Every Breath You Take Read Online Free Page A

they could handle. The burns not only had destroyed the young victim’s face but left deep crusted holes in her chest. Her collar bones were visible beneath the ropey scars.
    Unable to stop her stomach from responding, Lexie gagged and wretched. Bending over at the waist, she gave in to the powerful involuntary reflex. Jake was at her side. He held her head and put the basin under her chin. The way he had before. She’d vomited so many times she was astonished that there was anything left. She tried to signal her brain, her gut. But neither listened. Apparently they couldn’t stop responding to the horrific sights.
    She didn’t know how many minutes had passed, it could have been an hour or more. Through the fog in her brain, she heard Jake’s voice.
    “Say good-bye, Lexie,” he said tenderly. “It’s time to go, Darlin’.”
    Lexie started to protest but the words stuck in her throat. She nodded instead. She chided herself. Told herself that she should look at each body one more time to say good-bye and to make sure it was a sight she never forgot. But even in her distraught state, she knew that wasn’t necessary. She would carry their hideous faces to her grave.
    ~~~
    “Lift up your head, honey.”
    The cool air and the sound of traffic on the busy thoroughfare confirmed that they were outside. She allowed herself a cautious breath gratified that the air smelled like gas exhaust and fast food. Not formaldehyde or burned tissue or, God forbid, hydrochloric acid.
    Lexie lifted her chin and allowed Jake to strap on her helmet. He picked her up and set her on the GT, the goddess throne, as he’d renamed the bitch seat on his Electra Glide. Swinging one strong leg over the fender, he mounted the bike. Jake yanked out a pair of handcuffs from the side pouch and carefully slipped one cuff around her wrist. He put her arms around his waist and fastened the other cuff on her free wrist, ensuring that she was held securely in place, her arms wrapped snugly around his waist.
    The cuffs were an erotic joke between them. A statement that she wasn’t going anywhere until he could get her underneath him. Often they took the cuffs with them to their lover’s lair to explore another mountain peak in their outrageous lovemaking. But today the cuffs served a more elemental purpose. Without them she would have fallen off the bike. There was no way her rubbery arms and legs could’ve held on.
    ~~~
    Jake pulled up to the Jai Li Center. The dojo comprised the front half of the sprawling structure. The home where Master Wan and Madam Juen and now she and Jake lived was in the back. Along with the rigorous schedule of martial arts lessons, the center was the home of her nationally known Strong Women Survive program. She’d started the program after her brother Anthony was killed. Along with Master Wan and Jake, the program was one of the ways that she’d managed to survive Anthony’s murder. Barely. After today, the words seemed like a hideous irony. How could she teach other damaged women to survive and yes, thrive, if she couldn’t?
    “Put me down, Jake.”
    His arms tightened for a moment, then with frown, he set her on the ground.
    “Are you sure, honey? I wouldn’t mind wrapping you up in my arms and taking you back to our quarters. How about it, Darlin’? A bath or maybe a long shower—especially if I was in it with you—sounds damn good.”
    Lexie shook her head. As much as she wanted to wash off the smell of the morgue, scrub away the memory of the mutilated bodies, she couldn’t. Not until she found an outlet for her rage. She knew the place. She’d been there far too often in her young life. Master Wan had shown her the power of the leather punching bag. It could absorb any amount of anger or grief that she had. She’d shown it to her students. The young people whose biggest issue was not getting a new dress, or having a boyfriend ditch her, or not making the football team, learned that it was cathartic to hit