by Ciana Stone
For one moment they froze with their eyes locked. Then before he could stop her, she ran out of the office, taking the stairs at breakneck speed. When she reached the front door, she peered through the sidelight. A large black van with dark windows was parked behind the McLaren. Another dark car was parked behind the van, hidden for the most part from her sight.
Six men jumped out of the van. Dressed in dark suits, they all were wielding assault rifles. They split up into two groups of three. One group headed around one side of the house while the other group moved in the opposite direction.
"Shit!" she whispered, turning to see Cord standing behind her. "They're going to the back."
Cord assessed the situation. If he could get out of the house, he felt sure he could lose them in the woods. "Morgan, listen, I'll go to the back guest room. You run out front and try to draw them back around to you. Once they're all accounted for scream. That'll be my signal to get out through the sliding doors in the bedroom. I can get away if I can just make it to the edge of the woods."
She shook her head. "It's too dangerous, Cord. They have guns. Maybe I can just convince them I'm here by myself!"
"N.," he shook his head and took hold of her arms. "Please, Morgan, I need your help! Will you do this for me?"
She searched his face, desperately afraid for him. "Okay," she gave in then grabbed his hand in both of hers and squeezed it tightly. "But promise me you'll be careful!"
He squeezed her hand, nodded, then ran through the house to the back bedroom. Once he disappeared into the hall Morgan took a deep breath and broke out into a run. Flying across the foyer, she cast another look over her shoulder as she flung open the door and bounded outside.
Her leap carried her over the door's threshold and right into a big hard body. The collision knocked the wind out of her as she rebounded off of the solid frame that barred her way. Jerking her head up ,she looked into Victor's eyes as he reached out to her.
She opened her mouth to cry out a warning but a sudden sharp pressure on the side of her throat just below her ear stopped the sound before it could emerge. In an instant everything went black.
Victor caught her as she slumped and carried her inside the house. He lay her on the floor, knelt over her and grabbed the front of her shirt, ripping it open to expose her breasts. Then he grabbed the front of her slacks and tore them open, ripping the zipper loose from one side and tearing the center seam open.
Satisfied with the display he looked up and nodded at Juro who stood by impassively watching. Juro nodded and crossed to stand on the opposite side of the room as Victor ran back to the front door.
"In here!" he called out. "Hurry!"
Two agents ran around from the left side of the house in answer to his call. "I found her unconscious on the floor!" he said, rushing back into the house with the two agents on his heels. "She's been assaulted!"
He let the agents get a good look at Morgan's exposed body before he snatched off his jacket and knelt down, covering her with it. Gently patting her on the face he spoke in soft urgent tone. "Morgan? Can you hear me! Oh, god, Morgan! Please wake up, darling! It's me, Victor."
The two agents looked at each other. As if they'd rehearsed the drill many times, one positioned himself behind Victor where he could see both the front door and also into the rec room and the other took off through the kitchen, opening the back door and walking out onto the deck to signal to the remaining agents outside.
"Look what he's done to her!" Victor lamented, looking up at the agent who stood guard over them. "You must find him. The man's dangerously insane!"
Two agents returned from the kitchen and searched the lower level of the house. Cord heard the noise from the other side of the house as he stood to one side of the sliding glass doors in the bedroom looking out into the yard.
Two agents stood outside only yards away from the door scanning the area for any signs of movement. "Damn!" he said as he cast another glance through the curtains.
More sounds coming from the other end of the house reached his ears. Come on, Morgan, he prayed, hoping that she could somehow distract them.
The bedroom door flew open and the two agents spotted him. "Freeze! FBI!" one of them yelled. "Down on the floor! Now!"
Cord knew there was no escape. With two assault rifles aimed at him, he had no choice but to follow orders. Dropping to the floor, he lay on his stomach.
"Cover me!" one of the agents said as he approached Cord. "Hands behind your head!" He shouted as he kicked at Cord's arm.
Cord put his hands behind his head and felt the handcuff lock into place around one wrist. The agent wrenched his cuffed hand around behind him then yanked his left arm down and fastened the cuff around his wrist.
Grabbing a handful of his shirt, the agent yanked on him. "On your feet!" he commanded.
Cord stood in resignation, hanging his head. The man prodded him in the back with his rifle in the direction of the door. Cord went into the den and saw Morgan lying unconscious on the floor with Victor kneeling beside her.
"Morgan!" he shouted, shouldering the lead agent out of his way and dropping onto the floor beside her. "Morgan! Can you hear me?"
Her eyes fluttered open at the sound of his voice. "Cord?" she called to him weakly, trying to sit up.
"Get away from her, you madman!" Victor shouted, grabbing Morgan and pulling her away from Cord. She struggled wildly in his arms. "Cord!" she screamed, reaching for him in panic.
