oject a confidence he clearly no longer felt. He rolled down his w
ed on some distant point. He spoke quietly into a Bluetooth
se was ins
ack that sounded like a gunshot, the driver's side window of the pickup shattered into a tho
tched shrieks of terror, as they
uited men reached in, grabbing Vince and Rick by their collars an
open, a hand like an iron vise clamped down on his wrist. He let out a strangled cry of pain,
terror and awe washing over her. These men
n to help her, his eyes scanning for any injuries. Then, with
eaths, the acrid taste of the tape's adhesive still coating her tongue. The tear
white handkerchief. His voice was respectful,
rected at her. Mrs. Matthews. It sounded foreign, alien, but
to speak. She managed to rasp
b," Rocco said, anticipating her question
r chest lifted. A wave of relief so powerful it made
till trying to bluster. "You
e. "Be quiet," he said, his voice soft but carrying an unmista
apart. He dropped to his knees on the filthy pavement, blubber
o had tormented her for years. She felt nothing.
wered, listened for a moment
wants to spe
essed it to her ear. Houston's voice, that same
you h
e she was holding onto. All the terror, the pain, the humiliation of t
d, the word thick
of the line. A few seconds of silen
we proceed as planned. To the h
had assumed... after all this, h
ge. "Can I please see my m
d, his tone firm, unyielding. "Jocelyn, remember our
ng her of her place. This wasn't a rescue born of co
rdled into a cold knot of d
nd," she said,
ur clothes. I don't want my gran
nt dead. He
wind of conflicting emotions. Gratitude, fear, resen
was a simple, new dress and a bottle of water. Everything ha
being shoved into an unmarked black van, their protests silenced. She
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