FACETS (JAKE SCARNE THRILLERS Book 6) Read Online Free PDF Page B

handcuff. He took one and attached it to her right ankle.
    “Sit up.”
    The girl did.
    “Do you want me to untie your hands?”
    She nodded, and he used the knife again. Her hands free, she tried to scratch his face, aiming at his eyes. But the drugs had robbed her of both speed and coordination. Besides, he expected it and easily slapped her hands away. Then he grabbed her throat and pushed her head down against the pillow, putting the point of the knife against her cheek.
    “A little tiger, aren’t you?” he hissed. “Your mother’s daughter. But if you try anything like that again, I will cut up that pretty face of yours. Do you understand?”
    She nodded. 
    “The bed is bolted to the floor. If you try to get out of bed you may hurt yourself and you won’t accomplish anything. Your foot will never fit through the cuff. Do you want me to take the tape from your mouth?”
    The girl nodded again.
    “You can scream if you want. Get it out of your system. Look around. The room is soundproofed. And there is hardly anyone about.”
    The man took hold of one end of the tape.
    “This won’t be pleasant. But the faster the better.”
    He ripped off the tape.
    She did not scream. There were small streaks of blood on her lips. She put her right hand to her mouth. 
    “Sorry. Good girl. I’ll get you some lip balm.”
    She looked at him. There were tears in her eyes, but they were tears of pain from the tape being pulled off. This was a tough girl. Willet knew he would have to be careful how he handled her. She had to be handled firmly, but she could not be pushed too far, no matter how hopeless her circumstances. 
    “What do you want? Is it money? My mother will pay you. We’re rich.”
    He merely smiled. Her eyes flashed.
    “She will never stop looking for me. And when she does, she will kill you.”
    “She will never find either of us. Now sit tight. I’m going to run a bath for you and get you some clean clothes. And I suppose you will want to use the bathroom.”
    He took her right hand in his.
    “I almost forgot about this.”
    Willet started to remove the Italian cameo ring that was the only jewelry she wore.
    Alana curled her fingers and hissed, “No!”
    He hesitated and with difficulty spread her fingers. The ring was flat, no sharp points. On its agate surface was an engraving of a mother holding a child.
    “Did your mother give you this?”
    “My grandfather. It was my grandmother’s. Please.”
    “Will you behave?”
    Alana Dallas nodded.
    “Then you may keep it.”

CHAPTER 4 - OLD HOME WEEK
     
    There is always a moment of seeming weightlessness during a martial arts session when one has enough time to contemplate how painful a landing will be.
    Jake Scarne was experiencing just such a moment as he flew through the air, and expected the worst. And despite relaxing his body, as he was taught, that expectation was met.
    The “thump” of his crash into the mat and his subsequent grunt of pain were loud enough to draw looks from other combatants in the Police Academy gymnasium. Flat on his back and with the breath momentarily knocked out of him, Scarne could only look up at the opponent who had so effortless parried his thrust and then flipped him through the air like a Frisbee.
    “Are you all right, sir?” the young woman said as she hovered over him.
    “Only his pride is hurt, sergeant,” Richard Condon said from where he was sitting in a chair next to the wall. “It’s not the first time he’s underestimated a woman.”
    The female police instructor held out a hand and helped Scarne up. All around them men and women were fighting on nearby mats. There were plenty of thumps and grunts, but none, Scarne realized, came close to his.
    “What was that?” he asked. “I thought I knew all the judo moves.”
    “It’s called nage waza ,” the instructor said. “It’s a variation of traditional judo, modified by Okinawans. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have used it on someone who never saw