“You’re probably thinking I’m no better than him. I just yanked you out of that house with no explanation and brought you to my SUV. I’m a stranger. I understand why you’re hesitating.”
He pushes the sleeve up on my shirt and examines my wrist. When he’s done, he does the same to the other arm. “He tied you so tightly that you really didn’t have any way to rub your skin raw.”
I ignore him. I’m immune to the ache in my arms and wrists. I clear my throat. “Are you going to take me to the police station?”
He licks his lips. “Is that what you want?”
What a strange response. No, I don’t fucking want to go to the police, but who the fuck is this guy if he’s not the police? I slowly shake my head.
“Then, no. I won’t take you to the police station.” He doesn’t ask me why I don’t want to go. He just affirms he won’t do it.
“How did you…” I don’t quite know what to ask.
“How did we find you? We work for a private agency. We’ve been watching that house for a few weeks. As soon as we saw that he’d taken you hostage, we came, but we were two hours away. I’m sorry it took so long.”
“Is his wife okay?”
Cannon frowns. “His wife?” Then his face smooths out. “You must mean June. Yes, she’s safe. How do you know June?”
“I don’t. He kept talking about her. I think he was using me to lure her home. I didn’t expect her to come. He’s unhinged. He would have killed both of us.”
“I suspect so, yes. She hired us. How did you know Pete?”
“I didn’t. My car ran out of gas a few miles down the road. He stopped to help me.” I roll my eyes.
Cannon winces. “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine the trauma you’ve been through.”
I don’t respond. I’ve been through so much trauma in my life that this incident will feel like a blip on the radar in a few days. My luck is so bad that I’m sure someone will actually rape and murder me by the end of the week. Why not? I obviously pissed off some higher being in a previous life.
Chapter Three
Cannon
* * *
This woman is traumatized, and for some reason, she doesn’t want me to take her to the police. I’m worried about why she reacted so violently to the idea. I don’t get any sort of vibe from her that makes me think she’s some kind of criminal herself.
My teammates, Blade, Ghost, and Tank are finishing up at the house we stormed. Considering the fact that June—the woman Stark was trying to bait—is Blade’s Little girl, I seriously doubt that Pete Stark is still breathing.
When I told the woman in my lap that I work for a private agency, I was telling the truth. She won’t have heard of Black Blade Protection, so elaborating isn’t important right now.
We’re good at what we do, and most of our jobs are totally above board, but occasionally that’s not possible. Today is one of those times. My team will leave that house looking like a crime scene without implicating any of us.
If needed, I will take this woman to the police. We discussed this likelihood before we arrived. We couldn’t just swoop in, rescue the damsel in distress, and then tell her to be quiet about it. That’s not who we are.
I got her out of there fast, so she has no idea what happened next. If we go to the police, we will tell them we were hired to rescue the captive, and that’s what we did. The police will go out to the house and find Stark dead, but whatever state my team leaves that house in, they will have wiped all trace of us having ever been there.
It’s as tidy as possible considering an innocent civilian’s life was at stake.
“Are you injured, angel?”
She slowly shakes her head. “Only the circulation to my hands. They’ve stopped tingling. Can I go now?”
I frown. “Go where?”
She pushes against me. “I need to go.” She looks at me. “You won’t call the police?” Her eyes are wide with panic.
I narrow my gaze at her. “I won’t call the police. You have my word, but, angel, you’ve been through hell. Why don’t you stay with me for a bit? You’re exhausted and thirsty, and probably hungry. Let me help you.”
