Deadly Embrace

that he might have made a rash move.
‘You can let us sleep on your floor for a couple of days,’ Emily suggested. ‘I promise we’ll stay out of your way.’
‘It’s not like I got a palace or anything,’ Sam explained. ‘It’s only one bedroom, so that means we’ll all havta sleep in together.’
Emily giggled and gave him a knowing look. ‘Sounds like fun to me.’
‘Yeah, but not with your sister watching.’
‘Dani won’t watch,’ Emily promised. ‘She’ll curl up in a corner and go to sleep.’
‘Honestly,’ Dani agreed, wolfing down her pie. ‘I’ll make sure I don’t bother you.’
‘Tomorrow we’ll both go out and find jobs, then we’ll look for somewhere to live,’ Emily said. ‘You won’t be sorry you brought us here.’
‘You can’t get a job unless you got a social-security card,’ Sam pointed out.
‘What’s that?’ Dani asked.
‘Somethin’ you gotta have.’
‘How do we get one?’ Emily wanted to know.
‘Well,’ Sam hesitated for a moment. ‘I know a man who knows someone who might be able to fix it. Don’t suppose you got birth certificates?’
‘No,’ Emily said. ‘We’re lucky to have clothes.’
Ten days later Sam came up with two fake social-security cards.
‘You’re the best!’ Emily squealed, kissing him soundly on the lips.
‘Thanks,’ he said, looking embarrassed. ‘Now you really owe me.’
‘I don’t mind that,’ Emily said, with a half-smile.
‘You’re so nice,’ Dani added shyly. ‘God will reward you for being so nice.’
‘Don’t go spouting all that God crap,’ Emily said crossly, glaring at her younger sister. ‘We’re not at the ranch now, so drop it.’
‘Sorry,’ Dani muttered.
‘That’s how he kept us in line,’ Emily continued. ‘Threatening us, telling us that everything was God’s will. It’s not God’s will that he was poking us.’
‘That’s incest, y’know,’ Sam said knowledgeably.
‘What does incest mean?’ Dani asked.
‘Go to the library and find out,’ Sam said.
‘What’s a library?’
‘Oh, my!’ Emily exclaimed, exasperated. ‘I thought I taught you stuff like that.’
‘Not well enough,’ Sam said, chuckling.
Armed with her forged social-security card, Dani passed as seventeen, and got a job working as a maid at one of the big hotels. Emily scored a job as a waitress at the same hotel. With their combined wages they were able to move out of Sam’s room and rent a tiny apartment, although Emily spent most of her spare time over at Sam’s.
When Dani wasn’t working she visited the public library, soaking up information. Being ignorant was not a good thing. She was thirsty for knowledge and determined to get it.
Unaware of her tender age, but well aware of her beauty, men began coming on to her.
She shuddered at the thought of being with a man. Dashell, her illustrious father, had put her off men forever.
Many nights she lay in bed experiencing nightmares about the things he’d made her do when she was younger. Touch this, stroke that, lick this.
His vile words and actions remained her secret.
She willed herself to put the disturbing memories out of her mind, but there were times when the nightmares were too vivid to disappear.
Now she was a little girl in a big city, and at last she was learning how to survive.

Chapter Six
Tuesday, 10 July 2001, Los Angeles
Never let ’em see you sweat, Madison thought, recalling the line from a stupid TV commercial. For a moment she almost smiled. Then she realized what a potentially dangerous situation she was caught in, and that a man had just been shot.
The gunman had herded everyone to the side of the room near the kitchen, and now they were taking stock of one another as the man continued to wave his weapon in the air. There were about twenty-five people in all. The oldest was the woman who’d been sitting next to them, and the youngest seemed to be a skinny teenage girl with freckles, who looked like she was about to burst into tears. And who could blame her if she did?
Madison glanced across the room at the burly man who’d been shot. He was lying on the ground quite still. ‘Do you think he’s dead?’ she whispered to Cole, dreading the answer.
‘Who knows?’ he said, shrugging.
‘Can’t we do something…maybe try to stop the bleeding?’
‘Are you gonna get up and go over there?’
‘No, but perhaps I can ask one of the gunmen to help him.’
‘Yeah,’ he said sarcastically. ‘I’m sure they’re ready to do that.’
Realizing that Cole was probably right, she tried to imagine how Jake would handle a situation like this. Hmm…knowing Jake, he’d probably whip out his camera and start photographing everyone.
Damn! She wished he was here with her. And then she began wondering if he was all right and when she’d see him again. Jake was a very special man; she couldn’t bear the thought of losing him. He was also very smart, and if he was in trouble in Colombia, there was nobody better at talking himself out of a bad situation.
‘You okay, kid?’ Cole asked.
‘I’m okay,’ she murmured, thinking how when she and Natalie had been in college, Cole was just a punk teenager up to no good, and now he was calling her kid. Strange how things changed. ‘It’s your sister I’m worried about.’
They both glanced at Natalie, who still seemed to be in a catatonic state, which was so unlike her: Natalie was the one who usually couldn’t stop talking. Reaching over, Madison squeezed her arm. ‘We’ll get through this,’ she whispered. ‘You do know that.’
Silently Natalie nodded.
‘Shut the fuck up!’ the gunman yelled. ‘No talkin’. Down on the floor, all of you. Down! Down!’
Madison sank to the floor with the rest of them. She was writing the story in her mind, aware that once they got out of this mess, it was important to remember every detail.
‘It’s gettin’ hot in here,’ Cole muttered, sweat beading his forehead. ‘They must’ve turned the air-conditioning off.’
‘Who’d do that?’ Madison asked, slipping off her jacket.
‘The cops. They’ve probably got this place surrounded.’
‘So we’re hostages?’
‘Well, yeah,’ Cole said, shooting