She’d been warned by campus security and the police detective working the assault cases.
She tried to turn her head to see who had been terrorizing her for the last six months.
His arm drew tighter around her throat. “Don’t. Not yet. I don’t want to spoil the surprise. Just say you’ll come with me. I’ve got my place all set up. It’s perfect. Everything you like. I’ve seen to every detail, right down to the same blankets you have on your dorm bed, the food you like to eat, even the soap and shampoo you use.”
An ominous chill went down her spine.
How did he know those things?
“You’ll love it. And I’ll love you tonight like I’ve wanted to for months. I know you’ve been waiting for me. I just needed time to make everything perfect, to be what you’d want me to be. I’ll show you I’m the man you’ve always wanted. I’ve finally become the person no one else but you could see inside me.”
She tried to stall. “My friends are waiting in the parking lot to pick me up. Let me just tell them I’m going with you.”
“Mindy Sue will understand. She’s your best friend. She’ll want you to be happy. I will make you happy.”
She prayed someone came along and found them. “I wish I could, but I’m tired, and I’d like to go home. Maybe we could do this another time.”
“No.” He shook her. “It has to be tonight. I’ve been practicing.” He sounded manic as he shook her again. “I’m ready.” His tone turned menacing and she shivered with fear.
“Please. Let me go. You’re scaring me.”
He rubbed his cheek against her head again. “I’m sorry.” He sounded sincere. Then he didn’t. “But you need to do what I say. I have this all planned out. Everything is ready. Now come with me.” He dragged her several steps back toward the grass and bushes and away from the library parking lot. “My car is parked on the other side of the small grove of trees. Come on.”
“Stop,” she shouted, pushing against the arm around her throat to get him to stop pulling her backward and so she could get some much-needed air.
“Don’t fight me, Brooke. You know you want this.”
She struggled against his grip even more. “Stop. I don’t want to go with you.” She sucked in a breath to scream.
He suddenly stopped pulling her along with him and the scream lodged in her throat when he pressed the tip of a knife to her cheek. “Don’t do it. You know I don’t want to hurt you.The waiting is finally over. You don’t have to keep looking for me everywhere you go. I’m here, Brooke. We can finally be together.”
She froze, knowing this had gone to a whole other level of dangerous. Strong with a thin build, a knife he’d used in the other attacks to subdue his victims—he had the advantage, but she still wondered if she could fight him off.
She’d do anything to save herself and her baby.
She held perfectly still and tried to think of what to say to get herself out of this mess. The guy was insane and obviously delusional.
“Thank you for the gifts,” she suddenly blurted out.
He rubbed his nose into her hair and she felt the mask she knew he wore when he attacked the other women. “I wanted you to know I was always with you, even though I couldn’t be with you yet. I hadn’t yet become the man you saw in me.”
She finally remembered the phone in her hand. She swiped her thumb across the screen and though she could barely see the screen down by her thigh and out of his view, she managed to hit the speed dial she set up for 911. She hoped the call went through. She hoped they could hear and find her before anything else happened.
“If you really care about me, you’ll let me go.”
“I did all of this for you. You need to come with me so you can see your surprise and we can finally be together.” He pulled her harder this time, dragging her along after him across the grass, into the bushes, headed straight for the trees and the street beyond. His erection rubbed against her bottom, grinding into her every time he took a step.
She didn’t want to think about what he wanted to do to her. She only knew that she needed to protect her baby. She let her bag fall from her shoulder. It dropped near some bushes as they came into a relatively clear space inside the trees. This was herchance. If he took her any farther from the library building, she might not be found at all.
“Please. You don’t want to do this. You don’t want to hurt me. Put the knife down and we’ll talk.” She hoped 911 heard her, that they’d already sent help.
“Shut up. We’ll be there soon.”
Tears welled in her eyes. This couldn’t be happening. Her voice shook. “Please. Don’t do this. You don’t want to hurt me, or my baby. Please, don’t hurt my baby.”
It had been a calculated risk to talk about the baby. Her belly had only really popped over the last couple weeks. Because of it, she’d been wearing much looser clothes to accommodate her growing bump, except tonight when she’d pulled on yoga pants and a tunic.
She felt the difference in him immediately. He hadn’t known.
