Undercover Texas - By Robin Perini Page 0,4

sat up, his heart quickening as he took in the tattered blue blanket covering a kid just the right size. The kid must be sweltering, but he wouldn’t suffer for long.

The combination was perfect.

Jimmy fairly vibrated in his chair. “It’s them, right? What do we do now?”

“Start the van. Drive toward them, slow and easy,” Terence crooned, his voice calm as he tried to quell his building anticipation. “We don’t want to spook her. She took too long to find.”

Jimmy turned the key, and the van’s engine rumbled to life.

Terence squeezed between the seats and edged to the back doors. Snagging a wire from the toolbox with one hand, he placed his other hand on the lever. He loved this part. The surprise on the victim’s face. The fear. Then, finally, the realization that death was imminent.

He couldn’t wait.

“Not until she crosses the street,” Terence warned.

Jimmy slowed the van to a crawl, and the vehicle eased alongside the woman.

Terence eyed her struggling with the stroller, one wheel wobbling when the blanket tangled around it. The woman shook her head in frustration, lifted the boy with one arm and tugged at the blanket jammed in the wheel.

“Now!” Terence called.

Jimmy slammed on the brakes; the back end of the van stopped beside the woman.

In one motion, Terence shoved open the metal panel door and hopped out of the vehicle. The woman’s eyes widened. She opened her mouth to scream, but Terence clamped his hand across her lips, wrapped his other arm around her and dragged the woman and baby into the vehicle.

He flipped her on her back and straddled her legs. With one quick loop, he circled the wire around her neck and pulled, cutting off her air supply.

The baby rolled on the floor and wailed in desperation.

“Jimmy, grab the stupid kid and move out.”

“It’s screaming. Are you sure we need it?”

The woman’s eyes bugged. She clawed at the wire, frantic to survive for her child. She kicked out against Terence and he laughed. She couldn’t hurt him. He had her.

The van started moving.

“You gonna be quiet?” he whispered to the terrified woman. “Or do I kill your kid now?”

Immediately, the woman stopped kicking, her breath coming in ragged gasps. A tear trailed down her cheek, but she didn’t move. She thought she could save her kid.

The brat made good leverage.

Maybe Terence’s clients were smarter than he thought.

“Not a word,” Terence warned her. He eased the wire off her throat, noting how the steel had left a red mark, but little else. He smiled. He knew exactly how much pressure would incapacitate, and how much would kill. He wrapped her wrists with the wire. “If you try to escape, this will burrow into your skin, slice through your tendons and eventually sever your hands from your arms. I don’t suggest you try it.”

The blood drained from her cheeks and she nodded.

He drew a finger down her cheek and lifted the tear from her face. He swiped the salty wetness with his tongue. Blood and tears. Ambrosia of the gods. Today was looking up.

“Please,” she whispered. “Let my baby go.”

He frowned at the Southern drawl in her voice, trying to place her accent. She wasn’t a local. Maybe she’d never be missed. “I warned you to shut up.”

He snagged some duct tape from the bin on his right and snapped it in place over her lips. He ran his fingertips down her arm and up again. The woman’s skin erupted in goose bumps.

“You like that, do you?”

Quivering, she shook her head.

“Liar.” He trailed his hand from her neck, over her breast to her waist, watching her cringe and flinch from his intimate touch.

“She’ll do just fine, Jimmy.” The woman’s physique matched Dr. Erin Jamison’s, down to the C-cup size. Terence glanced at his watch. “Our customers will be at the airstrip at seven tonight. We make the switch in four hours, deliver the goods and collect the money.”

“What’ll we do until then?” Jimmy asked, gripping the squalling kid in one arm as he struggled to drive without snagging the attention of the law.

Terence pulled a long strip of duct tape and shifted off the woman’s hips, then moved down to bind her ankles. He slid his knife from its sheath and sliced through her shirt, leaving her stomach bare. One more swipe and he’d cut the frayed material of her cotton bra.

She whimpered as her full breasts spilled free.

He stared at the abundance of curves and smiled. “I’ll think of something.”

* * *

DR.