Page 122 of Hard Rain

“Whoa…” Knox held up both hands, grinning. “Is that real?”

The man closed his hand around the butt of the pistol.

Whip reached over the seat back, caught the man’s wrist, and wrenched his arm upward before the pistol cleared the waistband.

Axel slammed the guy’s head forward against the top of the table.

They all heard the crunch of a nose breaking.

It was over in seconds.

The man groaned, and when Whip shoved him out of the booth, he landed on his ass and stayed there.

“Federal Marshals,” Alvarez said, dropping to one knee as he slapped zip ties around the guy’s wrists.

“Call the police,” Whip told the stunned hostess.

She hurriedly pulled out her cell phone.

“Are you okay, ma’am?” Whip came around the side and crouched next to the woman.

She finally lifted her face. Her long hair fell back, revealing a nasty bruise around one eye and a split lip.

“I broke up with him. He did this. I just wanted to break up with him.”

“You did a good thing,” Whip assured her, keeping his voice low and soothing.

“He’ll go to jail on assault charges and pulling a weapon in a public place with intent,” Axel said, coming to stand beside him.

“Thank you.” Her eyes found Knox and then the hostess. “Thank you for everything.”

The sirens reached them before the local PD roared onto the scene, coming through the door. They were all lifting their badges, but Alvarez ended up knowing one of the police. He had met the man at his cousin’s barbecue last month.

Night had dropped over Seattle by the time the incident was wrapped up, and they were given free food and drinks on the house.

“How’d you think of that?” Alvarez asked Knox.

“I saw it in a movie once,” Knox said, grinning around a bite of burger.

Alvarez sputtered into his beer and laughed. The great movie debate kicked off between the two, and Whip stayed the hell out of it. He liked action movies as much as the next person, but he’d much rather watch Sci-Fi than anything.

“Whatcha thinkin’?” Axel’s deep voice whispered against his ear.

They were sitting side by side on a booth seat across from Alvarez and Knox. Beneath the table, Axel had pressed their thighs together and left it there.

“Movies.”

“You want to watch a movie when we get back to the room?” Axel kept his voice low, for him alone.

Their gazes met.

“It’s not top of the list.”

Axel’s smile was slow and wicked, and Whip felt his heart kick up a hasty beat.

Tonight was theirs.

Tomorrow, they’d take care of the bad guys.