The bright red line around his throat is violent and unnatural. This isn’t like last week when my client died of natural causes. This is dangerous.
A couple of fingernails are peeled from Thomas’ hand as if he was roughly clawing at something. Desperate, fighting.
This car doesn’t feel safe. Such a small space should never feel so threatening. I’m so viscerally aware of the potential jeopardy that I lock up.
Thomas is dead.
And I can put two and two together. He was alive when he got in the car, and only a minute before I got inside, there was a lot of blurry movement.
Someone is in the car with me. Someone who killed Thomas.
I need to get out of here as fast as I can.
Something shifts behind the driver’s seat. I gasp as pale eyes blink from the shadowy hiding space. Somehow, an entire man is folded up on the floorboard. I feel betrayed and shocked that this entire time, someone was right there, staring at me.
And that someone is Soren Erikson.
He sags slightly before unfolding his massive body and sliding into the back seat.
“What’s going on?” I ask. A wave of confusion has me bewildered. Why is someone I know in the back seat of this car? The familiar, windswept hair and searing gaze have me stunned for a moment. It’s just as jarring as when I looked at Thomas and realized he was dead.
When coming across a murder scene, no one is prepared to see someone they know, but Soren is wearing leather gloves. Soren has a garrotte in his fist.
Soren killed my date.
“Shit. You’re going to scream,” he says, watching my expression change. He lunges forward. I taste his leather gloves as I open my mouth to scream. Before I know it, he grips my arm and pulls me over the center console, dragging me into his lap in the backseat. His leather-gloved hand presses hard against my mouth, muffling my screams. He wraps an arm around my waist tightly as I try to thrash.
“You need to calm down,” he purrs into my ear. I go stiff in his arms.
“That’s a good girl, Doctor Moore. We can’t let our emotions control our actions, right?” The humor in his voice is discombobulating in the situation. Just like it had been in my office. Fuck me, I was right. Soren isn’t normal. I shoot a glare at him. He sets his chin on my shoulder and chuckles.
“Alright, I’ll leave therapy to you. By the way, your enormous fee wouldn’t include body disposal, would it?”
I grip my umbrella and jab it as hard as I can in his stomach. It has the immediate reaction I need. His hold on me loosens to nothing as his body is impacted by the blow. I dive for the door handle and pull it. Immediately, I’m barfed onto the snowy asphalt of the parking lot.
As he reaches for me, I thrust my umbrella at him again. The flamingo head gets him between the legs.
“Doctor Moore,” he wheezes. “Wait.” I scramble on my hands and knees a few feet from the car. I stumble my way to half-standing as I blindly make distance between Soren and me.
The half-open car door pushed me in the direction of the woods instead of the restaurant. Now, I need to loop around if I hope to make it to safety.
Soren rolls himself out of the car and crawls a few feet. I eye the restaurant behind him. He looks at the restaurant I’m eyeing and then settles icy eyes back on me.
Fuck.
I take off running. Cold tears trail from my eyes. Freezing air stings my skin and throat. I dropped my umbrella when I scrambled away from the car and have nothing to defend myself now. Red maple trees sprout in my path as I try to weave my way through thickening woods. The flat ground ends, and my thighs burn as I climb the rocky slope up.
Soren eats up the space like it’s nothing. His long, powerful legs make him nearly twice as fast as me. I grab a tree, and bark bites my hand as I twist, changing directions. I shoot to the right and increase my speed as the elevation flattens out again.
I’m hoping his size and speed cause him to take turns like a moose. If I can get more space between us, I can twist back towards the restaurant. So far, all I’ve done is lead us farther away from others. It’s just him and me out here.
He runs his hand along the same bark I did and twists with ease. I nearly fall over as I realize I can’t escape. It makes my body want to give up. Each step is twice as hard, my eyes burning with despair and fear.
The cold air burns my throat as I hear him getting closer. I can feel him at my back, a large looming presence. Leaves and twigs break under his boots. He’s so close. A cry of alarm escapes me a second before I’m tackled.
Soren’s arms wrap around my waist before we hit the ground. I stretch my arms out, clawing at the rocks, dead leaves, and dirt. But there’s no getting away. The press of his muscled body settles over every inch of me and I’m pushed into the earth. His size chases away the cold while I’m trapped beneath him. His chest rises and falls against my back.
When Soren catches enough breath to speak, it’s right against my ear.
