Bound in Blood 1 Clandestine

Bound In Blood: Book 1
By
Nicole Rae

Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
About The Author

This book is dedicated with much love to my two beautiful
daughters, Alexeea and Ellyana. Without you I would not be me.
Thank you for being my inspiration and my life every minute of

From this moment on, my first published novel will forever have
the same birthday as my oldest daughter… Happy Birthday
sweetie.

I would like to thank everyone for all your support and
assistance during the editing process. It takes a village to raise a
baby and I’m grateful that you’ve all helped me with mine. I
can’t tell you how much I appreciate you being my eyes and my
counselor when I wanted to pull my hair out. You guys rock! I
love you all very much and I couldn’t have done this without
you.

I am a lucky author. I already have a number one fan, as well as
a best friend. I love you Gram and thanks for all of your support
and wisdom. Also, I expect good placement on your book
shelf… just sayin’

I would also like to give special thanks to J.D. Stroube at
Dreamscape Covers (www.dreamscapecovers.com) for putting
together a gorgeous graphic art design for my cover and chapter
headings. You went way above and beyond the call of duty. I’ve
come to value the friendship we have made very much and
consider you one of my besties.

The blinds on the huge store front windows were closed.
Emily spread apart a section, peering into the blackness. Crap,
she knew it! She was hoping teenagers were loitering around,
thenshe wouldn’t feel so alone. It was silly, but a wary feeling
always crossed her mind when she had to be out at night,
especially by herself.

Lakeview was an okay town, not a lot happened most of
the time, but she couldn’t help her apprehension. Especially
lately, at times, she had been getting a wrenching pain in her gut
that nearly dropped her to her knees. It was so bad that
sometimes she thought she would die. It always coincided with
the hair on the back of her neck standing up. She let her fingers
release the blinds, obstructing her view from the outside world.

It took her way to long to close the bookstore. Her tyrant of
a boss wanted the inventory done and the new books on the
shelves before closing. Well,that wasn’t going to happen. The
store had been closed for over two hours. Too bad,he wasn’t
generous enough to pay overtime.

Main Street wasn
’t very appealing at night. There are no
street lights or at least not regular ones. Some idiot somewhere
along the line, thought it would be a brilliant idea to use lantern
lightsinstead. It’s supposed to bring a romantic ambiance to the
store fronts for the tourists, that Lakeview never has. The solar
lights turn on at dusk. However, the whole street is still covered
in shadow. Sinceeverything is closed, there isn’t much traffic.
The only visible signs of life after dark are usually from the
tenants of the apartments above the shops.

Emily willed herself to relax. It wouldn’t do her any good to
sit and dwell on it. The only other option was to sleep here and
the boss wouldn’t like that. He was a cranky old man; his frame
was slight, but anyone who knew him, wasn't fooled. He had a
boiling temper on the verge of spilling over at any moment,
pretty much all of the time. Crossing him was futile. She just did
her job and kept her nose to the ground. Every now and then,
there was a hint of a crack in his otherwise mean demeanor. She
never let him know that she noticed. This job was necessary, at
least, through the summer to earn money for school in the fall.

Lakeview was the home of a local community college.
Emily was enrolled and attended there for now. There were only
a few semesters left and then she would transfer to UCLA where
she had received a scholarship. It wouldn’t cover everything.
That’s why a few semesters here were unavoidable. It allowed
her to get prerequisites out of the way, so the cost of the
University would be cheaper.

The heavy class load didn’t leave much
time for a job, so
she was working this summer to make up for what financial aid
didn’t cover. Her family wasn’t poor. Their money was simply
tied up into other things. Emily pushed the thoughts of college
and her family’s financial state out of her mind. It was either that
or she would sit and sulk about it forever. She didn’t have time
or the energy to be bitter about it anymore. It is what it is.
Making herself miserable aboutit wouldn’t do her or anyone else
any good.

She hauled the last box of books to a shelf in the back. They
would have to wait for morning. Her boss, George would have to
get over it. Blake’s Books would not burst into flames, if one
box of books wasn’t stocked. She had to hurry up, her dad would
be home soon and he hated when dinner was late. She flipped off
the remaining lights, as she headed out the door, locking up
behind her. As she took the key from the lock and crammed it
into her purse, shivers raced down her spine. It felt like someone
was watching her. She quickly gave a scan to her right and left
trying to look nonchalant about it.

Don’t be crazy there’s no one out here. Why would there
be? Pushing her paranoia to the back of her mind as best she
could, she headed off down the sidewalk, holding her chin up
and alert. She remembered someone telling her this would exude
confidence and would make a bad guy less likely to attack. Even
though it seemed absurd, she couldn’t help carrying the position
anyway, just in case. What could it hurt?

It was then that her stomach convulsed into spasms. Her
hand came up to put pressure on the pain but it didn’t alleviate it.
Emily clenched her teeth together so she couldn’t cry out. Why
was this happening again?

