Caught in the Storm by M. Stratton Read Free Book Online Page B

this.”
    “Fine, we’ll stay together. He’s in room six. The curtains are closed, so let’s go up and stay out of the line of sight.”
    “Sounds good.” Kat couldn’t identify the feelings running through her. Part of her was excited at the thought he might be caught. But another larger part was afraid of what would happen when she came face to face with him. It was hard enough looking at Anthony all the time. But now, knowing it was Jeremy, what would she do? Could she pull the trigger?
    She tried to take deep breaths as they walked up to his door. Knowing he was just on the other side of it, her hands started to shake and she was afraid she’d start hyperventilating and pass out.
    “Maintenance,” Jackson called as he pounded on the door, making sure to stand where no one from the room could see him. They could hear someone inside the room moving around but not answering the door. He pounded again. “Maintenance. Open up now.”
    They heard the lock turn and they watched as the knob slowly started to move.

    “No!” she screamed. They’d found him. Her vision tunneled so all she could see was the two of them at his door. She had to do something quickly so they wouldn’t catch him. He was hers to play with. He had to suffer like the women he killed did. With her fingers crossed that her ID would hold up, she put her car in gear and raced toward Jackson’s parked Camaro, bracing for impact.

    Jeremy had just started to open the door when he heard a crash so loud he could actually feel it. He caught a quick glance of the two people waiting by his door. He knew who it was. While they were turned around looking at the wreckage, he quickly slammed the door without bothering to lock it and ran out the back, not slowing down until he was deep in the forest.

    Kat and Jackson turned back around when they heard the door slam behind them.
    “Fuck,” Jackson said as he flung the door open and looked around the room, searching for Jeremy. When he got to the back, he saw that there was a rear exit. He made a mental note to check for other ways out of motels the next time. Assuming there would be a next time. He didn’t look to see if Kat was following him. He was single-minded in his pursuit. Knowing that Jeremy couldn’t be that far ahead of him, he kept running until his knee finally gave out.
    He stopped, his hands resting on his knees, his breath coming in deep, ragged gasps, searching, always keeping his eyes open to make sure Jeremy didn’t sneak up on him. He’d caught a glimpse of him further up the trail; he knew he was around here somewhere.
    Limping back to the motel, he cursed himself for letting Jeremy get away and for not keeping track of Kat. Hoping she was still back at the motel was the only thing that kept him going. His knee was throbbing and he could barely put any weight on it, but he had to get back to her. She was his sole motivation for putting one foot in front of the other, knowing that Jeremy could sneak up behind him at any point and bash his brains in.

    Kat paced back and forth by Jackson’s wrecked Camaro. The woman who ran into his car said she swerved to miss a cat. The police had shown up and were getting the information from her. Kat had called Evie figuring she was the best, since Jackson was her brother. She didn’t want to worry Lexi and if she had called Noah, Lexi would have been worried.
    Kat felt so exposed out here by herself, and she worried about Jackson. She was worried that somehow Jeremy had gotten the upper hand and killed Jackson. What would she do if she lost him just as she found him again? When she heard a powerful engine pull up she glanced over knowing it was Evie, what she wasn’t ready for was Anthony with her. She should have known he’d come with her, but still, seeing him right now when she was just about crawling out of her skin waiting for Jackson to return, was almost more than she could stand.
    “Where is he?” Evie demanded.
    Kat spread her