Cord was at a disadvantage. With his hands shackled behind him he couldn't reach out to her. All he could do was lean toward her as her hands reached for him.
But Victor jerked her back violently, sending her tumbling backwards on the floor. His fist shot out, punching Cord hard in the face, snapping his head back forcefully.
"For god's sake!" Victor shouted. "Will someone get this lunatic out of here? He's trying to kill her!"
At the same time, Morgan was screaming and trying to get past Victor. "No! Let me go! Cord!" She clawed at Victor's hands, trying to get away.
"Get him out of here!" the commanding office ordered, seeing the pandemonium break loose on the floorTwo agents grabbed Cord and hauled him to his feet as he fought and twisted to break free. For a split second his eyes found Morgan's. In desperation she reached out to him with her mind and for a moment they made contact.
Then the agents shoved him more roughly, and he fought back more fiercely. It took five of the agents to get him out of the house and to the van.
They shoved him in the rear door, piled in after him and shut the door. The last agent walked back from the front door of the house and spoke to Victor before he left.
"Mr. Vinsetti, I'd like to thank you, sir, for your help in this matter." He extended his hand to Victor. "It's an honor to meet you, sir."
Victor shook the man's hand. "Just doing my civic duty," he said, then pulled Morgan closer to him. "And trying to protect the woman I love. No thanks are necessary."
The agent nodded, "Thank you again, sir. Now, if you will excuse me."
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Morgan exploded as the man left the house. She pushed Victor away from her.
"Protecting you. Morgan, you do not understand the danger you were in here alone with that man!"
"I was not!" She struck him in the face as he tried to grab her. "He wouldn't hurt me!"
Victor grabbed for her again, but she shoved him away once more and scrambled to her feet. He came after her, tackling her hard and pinning her to the floor beneath him.
"Listen!" he snarled, realizing that he had to get her under control before everything blew up in his face. But her screaming and struggling was making it hard to think.
"I said listen!" he shouted, grabbing her hands and holding them down on the floor. "He could have killed you. He's already killed Cassie. I had to save you. Dammit, Morgan, I love you!"
But there was no longer any need for shouting, for Morgan had grown silent and still at the mention of Cassie's name. "He killed C
assie?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yes," he released her hands. "Morgan, I'm sorry. I didn't want you to find out this way. But it's true. He murdered Cassie before he came back here. He's insane."
"No," she shook her head, "Cord couldn't kill anyone."
"It's true," Victor helped her into a sitting position. "He has completely lost his mind, Morgan. He's not in touch with reality anymore. Don't you see? I had to save you. Surely you can understand. If something happened to you, I don't know if I could go on."
Morgan felt like she had awakened in a world that had gone insane and had taken her along with it. She knew now that she loved Cord as much as she ever had, and she believed he was not deliberately lying to her. He really believed everything he had said. She knew because she read it in his mind.
But Victor's words frightened her. She knew it was possible for insane people to appear and act perfectly sane. Now Victor had made her doubt. She considered the possibility that maybe it could have happened to Cord and that she just could not see it because she loved him.
And there was also Victor himself to consider. Even though she didn't believe that Cord would lie to her, she nonetheless had trouble believing Victor was the monster that Cord believed him to be.
In desperation she reached out to touch his mind. She looked deep into his remarkable eyes and found warmth and love waiting there. Oh God. Now, she knew she was trapped. Trapped between her love for Cord and her love for Victor. She didn't know what to do, but she knew she couldn't just turn her back on Victor and walk away.
What she needed was time to search herself, to discover what was true and what wasn't. "I'm sorry," she said, "Please just take me away from here."
Victor picked her up in his arms. His face wore a smile of victory as he looked over her head at Juro who walked ahead of them and opened the front door. No sooner had Victor stepped down from the porch, several vehicles pulled up in the drive. Reporters and cameramen rushed from the vans and swarmed toward them.
"Look!" a television news man yelled, "It's Vinsetti! Quick, get the cameras going. We don't want to miss this!"
Cameras were trained on them from every angle. Morgan buried her face in the crook of Victor's neck. "Get me out of here, please!"
"It's all right now," Victor crooned, "You're safe now, Morgan. I'll protect you." His voice was pitched just loud enough to be overheard by the microphones that pointed at him.
He turned his attention to the media. Holding Morgan closely in his arms he gave the appearance of a handsome, powerful hero who had just rescued the fair maiden.
"Mr. Vinsetti!" a reporter called out. "Could you tell us what happened here, sir?"
"Please," Victor appealed to them. "My fiancé has suffered a harrowing experience and is terribly shaken. If you could please give me one moment, I will try to answer your questions."
