Risking it All (24 page)

get him. And we both know this job

should have been done by now.” She

reeled back her irritation. “Will you

pick up Bowen on the ninth or not?”

“Yes,” he returned in a clipped tone.

“Get what we need, Sera, so we can

have this done. This is completely

unorthodox and I’m worried about you.”

“I’m a capable officer. Please treat me

like one.” She pinched the bridge of her

nose. “I have to go.”

“You have one more night, Sera.
One
.

No exceptions. I’ll wait for your call.”

She hung up, emotions warring inside

her, the most annoying of which was the

unwanted warmth she got knowing her

uncle was worried. He’d taken her

father’s place at such a young age, but

had

never

shown

her

anything

resembling fatherly concern. Right now,

when fear was creeping in, she wanted

to bask in it.
No time.

A car pulled up at the curb,

interrupting her thoughts. One glance at

the occupants of the vehicle had her

turning on a heel, heading back toward

Marco’s at a brisk clip. There were four

men, none that she recognized. A single

glance at them told her she needed to be

inside before they exited the car. One of

them tapped a baseball bat on the

dashboard, his mouth stretching into a

smile as he looked her over. A whisper

of apprehension moved up her spine,

intuition telling her they’d come to

Marco’s to start trouble and she was in

the wrong place at the wrong time.

Before she could reach the entrance,

two of them jumped out of the passenger

side and lunged in front of her, blocking

her progress. The first thing she noticed

were their injuries. Swollen purple

discoloration under one man’s eye.

Another’s arm wrapped in a plaster cast.

It set off warning bells. “Where you

going so fast, cutie?”

“Excuse me.” A third man circled up

behind her, so she pressed her back to

the wall. “Let me by.”

The man holding the baseball bat

ignored her. “You belong to one of the

assholes inside? That’s bad luck for

you.”

Crap.
Just as she’d feared, they

weren’t from this neighborhood, which

meant they’d likely come to retaliate for

something. It came back to her then.

Bowen’s conversation with Wayne the

day he came to the apartment. His

subsequent disappearance while she

waitressed at Rush. These men were

here to issue payback, and now her

impulsive butt was caught in the cross

fire. She knew how to handle herself, but

there were too many of them and they all

had weapons. Silently, she begged

someone, anyone, to walk out the door

and interrupt.

“I don’t belong to anyone.” She shrank

back on purpose, appealing to their

overblown arrogance, while also making

sure they underestimated her. If their

goal was to get her into that car, she

would fight them with every ounce of

strength in her body. Having surprise on

her side would come in handy. “Please,

just let me go.”

The man holding the bat laughed and

ran the coarse wood up the inside of her

leg. “Oh, you definitely belong to

somebody. You think he’ll miss you?”

Before the bat could reach the apex of

her thighs, she smacked it away.

Knowing the attempt might be useless,

she tried to pass one more time. Purple

Eye snaked a hand around her elbow and

yanked her to a halt. “We were parked

down the block and saw you walk in

with Driscol. Get in the fucking car.”

Someone inside the car pushed open

the back door, letting out a whoop. “Our

turn to send the message, isn’t it? Come

on in, girl. I’ll keep you warm for him.”

Sera

breathed

deeply

as

they

propelled her toward the car, putting up

only a token resistance. As soon as they

were under the false impression that she

would be coming without a fight, the

hand on her elbow loosened. That’s

when she acted.

She snatched the baseball bat out of

the man’s hands, swinging it in a large

arc to give herself some room to

evaluate. Two of them jumped back,

having been caught off guard, but it

connected with Purple Eye’s rib cage.

He let out a vile curse and went down on

one knee, allowing Sera a few precious

seconds to focus on the other two men.

The man wearing a cast on his arm

circled up behind her, actually laughing

at her attempts to fight them off. Trying

to keep an eye on both men, she backed

up a little, waiting to see who would

come at her first. Unfortunately, the more

she backed up, the farther she got from

Marco’s, so she couldn’t let herself get

too far.

“He should have taken better care of

this one. She’s spirited.”

“Yeah, too bad,” the man in the cast

spat. “Let’s go, girl. Only a matter of

time, anyway.”

Laughter poured from inside the car,

as if the occupant couldn’t believe his

friends’ inability to subdue her. It

visibly pissed them off. Purple Eye

launched himself from the ground and

barreled straight for her. She brought the

bat down hard, but he dodged it and

wrapped a meaty arm around her waist.

Not wasting a second, she brought her

foot down on his instep and threw her

head back, connecting with his nose. The

two other men converged on her, just as

Purple Eye’s arm fell away with a shout

of pain.

“
Bitch
.”

The bat was ripped from her hands to

clatter on the ground a few yards away.

Saying another quick prayer that

someone would come out of Marco’s,

she threw a punch at the closest man,

satisfied when she felt the crunch under

her fist. She didn’t have much time to

celebrate landing a decent blow, though.

