Her Secret Santa - Miley Maine Page 0,55

loved this woman more than I could ever love myself. I would die before I ever let any harm befall her. She had to see that. Surely, she could see how much she meant to me. I hated that this man was making her so afraid. I would never let him hurt her. I had vowed to keep her safe and protect her.

“Honey, it’s going to be alright. But I need you to be strong. You are brave. You are strong. You are a warrior. And you will have to be all of those things if we are going to do this. I know I can count on you. Baby, just believe in yourself as much as I do, and this nightmare will soon be over.”

She kissed me softly and rested her head against my shoulder. “I am trying.”

18

Julie

I had to do this.

I could do this. I knew it. I was stronger than this. I had to tap into that courage that I held down deep inside of myself. It was ok. Tony believed in me and now I could believe in myself, too. He was here. I would not have to go through all of this alone. I had that backup and support. And we had the cops. We had the monitoring all set up. It would capture Saul as he came up to the house, and everything that he said or did while he was inside with me. I just had to embrace it and just go with it.

We’d been sitting at the kitchen table for about two hours when the motion detector detected some motion driving up the driveway. I could see the Camaro pulling into the driveway. It was him. That dark car, those dark windows, and the darkness inside the car, it was him. I knew it.

I was on my feet instantly. Tony quickly moved towards the back of the kitchen. “I’ll just be over here. Good luck. You will be fine.”

Tony disappeared down the hall into a side room. He would be hiding there with his revolver ready. I could hear him on radio with Derek and asking the cops to be ready as well.

My heart had leapt into my throat. I felt sick to my stomach. My head felt like it was going to fall off my shoulders. I really felt like I was going to die today. Something was going to go wrong. I could feel it. It would go wrong and then the whole thing would go to shit. I’d be dead. Maybe Tony. And Saul would finally die in a hail of gunfire from the cops. At least he’d be gone. But I was not going to let this bastard cut my life short now. I had far too much to live for.

I watched as Saul’s feet swung out of the open car door and then the rest of him lumbered out. He looked just as I had remembered him. He was tall, stocky, with broad shoulders and a heavy walk. His movements were slow as if he didn’t care anything and had all the time in the world to do whatever he wanted. It was really a bit scary to watch. He was such an intimidating figure. It just came naturally to him. And he was so used to watching people get scared and recoil from his mere presence. Even in prison he’d been in charge of things.

He knocked on the door. I froze. I didn’t want to do this. I wanted it to all be over. Why couldn’t it be over? Why did this had to happen to me? Couldn’t I just close my eyes and wish I was away to dreamland? It was a nightmare. That was all. A horrible nightmare.

The knock came again.

I summoned up the courage to open the door just then. My feet felt as if they would never reach my destination. But I found myself there, gripping the doorknob, and then turning it as I opened the door.

There he was.

Saul stood there for several seconds watching me. His swagger was so damned cocky. I hated him so much. I wished so badly that I had never met him. He was vile and disgusting to me. I wanted him dead so badly. I’d never actually wanted someone dead before, but now I wished that for him. I wanted that son of a bitch six feet under.

“Well, aren’t you a sight?” he asked.

I hated the sound of his stupid voice. I didn’t respond. I just