“I’m okay,” I whisper.
In truth, “okay” might as well be on Jupiter. But Jasper saved our lives, and I have to help him.
Kicking off my other shoe, I stumble into the kitchen. Jasper flips the semi-conscious man onto his stomach and pins his hands to the small of his back. Nothing is where it should be. I find the duct tape on the floor in front of the sink. Once I have it in my hands, I freeze. My gaze locks on the man by the window. The blood. The knife still stuck in his throat.
“We have to call the police…” I manage.
“No.” Jasper holds out his hand. “Bring me the duct tape. Tear off a strip at least four feet long. I can do the rest.”
Despite my confusion, I do as he says. The man under him struggles weakly. My heart starts to race. Jasper wraps the tape around the guy’s wrists, then takes the roll from me and hogties him.
“Go pack whatever you need for a couple of nights. Essentials only. We have to get the fuck out of here. Five minutes and we’re gone. You understand?”
“What about...?” Gesturing to the dead man, I shudder. His face is almost peaceful.
“I’m callin’ for reinforcements.”
Chapter Fifteen
Jasper
I can hear Emi moving around in the bedroom over the muffled curses from the duct-taped idjit on the floor.
“You’re doin’ a hell of a lot better than your partner over there,” I say, keeping my voice low. “You want to keep it that way? Shut up.”
Punctuating my threat by slamming his head against the table leg next to him, I regret the pleasure the act of violence gives me. I should be a better man. But the fucker could have killed us both. He would have if I’d been a second slower. So the remorse fades by the time I’ve fished out my phone and punched in AJ’s number.
“What the fuck do you want?” AJ grits out. “I’m…busy.”
“Not anymore you ain’t. Send a couple of your guys to 301 Liberty Road. Apartment 608. Get the coroner too.”
“Jasper, are you okay?” The frustration, hurt, and anger fall away in an instant, and he’s family again. Damn if that doesn’t make me feel even worse about what I’m getting him into.
“For now. The fuckwits who blew up Emi’s car last night just came after her again. That address I gave you is her apartment. And before you start hollarin’ at me, the knife sticking out of the dead guy’s neck is mine. My prints are all over it. It was self-defense.”
“You were defending yourself? Or Emi?” After a beat, he snorts. “Don’t answer that. Not without a lawyer. I’m going to catch so much shit for this. You damn well better be there when Billings and McGrath show up. Let ‘em arrest you. I’ll call in a couple of favors and get Carson Poole to represent you. He’ll have you out within an hour or two.”
“Goddammit, AJ. I’m not stayin’ here and you will not call Poole. I’m takin’ Emi somewhere safe. Get a car with clean plates and meet me at the Silver Tower Hotel on Grand in an hour. They have an underground parking garage with very few blind spots. Only one way in and out. Easy to keep watch. You see any sign of a tail, you stay the fuck away and call me immediately.”
My brother swears under his breath. “If whatever you’re tangled up in ruins my career, Jas, I swear to fuck I will beat your ass into next week.”
The phone beeps twice, and I stare at the screen. He hung up on me. Fucking hell.
“Jasper?” I turn to Emi. She changed into a pair of yoga pants, a sweatshirt, and running shoes. A tear glistens on her cheek, and she pulls a small, rolling suitcase behind her. “What does ‘a car with clean plates’ mean?”
With a quick glance at the unconscious man on the floor, I shake my head. “Not here, sweetheart. I’ll explain on the way. Let’s go.”
In the hall, I stop her before she can slide her key into the lock. “Rangers are on the way. You want them bustin’ the door down? Because that’s what they’ll do if they can’t get in. Leave it open, and they’ll probably lock up when they leave.”
“I can’t… What about…him?” she hisses. “He could get away.”
“Not with how well I tied him up.” I level a gaze at her. “This part, I know, Emi. I may not be ‘on the job’ anymore, but my skills didn’t disappear because I got blown up. He’s not going anywhere.”
She nods. Seconds later, AJ texts me.
AJ: Billings and McGrath are seven minutes out.
Shit. “Gotta go. Right now. I’ll…ask AJ to lock up.” I grab her suitcase and head for the elevator.
