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fingers in and out in a vicious pace.
    Sophia squirmed and struggled finally getting enough air in her lungs to scream.  “NO!  Stop, help me!  STOP!”
    “Quiet, quiet!” he ordered.  He pulled his fingers out of her and grabbed at the rope that was currently around her neck; tightening it.  “This is our private moment.  Why are you ruining it? I’m just trying to love you.”  His eyes bored into hers the tighter he pulled the rope.  Sophia gagged and gasped, desperate to breathe.  The brick wall cut into her back brutally as she thrashed, panicked.  Her hands alternated between beating on his shoulders and clawing at the rope.  After a few minutes, it was no use and her body succumbed to the lack of oxygen, going slack in his arms.
    When she was gone, he let her body sink to the ground before scooping her up.  He retrieved the runaway grocery cart and after tossing her bags into the alley, he deposited her body in the cart and covered it with a discarded blanket found on the ground.
    “Let’s get you home with the others, my love.”
     

                                 
    E MMA HAD BEEN working for Sam for eight weeks and three days.  She knew exactly how long it’d been as she was counting down the days when she would be free and clear of her uncle’s ridiculous plan and could finally start building a life for herself.  It wasn’t that the job was hard, it actually was quite easy.  Sam had built a pretty steady business from himself, despite being virtually invisible in their town.  The customers had become loyal to him and that kept him going in repeat business and new clients as word of mouth spread that his work was quality.
    Their interactions thus far had been limited to business related issues only.  He’d shown her his invoicing system and how to order from the supplier in the next state, he’d taught her how to schedule his appointments based on his preferences and starting the following week he was going to allow her to start making the deposits at his bank.
    She enjoyed it the most when the clients came to pick up their orders.  There was a cute little elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, that always brought her fresh flowers for her desk when they came in to pick up the bird houses they sold at the store in town.  Mrs. Taylor always joked that her husband had a little extra sparkle in his eye for her.  Then there was the overly flirty Cole Masterson that she knew always checked out her ass when she walked away to get the paperwork he needed to sign.  More than once she’d noticed Sam watching their exchanges with his brows snapped together and a hard-set jaw.  Secretly, she hoped he was jealous; but the man kept his emotions hidden behind a damn steel door.  There was hardly a time that she could tell what he was thinking.
    With the exception of one misstep during the first week, they’d been completely professional the entire time.  Each of them dancing around the issue of what she’d seen that one morning that she’d shown up early with coffees; intent on bridging some kind of friendship between them.  Not finding him in the shop, she’d wandered up to the main house.  It was only fifteen minutes before she was supposed to start her shift, so she wasn’t worried that he’d still be asleep.  Knocking on the door, it swung open as soon as she made contact and shrugging, she’d stepped inside.  “Sam?  Sam, are you in here?”  Not getting a response, she entered further into the house. Past the kitchen, she found him standing alone in the center of the living room holding something in his hands.
    Walking over to him, she stopped a few feet away.  It was a photograph of a beautiful smiling woman and was that…was that him with her?  A very different looking Sam had his arms wrapped around the mystery woman.  The two couldn’t have looked any happier.  It was obvious they were very much in love.  A stab of jealously shot