A Man Like Him. Rachel Brimble

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СКАЧАТЬ and her stomach knotted. The headline screamed from its front page and her feet stuck to the pavement as people brushed past her.

      “Disaster Strikes Beautiful Templeton—Lives Lost.”

      She willed herself forward and pressed her hand to the nausea swirling like floodwater in her stomach. Drawing in a strengthening breath, she sent up a silent prayer there wouldn’t be a picture of her anywhere within its pages. Surely any journalist worth his salt would focus on the real story. The devastation. The loss. Contemplation of the power of water, the likelihood of a natural disaster. Not her. Not Angela Taylor. She was nobody. Robert had reminded her of that so many times it beat like a mantra in her head.

      It was egotistical, stupid and selfish to think for one minute a photographer would zoom in on her, out of the hundreds of survivors. No. It would be fine. Everything would work out. She tilted her chin and lifted a copy of the paper from the rack. The front page showed a full aerial view of the holiday park.

      She released her held breath; it was going to be okay. She trembled. Opening the pages was like pulling back the lid on Pandora’s box.

      The breath left her lungs as she came face-to-face with her worst nightmare.

      Bringing her trembling hand to her mouth, Angela stared at the full-page image. She and Chris stood with their arms wrapped around each other. They stared into the other’s eyes, seemingly oblivious to the devastation and fear all around them.

      “Oh, my God.” Angela’s whisper caught in her throat. “Oh, my God.”

      Another—her face buried in his chest, his eyes closed as he held her tight. His brow was furrowed with concern, his muscular biceps strained and secure around her. If Robert saw this, he’d surpass anger and move to fury in seconds.

      Her mouth drained dry and when someone nudged her as he reached for a paper, Angela stumbled backward on legs of rubber.

      The man touched her elbow. “Sorry, I didn’t mean... Hey, are you okay?”

      She met his eyes; concern mixed with caution stared back at her. She forced a smile. “Sure. Terrible, isn’t it?”

      He frowned. “Yeah. Yeah, it is.”

      He moved past her and disappeared inside the shop. She had to get out of here. An unwelcome, once familiar feeling of claustrophobia threatened and Angela forced a slow, steady breath through pursed lips. She wouldn’t do this. She would not go back. Never back.

      She tossed the newspaper back on the stand and spun around. Marching to the rental car, she yanked open the door. Her hand shook as she tried time and again to get the key into the ignition. On the fourth attempt, it slid into place and she gunned the engine. Slamming the car into First, she pulled away and into traffic. Robert would come. She felt him. Heard him. His laugh loud in her head...

      She closed her eyes.

      The smash of metal against metal ricocheted through her body, slamming her teeth sharply together. Angela snapped her eyes wide-open.

      “No, no, no.”

      She’d hit the car in front, which was dutifully stopped at the traffic light.

      Snapping off her seat belt, she got out of the car, her body shaking. The car door of the person in front opened, and a guy built like a WWF wrestler emerged, his face a mask of rage. Panic shot through her and she instinctively took a step back when he came toward her.

      “What the hell are you doing, lady? Look at my freaking car.”

      She stared, her body numb, her mind whirling as she fought for composure. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking—”

      “Damn right you weren’t looking. Jesus Christ.”

      Taking another step back, Angela raised her hands. “Look, if you just give me a minute, I’ll take down your details. We can get this sorted out.”

      “Yeah, sure. Ring around insurance companies, making phone calls. Don’t give me that crap. Look at it.”

      The impatient blaring of horns started behind her and Angela’s eyes burned with unshed tears. Goddamn it. Didn’t this guy realize? Wasn’t it written all over her face that she couldn’t handle confrontation right now? Her gaze shot left and right. She needed to get out of there.

      “Hey, are you listening to me? I said I want cash. Now. I’m not waiting for any insurance company to pay out. You pay me now.”

      She stared at him. Her body wound tight. The sudden urge to sink to the ground and cover her head with her hands before the guy moved from angry to violent surged through her. It would only be a matter of seconds before he rained blows down on her and kicked her in the ribs. The same anger showed in his gaze that showed in Robert’s...

      “I said, are you listening to me.” He took another step closer.

      “Hey!”

      Angela snapped her head to the right. A redheaded woman marched between the cars toward them. She held one hand up toward the cars behind them and the other carried what looked like a badge. A police officer. A woman.

      She met the officer’s gaze. “I hit him. It’s my fault. I wasn’t looking.”

      The officer stared at her, seemingly oblivious to the hulk of a man towering above her. “Are you...” She shook her head and her expression instantly changed from surprise to irritation. She faced the guy Angela had hit. “Why don’t you take a few steps back, sir? If you want to intimidate a female, how about you make that female me?”

      The guy glared. “You think that badge scares me, lady? This isn’t a police matter. This is between me and her.” He nodded toward Angela.

      Instinctively Angela pulled back her shoulders. Her wavering strength had been nothing but a blip. She was fine. She was in control. Robert wasn’t there and she was as she’d been for the past two years. Strong. Capable. Independent. Nothing had changed. She tilted her chin.

      The cop fisted her hands on her hips. “It is a police matter when I have a line of cars waiting to get past an accident. An accident. Get it? Now I want you to take a seat in your vehicle and count to fifty. By then, you’ll be calm enough to talk to me in a way that doesn’t have me throwing your ass in jail for the night.”

      Admiration mixed with inadequacy furled in Angela’s stomach. The cop couldn’t have been any taller than five-eight or -nine but made Angela feel every inch of her five-six as insignificant. The woman was as fiery as the color of her hair. Inhaling a deep breath, she dragged back to the surface the inner strength she’d worked on since Robert’s incarceration.

      The man threw another glare at her and then the cop before cursing and heading for his car.

      The policewoman watched him until he slid into the seat and slammed the door. She turned and smiled. “Mind on other things when you rammed him, huh?”

      Angela forced a smile, unease rolling through her stomach at the knowing look etched in the cop’s eyes. Does she know who I am? Does she know I’m the woman who was beaten and raped? Who put her husband in prison and then ran for obscurity? “Something like that. I told him I’d take his details—”

      “Angela СКАЧАТЬ