I Can See You Read Online Free Page B

won’t make it
worse by dragging her down with me .
    Sunday, February 21, 7:15 p.m.
    Lindsay Barkley woke screaming. Dogs . Snarling,
baring their teeth, chasing. Run. But she couldn’t run. She was tied and
couldn’t run. They were on her, teeth ripping…
    She screamed and the jagged teeth disappeared, the
snarling abruptly silenced.
    A dream . She
was panting, gasping for breath. Just a bad dream . A nightmare, she
thought, as her mind cleared. She tried to move and the terror returned in a
dizzying rush. This is no nightmare . The bed to which she’d been tied
was real, as was the dark room. Ropes bit into her wrists and ankles. The air
was dry. Her mouth was like chalk and the pillow beneath her head smelled of
sweat and vomit. Her eyes burned like fire.
    She tried to blink, but her eyes merely stared
straight ahead into the darkness. Her eyes were glued open. She was naked. And
so cold. No. This can’t be happening.
    “Help.” What in her mind had been a shrill scream
escaped from her throat in a hoarse whisper. Dry. Her throat was too dry
to scream. He’s going to kill me.
    No. I’ll get away. Think. Think. The last thing she remembered was being pushed to the
backseat floor of his black SUV and the jab of a needle on her neck.
    He’d looked so… respectable. Clean. Trustworthy. When
she’d quoted her price he’d smiled politely. So she’d gotten into his SUV. She
didn’t like getting into cars with her johns, but it was cold outside, so she
had. I’m so cold. Somebody help me.
    He said he had a hotel, that he’d take her someplace
warm. Nice. He’d lied. He’d pulled over, dragged her from the front seat to the
back, holding a gun to her head. Then he’d jabbed a needle into her neck. And
he’d laughed, told her when she woke, she’d be torn apart by wild beasts, limb
from limb. And that she’d die tonight.
    He’d been right about the dogs. I don’t want to
die. I’m sorry, she prayed, hoping God would still hear. You can’t let
me die. Who will take care of Liza?
    Upstairs a door opened, closed, and she heard the
click of a dead-bolt. He’s coming . He flicked on the light and she could
see. And her thundering heart simply stopped.
    Shoes. The
walls were lined with shelves that held more shoes than she’d ever seen outside
a store. They were grouped by the pair, heels out. Dozens of shoes.
    At the end of the top row was a pair of stretched-out
pumps with a tiny heel next to the five-inch leopard skin stilettos she’d
pulled from her own closet, just hours before.
    My shoes. God, please help me. I swear I’ll never turn
a trick again. I’ll flip burgers, I’ll do anything. Don’t let me die here .
    Desperate, Lindsay yanked at the ropes as he came down
the stairs, but they were too strong. She drew another breath to scream, but
again it came out hoarsely pathetic.
    His expression went from expectant to furious the
instant he came into view. “You’re awake. When did you wake up? Godammit,” he
snarled. “I was only gone five minutes.”
    “Please,” she begged. “Don’t kill me. I won’t tell. I
promise I won’t tell.”
    Pain speared through her when the back of his hand hit
her mouth. She tasted blood.
    “I didn’t say you could speak,” he snarled. “You’re
nothing. Less than nothing.”
    Terror clawed. “Please.” The pain was worse the second
time, his ring hitting her lip.
    “Silence.” He was naked and erect and she tried to get calm. It was just sex. Maybe this
was a bondage fantasy. She dropped her dry, burning eyes suggestively to his
groin. “I’ll make it good for you. I’ll give you what you need.”
    She cried out when his palm struck her cheek.
    “Like I’d put anything of mine in anything of yours,”
he said with contempt. He climbed on the bed, straddling her. “You give me nothing. I take what I need.”
    His hands closed around her throat, tightening his
grip. Can’t breathe. God, please . Lights danced before her eyes and she
flailed,