Which gave her a really, really bad feeling in her gut. Because if Ryan was there, then her other brother could not be far behind. Those two were often a package deal.
Uh, oh. “I need to get outside,” she snapped to Javion.
“Cass wants you in here.”
“Yes, but Cass doesn’t understand the full threats that he could be facing.” She only saw Ryan. Where in the heck was Nash?
Had Gray ratted her out to her brothers? He must have. She knew Gray and Ryan had served together in the Marines. She’d wondered on more than one occasion if Ryan had pushed Gray to bring her on the team. It would just be like his interfering, overprotective self. But, since she happened to like working with Gray, she’d let the matter slide.
She would not be letting anything slide again. And did Ryan have anything to do with Gray keeping quiet about the Twins being a serial killing pair? Her instincts said yes. Especially with Ryan being outside, clearly on the hunt himself.
There was a loud crash from the back of the shop. Her head turned toward the sound. Javion didn’t react to it at all. “Uh, shouldn’t you run and check that out?” And leave the front door open and unguarded for me?
He remained focused on the scene out front. “My job is to make sure you don’t get out this door. Bear can handle himself.” Then, “Shit, Cass has his gun pressed to the idiot’s chest.”
What? To her brother’s chest? After Ryan had signed that she was his sister? No, no, no. Agnes backed away from the window, moving with silent steps. Javion had now opened the front door wider, and the man was clearly thinking about rushing out to help Cass. Though, from the sound of things, Cass didn’t need help.
Her brother did.
Agnes pivoted on her heel and went creeping down the hallway. She reached the storage room and?—
The shop’s back door hung open.
Her gaze darted around the storage room. Raz wasn’t there. No sign of the tattoo artist. And Bear had his back to her as he braced his big hands on a nearby counter.
So, she could just slip right on out that open door, except… “Where is Raz?”
“I let him go.” Low.
What?
“Seeing as how he covered for me and kept my secrets, his job was done.”
Covered for me and kept my secrets. Shit. Shit.
“Well, not quite done. He is getting the van ready for transport.” He glanced over his shoulder. “So I guess he hasn’t really gone that far yet.”
Her darting gaze looked for a weapon even as she opened her mouth to scream.
But Bear was on her in an instant. For someone so big, he sure could move incredibly fast. One massive hand clamped down over her mouth and her nose, and the bastard cut off her air. Enraged, desperate, she kicked at him. She punched. She clawed.
“I outweigh you by an easy one fifty, FBI Agent. And, unlike Cass, I’m not fucking you, so I don’t particularly care if I hurt you.”
Newsflash, she didn’t particularly care if she hurt him, either. So her frantic fingers stopped punching and clawing at him, and she grabbed for the hammer she’d just spotted hanging on the wall near his head. She could almost reach it…almost…
“You’re gonna say night, night,” he told her.
Night, night? What was she? Two?
“And when you wake up…”
Oh, wait, she got to wake up? She’d figured he was just intending to kill her then and there.
I need air. I need to breathe. She’d almost reached the handle of that hammer. Almost…
“You’re gonna be in hell. He’s gonna stab you again and again. He’ll finish the job he started. Wants to do it personally because you have really pissed him off.”
She touched the hammer even as black dots swirled before her eyes.
