She jumped to her feet, fully alert when she heard Joe outside her door adding, “I’ll kill you and won’t blink twice.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“What the heckis going on here?” Jane asked as she hurried into her living room.
Hal stood, leaning back against the front door and conveniently blocking Rapp’s exit.
Joe stood nose to nose with Rapp, both of them looking massive since Rapp had removed his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, showing off muscled forearms and broad shoulders.
To her surprise, he looked amused and not scared. Even Jane took a moment when Joe got angry. A teddy bear at heart, on the outside, he looked like a mix of angry giant and rabid killer.
“Jane, I had no idea you were a Team Ten fan,” Rapp said.
“Huh? You know who Team Ten is?”
“They have quite a reputation.”
“Fan? Please.” Hal smirked. “It’s the other way around. We worship the ground she walks on.” He didn’t seem at all bothered about the macho posturing in front of him.
Joe seemed one finger squeeze away from a kill. “We really do. Our girl never needs to worry about anything. Or anyone.” Joe gave him the smile. The one that saidI can bust your head open like a grape from any distance.
Jane didn’t understand all the hostility. “Joe. You realize he’s not the one that shot at me.”
“I know who he is.”
She was missing the subtext, obviously. “You know Rapp?”
“I’m her boss.” Rapp announced.
She cleared her throat.
“Okay, not her boss since she keeps associating Gambol with that title. I’m the guy calling the shots on our assignment. I consider her one of mine. So you don’t need to threaten me, Randall. I’m invested in keeping her alive.”
Hal actually hooted. Joe’s first name was a closely guarded secret.
Joe’s brows gathered, his thunderous expression intensifying. “Don’t you threaten me, boy.”
“Boy? I’m not that much younger than you. Unless you’re seventy and don’t look it.” Rapp didn’t appear threatened.
Jane frowned. “How do you know Joe’s real name?”
Hal laughed. “That’s a big secret, Rapp. You going to explain?”
Jane got the feeling all the men in the room knew one another. Yet she remained in the dark.
“I know because it’s my job to know.”
“The kid ran into us on a few ops,” Joe explained to her. “Now he thinks he’s a big deal because he learned a few of our names.”
Rapp looked away from Joe and studied her. “Which one do you belong to?”
“All of us,” Joe said.
Jane sighed. “Chris North is my uncle. Officially,” she added when the guys looked hurt. “But all of Team Ten are my family.”
That soothed Joe’s ruffled feathers. “Exactly. So watch your step with our girl.”
“Step? Randall, I’m here because I’m watching out for her.” Rapp’s easy smile faded. “But someone is clearly after her. Mazzucas or our killer, I’m not sure which. This is more than someone trying to shut down a case. I’m not sure what yet, but I’ll find out.”
