"I'm here!" she yelled, her voice hoarse and cracking, but giving the words as much power as she could. "I'm here! In the woods!"
She kicked out, putting as much brutal force into it as she could, and felt her foot hit this killer with a thud. He tried to grab hold of her leg, and she yanked it away.
Her breath was coming in great sobs, and she was still coughing from the spray he had hit her with. Her throat was sore, and her voice was croaking. She had no idea if Owen could even hear her.
"I'm here!" she yelled again, lashing out with her foot, blindly hoping that she could capitalize on the damage she'd already done and hurt him worse.
"I'm not going to let you get away!" she yelled, trying to make sure that Owen would hear her. She heard movement and rustling in the undergrowth and guessed he was trying to scramble to his feet. Either to attack her or else to run. He was doing neither. Not if she could help it.
"No, you don't!" May screamed, coughing. She lunged again, grabbing for him, feeling his hands tearing at her hair as he tried to push her back, clawing for his skin.
Her head was spinning, and her throat was so sore now, it felt like she'd been screaming for hours.
But there was no way she was giving up. She landed another blow and heard Zane yell again.
May was fighting with the strength of utter desperation. She was fighting for her life.
She threw herself forward, needing to keep him off balance, even if she couldn't see him. This was about survival, and she had to keep going. But she knew he was fighting with the same determination. And then, it was his turn to land a lucky blow. His foot lashed out at her and kicked her right in the solar plexus. The breath whooshed out of her in a painful rush. She rolled aside, scrabbling for purchase, and as she did so, May's hand closed around something. A shape she recognized.
Not her gun. Something even better.
The discarded pepper spray.
May grabbed it tightly, her fingers slotting into the ridges on the handle. Her thumb pressed on the nozzle. And then, alerted to his attack by a rustling in the bushes, she held it out and sprayed with all her force.
She heard him cry out and collapse to the ground. Now, he was the one blinded, choking, and sobbing. The first minute was the worst. May now knew this from very recent personal experience. And in this golden minute, she finally had a chance to subdue the killer, who was now in no position to keep attacking.
She fumbled the cuffs from off her belt and reached out, finding his arm, grabbing it, getting the handcuff over his wrist, and clicking it closed. He was trying hard to struggle but he couldn't. Not when his eyes were burning so bad that all he could do was hunch over and try to ride out that tearful agony. He had the knife, and she felt her stomach contract in a visceral way as she realized what he was holding. She’d been just seconds away from death or serious injury. But now, with him blinded, she twisted his wrist viciously, and he dropped it.
The loose end of the cuff hit her in the elbow, a painful blow, but she grabbed hold of it. Now, she had his other arm. And now, the cuff clicked closed.
Finally, she had the advantage in this fight. Gasping for breath, May then heard an even more welcome sound over her own rough breathing. It was Owen's voice.
"May! Where are you?"
"I'm here!" she shouted, her voice cracking. "I've cuffed him. He pepper sprayed me, I sprayed him back. I can't see."
Having given the salient information, May held onto those cuffs for grim death, avoiding the thrashing, kicking man as best she could, hoping his own predicament would keep him miserably occupied until Owen could arrive.
The approaching rush of his footsteps was the best sound May had ever heard in her life.
"I'm here, May!" he yelled. And a moment later, "I got him!"
She let go, breathing out, as the rustling of the bushes signaled that Owen was dragging the man away from her and out of kicking distance.
"I handcuffed him to a tree," he said a moment later. "He won't get away. Are you okay, May?"
She felt his hands on her shoulders. She couldn’t see him. Even though the pain was starting to abate, she was still totally blind.
"I'm okay," she said. "Is Ron safe?"
"Yes. He's unhurt. Your warning was enough. He was already getting out of the car, but he saw Zane in time and ran for it and locked himself inside. He avoided the spray by a nanosecond, he said."
May took a deep breath. She'd done it. Her throat hurt like hell; her eyes felt as if they were swollen shut, but she didn't care. "That's good," she said, her voice husky.
Owen got on the phone, calling for more backup to come to site and arrest the killer.
"Bring water," he said. "Lots of it. We have a deputy here who took a hit of pepper spray in the face."
