At Close Range. Tara Quinn Taylor

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СКАЧАТЬ it ever easy?” she asked. The question wasn’t rhetorical and they both knew it.

      “No, of course not.”

      “So which is better? To know beforehand, to be able to prepare, but to spend those last days in mourning? Or is it better to have your loved one there, perfectly normal and happy, enjoying what you think is a long life together, and then be left in shock when he’s snatched away with no time to say goodbye?”

      Brian shrugged. “They both suck.”

      It was her word. Her one leftover from the hardened teenager she’d left behind. She’d never heard him use it before.

      “Yeah, but look at it this way, Brian. Most people are looking for that one great love, wishing for it, missing it if they’ve settled for less. Some of them will never know what it’s like to find your soul mate. We had that. We know.”

      He studied her for several seconds, lips tight as emotion shone from his eyes. “You’re right.”

      “I’d choose those three years with Jason over a lifetime of settling.”

      He nodded. “Me, too.”

      

      As a boy, Bobby Donahue had had trouble sleeping. Getting under his bed quickly enough to avoid a drunken attack from his father was impossible when he was unconscious.

      Since taking control of his life, however, and later, control of the lives around him, the only nights he’d been up late involved a woman.

      Usually the same woman.

      Tonight was no different. The hours between Friday night and Saturday morning, he spent alone in the Flagstaff home he’d once shared with the two people he’d loved above all else. His wife and son.

      He sat, dressed in nothing but his skin, and searched for his woman—Amanda Blake.

      Stripped down he was completely raw, the man his Father in Heaven had crafted him to be.

      Nudity kept him grounded when life was throwing him more challenges than he’d bargained for.

      He was prepared for the hard work. Could handle anything he was given. He didn’t doubt that. Not for a second.

      He’d just found some things easier to conquer than others.

      The trial had not gone well that day, but he had things in hand. One way or another, Kenny Hill, a zealous young man Bobby dearly loved, would be alive to continue his good works.

      But Kenny wasn’t the reason Bobby was up. Living without his son, knowing that a year had passed in Luke’s life, a formative year, was slowly eroding Bobby’s peace of mind.

      He’d never loved anyone like he’d loved his son. Never.

      Not even Amanda, the boy’s mother. Luke’s kidnapper.

      The Internet was a wonderful tool. And his ability to hack into more sites than God didn’t hurt—not that anyone else knew about that ability.

      He stared at the screen.

      “Father, I give it all to You,” he said aloud. “Thy will be done. If Thou would have me search until my eyes go blind, I will do so.” There was a clue here somewhere. He was certain of it. A newspaper article, a picture, a mention of a homeless woman’s arrest, or better yet, some illegal activity for which he knew Amanda was well trained. Like breaking and entering.

      With a twist.

      Amanda would only go to homes that were empty. She’d pick the lock. She’d take food, clothes and any cash she found. Nothing else.

      Amanda was a class act.

      And she’d only rob others if she was desperate.

      Which she’d have to be, on the run, not only from the law, but from their church—the Ivory Nation.

      No one escaped the brotherhood forever. Amanda had already set a record for length of time on the loose avoiding Ivory Nation capture.

      With Bobby’s son.

      While he knew God would have him find the woman, bring her to penitence, Bobby also admired her. The only woman he’d ever loved. Amanda was good. The best. Which was why God had given her to him in the first place.

      They’d had a great work to do together. Had done it well. And if she’d remained faithful, they would’ve done so much more.

      Bobby reached for the hand gripper he kept close by and started to squeeze. When that didn’t ease his tension he scrolled faster through the Web sites, reviewing incident after incident, detail after detail, looking for the telltale signs in police logs across the country.

      And without his permission, visions of Amanda ran through his mind. Visions of her when she’d been a zealous follower of the Ivory Nation, proselyting on campus, while the brothers went about the seamier business of cleaning up God’s world for His people.

      He’d loved her.

      And she’d loved him, too. For the first time ever, he’d known what love felt like. Known what it meant to have it in his home.

      In those first couple of years they’d never gone more than a night or two without making love. He, who’d had all the sex there was to have, wanted only one woman. He couldn’t get enough of her. No matter how often Amanda spread her legs, no matter how long they were together, he always felt blessed by her beauty.

      She’d been so much more than sex. She’d been his companion. A believer in his cause. A missionary.

      She’d been a true daughter of God.

      Bobby had seen the Lord’s work in Amanda’s ability to reach people, her soft voice and big eyes touching their hearts in a way Bobby couldn’t. She could convince a crowd of undergrads at the college, or a roomful of executives at a business meeting, that giving money to support their work, to support certain political candidates, was something they wanted to do.

      And she’d done so willingly. In the beginning, she’d begged him to let her help make a difference in this dirty, evil world.

      And then she’d conceived a pure white child and he’d had to have her twice a day sometimes. When he looked at his woman pregnant with another of God’s pure souls, his cock wouldn’t be still.

      He’d insisted on delivering Luke himself. Nothing would ever compare to the power and love he’d felt as he’d reached up and pulled out their perfect boy. He’d bawled like a baby.

      In the months that had followed, he’d been there as his beautiful and loyal woman had suckled their infant, nourishing Luke through the miracle of her body. He’d held her breast while their son fed, and fed himself on the leftovers.

      And he’d cried then, too, giving thanks for his changed life: from drinking tainted water to supping on God’s nectar.

      The blinking cursor brought Bobby back to the air-conditioned room. The house was far too quiet. Too dark and foreboding. СКАЧАТЬ