He groaned, a tortured sound that had Holly’s heart clenching despite her anxiety. Whatever nightmare had him prisoner, it was a chilling place to be. LJ jerked up slightly, staring at the white wall behind her couch as though he’d seen a ghost. The movement shifted his arm and finally allowed Holly to suck a breath.
“LJ,” she screamed as loud as her ravaged voice would allow. A deep bark followed by the rapid click-clack of Biscuits nails sounded from somewhere in the apartment. Holly’s bedroom probably, where the lazy dog had spent the night in her bed.
The moment LJ snapped back to reality, the awareness he’d hurt her would absolutely kill him, but he needed to wake up before one or both of them were seriously injured. “LJ please wake up! It’s Holly. You’re safe. I promise. You’re safe.”
She repeated the phrase again and again. His arm had returned to its position across her throat, but no longer held with pressure. Just a warning not to move. LJ continued to scan the room as though anticipating an enemy attack from any angle at any second.
Was he back in the Middle Eastern desert? Reliving the horrors he’d encountered while fighting overseas? The thought sent a twist of sadness through Holly. This was why he’d refused to sleep with her. Dread of this exact scenario was why he wouldn’t so much as close his eyes in her presence. What a lonely way to go through life, terrified to let his guard down.
“LJ,” she tried again, this time, making her voice as soothing and caring as possible despite the rasp. Instead of scratching, she smoothed her fingers over his back, flinching as she encountered wetness.
He blinked twice and stared down at her. Just as his expression morphed into one of abject horror, the door to Holly’s apartment flew open with so much power, it smacked against the wall behind it.
Before either of them had a chance to process who had breached Holly’s home, LJ was ripped off her. His scream of agony would ring through Holly’s head for years to come. LJ fought like an animal, growling, kicking, and screaming as four uniformed police officers forced him face down on her floor.
“No!” Holly screamed as she launched off the couch only to be tackled back down. “No! Get off him!” Biscuit went crazy. Her loyal dog snarled and snapped at the officers, barking like mad at the men who’d entered her home without permission.
Whoever had restrained Holly seemed to misunderstand her freak out, probably assuming she was traumatized by the scene they discovered her and LJ in. Had someone heard her yelling at him and called the cops? Everything had happened so fast; she had no idea how long she’d been struggling under him.
And now she was fighting to get free of the officer with the same ferocity LJ fought with on the ground. He screamed something about diving for cover and tried to army-crawl away, but the four officers slammed him back down, making his head crack on the floor with a sickening thump. He was gone again, lost in a disassociate episode far worse than the last she’d witnessed.
“Let him go!” she yelled. “Get off of him.”
Biscuit grabbed the pant leg of one of the officers, near his ankle, shaking it as though attempting to kill a rabbit.
“Get this fucking dog to stand down!” the officer cried.
Holly forced herself to stop struggling and try to make eye contact with the officer who was now dragging her away from the fray. “Please,” she said in a much calmer voice. “Please let LJ go. He didn’t do anything. He didn’t hurt me. Please, I promise.”
The officer snorted. “Your face says differently. So does your father. And the blood on your hands.”
Her face. Jesus, in all the chaos, she’d completely forgotten about the ruin of her face. That’s what the raid was about. Not the nightmare. That was just the icing on the cake. To walk into LJ on top of Holly while she tried to free herself.
“No! Please, you don’t understand. Oh, my God, what are they doing to him?”
LJ continued to struggle on the ground, though he no longer appeared to be out of it. Now he was fully conscious, cursing, and fighting for his life. He had to be so confused. To be jerked into reality only to discover four men on top of him, screaming and holding him down. One of the officers reached into his utility belt and pulled out what looked like a small yellow gun. He shoved it into LJ’s side and pulled the trigger. LJ’s body jerked and he shouted in pain, but finally stopped struggling.
“What are they doing to him? Did they hurt him? Stop! LJ! Please make them stop,” she begged the man holding her back.