Chapter 26 #3
“Whatever you’re planning, it won’t work,” the man spits, but his confidence is waning. He’s getting more nervous the closer I get. So am I. How am I going to keep Thea and everyone else on this dock safe with his twitching finger on the trigger?
“I’ll give you the drive as soon as she’s safe.”
He snickers, then raises the gun, sending a shot into the sky. Thea whimpers, and screams once again echo around us. “Give. Me. The. Drive.”
I take a step toward him, even as I nudge Thea in the opposite direction.
Thea screams as she trips. I feel more than see her go down, flinging her tote bag into the air as she does.
Why is this woman always falling?
The man turns his attention to her, and I take advantage, swinging the suitcase into his arm.
It connects with my target, and his gun goes skittering.
I lunge for it at the same time he does, both of us falling to the wooden planks.
I close my hand around the cool barrel of the gun, as his fist connects with my cheek.
Pain ricochets in my skull, and I groan as he sends another jab to my kidney.
I roll, but he twists with me, reaching for the gun.
I get my foot on his chest and kick. He flies off the dock into the water.
It’s absolutely silent as I get to my feet, blinking back stars. Everyone has disappeared. Hopefully, that means Thea made it to the car safely, but something tells me she didn’t go anywhere.
I take a deep breath, allowing it to rejuvenate my injured body as the man comes up from the water, sputtering.
“I thought you were going to save some for me.”
I turn, grateful to find a familiar face jogging toward me. Noah Holloway—my former partner and friend.
“Don’t be so slow next time,” I say, rolling out my shoulder. I release the gun to him, and he slips some keys into my hand.
“Go ahead, get out of here.”
“Thank you. Thea?” I turn to the cleaning cart expectantly.
She pokes her head out like a shy animal.
“Is it safe?” she whispers.
“You were supposed to run.”
“Yeah, um, I tried, but my legs froze, and I couldn’t move.” She steps out on her wobbly knees, holding tightly to the cart.
I’m furious. She could have been hurt. I stalk over to her and she leans on the arm I offer her. “I hope you took some notes.”
“I was a little too worried you were going to die.”
I raise a brow. “You were worried about me?”
“Are you hurt?” Her face pales. “You have blood on your shirt.”
“It’s not mine.”
“That doesn’t make it better…” Her words trail off and I wrap an arm around her waist, anticipating her passing out again. To my surprise, she doesn’t.
I grab her suitcase and my duffel and head toward the parking lot while Noah orders the man in the water to climb onto the dock.
The man doesn’t obey and starts swimming in the opposite direction.
Noah shoots the water in front of him, and he freezes, treading water and yelling a mountain of curses at us.
“Need any help?” I ask.
“Nah, I’ve got a local unit coming,” Noah says.
“I owe you one.”
“I’ll add it to your tab.” He grins. “Or you can introduce me to this beautiful woman.”
My jaw flexes. I love him like a brother, which is why he can’t have her. I know him too well. He’s not as tall as me, but broader with tan skin, pitch-black hair, and two sleeves of tattoos. He’s a heart taker and breaker.
His eyebrows flick up. “Down, boy.”
I bristle. I have to be protective of Thea. It’s my job.
“We’ll catch up soon,” he says, winking at Thea as we pass.
Sirens wail in the distance. “Keep me posted.”
“Will do. Check your email. I sent you the info on the corpse in Mexico.”
I nod and speed up.
Thea comes more to life the farther we get from the scene of the crime. “Did I do good?” she asks as I load her stuff into the car.
I raise a brow, confused by the question. “Yeah, of course.”
“It didn’t look like there was another way around him, and I’m always a klutz, anyway.” I slam the trunk and look up at her. She’s got her arms folded across her chest, looking at her red and scraped knees.
“You fell on purpose.” This crazy, beautiful woman refused to leave and threw her body on the ground to protect me. I suddenly have the intense desire to whisk her off her feet and kiss her.
I approach her tentatively, holding myself back from doing just that. I suppose rescuing someone is romantic after all.
“I didn’t know what else to do. He was going to kill us.”
I cup her right arm, then drag her chin up to look at me.
She blinks against the high afternoon sun and bites her lip.
“You did the perfect thing, but never do it again.” I drag my thumb down her cheek, aching to close the distance between us.
It takes all my willpower to release her.
We need to get moving; there could be more people waiting for us.
“So we’re safe?” she asks as I open the passenger door for her.
“For now.” I shut the door and round the car. We’re safe until the next threat and the charges in Mexico catch up to us. I can’t change the future, but I can protect her for now.
“Now what?” Thea asks.
Everything is up in the air, and the danger is closing in. It will do no good to tell her any of my worries, so I don’t. “Let’s drive and see what happens.”