Zach sped back onto the access road to the next hotel. Orange letters blared Vacancy with the y blinking as a light struggled to burn out. A string of rooms lined the lot, sagging eaves shading the walkway to an ice machine. The lot gaped empty except for...
A solitary car parked at the far corner, the blue compact car the same make and model as John's, with a military ID decal on the windshield. Julia's arms tightened around Zach's waist.
Anger churned as he drove closer.
The collection of bumper stickers proclaimed school pride and a local rock station, all stickers identical to the ones on John's car. Straight ahead, lights shone through the curtains of one room.
Zach cut the engine.
Julia leaned into him. "Take a few deep breaths first, Colonel."
Screw deep breaths.
He jammed down the kickstand and flung himself off the bike. The slit in the curtain parted before fluttering closed again.
"Zach, wait," Julia called after him.
Like hell. He pounded the door, each thud slamming through him, hammering home frustration and a determination to regain control of his world. "Damn it, Shelby. Open up or I'm calling the police."
The door swung wide, John Murdoch defiantly blocking the entrance. "Hello, Colonel."
"I'm taking Shelby home." Zach advanced a step.
John didn't budge.
"You'd better step aside." Zach towered over the teen, and still he didn't move.
Man, the kid had more guts than brains.
Julia's hand fell to rest on his shoulder. He shrugged it off.
"Shelby, come outside. Now." He looked over the boy's shoulder. Shelby stood hovering between a television and a bed with rumpled covers.
Her brown eyes red and puffy from crying.
Overlong jersey rippling above her bare legs.
All the bottled frustrations of the day, hell, the past two years, detonated. Rage a lifetime in the making roared within him—at Lance Sinclair for hurting Julia, at Pam for hurting their children, at Julia for shutting him out.
And most of all at himself.
The restraints on his anger snapped a half second before his hand shot up to catch John by the shirt collar. Zach slammed the teen up against the door. "What the hell did you do to my daughter?"
Chapter 16
Shelby's scream bounced off paper-thin walls.
"Zach. Wait." Julia struggled to keep her voice steady and low, hoping some of that calm might leech into the wild-eyed trio before blood started spouting.
Shelby lurched forward. "Stop it!" she shrieked. "Put him down." She pummeled her father's shoulders.
Like a fly battering a bull.
Zach didn't budge. His stare bored into the teen he'd flattened against the door.
Julia sidled between Zach and Shelby. With firm hands, she edged Shelby away. "Take a deep breath." Or ten. "And I'll handle this. You'll only make it worse."
Could it get any worse? Zach never lost control.