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My relief is so strong, I damn near buckle at the knees. But I check myself, churning the residual anger still brimming at the surface into a weapon. I order the perp to keep his hands raised and slowly exit the vehicle as I open the van door.
Sadie has his partner detained in the passenger-seat, his hands raised.
“Avery,” I shout. “Are you okay?”
She delivers a low confirmation, her voice too faint. But she’s talking. She’s coherent. She could be in shock. The important thing is she’s alive.
Once the guy who’s wearing a blue jumpsuit is out and facing me, I lower my
GLOCK and order, “Turn around and don’t. Fucking. Move, you piece of shit.”
I clamp a cuff around one of his wrists and secure the other cuff to the side-view mirror before I hoist myself into the cab of the van. I unlatch the grate door. “Put your arm around me,” I tell Avery. She does, clinging to my shoulders as I lift her out of the back.
“You saved me,” she says against my chest.
My mouth turns down into a hard frown. “We’re all here for you.” I lock my arms around her and shuffle us into the driver-seat. I maneuver her off my lap with forced effort, desperate to keep her there—just feel her close to me and safe a minute longer. Then I climb down out of the van and look up into her face.
“You pulled off that hero thing pretty good.” She smiles, but it’s off. Her eyes glazed and pupils dilated.
“If I was any kind of hero,” I say, “then you wouldn’t be here in the first place.” I grip her thigh once—one reassuring squeeze of my hand—before I turn to take my frustration out on the perp.
I uncuff him from the van and shove him against the front of the van, brining his hands behind his back. “You have the right to remain silent—”
The perp whirls on me and clips the side of my head with a direct punch.
Sonofabitch.
He’s already taking off and running down the freeway within the seconds I recover. Fuck it. I give chase and tackle him.
As he struggles beneath me, I decide I no longer need my gun and lock it into my holster. This bastard is going to get a bit of old-school processing. And I’m damn sure going to enjoy it.
11
The Depths
Avery
I watch Sadie collar the guy in the passenger-seat. She yanks him out of the van, literally by his shirt collar, and I smile. She’s so tiny, but somehow she manhandles him as if he’s just a flea. She cuffs his wrists behind his back and commences reciting off his rights.
He’s the one who wore the horror mask. I knew once the two men stripped the disguises away that I was not making it out alive. But I am. I’m here.
I shake my head to clear it, and my vision fills with tracers. My skin itches as the heat simmering beneath rises to the surface, demanding to be felt.
“Come on, Avery. You’re safe,” Sadie says.
I climb over to the passenger-seat, and she wraps an arm around my waist, offering support as I fumble my way out of the van. “Sadie…thanks,” I say, my tongue feeling coated and heavy in my mouth.
As she helps me get my bearings, her eyebrows pull together. Her gaze drags over me, slow and curious. “What did they do to you? Avery, are you okay?”
I look into her face and smile. She’s so beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever told her how lovely she is, with her long dark layers framing her jewel green eyes—eyes that see right down to the marrow of people.
I reach out and let my fingers skim her face, feeling her tantalizing, silky features grace the pads of my fingers. “Everything is fine,” I assure her, and I mean it. Right now, I could either fall blissfully asleep or stay awake forever. Both options sound equally appealing.
She curses under her breath, which makes my smile stretch hearing a foul word from her delicate lips. “Stay right here.”
Hauling her perp by his linked hands, she escorts him to the back of Quinn’s car, where she handcuffs him to the door and then locks him inside. She pulls something from the front seat before she’s back at my side. She slips her jacket over me, guiding my arms into the sleeves, then brings my face before hers.
Placing her hands on either side of my face, she tugs the sensitive skin down below my eyes, hers squinting as she performs an inspection. “You’ve been drugged. Do you know what they gave you?”
