SAFE BY HIS SIDE (MANHUNT) Read Free

remember the scraggly locks of hair that he once had, but she wouldn’t recognize the shaved and totally tattooed head that was now his signature. The snakes that crawled across his bald head wrapped around a skeleton’s bones.
    Twenty minutes later, he eyed his new look in the mirror with a grin and admired the artwork that adorned his entire body.
    Someone knocked on the door, then his friend’s voice called his name.
    “You about ready, Robert?”
    He chuckled to himself. Keeping in good with Cissy had been a smart move on his part. Cissy had always wanted him.
    He opened the door and hauled her inside. Her startled yelp turned to a sultry smile as he tore her shirt off, lowered his mouth and sucked her tits.
    “God, Robert, I’ve wanted you for so long,” she whispered.
    She smelled like sweat, cigarettes and booze, the latter two nearly making him gag. Lenora had smelled feminine, like lavender and sweetness, the way a woman should.
    At least she had when he’d first abducted her.
    Cissy ran her tongue across his jaw and anger sparked inside him. He didn’t want her.
    He wanted Lenora.
    But Cissy ripped down his zipper and shoved at his pants, then closed her hand around his dick, and he groaned. If he didn’t hurry, he was going to come all over her hand. He’d had enough hand jobs in prison.
    Breath heaving, he spun her around, pushed her up against the bathroom wall, shoved her skirt up and gripped her hips. She wore black panties that he ripped with one hand, then he thrust his bulging cock inside her.
    She groaned his name, clawing at the wall as he fucked her senseless. Their bodies slammed against each other, sweat sliding against sweat, his cock ramming harder and harder until he exploded inside her.
    His cum dripped down her legs as he pulled out.
    “I love you,” she whispered. “Now we can finally be together.”
    Disgust filled him at the sight of her. Instead, Lenora’s beautiful face flashed in his mind, taunting him.
    Cissy might have wanted him forever. But he had other plans for his future.
    A future that didn’t involve her.
    She twisted in his arms, smiling as she turned to face him, her tits red and swollen from his mouth, her eyes still glazed with passion.
    And the promise of more.
    But there would be no more for her. She’d served her purpose.
    He slid one hand down and retrieved the pocketknife she’d included in the duffel bag, flipped it open and slit her throat.
    Her gasp of pain and shock made his cock harden again, and he stroked himself as he watched the blood drain from her. Then he carefully carved the X between her breasts. He wanted to mark her as he had his other victims. Wanted the world to know that he was back.
    Satisfied, he dropped her lifeless body to the floor, yanked his pants back up, grabbed the duffel bag, and stuffed the toiletry kit inside.
    The clock was ticking, the minutes passing. The cops would be looking for him. They might warn Lenora he was coming.
    But he’d find a way to get her.
    To have her.
    And this time no one would stop him.

Chapter Two

     
     
    Micah hated the panic that flickered across Lenora’s face.
    But how could he blame her? He’d listened to every horrific detail of what Robert Simpleton had done to her and knew her mind was traveling back to that painful place.
    A place he’d vowed she’d never have to visit again.
    But if Simpleton found her, he would take her back there or worse. Who knew what kind of torture his sick mind had invented while he’d been locked in a cell?
    Lenora leaned against a display of bridal books, her face paling. “How did it happen?”
    “A fire broke out in the prison. While officers were moving inmates from that wing to another, one of the prisoners jumped an officer, stole his gun, and Simpleton and two other men escaped.” Micah hesitated, wishing he had better news. “A statewide manhunt is underway, but at this point we don’t know where Simpleton is.”
    “He’ll come after me,”