He raised his free hand as if to strike her.
Sierra braced herself, but wouldnt flinch. There had been a time shed cowered when hed raised his hand to her. But not anymore. Shed learned the hard way that she had rights, and she didnt have to take abuse from any man.
The children clung to her, their eyes wide, scared. Eloisa sobbed loudly into the smooth linen of Sierras tan slacks. Once Eloisa started, the other children sensed her distress and joined the squall.
Shut up! Clay yelled.
For a moment, all the children stopped crying and then, as if the spigot had been opened full blast, they all screamed and cried like a dozen caterwauling cats in a back-alley fight.
Clay yanked her out of the center of the noise and dragged her toward his truck.
Sierra dug her feet into the dirt and resisted with all of her might. Let go of me. Im not going with you.
The hell you arent, he said. You belong to me.
I belong to no man. She clawed at the meaty hand gripping her wrist like a vise. I have a restraining order against you.
No ones going to honor it. Everyone knows youre my wife.
Ex-wife. What part of divorce dont you understand? She couldnt let him get her into his truck. Sierra couldnt go back to this man. He was a bully, a cheater and a monster. Let go of me, or Ill scream.
Scream. Only those brats will hear you. He snorted. You expect them to come to your rescue?
I dont need anyone to rescue me. She stopped leaning back against his hold on her and let him pull her close. When she was in range, she stomped hard on his instep and raised her knee hard against his crotch.
Clay bellowed and bent double, clutching the area shed injured. But he didnt release his grip on her wrist.
Sierras fingers were growing numb, and the kids behind her were hysterical. She had to do something to stop this madness. But what? Clay was bigger, stronger and meaner than she was. Hed demonstrated that over and over again. She had the scars to prove it.
Please, Clay, youre scaring the children. Let me get them into the building. When Im done, Ill go with you.
Yeah, right. He grunted and straightened. You expect me to believe you?
I will. Cross my heart. She held up her hand as if she were swearing in front of a jury, something shed had to do in order to convince a judge shed been abused and needed out.
No way. He turned and dragged her closer to his truck.
You cant leave them standing outside. They might get lost in the woods. Theyre just children.
Like the kids you wouldnt give me? Why the hell should I care?
I wanted children. I tried, she said. You cant blame our problems on these little ones.
They arent mine. I dont give a crap what happens to them.
When he set his mind on something, there was no stopping the man. Hed refused to listen to reason when they were married. What made Sierra think he would listen now?
Using another one of the techniques shed learned in her recent self-defense class, she twisted her wrist, jerked her arm downward and broke free of Clays hold. Free at last, she spun and ran. She hadnt gone two feet when a hand clamped on her hair and yanked her backward.
Sierra screamed and stumbled backward. The children screamed, as well. She could see them standing there, terrified and confused. It made her mad enough she could have spit nails, and all the more determined to free herself of the madman shed once promised to love, honor and cherish.
Well, it goes both ways. And you didnt live up to your part of the bargain, she muttered, twisted and turned, attempting to get away. But short of letting him rip chunks of her hair out of her head, she was caught.
Chapter Three
A persistent ringing grated on T-Rexs nerves. He didnt like to look away from the road when he was driving, so he waited until he pulled to a stop sign before glancing at his cell phone.
GALLAGER
The name on the screen made his heart tighten. The man had gotten out of that Afghan village alive, barely. He hadnt lost his life, but hed lost so much more. Hey, Gunny, hows that baby?
Great. I got to hold him today. With a little help.
T-Rex swallowed hard before saying, Thats great, man.
Did I tell you that Im getting some of the feeling back in my fingers?
No kidding?
No kidding. Gunny sounded more upbeat than T-Rex had heard him since hed returned to the States. The hand squeezing his heart loosened a little. Glad to hear it.
Ill be throwing a football for slugger before long.
Please tell me you didnt put Slugger on his birth certificate.
No. The wife wouldnt let me. Officially, hes Lance Gallagher. But I drew the line at Junior. Nothing shoots a mans ego down more than being called Junior.
True.
So, hows your TDY going? Gunny asked. About ready to head back to home station and ship out again?
Past ready.
That boring?
T-Rex had to think about that. Not really boring, just not what I want to be doing.
What? Kidnappings and big-game hunters not exciting enough?
Howd you know about that? T-Rex asked.
Gunny snorted. I read the news.
I could do without some of the excitement. I want to get back to the front line.
You know you wont find the guys who did this to us, Gunny said, his voice softening. You could hunt every last member of the Taliban and still not know whether you got the guys who staged that trap.
Maybe, but if I dont try, they get away with what they did to you.
Oh, is this about me? Gunny laughed. The way you blew up in front of the command psychologist, youd think it was all about you.
T-Rexs hand squeezed the cell phone so hard, he was surprised it didnt crack. What he was feeling was in direct response to what had happened to Gunny. The man had taken the full brunt of the attack. Hed suffered spinal cord damage and might be a quadriplegic the rest of his life. The thought of the father of four spending his life in a wheelchair made T-Rex want to rage at the universe. Its just not fair. I should have been the one injured. I didnt have a baby on the way.
You didnt get to pick, Gunny said. Its the way the cards fell. Or the grenade, in our case.
Anyway, things might be settling down here. I feel like Im spinning my wheels.
Yeah, but I doubt the commander will want you back so soon. He was pretty hot when he sent you off.
If he knew what a boondoggle it is, he wouldnt have sent me.
Boondoggle? Gunny snorted. Sounds like another day in the life of a marine. Youve got enemy hiding in the hills, youve been shot at and youve taken out some of the bad guys.
He had a point. Still, T-Rex would rather be back where his world had come apart. Then maybe he could put it back together. I dont know which strings our team lead pulled to get a loan of highly skilled military men to work for the Department of Homeland Security. Luckily the team had been there, or there could have been a bunch of kids dead or trapped in a mine. Its like the Wild West out here in Wyoming.