Taken. Lori L. Harris

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Taken - Lori L. Harris Mills & Boon Intrigue

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side to side as it settled on its tires facing back the way they’d just come from. Throwing Jillian and Megan around one last time.

      For several seconds both women just stared at each other like zombies. Jillian was the first to move, letting go of the steering wheel. Her shoulder muscles ached. Her left elbow throbbed. She didn’t remember being thrown into the door, but knew she must have been.

      “Megan?” Jillian’s hands sank into her lap. “Are you okay?”

      “I’m…I’m good.” Megan’s voice shook. “Did we…hit her?”

      “No.” Turning, Jillian gazed out through the windshield. The headlights barely reached the woman. Jillian gasped. She had expected to see the woman standing in the middle of the road, but she wasn’t. She was sprawled on the pavement.

      Jillian tried to take a deep breath but couldn’t. She hadn’t hit the woman. She was sure of it. And yet she must have.

      She needed to call 911. She needed to get out of the car. Needed to help the woman. Do whatever she could until an ambulance arrived.

      Numbly, Jillian searched the center console. Finding her cell phone, she flipped it open.

      “No service.” Shoving the phone into her pocket, she was shocked to find that she was alone in the car. Megan had already climbed out. By the time Jillian caught up to her sister, Megan was already searching for a pulse.

      “I can’t feel anything!” Megan shifted her fingers to a new position on the woman’s neck.

      The woman was somewhere in her twenties—maybe even close to Megan’s age. The blue business suit that the blond woman wore was ripped and filthy, and she was barefoot.

      Whoever she was, she obviously wasn’t a hiker or camper. So what in the hell had she been doing out here at this time of night? In a remote area. All alone and—

      Alone?

      Jillian stared down at the woman again, her gaze locking on the woman’s wrists. The bruises circling them were dark and uniform. As was the discoloration around the ankles.

      The dread and fear that had been pooling low in Jillian’s body suddenly poured through her, reaching her lungs, forcing her breathing to go quick and shallow.

      Jillian suddenly recalled how the woman had looked over her shoulder at the last moment. Was it possible that she hadn’t been looking for a way to avoid being hit? That she’d been expecting to see something coming after her?

      Or someone?

      Jillian grabbed Megan by the upper arm. She tried to pull her sister to her feet. “Come on. We need to get out of here. Now!”

      Megan jerked free, but almost fell across the woman in the process, catching herself at the last minute. She looked up at Jillian. “Are you crazy? We can’t leave her here like this!”

      “I wasn’t going to.” Keeping an eye on the woods, Jillian grasped the woman’s ankles.

      “What are you doing?” Megan tried to break Jillian’s hold. “You can’t—”

      “Get her arms.” If she was still alive—and Jillian had her doubts—the woman’s best chance was for them to load her into the car and get the hell out of here.

      Assuming the convertible was still drivable. She’d been so focused on the woman that she hadn’t given any thought to the condition of the car.

      “But—”

      Jillian straightened, hefting the weight of the woman’s lower body. The blue skirt slid up, exposing more dried blood and bruising. Anger flashed through Jillian’s veins. She’d seen photographs of injuries like this before, knew their cause.

      “Get her damn arms, Megan!”

      “Moving her might—”

      “Look at those bruises… No car did that. She’s been raped.” Jillian glanced at the woods. “We need to get out of here now!”

      Megan’s fingers immediately closed around the woman’s wrists, but it was still several seconds more before she actually got to her feet. They stood facing each other, the woman’s dead weight slung between them. “We’ll make it,” Jillian said. Not because she believed it, but because she wanted Megan to. “Ready?”

      With each awkward shuffle forward, they were forced to refine their hold as the woman’s wrists and ankles turned slick with fresh blood. Dead bodies didn’t bleed. Was it possible that the pressure she and Megan were exerting was causing the illusion of bleeding? Or was the woman actually still alive?

      “We need…we need to pick up the pace here, Meg.”

      Megan nodded wordlessly. Her breathing was coming just as fast as Jillian’s now. They were still twenty yards from the car when they both heard something and looked in the direction of the vehicle.

      Backlit by headlights, the silhouette of a man came toward them. Not from the woods, but from where they’d left the car.

      The sound of his boot heels striking the pavement echoed in the silence. Silence? She looked toward her car. Jillian had left the engine running. It no longer was.

      Blood rushed in Jillian’s ears, her heart slamming against her ribs. She heard the panicked, in-drawn breath of her sister and knew Megan shared her fear.

      The man tossed Jillian’s car keys into the air, and caught them easily. Then he started whistling a tune. She couldn’t see the grin on his face, but she suspected it was there. Just as she suspected that his slow, easy swagger was born of his belief that instead of one possibly dead female, he now had two very live ones.

      He was tall—six-two or -three—and appeared to be built solidly. Not the kind of man that even two women could easily overpower. He didn’t seem to be carrying a weapon. But could she really bank on that?

      “Megan?”

      It wasn’t until Jillian said her sister’s name a second time that Megan finally pulled her gaze away from the man. But even as Jillian lowered the woman to the ground, Megan just watched.

      “We can’t do anything for her now, Meg.” Jillian inched toward her sister.

      “We can’t leave her.” Megan’s voice was low. Strained.

      “We have to.” Jillian forcibly peeled Megan’s fingers from around the woman’s wrist.

      Leaving the woman on the pavement, Jillian backed away, taking Megan with her. She would have expected the man to pick up his pace, but he didn’t.

      The pressure in her chest built. Jillian checked the road and then the trees on either side. Which way? Staying on the road wouldn’t buy them any advantage. They hadn’t passed any cars or seen any sign of civilization.

      She checked the side of the road. The girl had come out of the trees to the right.

      “The woods on the left,” Jillian murmured as her fingers tightened around Megan’s lower arm. “When I tell you, we’re going to make a run

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