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The darkness made everything fuzzy, but he was close enough that I could see his face. I studied him as I tried to catch my breath. With a hard swallow, I struggled to formulate an answer to his question.
I noticed a large diamond earring stud in each ear, and my heartbeat ratcheted up another notch. My mind fled to the incident with the silver Camry on my parents’ canal bank. The man had turned to look at me, and the setting sun had glinted off something near his face. A chill cascaded down my spine.
“You’ve been following me the whole time.” I wondered if there was more than one guy, or if he was it. The police had figured a group of men were working together, and I had assumed the same thing, but only one man aimed a gun at me.
Some of my hair had come loose from the ponytail during the scuffle, and it hung down over one eye. I twisted my head, trying to get the hair to move, but froze when he reached his hand toward me. He pushed the hair away from my face and stared at me. “Observant little thing, aren’t you? But not very smart to take something that doesn’t belong to you.”
“I was going to give them to you.” My voice cracked, and I swallowed, trying to clear the fear that coated my vocal cords.
“Where are they?” He moved the barrel of the gun closer, and I couldn’t stop the tears from leaking out the sides of my eyes.
“I was on my way to get them.”
He let go of my hands and slapped my face. I cried out and struggled against him. He pressed his meaty palm against my mouth so hard I tasted blood. Then he removed his hand. “I’m not a killer, but there’s a first time for everything.”
“Please, I was just doing what you said.”
“I said to give me the diamonds. I’m happy to strip-search you, or you can hand them over. What’ll it be?”
The tears came now. I wanted to scream. He was going to win. After everything, he would get the diamonds, and then he’d kill me. He hadn’t tried to hide his face. I could pick him out of a lineup. I could tell a sketch artist about the gold ring he wore in his eyebrow or the mole on his neck.
“Okay, I’ll tell you where they are.”
He narrowed his eyes, took my hands, and pushed them down by my sides. He knelt on my arms, and I cried out as the pressure of his legs pushed my hands against the hard ground until I felt my bones would break.
“Sorry about that, but you’re taking too long.” He shifted so he leaned back on his heels but still put enough weight on my arms to keep me immobile. The gun was an ever-present reminder of how helpless I was in the situation. He reached under my shirt and groped my chest.
“Stop! I said I’d tell you where they are,” I cried.
But it was too late. He felt the bulge of the bag in my bra and reached inside. His hand strayed for a moment, and then he pulled the bag out with a grin. “That was fun. Maybe I should check for more hiding places.”
“No, that’s all of them. Please.”
He laughed and carefully unrolled the bag. He flicked on a penlight, and the diamonds shimmered through the plastic. “See, that wasn’t so bad. Now, what to do with you?” He leaned closer. “I have several ideas. Want to hear them?”
I didn’t respond but dug through the recesses of my mind for any fighting techniques that might help me. Squeezing my eyes shut, I held my breath. That’s when I heard something. My eyes flew open. The man kept talking about what he was going to do with me, but I heard another sound.
A crunching noise, like someone approaching through the weeds to the left. I kept perfectly still, praying for deliverance. The diamond thief stopped talking and turned his head toward the sound just as a body collided into him. They tumbled to the ground with grunts and cursing. Someone’s foot connected with my left thigh as I rolled away, but I didn’t stop.
I tried to stand up but fell forward as my legs tingled. My attacker’s weight had slowed my circulation. Sharp needles of pain pricked my feet as I rotated them, preparing to run.
The two men were still fighting, but it was too dark for me to see who was saving me. I could hear the impact of them hitting each other as I scrambled farther away. Then someone cried out, and the movement halted.
I paused and looked behind me. Who had won the fight? I wondered if I could hide somewhere until it was safe or if I should start running again. I heard a gurgling noise and felt the ground for something I could use to protect myself. My hand closed around a jagged rock, and I crept back toward the two men.
A light bounced along the trail ahead of me. Someone rushed past me as I approached. It was a police officer with a high-powered flashlight. The beam jogged back and forth and settled on the two men. One was on top of the other, his hands squeezing the man’s throat.
“Stop! Don’t kill him!” Tony shouted as he approached with his gun drawn. He stood next to an officer in running gear. Tony shone his flashlight on the man strangling the diamond thief. “Put your hands in the air.”
“Dallas?” I cried out as the man doing the strangling turned his face toward me. The fury in his eyes vanished abruptly, and he became the kind and gentle Dallas I knew. He turned his gaze back to the man, at his hands squeezing the man’s windpipe, and shuddered.