They cleared a path through the crowd as Victor strode toward the car with Juro following close behind. All cameras focused tightly on them as Juro opened the rear passenger's door then walked around and slid in behind the wheel.
Victor gently placed Morgan on the back seat. He adjusted the jacket around her and make sure that the cameras glimpsed her torn clothing and bare skin.
He kissed her tenderly and stroked her face and hair as he spoke in a low soothing voice, just loud enough to be heard by the expectant crowd. "Everything will be fine. I won't let anyone harm you. Give me just one moment then I will take you home. I love you."
Morgan nodded and huddled up inside the jacket, pulling her knees up to her chest and dropping her head down onto her knees.
Victor shut the door and walked back to the front of the house. "I have little time," he apologized. "I must get my fiancé home. As you can see, she is quite traumatized."
"Could you please tell us what happened here today, sir?" a reporter inquired.
Victor looked at the reporter then rubbed his temple with one hand as though trying to collect his thoughts. "Earlier today my fiancé came here to the house she had once lived to do some work on the computer that is linked to her business. From what we understand, her ex-husband was here lying in wait for her."
He looked into the camera, "Acting on information from a reliable source, the FBI sent a team to surround the house. I entered in search of my fiancé."
He rubbed his eyes with one hand for a moment. "Please forgive me," he said as he looked up. "This has all been like a terrible nightmare. When I entered the house, I found Morgan lying unconscious on the floor. Her clothes were practically ripped from her body. Mr. Alexander had attacked and assaulted her, possibly raped her . In the assault he rendered her unconscious."
Victor cleared his throat and passed his hand once more before his face. "It was horrible," he said in a tone of one who has witnessed some unspeakable horror. "The FBI found Mr. Alexander hiding in the house. After subduing and handcuff him they led him through the house. He saw Morgan and threw himself at her, trying to attack her."
A collective sound rippled through the crowd and Victor continued. "In order to save my fiancé, I was forced to physically repel his attack. As you can imagine, she was terrified. This has been a terrible ordeal for both of us. If you will please excuse me, I must leave. My press secretary will release a statement later in the day. Thank you."
Victor walked back to the car and got in beside Morgan, taking her in his arms. Juro paused before starting the car, allowing the media sufficient time to film the couple in the back seat.
Then looking up in the rearview mirror, his eyes met Victor's. At a slight nod Juro pulled away slowly with the media running along beside them.
A Note from the Author
I've been a reader my entire life, finding solace, excitement, happiness, fear and love in the pages of books. If anything has been a constant in my life, it's reading.
I also remember all of the times in my life when being able to buy a book was a luxury, a treat that I didn't get every week. I've never forgotten those times or how much those books meant to me.
That's why I am so grateful to you, the readers. Regardless of your level of income or profession, I understand how precious your reading dollars are and I feel humbled that you've used some of those dollars to purchase my books.
I hope my stories prove worthy of your investment and thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Many blessings.
Ciana
You can find all of Ciana’s books on Amazon. Visit her author page
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Books by Ciana Stone in reading order:
The World of Cotton Creek
The Whisperers
Staking a Claim
Making a Stand
Taking a Chance
The Whisperers Box Set
Rangers
Rangers Box Set
Honky Tonk Angels Series
Southern Comfort – Honky Tonk Angels, Book 1
Finding Justice – Honky Tonk Angels, Book 2
Baby I’m In. Honky Tonk Angels, Book 3
Ask me to Stay – Honky Tonk Angels, Book 4
Playing for Keeps – Honky Tonk Angels, Book 5
Lookin’ for Trouble – Honky Tonk Angels Book 6
Honky Tonk Angels Box Set
Heartbreakers & Heroes
Book 1 - Grady Judd
Book 2 - Mason James
Book 3 - Jasper Jacks
Book 4 - Deacon Johns
Book 5 - Brody Judge
Book 6 - Wiley Johns
Book 7 - Gray Horse
Book 8 – Lincoln Shaw
Book 9 – Game On
Heritage Series
Book 1 – A Death in Texas
The World of “The Others”
Untamed Series
(Associated with The Others)
Feels Like the First Time
When You Least Expect It
Colton’s Memory
Untamed Box Set
The Legacy Trilogy
Longing
Craving
Yearning
The Legacy Box Sex
The Seven Trilogy
On My Knees
Ruffle My Feathers
A Taste for Jazz
The Seven Box Set
The Shattered Chronicles
Reckless
Ruthless
Relentless
Stand Alone Titles
Hot in the Saddle
Chase’n’Ana
Scout’n’Cole
Molding Clay
Conn’n’Caleb
Hot in the Saddle Box Set
Out of the Shadows
Let the Game Begin
Wrath: Voodoo's Angel
That Which Survives
A Matter of Trust
The Territory of Lies