A hand wrapped around her throat from

behind, squeezing tight enough to cut off

her air. Reflexively, her fingers tried to

pry the hand away, but she couldn’t get a

grip. Her vision began to flare in tiny

spots as air ran scarce. She had to make

a move. Now. After taking a second to

judge where his body was positioned so

she could inflict the most damage, Sera

got ready to let her body go limp. When

she caught him off guard, she’d spin and

go for his testicles. Three…two…

Smash.
The front door to Marco’s

flew open, hitting the side of the building

with enough force to splinter the wood.

Through her dimming eyesight, Sera

made out several men’s silhouettes,

including Bowen’s, before his ferocious,

earsplitting shout of denial rent the air

around her. It startled the man choking

her enough that he eased up on the

pressure, allowing her to suck precious

oxygen into her lungs. She caught herself

just before her knees met the concrete,

but her relief quickly gave way to

horror.

Guns were drawn in quick succession,

from both crews. Bowen held one in his

outstretched hand. Sera didn’t know

what was worse, the inevitable gunfire

or Bowen’s expression. She barely

recognized him. Never in her life had

she seen someone so capable of murder,

his body drawn tight, pupils dilated.

Everyone in the vicinity sensed it, too.

Each and every eye trained on him,

waiting for him to react.

No
. Sera wanted to rail over the

unfairness. She’d been trying to save his

life and in the process, she’d put him in

a situation where he could very well

commit murder. In front of her, an

undercover cop.
Don’t let it happen
.

“Bowen,” she whispered, taking a

hesitant step toward him.

His haunted gaze made her flinch. She

could see the emotional battle taking

place on his face. Finger poised on the

trigger, he clearly wanted to fire on the

man who’d been holding her. Without

saying a word, he tore his attention away

from her, indicating her captor with a

nod of his head. “He doesn’t go

anywhere.”

Sera shivered under the iciness of his

order. As she watched, the group of men

behind Bowen converged on the car,

keeping their weapons trained on the

intruders. Two of Bowen’s guys

lowered their weapons in favor of

wrestling her captor to the ground. His

friends watched helplessly, unable to

lower their weapons and help their

friend or they would risk being shot.

Finally, one of them cursed and shoved

his gun into the waistband of his jeans,

the others quickly following suit. They

piled back into the car, leaving their

friend behind as they peeled away from

the curb.

Bowen jerked his chin at two men in

his crew. “Follow them. This ends

tonight.”

As they jogged off to follow Bowen’s

dictate, he sauntered forward. Almost as

an afterthought, he picked the bat up off

the ground and went toward the man

who’d been left behind. Dozens of

patrons had spilled from Marco’s to

witness the action, and they all watched

in rapt silence now as Bowen tapped the

bat against his palm. Every tap felt like a

physical blow to Sera, who wanted

desperately to wrap her arms around him

and beg him to stop, but she couldn’t

move. This man, this frozen, rage-filled

version of Bowen…she didn’t know

him.

He came to a stop directly over the

left-behind crew member, twirling the

bat in his hand. His gaze met hers for a

brief, heavy second before he raised the

bat and brought it down with enough

force to make her gasp and jump back.

Her heart raced out of control, breath

shallow in her ears. She was terrified to

watch, to see the death her decision had

caused.

The bat connected with the sidewalk

beside the man’s head, sending shards of

wood in every direction. Some members

of the crowd reacted with relief, others

with disappointment. The latter made her

sick even as thankfulness swamped her.

He hadn’t done it.

Her stunning relief was short-lived.

Bowen crouched down and looked the

cowering man square in the eye. “
You
.

Are a dead man.” Slowly and

purposefully, he rose to his feet and held

out a hand to her, his attitude daring her

not to take it. She swallowed the hard

lump in her throat and slipped her

fingers against his cool palm, resisting

the urge to snatch her hand back when

she heard his low growl. One second

she had both feet planted on the ground,

the next he’d swung her up into his arms

to carry her toward his car. She mentally

begged him to look her in the eye as he

settled her into the passenger seat and

shut the door. Through the closed

window, she heard him shout to his men,

his words falling like boulders on her

chest.

“You know where to take him. I’ll be

there as soon as I can.”

His order left no doubt as to what

would happen when he got there. He

planned to kill the man for what he’d

done.

Sera vowed then and there she would

do everything in her power to stop him.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Twice in his life, he’d been scared.

The first time, his father had pointed a

gun at Ruby. He’d been on the floor with

a freshly broken arm, too far away to get

between his sister and the bullet. From

his position, he’d watched resignation

transform her features, features so

similar to his. It had been such an

obvious acceptance of her own death,

he’d almost looked away so it wouldn’t

be etched on his memory, but somehow

he’d

forced

himself

to

continue

watching. Somehow it would mean she