FROST
There was no escaping my worry. I tried to distract myself by unpacking a new set of barbells. Absently, I stacked the weights in the corner of the unused dining space and wondered if Evie was going to give me a hard time for it. Two weeks without a workout was too long for my pent-up energy. Especially when every whiff of Evie's scent made my blood rush, and the way her dresses swished around her lean legs made my fingers itch to bend her over something.
If I had been my normal self, if Evie had been a typical woman in my circle, I would have acted on the signals we were sending each other. But she wasn't one of those women. Evie was someone else entirely. Untouchable. Fragile. Precious, even. The whole reason I was here was to protect her, not maul her.
I placed the last of the weights on the rack, and then the worry was back. I couldn't seem to shake it even though her plan was safe enough. I didn't know what lengths these people were willing to go to in order to get what they wanted. My smartwatch vibrated in tandem with the phone in my pocket, and I checked the number, hoping it was Evie telling me she was in town safely.It was Remington. I pulled out my phone and answered with a worried "Hello?"
"Hey, three teams have mobilized. They were waiting for Evie to leave the property. Did you let her leave?" Remington asked with clear censure in his tone.
I ran for the door. "I did, but she is supposed to stay in the car with the doors locked."
"Three separate teams were given a tip-off that she's out. They had one tailing the property, and the other two were tracking each other." I heard typing in the background as I bent down to grab the bag of defensive equipment the security team had left me.
"I'm going." I ran outside and threw myself into my car, slamming the door and starting the engine. "Do you know anything about them?"
"Nothing. I hacked one of their crappy networks. The other two are airtight." Remington added, "I can send the authorities."
I waffled on that. "How close are they to her?"
"The tail just sent word. I think you've got five, maybe ten minutes before they're on her."
I could make that. "Hold off. If you don't hear from me in twenty minutes, send the PD." I tore out of the driveway, gunning it over uneven gravel and dirt toward the gate. I punched the button on my dash to open the gate.
"Three against one isn't great, Frost," Remington said uncertainly.
"Twenty minutes," was all I said. I hung up and skidded onto the road. Modifying my classic car had been for fun, but as it screamed to one hundred in two breaths, I found myself grateful for it. I pulled up the app with Evie's tracker location, which told me it would take eleven minutes to reach her. I pushed the car faster and passed a sedan going the speed limit. If I didn't cut that time in half, I'd eat my shoe.
As I hit the town with its small traffic lights and quaint streets, a slow rain began to fall, gently increasing until it was a deafening downpour. I took the last turn at a reckless speed, skidding on the wet street and whipping into the small parking lot behind her friend’s store. Through the downpour, I found Evie's car, but it was empty. Anger thundered through my veins, burning hot and making my heart slam in my chest. She’dpromised,dammit.
Movement beyond her car caught my eye, and then I saw them. Evie and her friend were backing away from two men near the back entrance of the store. Two more walked toward them, unaware that another car had parked behind them with the thundering rain drowning everything out. One was wearing a biker helmet and the other twirling a baseball bat nonchalantly as they advanced on Evie. My anger rerouted itself, targeting whoever these assholes were. The duffel bag on the seat next to me had several "less lethal" weapons, and I rushed to unzip it and grab my preferred two.
As I got out of the car, Evie's focus had shifted to Micah who was grappling with the two men near the store. She fell back against the dumpster, her expression horrified, and her hair already damp from the rain. The man in the helmet whistled to her, drawing her attention back to them.
"Hey, sweetie," the guy with the baseball bat guffawed, making kissing sounds.
She looked around, probably for a weapon, but finding nothing she locked her attention on the approaching men instead. I gripped the long flashlight in my right hand and flicked on the charge for the taser in my left. Evie's car was between us, and I kept myself out of sight until their backs were fully to me and they presented themselves as clear targets for me. Evie looked stricken with fear, her eyes wide and her lips white. They were five feet from her when I advanced.
The man in the helmet looked like he might lunge for her first, so I aimed the taser at his back. I flipped off the safety with my thumb, and the second a red dot showed up between his shoulder blades, I hit the trigger. A soft pop split through the thundering downpour, and the two probes embedded themselves in his skin. He went down immediately, seizing up and letting out a guttural yell before he hit the asphalt. I dropped the gun, and before the second assailant could fully turn to see what had happened, my three-foot-long, heavy flashlight connected with his jaw. He went down just as fast, hitting the hard ground with a moan.
Evie stared, horrified. I didn't have time to help Micah, but he seemed like he was holding his own for the moment. He managed to extricate himself from the two men, and with two swift moves, put his foot through the stack of pallets to his right and yanked out a board with his hands. He swung and made contact with one of them at the same time I put my knee in the back of the dizzy idiot I'd given a goose egg to. I flicked a thick zip tie out from my back pocket and tied up his wrists before doing the same to the twitching, tased attacker.
When I stood, I found Micah on the ground and Evie turning to run. The remaining man with a bandana over his mouth grabbed her by the arm, hauling her against his potbelly. I marched through the rain, practically evaporating the rain soaking through my shirt—I was so fuckingpissed, I burned with it. If she'd stayed in the goddamn car, no one would have gotten hurt. The guy glanced at me and from his back pocket, he took out a gun.
I pulled up short. Evie gasped, her features contorted in terror. With his black bandana mask soaked through, I made out the guy's mouth as he shouted, "Get on the ground!"
He wouldn't be able to get a sample from Evie and keep hold of his gun at the same time. Unless he shot me first. Micahstirred on the ground, shaking his gray and black hair from his eyes and raising a hate-filled glare at the attacker's back. I put up my hands while Micah silently rose to his feet. "You want every law enforcement official after you for murder because of a job?"
He faltered, his arm dropping an inch. It was just enough for Micah to pull some serious ninja shit, grappling his forearm from behind, knocking the gun from his hand, and wrenching him to the ground. Evie lurched forward with the momentum, falling to her hands and knees in a puddle. I ran to her, crouching down beside her while rain drenched us and coursed down my face in a steady river. "Micah," I said, pulling two zip ties out of my back pocket.
He looked up, and I tossed them to him. While he subdued the gunman, I pulled Evie to her feet, holding her upper arms in a tight grip and looking her over. She looked absolutely panicked, her skin milk white and her mouth chattering. Rain slid down her face and dripped from her mussed braid, and she raised wide, hazel eyes to mine, stricken with worry. "You're here."
What a ridiculous thing to say. The whole reason I was anywhere near her was to behere. Still, my throat tickled despite my anger, and I found myself dizzy with a vortex of emotions I didn't dare to name. I crushed her to me, wrapping my arms around her shivering, soaked body. Through gritted teeth, I got out, "You're insomuch trouble, Evelyn."
She stiffened for a moment, and then she pressed her cold nose to the skin above my shirt. "Okay."
Micah finished securing the last man on the ground, and when he stood, his expression was wary. "What is going on here?" He had blood trickling down one side of his face, and Evie gasped, pushing away from me.
"You're hurt." She tried to go to him, but I yanked her back.
