And listening to the truth made him realize why she’d insisted she’d never become a cop. It wasn’t because she wasn’t skilled enough to handle the job. It was because of the desperate actions she’d taken to survive.
Di had lived on the streets since she was sixteen. And after listening to how Buck had described Di’s mother, he understood why Di had no relationship with the woman. A mother should protect her children.
Not abandon them for her own selfish needs.
He knew that was exactly what Di’s mother must have done. Easy to imagine how she’d turned a blind eye to the abuse, sexual or physical. Maybe both. He hated thinking about what Di must have suffered, but Di’s troubled past wasn’t his priority.
Getting them out of there was.
Jarek had found a bent nail on the floor behind them and had been using it to spring the lock on the cuffs. He was impressed to know Di had gotten her wrists free too.
Any moment now, she’d make her move. He needed to be ready to do his part. Jarek felt the latch give on the cuffs and silently thanked God for watching over them. He slipped his wrists free of the metal braces, then glanced around the warehouse. There was a crowbar lying across the top of a crate several feet away.
It wasn’t as close as he’d like, but it was the only weapon available that he could see. They were unarmed, and Buck not only had the gun, but he had the dog that would attack on command. The crowbar didn’t come close to evening the odds, but he wanted Di to have it. He nudged her, trying to subtly point it out to her, but her gaze was locked on Buck.
A chill snaked down his spine. He had a bad feeling she was going to throw herself at him. He wanted to warn her that Buck wouldn’t hesitate to kill her once and for all.
“Go!” Buck snapped at Lupo who still hadn’t left the warehouse, despite his boss’s order. “Get moving! And don’t come back without my product.”
Lupo glanced warily at him, then slinked away. Jarek hoped that maybe the gang member would realize getting Buck’s product was futile and to take the opportunity to escape while he could.
“Tell me, Buck, are you a child sex offender like your father?” Di’s question seemed to strike Buck squarely between the eyes, rendering him momentarily speechless.
And that’s when Di did some sort of handspring move, vaulting from a sitting position to her feet. Jarek didn’t hesitate to spring up as well, lunging toward the side stack of crates where he’d seen the crowbar.
Buck screamed in rage at Di’s rushing attack. A gunshot rang out with deafening loudness. For a moment, his heart nearly stopped in his chest. In his peripheral vision, he saw Di and Buck wrestling for the gun. Di was holding her own, but Buck had her by a good seventy-five pounds, not to mention having the guard dog at his side.
Jarek didn’t allow himself to think the worst. Grabbing the crowbar, he spun and quickly advanced to the spot where Di and Buck struggled for the gun.
Rocco growled low in his throat, but surprisingly, he didn’t lunge toward him or Di. He considered it a minor miracle that Buck had seemed to have forgotten the dog, his attention remaining focused on fighting to keep Di from grabbing his gun. Buck had allowed their confrontation to become personal, rather than thinking it through like the businessman he’d claimed to be. Knowing Buck could order the dog to attack at any moment, he swung the crowbar like a bat, striking Buck’s knees with a solid thunk.
Buck cried out in pain as his shattered kneecap buckled. When the man fell, Di wrenched the gun free and turned to aim toward the menacing dog.
“Hold on, Di, don’t shoot unless the dog attacks you.” Jarek fell on top of Buck, pressing the crowbar across his throat. He jammed his knee into Buck’s abdomen for added measure. “Make a sound and I’ll kill you.”
Buck stared up at him with frank hatred. Jarek added a bit of pressure against the crowbar lying across his throat. Buck’s eyes widened with fear, and he used his hands to try pulling the bar free.
“Don’t,” Jarek barked. He eased back on the pressure, allowing Buck to take a breath. “I’m giving you a chance to live through this. But if you order that dog to attack, Di will shoot the animal, and I’ll kill you.”
Rocco’s growls continued, as if the dog understood something was wrong but didn’t understand why he wasn’t given the command to attack. To his credit, Buck didn’t so much as glance toward his dog. Jarek hated to admit the canine was well trained. And he really hoped they wouldn’t be forced to kill the animal. It wasn’t the dog’s fault he was owned by a drug trafficker.
“Here, boy.” Di pulled the half-crushed protein bar from her pocket and tossed it gently toward Rocco. The dog caught the bar and lowered himself to the ground, eagerly gobbling his treat as if he hadn’t eaten recently. “Good boy, Rocco. Good boy.”
Jarek couldn’t believe it when the dog continued eating without making another sound.
“I’ll get the handcuffs.” Di took a few steps backward, keeping a wary eye on the dog as she bent and scooped the cuffs that had been used on him from the floor. Then she made her way over to Jarek.
“Thanks.” He slapped the handcuff over one of Buck’s wrists, then glanced at her. “Position yourself on the other side, Di. That way you can shoot Buck and the dog without difficulty if he doesn’t listen.”
“Got it. But I think Rocco is okay now.” She did as he suggested. Buck’s angry gaze followed her. Jarek knew the guy was upset that she’d gotten the upper hand.
It was never easy for men like Buck to be bested by a woman half their size and weight. And in this case, Buck’s anger was personal.
“Hey, look at me.” Jarek waited for Buck’s gaze to shift from Di to him. “If you order the dog to attack, she’ll kill you without hesitation. Don’t think she’ll go easy on you because she’s a woman. You should have done your research before sending so many of your men out to kill her.” He eased up on the crowbar, testing the water. “Di was trained by the army. She’s more than capable of putting an end to this right now.”
Buck didn’t nod in agreement, but as Jarek lifted the crowbar from the man’s neck, he didn’t say anything either. Breathing a silent sigh of relief, Jarek eased away, flipped Buck onto his abdomen, then cuffed his wrists behind his back.
“We need a gag,” Jarek told Di. “There must be something in here we can use.”
