Jax looked up to see Mindy swinging her purse like a ball and chain, smashing the bag into the side of the tall man’s head, sending him staggering, grunting as he landed on his hands and knees.
“Bitch!” the guy screamed, shaking his head to clear it, drawing the big man’s attention and providing the distraction Jax needed. He kicked the knife out of the beefy man’s hand and threw a punch that sent him reeling. The second man had already climbed into the van and shoved the vehicle into gear.
“Come on!” the guy shouted from where he sat behind the wheel. “Let’s go!”
The tall guy got up off his knees and ran to the open van doors, and the beefy, muscular man shot in behind him. Tires burned and smoke rolled up from the wheels as the vehicle screeched away.
Every instinct urged Jax to jump in his pickup and follow, but concern for Mindy won out. Turning, he strode toward her.
“Jax!” Mindy hurled herself into his arms. “Jax...” she breathed.
Relief had him tightening his hold. “It’s all right, honey. It’s over.” She was shaking so hard her teeth chattered. She clung to him, and he couldn’t resist smoothing a hand over her pretty dark hair.
“It’s all right,” he softly repeated. “You’re safe. I’m here. Everything’s okay.”
Mindy looked up at him. Behind her glasses, her big blue eyes glistened with tears. “You saved me.”
His chest clamped down. What if he hadn’t walked out of the office when he did? What would have happened to her? Why had she been targeted? Was it a random abduction attempt, or something more?
“Come on. Let’s get you back inside. We need to call the police.”
She nodded, released her death grip, pulled out of his arms and started walking. When her knees buckled, and she nearly went down, Jax scooped her into his arms.
“Adrenaline rush,” he said. “It’ll be over in a minute.”
She didn’t argue, just rested her head on his shoulder and let him carry her into the office. After pausing to lock the back door behind them, he carted her into the break room and set her down on the brown vinyl sofa.
Jax smoothed long dark hair out of her face with his finger. A faint bruise was beginning to form on her cheek, and a fresh rush of anger rolled through him. “You gonna be okay?”
Mindy swallowed and looked up at him. “Those men were...they were trying to kidnap me. I don’t...don’t understand. Why would they be after me? What could they possibly want?”
His jaw hardened. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out.”
Pulling out his cell, he hit 9-1-1 and reported the attempted kidnapping to police dispatch. He had tried to get a license number, but conveniently the plate was smeared with mud except for what looked like anHon the letter side and maybe a 3.
Since he had only a partial, and minimal physical descriptions of the assailants, he wasn’t sure how much good reporting the incident would do.
He was just glad Mindy was safe.
As they waited for the police to arrive, he walked out of the break room to phone Chase Garrett. His boss wouldn’t be happy to learn one of his employees had been attacked in the parking lot. They were all like family to him.
“I’m on my way,” Chase said when Jax finished the story.
“No need for that,” he said. “I’ll take care of Mindy and talk to the police. You don’t have to worry. We can talk things out in the morning, work up a plan.”
“So you’ll stay with her tonight?” Chase pressed, just to be sure she was safe, though he had to know Jax wasn’t about to leave her.
“Absolutely. These guys knew what they were doing, Chase. If the attack wasn’t just random and Mindy was the target, they’ll be back. They won’t give up that easy.”
“All right, but call me if you have any more trouble. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll see you in the morning.” Chase hung up the phone.
Next Jax called to reschedule his now-overdue meeting with Eleanor Donahue, the mother of the murdered girl. He might have to ask Wolfe to take over. For now, it looked like he had another case that was going to take precedence.
In his new case, the victim was still alive. Jax intended to keep her that way.
CHAPTER TWO
MINDYSIPPEDFROMthe bottle of water Jax had retrieved from the fridge in the break room. She wondered if he had noticed that water was her go-to drink of choice. Surely not. He rarely glanced in her direction.