Her long medium brown hair, whipped behind her in the
wind, as a big breeze seemed to blow right through her. She
found herself fighting a violent shiver that made her teeth
chatter. The sudden wind wasn’t doing much for her creep out
meter that was for sure. Buying a car really needed to jump up
the list of priorities.

A noise from behind made her jump and stop abruptly.
For a second, she was afraid to turn around. Curiosity trumped
her fear, she had to know what that sound was. It sounded like a
piece of paper or some garbage shuffling on the pavement. Yeah
that’s what it was, garbage, she told herself as she hurriedly
started walking again. She tried not to give the noise a second
thought. There it was again. This time it sounded like a shoe
scuffing the concrete. She gave a quick glance behind her and to
her relief saw nothing. It was probably litter flying by in the
wind or maybe even a cat. There were apartments a block up
from where she was after all.

The apartments above the businesses on Main Street are
not very nice, well at least the few she had ever seen anyway.
Emily once had a friend, who lived in a studio there. It was so
small that kitchen was literally in a closet and the fridge was in
the living room. She supposed that would be a bachelors dream.
He could watch the game on Sunday, comfy on the couch and
reach over to pull out a beer, never having to get up. All it would
need is a toilet on the other side, she thought, laughing to herself.

Her comfortable laughter was brought up short by more
sounds coming from the opposite direction that she was headed.
This time it was evident what it was, someone was walking a
ways back behind her. It’s just a harmless person walking home
to their apartment after work. Get a hold of yourself Emily.
They’re not running and they are not sneaking. So, clearly they
are not after you, right? Yeah that’s it, just walking home. Then
why was there a knot in the pit of her stomach that seemed to
clench with every second that passed?

A voice screamed in her head to run. S
he couldn’t do that.
This person hadn’t posed any threat to her. There were no signs
of immediate danger, at least not yet. STOP IT! You’re psyching
yourself out, Emily instructed herself firmly. This was
ridiculous, just because there is a man walking on a deserted
street in the dark, did not mean he was a serial killer. After all,
she was walking alone in thedark and she wasn’t dangerous.

Through the endless babble in her mind, she heard the
strangers footsteps quicken. She picked up her pace too, trying to
make herself move faster than whoever was behind her. She
could see the corner up ahead, where the wonderful glow of a
street light promised safety. There was no point in yelling, the
noise from the cross street was too loud. Besides, maybe he was
in a hurry too. She sped up again anyway. Better safe than sorry.

Emily risked a glance over her shoulder to see her possible
pursuer. She couldn’t tell who it was, other than that it appeared
to be male. The figure was broad shouldered like a linebacker.
She couldn’t make out a face but she could tell it was looking
right back at her. At least it seemed to be. Why did it have to be
so dark? Never mind, she told herself. It’s not important, just
keep going.

Her breath was shallower, as she tried to be as silent as
possible. She listened for any possible sign that he was getting
closer to her. Man, he looked really big. If she panicked, he
could probably catch up to her in a millisecond. There was no
point in running. The guy was tall and one of his strides, would
addup to several of Emily’s. Besides, she couldn’t take a chance
she tripped or something. He would have her then and all her
efforts would be wasted.

Oh God, her mind exploded. It sounded like he was
speeding up again. He had to be following her. Why else would
he speed up every time she does? She still couldn’t help but hope
and pray that he was an innocent bystander. Even though she
knew in her gut it wasn’t true, she had to hold onto something.
She had to get out of there and fast.

As she started across the alley, an overwhelming blow hit
her back sending her sprawling. She wondered how in the world
he caught up so quickly. A voice screamed out in her head to
stay awake. Despite the sound advice, her lids got heavier and
heavier. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, she didn’t
think she was ever going to hit the ground. She tried to position
herself to break the fall but she was helpless against it. All she
managed was to stretch her arms out in front of her.

Emily
didn’t recall hitting the ground. Her next awareness
was of being flat on her face in the dark. There was a gritty, dirt
taste in her mouth from the gravel lining the alleyway, but she
didn’t dare spit it out. Her forearm stung where a jagged rock
was biting into her tender skin. Maybe if she lay very still, it
would all just disappear, at least that’s what she prayed for.

She soon realized her prayers would go unanswered, when
she heard something slipping across the rocks near her feet. She
could hear deep, ragged breathing and felt eyes boring into her
but she didn’t move. She knew there was no point in trying to
escape. Her speed was mediocre at best, no match for his. So.
what was the use? She asked herself. Plus, she felt intense pain
from the fall and didn’t think she could make her limbs
cooperate anyway.

What was taking him so long? Why hadn’t he done
anything yet? From all the stories she had heard in the news, this
was definitely not their style. Was it? Don’t killers usually attack
for the thrill? What was the thrill in letting her lay there and eat
dirt? For all he knew, she wasn’t even awake yet. As long as she
couldn’t drag herself up, she would let him think so. He must be
anticipating what he wanted to do to her next.