Kill Switch: A Vigilante Serial Killer Action Thriller (Angel of Darkness Suspense Thriller Series Book 1) Read Free

the bed. Shaven Head grabbed her wrists and stretched out her arms over her head; his friend grabbed her ankles and pulled her legs out straight.
    She kicked. A foot cracked the fat guy in the face.
    Seadog hammered his fist into her midriff again.
    The strike knocked the wind out of her. Her mouth opened, her lungs strained, her body cried out for air, but she couldn’t breathe. A high-pitched croaking sound was all that came out.
    Then she felt it. And knew her nightmare had only just begun.
    Seadog’s hand disappeared under her skirt. He grabbed her underwear. Yanked. Threw the torn white cotton panties across the room.
    Rough fingers prodded and poked.
    She flinched as course hands scraped over her delicate flesh like sandpaper.
    Finally, Cat gasped a great breath. Energy surged through her once more.
    She squirmed.
    Twisted.
    Jerked.
    Her voice breaking, she said, “No, please. Don’t. Please.”
    But Seadog clasped his hand around her throat and squeezed.
    Once again fighting for breath, she could hardly move.
    He climbed on top of her.
    Oh God, no. Please. No. This couldn’t be happening. No, this happened to other women. Not to her. Please God, not to her.
    She couldn’t see what he was doing, but she knew from the way he was moving – unfastening his trousers.
    Tears ran down the sides of Cat’s head while she gagged and spluttered for air.
    His rough fingers poked at her crotch again. Then something else prodded there.
    Her stomach churned, her innards heaving like someone had reached down her throat to drag them out. If she’d had anything to eat that day, she’d have hurled it all over herself.
    She twisted her hips. Struggled to rip her arms free. Struggled to kick out. Struggled to break free. But she could barely move.
    Then…
    Oh, God, he was in her. He was in her. HE WAS IN HER!

Chapter 02
     
    In the bar, Tess cradled a bottle of beer while sitting with her back to the wall so she could see the restroom doors, and the front and rear exits. She’d picked up this awareness technique in Shanghai from Sergei, her ex-Spetsnaz lover, who’d taught her the finer points of handling a gun. He’d always insisted on sitting in a spot from where he could see everyone’s comings and goings so no one could sneak up on him. Awareness had become a key element in Tess’s combat strategies.
    Sergei would’ve liked this bar – black wooden beams from a bygone age, a wall of majestic crests emblazoned with castles and lions and warriors, and ale strong enough to stand a spoon in. It was how she’d always pictured the Russian bars he reminisced about.
    She took another sip of beer and watched a group of boisterous young men walk in. Automatically, she scanned each one, deciding how she’d put them down if she had cause to – break the fat one’s knee, gouge the small one’s eye, punch the tall one in the throat, and, hey what the hell, just go crazy and have fun with the last one.
    Awareness again. When violence was such a big part of her life, she had to be constantly aware of her environment, and who and what filled it. Unless she’d lost interest in breathing.
    But she hadn’t been looking for trouble tonight. No, all she’d wanted was a quiet drink at the end of a busy day. However, just because she wasn’t looking for trouble didn’t mean she wouldn’t find it. Especially when the couple next to her were just begging for it.
    At the next table, a young couple coiled around each other like mating snakes. In between dental inspections with their tongues, they swigged the occasional mouthful of beer and chatted in English – he fluently; she with a struggle. Tess had singled them out the moment the guy had opened his mouth and spoken to his Polish girlfriend. Yes, they couldn’t have made better targets if they’d painted bull’s-eyes on their backs.
    From Tess’s eavesdropping, she guessed he was early twenties, but because of his baby face, she’d bet he had to regularly produce ID in bars