snapped out of his reverie as the object of his vigilance came into view. He tossed
his cigarette out the window and put the Mercury into gear as the Saab passed by him
on Island Drive. Ray pulled his car out of the empty parking lot and cruised into
a position directly behind the convertible. He could see the lone occupant of the
Saab clearly as both vehicles crossed over the Bay Farm Island Bridge.
CHAPTER 14
Paige had almost no warning before the impact.
What little warning she did receive arrived in the form of a screeching blue blur
that exploded into view from her peripheral vision. In the next instant, she felt
a grinding shock and her car skidded out of her control. The Saab completed a full
one-hundred-eighty-degree turn before slamming into a signal light at an intersection.
Fortunately, Paige was wearing her seatbelt. After the crash, she remained behind
the wheel, stunned and shaking cobwebs from her head.
A moment before, she’d been driving to her father’s house from the ruins of her own.
She was still clad in her damp exercise clothing, and the collision was an unexpected
and unwelcome addition to an already bad day.
Paige unbuckled the seatbelt and began to clamber from her wrecked car. The collapsible
fabric top of her convertible sedan had offered no protection against the toppled
light pole, which sheared during the impact and now occupied the passenger seat of
her crunched vehicle. Had the pole landed a foot or two to the right, Paige would
have been crushed.
As Paige reached for her car’s door handle, the door suddenly opened from the outside.
Looking up, she saw a man in coveralls and a ski mask looming her. Before her astonished
and terrified mind could react, he reached a gloved hand towards her. There was something
in it.
Paige started to scream. The man pressed the object, which looked not unlike a handheld
transistor radio, against her chest. A split second later, she was on the ground,
her brain scrambled and her body convulsing.
The object was a stun gun, specifically, a Nova model XR-5000, available to virtually
anyone by mail order. Used by police officers and civilians alike and powered by a
nine-volt nickel-cadmium battery, the Nova stun gun sent forty thousand volts of incapacitating
electrical energy into its victims. The Nova typically rendered all but the most drug-crazed
and determined attackers instantly and temporarily immobile. It worked even better
on already-dazed young women.
Paige looked up from the ground. She could see what was transpiring but was frozen,
her limbs unresponsive. She saw a blue sedan wedged against her once-pristine Saab
convertible, and a pair of work boots directly in front of her face. She realized
she was flat on her back and helpless. Stark panic completely overtook her thoughts.
She could neither scream nor move.
The ski-masked face leaned down to within an inch of hers. Paige could smell the cigarette
odor on the wearer’s breath and recognized the smile behind the mask. She’d seen those
nicotine-stained teeth before.
She felt her limbs begin to recover, and tried to move and shout at the same time.
The stun gun touched her chest again. When the flashing lights finally cleared, Paige
was again on her back and immobile.
“Hi, Paige. Good to see you. Nice tits.”
Paige felt a gloved hand roughly kneading her breasts. She wanted to scream; the hand
felt like an insect crawling over her.
“We’re going to have a lot of fun, whore, before I kill you. You’re going to be punished.
Come on, slut; we’re going for a ride.”
Paige wanted to close her eyes and block out the horrifying images before her. But
her eyes, the only part of her which seemed unaffected by the stun gun, could not
look away. With mounting dread, she felt herself being dragged across the pavement
toward the
his cigarette out the window and put the Mercury into gear as the Saab passed by him
on Island Drive. Ray pulled his car out of the empty parking lot and cruised into
a position directly behind the convertible. He could see the lone occupant of the
Saab clearly as both vehicles crossed over the Bay Farm Island Bridge.
CHAPTER 14
Paige had almost no warning before the impact.
What little warning she did receive arrived in the form of a screeching blue blur
that exploded into view from her peripheral vision. In the next instant, she felt
a grinding shock and her car skidded out of her control. The Saab completed a full
one-hundred-eighty-degree turn before slamming into a signal light at an intersection.
Fortunately, Paige was wearing her seatbelt. After the crash, she remained behind
the wheel, stunned and shaking cobwebs from her head.
A moment before, she’d been driving to her father’s house from the ruins of her own.
She was still clad in her damp exercise clothing, and the collision was an unexpected
and unwelcome addition to an already bad day.
Paige unbuckled the seatbelt and began to clamber from her wrecked car. The collapsible
fabric top of her convertible sedan had offered no protection against the toppled
light pole, which sheared during the impact and now occupied the passenger seat of
her crunched vehicle. Had the pole landed a foot or two to the right, Paige would
have been crushed.
As Paige reached for her car’s door handle, the door suddenly opened from the outside.
Looking up, she saw a man in coveralls and a ski mask looming her. Before her astonished
and terrified mind could react, he reached a gloved hand towards her. There was something
in it.
Paige started to scream. The man pressed the object, which looked not unlike a handheld
transistor radio, against her chest. A split second later, she was on the ground,
her brain scrambled and her body convulsing.
The object was a stun gun, specifically, a Nova model XR-5000, available to virtually
anyone by mail order. Used by police officers and civilians alike and powered by a
nine-volt nickel-cadmium battery, the Nova stun gun sent forty thousand volts of incapacitating
electrical energy into its victims. The Nova typically rendered all but the most drug-crazed
and determined attackers instantly and temporarily immobile. It worked even better
on already-dazed young women.
Paige looked up from the ground. She could see what was transpiring but was frozen,
her limbs unresponsive. She saw a blue sedan wedged against her once-pristine Saab
convertible, and a pair of work boots directly in front of her face. She realized
she was flat on her back and helpless. Stark panic completely overtook her thoughts.
She could neither scream nor move.
The ski-masked face leaned down to within an inch of hers. Paige could smell the cigarette
odor on the wearer’s breath and recognized the smile behind the mask. She’d seen those
nicotine-stained teeth before.
She felt her limbs begin to recover, and tried to move and shout at the same time.
The stun gun touched her chest again. When the flashing lights finally cleared, Paige
was again on her back and immobile.
“Hi, Paige. Good to see you. Nice tits.”
Paige felt a gloved hand roughly kneading her breasts. She wanted to scream; the hand
felt like an insect crawling over her.
“We’re going to have a lot of fun, whore, before I kill you. You’re going to be punished.
Come on, slut; we’re going for a ride.”
Paige wanted to close her eyes and block out the horrifying images before her. But
her eyes, the only part of her which seemed unaffected by the stun gun, could not
look away. With mounting dread, she felt herself being dragged across the pavement
toward the
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