The Warrior by Sharon Sala Page A

father wants you to come home.”
    â€œHow did you find me?” she asked.
    Dieter shrugged. “GPS.”
    Alicia’s lips went slack. “You’re not serious. Dad has a tracking device on my car?”
    â€œThey’re on all his cars,” Dieter said. “I would have thought you’d known that.”
    â€œIt’s obvious I don’t know him nearly as well as I thought I did,” she muttered.
    Dieter took a step closer. “So you’ll come with me now?”
    Alicia’s pulse skipped as she took a nervous step back. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
    â€œOh, but you are,” Dieter said, and lunged, only to find himself suddenly face-to-face with a man who’d come out of nowhere.
    Dieter frowned, then looked at Alicia. “Who is this? Is he with you?”
    John answered, “Who I am is not what you should be worrying about. I heard the lady tell you to back off at least twice, and you’re not paying attention.”
    Dieter jabbed a finger at John, poking him in the chest. “You aren’t part of the equation,” he said. “I take my orders from her father, and he wants her home.”
    When John grabbed the finger and twisted it backward, it sent a shooting pain up Dieter’s arm all the way to the back of his jaw. Even worse, it somehow rendered him immobile, and he didn’t know why.
    â€œOw! Shit! Let me go. Let me go!” he yelled.
    But John continued to maintain pressure as he addressed Alicia. “I take it this man isn’t your husband?”
    Alicia’s voice was shaking. “No, he works for my father.”
    â€œDid you do something illegal?” John asked.
    Alicia rolled her eyes. “No.”
    â€œYou’re not wanted by the police?”
    â€œNo. Lord, no.”
    â€œI’m assuming you’re of legal age.”
    Alicia stifled a snort, which John interpreted as a yes.
    â€œThen I’d say you’re free to do what you want.”
    Alicia’s eyes filled with tears all over again.
    â€œI’ll never be free again,” she said, more to herself than to John, but he heard it and knew her peril was working to his advantage.
    John looked back at Dieter, whose face was turning paler by the minute.
    â€œAre you going to keep following her?”
    â€œIt’s my job,” Dieter moaned, still trying to figure out why he felt numb all over.
    â€œThen I guess she’ll need a head start,” John said, then grabbed Dieter’s neck with his other hand and squeezed. Dieter dropped between the car and the gas pump like a stone.
    Alicia shuddered. What had just happened? “I need to hide,” she mumbled, still staring at Dieter’s body.
    â€œWhy are you afraid of your father?”
    She wiped her hands across her face. “This is a nightmare. Please…I need to get another car and get to a place where he can’t find me until I can figure all this out.”
    John exhaled softly. Bingo. Right into his lap.
    â€œI can help.”
    Alicia swayed where she stood, then looked up. His eyes were so dark that she couldn’t see the pupils. She shivered. She didn’t know this man from Adam. He could be a serial killer, a sadist—anything. Then she asked herself: Was her father any different? Should she trust the devil she knew or the devil she didn’t?
    John felt her pulling away. He had to act fast.
    â€œMy name is John Nightwalker. I live about fifteen miles from here, and as you can see, I have a car. You’llhave to leave your car here anyway, and I’ll help you all I can. Just tell me what you need.”
    Alicia saw his lips moving, but she’d lost track of his words as soon as he’d said his name. The skin was still crawling on the back of her neck, and she had the strangest urge to cry.
    â€œSo…what do you say?” John asked.
    Alicia blinked. “Um…I, uh…”
    â€œYou can trust