AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Spawn of Satan.”
Becca struggled onward, hands outstretched, tearing as fast as she dared through the thick shrubbery and trees. But he was gaining. He was strong.
Who was he?
She came to a clearing. To the left and up was the highway. Straight ahead, an open gully with no protection. To the right, more woods and God knew what.
She had to get back to the highway. Help would come.
Moving more stealthily, Becca crept around the trees and shrubbery, farther into the woods. Her footsteps sounded loud to her ears, but the rain and wind were covers. He’d slowed down, too. He was listening. Struggling to keep track of her.
Then she saw the edge of the highway thirty feet above her. She hesitated, hating to make herself an open target. But there was no time. No time!
With a supreme effort she climbed up the bank, her fingernails scraping the bark on the tree boles, her hands clinging to stubborn vines.
She heard his breathing behind her.
With a sob of effort, she threw herself onto the empty road. Her hand closed over a rock the size of her fist. Snatching it up, she stumbled to her feet and ran west.
“I can smell you!” he roared, reaching the road behind her.
Her lungs burned and her legs were rubber. He ran after her. His breath came in excited gasps. His hands scrabbled for her, tangling in her hair. She yanked free and screamed for all she was worth.
And then Jessie was there. Beckoning her forward. Sobbing, Becca ran toward her. It took her several seconds to realize her attacker had slowed his pursuit.
She glanced back and saw his face. A shudder went through her. The same face she’d seen when she lost her baby. He was staring through dead eyes at-Jessie. Becca jerked her gaze from his back to Jessie, who was fading from sight.
“Justice,” she said again.
Becca fearfully glanced back as her attacker threw back his head and roared. He came at Becca doubly hard. “Jezebel!” he called. “Rebecca!”
The rock felt heavy in her hand. She paused as his big body hurtled toward her, then she heaved her arm back and hurled the stone at him as hard as she could. It smashed into his forehead, knocking him off his stride.
“I am God’s messenger!” he bellowed, staggering.
Becca turned and ran with renewed energy, tearing down the road, her lungs on fire, leg muscles burning.
Fai
ntly, she saw the glow of headlights far ahead, somewhere through the trees. She cried out in desperation, staggering, running, near collapse. She ran toward the approaching vehicle, waving her arms, silently praying this wasn’t some kind of backup for the sick monster chasing her.
The car, a Jeep, slowed to a halt and the driver got out. A man. Becca, muddy, blood-splattered, and sick with fear, shrank away from his stark headlights. When he suddenly ran toward her, her pulse spiked and she stumbled over her feet.
“Becca?” the voice called urgently. “My God, are you all right?”
She knew him. She knew that voice. She turned back, then shot her gaze in the direction of her attacker. The highway steamed in the glow of her savior’s headlights but there was no one chasing her. No one there.
He was beside her now. She recognized him, but not her own shaking voice when she said, “Detective McNally?”
“I’ve been trying to reach you. What happened?”
She broke down, falling limply, but his reactions were swift and he grabbed her before her knees fully cracked against the blacktop. “Levi!” he called over his shoulder. “Get out here!”
The passenger’s side of the Jeep opened and a man stepped out. He half loped, half walked their way, and then hung back. A boy, Becca realized belatedly. She could scarcely think. Her brain was muddled.
“Hudson’s hurt,” she burbled out. “We had an accident.” She pointed behind her to the underbrush. “Down there. Back a ways. He was pushed off the road. The truck with the grill guard. He tried to kill us!”
“Where?” McNally demanded.
