Chapter 7
*KNOX*
“This is crazy!” Emerson screamed as I backed her up against a car and shielded her body with mine. “What do they want?”
I jerked my head in her direction. Clearly, they wanted one of us dead. Me probably.
Unless Rex had suddenly grown a desire for necrophilia, they didn’t want to shoot his next target.
“Who knows?” I lied. Emerson was strong, but no one needed to hear this much truth while bullets blew past them. “We’re not sticking around to find out.”
The longer we stayed braced behind the old white Ford Focus I was using for cover, the closer the guys with guns would be able to creep in on us.
“How come you don’t have a gun?” Emerson asked and then screeched as a bullet hit the front door of the Focus three feet from us.
I widened my eyes. We had bigger issues. I pulled my gun from the small holster on my back, hidden by my shirt.
She waved her hand at me. “Then why aren’t you using it?”
“Because I don’t want to leave evidence here. We’re running, not engaging.”
Did she really think I could take on the six men Rex had circling us? I appreciated the vote of confidence, but if I blew our cover to take a shot, we’d both end up dead in the long run.
“Well, can we not engage elsewhere?”
“Sure, babe.” I laughed and shook my head as another bullet took out the car’s front tire. Sirens cut through the otherwise quiet morning. “Turn around and run fast right toward the trees behind us.”
“What?” she screeched.
I shrugged. This is what we had to do. “You want to live or find out what kind of guy Rex is?”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “I don’t like you.”
“I’m okay with that. Now get to running. Get past the trees and then make a hard right. Stick behind the building and keep on the sidewalk in case you see someone. Once you see the vehicle, rush for it. I’ll be right behind you.”
She hesitated.
“You got it, or do you need the directions again?”
Another scowl. “I can understand simple directions.”
“Then go!”
Emerson jumped but did as I asked and shot off toward the trees.
As expected, no one shot at her. They wanted me. Putting distance between us kept her safer. We had less of a chance of a stray bullet hitting her.
I counted to ten and watched two men take off after Emerson as the others made their way closer to me before turning and making the same run for the trees. Then I took a different route to the car. Two bullets whizzed through the trees, knocking off pieces of bark.
A blaze of cop cars slammed into the apartment complex parking lot as I hit the safety of the first building’s cover.
Emerson was sitting in the passenger seat of the car when I made it there. I strolled up slowly, so I wouldn’t gain anyone else’s suspicion.
“What took you so long?” she asked as she pulled on my shirt. “Were you hit at all?”
“Pretty sure I’d feel a bullet wound, babe.”
She stopped tugging on me and went back to her narrow-eyed annoyance. “Well then, are we just going to sit here all day?”
I chuckled as I started the car and turned it toward the docks. Rex wouldn’t try another direct attack at Calder’s base, and I wanted to check on the wreckage of Emerson’s boat.
We made it six blocks before Emerson spoke again. “Have you had that gun on you this entire time?”
“That’s what you want to know?” I asked with a smile. The longer we were together, the more I figured her out.
She thought of her answer until I glanced at her to make sure she was okay. “I think that’s the answer to a question I can handle right now.”
Maybe she understood the dire situation we were in. “Yeah. South Carolina is a concealed-carry state.”
“Right, right.” She stared out the window. “I don’t own a gun.”
“No,” I said as we pulled into the parking lot for Calder’s team. “I didn’t think you did.”
We were halfway to Calder’s office when she said, “It would be pink.”
“Huh?” I asked as we continued past Calder’s front door.
Emerson stayed in step with me. “If I owned a gun, I’d get a pink one.”
I laughed. How the hell did we go from dodging bullets to her picking out an imaginary pink gun?
And why did it turn me on?
“Oh, no,” Emerson moaned as we approached the marina number where her boat used to live. “Everything’s gone.”
We both stopped in front of her marker. “The storm must have wiped the last bit of it out.”
That’s when I saw the note.
It had been stuck with a thick piece of gray duct tape to her tie-off post. The white color of the paper was a stark contrast against the aged wood.
I ripped it down before she had a chance to grab it and read it.
My jaw tightened as I read it.
“What does it say?” Emerson asked.
Fucking A. I didn’t want to tell her. Once I read the note out loud, she’d know the threats were real. She didn’t deserve that. None of us did.
A seagull flew overhead, squawking as it soared overhead.
“Knox,” she tried again. “What does it say?”
I met her gaze. Her eyes were heavy with worry. “Rex says he knows where you live. As if we didn’t already know that.”
I guessed the killer hedged his bets on which location we’d visit first.
Emerson shivered. “He’s not subtle.”
“No, Rex never is,” I said grimly. “He’s escalating.”
Emerson leaned her back against the dock post of the person stationed next to her. She threw her head back and watched the seagull circle out on the water.
“You did good back there,” I said, moving toward her.
She let me wrap a firm hand around her waist. “I almost fell.”
I must have missed that.
“But you didn’t.” I let the corners of my lips tip up, hoping to help her mood. “You kept moving, and we made it here safely.”
Emerson looked at me, really looked at me, like she was trying to drill through my eyes right to my soul. Her shoulders drooped, and she relaxed into my hold.
“I’m really glad you’re here, Knox. Thank you.”
I held her gaze, hoping she understood what I meant when I said, “Me too, Emerson.”
The door to Calder’s shop opened, and he stepped out. Our little moment together would end soon.
Regardless of what happened next, I knew—absolutely knew—that Rex was far from done.
He wouldn’t give up without a fight, but neither would I.
And this time I wouldn’t let him live to see another one.
“It’s operation ‘save the world,’” I said to Calder as he approached us.
He lifted his left eyebrow. “Is that so?”
“It’s about time. Someone has to do it.”
Calder smirked. “I thought you were out of that game.”
I lifted my shoulder. “Sometimes things change.”
“I guess when it’s important enough they do,” he said, tilting his head toward Emerson.
She met his gaze head-on. “What in the world are you two talking about?”
“Nothing, darling.” Calder laughed. “He’s stationed off the coast. I’ve had eyes on him all week.”
“On who?” Emerson asked.
I gave a quick headshake to Calder. Emerson didn’t need to be involved in this. “I’ll put a plan together. Round up a crew.”
Emerson scoffed. “Crew for what? Why do I feel like you’re leaving me out?”
“Because we are, darlin’,” Calder answered.
She twisted away from me and crossed her arms. “Absolutely not. There’s no planning or crews without me involved. This is my life and no one else gets to risk anything for me.”
“You really going to fight about this?” I asked her.
She gave me a quick jerk of her head. “Not giving in one inch.”
Calder’s eyes widened, and he bit his lips together. It didn’t help him hold back the smirk.
“Okay, I’ll make you a deal,” I said to Emerson and waited for her to look at me before I spoke again.
My heart thumped in my chest. What would I do if she laughed at my next request?
I’d still help her, of course, but then I’d have to slink my way out of South Carolina in shame.
I’d never hear the end of it from Calder or his crew.
“If I let you help on the operation and we take care of Rex, then you’ll move with me to Alaska. ”
Emerson crinkled her nose slightly before her eyes lit up. “Yeah, sure.”