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“Um, dark hair, not super tall.”
I palmed my face as frustration lit my blood on fire. Anger threatened to wind into my tone, but I kept it at bay in an attempt to not alarm the teenage girl who had the brass to call me. “Kara, I’m gonna need specifics.”
“Maybe six feet at most, but I think less. He’s tan, handsome, dark blue eyes. Real well dressed—like those fancy catalog models my mom—”
“You called Charlie?” I cut in, not needing to know what kind of magazines Carlene Bronson had in her house. Our cousin Charlie was the local sheriff, and while I’d thought he was a sellout for years, I’d never been more grateful.
As I crested the end of the dock, my adrenaline jolted to life. Because Noel was being led up the sidewalk by said city dude with his hand around her wrist, her head on a freaking swivel like she was looking for help. Or an escape route. Either way, the compulsion to smash his face into the nearest brick wall slammed through me.
“Thanks, Kara. I’ll be there before Charlie.”
Making a beeline for them, I heard Axel fall in step behind me with an, “Awe, hell.”
Noel jerked her hand away, putting space between her and the man I’d like to paint the building with.
“Play it cool, James,” Axel barked. “At least make him swing first.” I cracked my neck, red creeping into my vision as the man stepped after her. Noel stumbled into a table, circling it as quickly as she could, putting it between them before she gripped the edges. She was fucking terrified, and I was supposed toplay it cool? I should feed this douche his testicles with a silver freaking spoon just for making her feel uncomfortable and refusing to be man enough to take the hint. Suddenly her nerves made sense—the fear in her eyes when her phone rang, the vague descriptions about a shitty ex and a fresh start. Noelwasrunning. Running fromhim.
That didn’t negate the fact that Axel was right. The Rhodes name meant something in this town, and I couldn’t just waylay this motherfucker before I knew he’d earned it beyond pissing me off. Charlie could only do so much if I got looped in on an assault charge.
Altering course by a few degrees, we could come up directly behind him. The boys fell into line without a word.
God, I loved my brothers.
Noel glanced past him, gaze locking on me. Those beautiful brown eyes were round, her face even more pale than usual.
Lifting my voice when we were about fifteen yards out, I barked, “Hey! Is there a problem?”
The man didn’t flinch or startle, which was concerning in and of itself. But he turned over his shoulder like he couldn’t be bothered, and I bit back every curse anyone on land or sea had ever uttered. We closed the distance in a rush.
“Nope, just sitting down to chat.” He canted his head when those navy eyes fell on me. “Do I know you?”
“God, no.”
Affronted, one brow hiking, he calmly drawled, “God, no?”
“Well, if you did, you’d certainly never be caught dead with my girl cornered against a wall looking like she’s about to cry.” The bastard reeked of snake oil, and I vaguely remembered Rhyett using those words before. Awe, hell, this was the ‘dick weasel’ from the hospital after Noel’s accident. His eyes widened at my claim, and I pointedly stepped around him, relieved when Noel moved for me, too. She tucked right under my arm, and despite the mind-numbingly alarming circumstances, I couldn’t help but notice how perfectly her little frame fit mine. I gave her a reassuring squeeze.Safe. “You okay, baby?”
She nodded timidly.
“Yourgirl?”
Oh, it took effort to keep that honeyed, professional tone that set my bullshit detectors screaming bloody murder. He skipped right past the part where she was blatantly distressed. I kinda reveled in the shock in his eyes. Under that composure, I could see it. Every man has a breaking point, a fissure that ignites us and pushes us past rational thinking. I’d just stepped on his, and as he sucked down a breath, I wondered how hard I needed to press to get him to break. One swing. That’s all I needed to level him and let Charlie file paperwork for a week.
“Yeah,mygirl. Ain’t that right, boys?”
Axel, looking a bit unhinged, all too pleased with the tension and ready to swing if I said go, nodded, stepping wide to cross his arms as Mav did the same, the three of us blocking his view of the town and the harbor.Mav. Goddammit, we liked to think of him as a full-grown man, but he was just a kid. If shit went sideways, I needed him to get her out of here so Axel and I could handle things until Charlie showed up.
“Yeah, buddy. Red came into town, and the two of you were destiny.” Okay, so the smug satisfaction of Axel’s I-told-you-so was a little irritating, but it fit the fucking script, so I’d let it slide. For now.
Dudedidn’t like the moniker, either. Sticking to that suave persona I didn’t buy for a minute, he slapped on a smile. “Well, congratulations, then. Noel and I goway back.” He tried to glare at her, tucked against my side with a hand on my chest, and I pulled her tighter against me, positioning my body between them. “Old friends. I thought she was myfiancé, but clearly I missed a memo. I’m Eric, by the way. Eric Connely.”
Eric extended a hand I would absolutely not be taking. I smirked, quirking my head at the arm he kept expectantly poised between us, and then sizing him up nice and slowly, so no one with functioning vision could miss the point. Schooling my features into a who-invited-the-dumb-fuck expression, I glanced to Axel and then Noel, only to find she had closed her eyes against my chest and her hand was shaking where she’d balled it against me.
Absolutely. Fucking. Not.
Suddenly, all her vague answers were making bucket loads of sense I’d rather not think too hard about, simply because murder was illegal, even if they deserved it.
“Yes. Well. That’s nice for you,” I finally said dryly. “We’ve got plans today, so I hope you find your way back to the airport,Eric.”
