beth lay on her side gasping as she struggled to breathe. Her chest tightened painfully, signaling an asthma attack in progress. But her inhaler was in her purse in her desk drawer, and there was no way she could reach it.

“Let’s see how much he likes you with your pretty face all messed up!” Andrew hauled his booted foot back and kicked Beth in the side of the head.

Her ears rang on impact and blinding pain shot through her skull, then ricocheted down her spine. She lay on her side and curled in on herself, bringing her arms over her head for protection when she saw the boot coming at her again. Andrew kicked her, this time striking her left forearm as it lay protectively over her face. She felt the bone snap under the force of Andrew’s steel-toed boot, and she screamed when a burning streak of pain shot up her arm and blasted her skull.

Several times more his boot came at her, and he kept changing his angle, trying to get at her face. Try as she might to cover herself, he managed to get one kick straight into her face. Pain exploded in the center of her face and her vision started to waver. She saw bright pinpricks of light, sure he had broken her nose. She tasted blood now – a lot of it – running down the back of her throat and filling her mouth, so much she nearly choked on it. Her lips stung, and she realized her bottom lip was split open. She could feel blood trickling down her chin. Her face was swelling and she found it increasingly difficult to breathe. She gagged on the blood pooling in her throat and turned her face to the floor to spit it out.

She was dizzy now, short of breath and unable to focus her eyes. The boot just kept coming at her as he relentlessly hammered her arms, head, and chest. She was gasping now, desperate for air, and trying not to choke. When her vision grew dim, she thought that passing out might be a blessing. At least then she wouldn’t feel this burning torrent of fire and pain.

“Beth!”

She heard Mary’s horrified scream and watched Mary grab Andrew’s arm and attempt to haul him away from her. Andrew kept kicking frantically at Beth, trying to connect with some part of her body.

“Stop it!” Mary screamed as she tried to drag Andrew back from Beth, pummeling him with her small fists. “Get away from her!”

Andrew’s boot struck Beth twice more in the abdomen, knocking what little breath she had left from her, before Mary managed to drag him back several feet.

“Beth, can you call for help?” Mary cried, struggling with all of her might to hold Andrew back. “Use my phone!”

Beth rolled up onto her knees, coughing and gagging on blood and saliva, and then collapsed back onto her side.

“Can’t ... breathe,” Beth wheezed, her breath rattling in her chest.

At the sound of Beth’s ragged voice, Andrew froze. No longer struggling, he stood still as Mary held onto him, staring down at Beth in horror. Beth lay on her side, her arms cradled around her abdomen. She struggled for breath, and her face had begun to turn colors as dark, bloody bruises formed. Her battered nose was beginning to swell, and her bottom lip was swollen and split wide open.

“Oh, God,” Andrew whispered, gaping at Beth’s ruined face. His gaze bounced frantically back and forth between Beth and Mary.

Beth coughed, spitting up blood, and whimpered like a wounded animal.

Andrew made a gagging noise, then wrenched free of Mary’s hold and ran for the door.

Mary dropped to her knees beside Beth, her hands hovering uncertainly over Beth’s body, not sure where to touch her or what to do.

“Inhaler,” Beth gasped, her voice barely audible.

Mary wrenched open the desk drawer and yanked out Beth’s purse. With shaking fingers, she fumbled to open Beth’s purse and locate her inhaler. Mary shook the inhaler, then held it up to Beth’s torn mouth.

“Can you inhale?” Mary asked her, as she held the device in place.

Beth wrapped her bloody lips around the mouthpiece and sucked in as Mary depressed the inhaler. When Beth fell back, losing contact with the inhaler, Mary dropped it, then reached for the phone on her own desk. With shaking hands, she dialed campus police.

“Hold on, honey,” Mary said to Beth, after making the call. “The police are coming.”

Mary crawled to the front of her desk and opened the top drawer, pulling out her cell phone. She crawled back to Beth’s side and dialed Shane’s number, her hands shaking.

“Hang on, honey,” Mary said, laying a gentle hand on Beth’s shoulder, wanting to offer comfort, but afraid of hurting her in the process. “Help is coming.”

Beth’s body shook violently, and she didn’t respond. Her eyes were closed, and Mary feared that she’d lost consciousness.

Shane answered on the second ring. “Mary? It’s Shane. What is it?”

“It’s Beth!” Mary cried into the phone, as she started to lose her composure in the aftermath of such violence. “She’s hurt! Badly. I’ve called campus police. They’re coming.”