'I can't believe this.' Whitney slumped against the doorpost, as if her slender weight was more than she could bear. 'You're out of your mind!'

'I'd have never thought of killing Deborah. But once the threats started, I thought how lucky for us if Buck Stansell had her killed.' George trembled. 'Look, Ashe, killing me won't save Deborah. I hired Perry. Yes, I admit it. Once the trial ended and I realized that Buck Stansell wasn't going to continue with his threats, I decided I could hire someone to kill Deborah and everyone would think Stansell and his gang were responsible.'

'You sorry son of a bitch,' Ashe growled, then returned his gun to its holster. He grabbed George around the neck with both hands, lifting him off the floor.

George gasped for air, his feet dangling, his arms flying about, trying to catch hold of Ashe.

Whitney screamed. 'You're killing him, Ashe!'

Not one rational, reasonable thought entered Ashe's head. He worked on instincts alone. His hands tightened around George's neck. With one swift move, he could break the man's neck. This stupid fool was responsible for whatever might happen to Deborah before Ashe could find her. He didn't deserve to live.

'Ashe, think what you're doing,' Whitney cried out, beating against Ashe's back with her tight little fists. 'He's not worth it. Do you hear me? George isn't worth it!'

'Put him down, cousin,' Lee Roy Brennan said from where he stood in the doorway. 'She's right. He's not worth it.'

Without loosening his hold on George, Ashe glanced at Lee Roy. 'Did Buck send you?'

'We found out where Randy might have taken Deborah.'

'A reliable source?' Ashe asked.

'A friend of Evie's,' Lee Roy said. 'A gal Randy's sleeping with. He shared his plans with her, telling her he'd be coming into another $5,000 after the job was done.'

'Where did she say he planned to take Deborah?' Ashe set George down on his feet, but kept his hands around his throat.

'Somewhere close to Deborah's house in downtown Sheffield. Some deserted warehouse.'

'What deserted warehouse?'

'My guess is the old streetcar warehouse.'

Ashe released George, allowing him to fall to his knees. With expert ease, Ashe snapped the purple top sheet from George's bed and ripped off two long strips. Using his foot, he pressed George over against the bed, jerked his hands behind his back and hogtied the man with the scraps of his own bed sheet.

'Whitney, don't let your husband out of your sight until the police arrive.'

'Don't worry,' she said. 'I'll kill him myself if he even tries to move.'

'Come on.' Ashe motioned to Lee Roy, who followed him out into the hall and down the stairs.

Lee Roy grabbed Ashe at the front door. 'When we find her, she might not be alive.'

'She'll be alive! She has to be.'

'Even if she is, it could be bad. Randy was in the pen for rape.'

'Whatever happens, he's a dead man,' Ashe said.

* * *

Ashe called the Sheffield police on his cellular phone, telling them where he was going and asking them to send some officers over to George Jamison's home. Lee Roy followed in his truck, the two cousins speeding along Jackson Highway, racing toward downtown Sheffield. Ashe prayed, begging God to keep Deborah safe, offering his own life in place of hers.

* * *

She couldn't bear his touch, rough and clammy. She'd screamed the first time he'd squeezed her breast, but he'd slapped her so hard she'd fallen to her knees in pain.

He was going to rape her before he killed her. He'd told her what to expect.

This was all her fault. Her own stupidity had cost Roarke his life and now would cost her hers. How could she have been so stupid, rushing out to meet Ashe, when in fact she'd run headlong into her kidnapper?

Did Ashe know what had happened? Was he searching for her? Please, God, please let him find me in time.

'I ain't never had me no society lady before.' Randy Perry snickered as he ripped open Deborah's blouse, exposing her lace-covered breasts.

Deborah tried to back away from him, but he grabbed her, dragged her up against him and thrust his sour tongue into her mouth. Gagging, she fought him, hitting him repeatedly as she kicked at his legs.

He threw her to the floor and came down on top of her, crushing the breath out of her. 'You like it rough, huh, society lady? Well, ol' randy Randy can give it to you rough.'

He ran his hand up her leg and under her skirt, fondling her hip. When he lowered his head to kiss her again, she spat in his face. He laughed. Then he slapped her.

Deborah closed her eyes against the reality of what was happening to her. She retreated into a silent, constant prayer for Ashe to rescue her before it was too late.

Chapter 16

« ^ »

The old streetcar warehouse stood in darkness, the moonlight casting shadows across the window panes. Ashe could hear nothing except the loud pounding of his heart. He couldn't ever remembering being so scared, not even in battle. But then Deborah's life had not been in jeopardy, only his.

He drove down the street slowly, looking for any sign that someone had broken into the empty building. He circled the block. An older model Pontiac Grand Prix was parked directly across from the warehouse. Ashe eased his Buick up behind it, got out and checked the license plate. A Colbert County tag.

Lee Roy pulled his truck up behind Ashe, getting out and following his cousin across the street.

'It's Randy's car,' Lee Roy said. 'He got it off a fellow who brings stolen cars in from Mississippi.'

'That means they're here.' Ashe removed his gun from the holster before crossing the street. 'Look, you may not want to get involved in this. I've phoned for the police. They should be here any time now.'

'All I'm doing is helping my cousin rescue his woman. Right? I don't know nothing about nothing. We made a lucky guess as to who had kidnapped Deborah and about where he'd taken her.'

'Yeah, right.' Ashe nodded toward the building. 'You check that side and I'll check this side. If you find them, don't act on your own. Randy Perry is mine.'

'Got you.' Lee Roy rounded the side of the warehouse.

Ashe crept along the wall, checking for an unlocked door, looking for any sign of forced entry. Then he saw it. Toward the back of the building, a dim light flickered.

Ashe found a jimmied lock, the door standing partially open. Taking every precaution not to alert Randy Perry to his presence inside the warehouse, Ashe followed the light source, keeping his body pressed close to the wall as he made his way inside, searching for any sign of Deborah.

A lone lantern rested on the floor, spreading a circle of light around it. Deborah lay at Randy Perry's feet, her blouse in shreds, her skirt bunched up around her hips, half covering the gleaming white of her lace underwear. Ashe garnered all his willpower, resisting the urge to let out a masculine cry of rage. He wanted to kill the big, bearded slob of a man who gazed down at a half-naked Deborah as he unzipped his jeans.

Ashe whirled away from the wall, aiming his gun at Deborah's kidnapper. In a split second, before Ashe could fire his 9mm, Perry fell to the floor, grabbing Deborah into his arms. Lifting her along with himself, he rose to his knees, holding Deborah in front of him, his thick arm around her neck.

'I'll break her neck like a twig,' Perry warned Ashe. 'And that would be a pity. She's got such a pretty little neck.'

'You're a dead man, Perry!'

Randy Perry stood, jerking Deborah to her feet, using her body as a shield. Walking himself and Deborah backward, he kicked the lantern across the floor, extinguishing the flame and sending the room into darkness. The lantern rolled into a corner, crashing into the wall.

Ashe swore aloud. His breathing quickened. It would take a few minutes for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, but then it would take just as long for Perry to be able to maneuver without any light.

Sirens blared like the thunder of an attacking elephant herd. Tires screeched. Doors slammed. Chief Burton's

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