Ruthless Read online

  Her brain flashed to images of all of them. To all the innocent people on the other side of the wall. Then her attackers started moving. She dragged her feet and grabbed for a hold in the chipped wall. Fingernails scraped against old paint, but she couldn’t halt his progress.

  Inhaling deep and gathering all her strength, she lifted her foot and nailed her attacker in the shin. At the thud of heel on bone, they slammed to a stop. The guy swore as he threw her body against the wall and held her there with his weight against her back.

  Her head hit plaster and the world around her tilted. She gasped, trying to drag enough air into her lungs and brain to keep thinking.

  The crunch of her nose against the wall sent pain spiraling through her. She turned her head and blinked when the crushing ache of her cheek against the wall threatened to be too much. Her body felt as if it were being ripped apart and smashed into a small ball at the same time.

  In the next second, all the pressure vanished. The sudden change had her dazed and sliding to the floor. As her body fell, she saw a flash of gray.

  Limp seemingly gone, Paxton moved in a blur. His body honed and aimed like a weapon, he came in the back door fighting. He jammed an elbow into the smaller attacker’s head and knocked him into the wall. The guy went down in a motionless whoosh.

  Something whizzed in front of her. She glanced over and saw Paxton standing with his arm out and his furious glare aimed at the taller attacker. She followed the line of Paxton’s body and watched the other attacker scramble, his shoes scuffing against the floor, before he dropped. A red blotch spread on his stomach a second later as his gun dropped and spun across the floor.

  Her first look at the knife was of the way it stuck out of the attacker’s body. Even with his eyes closed and his body slumped to the side, he scared the crap out of her.

  It all happened so fast and with less sound than if she had been moving boxes around back there. The pulsing tension seeped out of the hallway, but she couldn’t take it all in. Sounds muffled, but she thought she heard someone talking. With her head tilted back, she saw Paxton grab the abandoned gun and point it at the bleeding man before hitting him with the end of it.

  Paxton was talking but not looking at her. The words refused to come together in her brain. Finally, he glanced down at her, and the scowl marking his forehead eased. He dropped down to balance on the balls of his feet and winced as he went. The move put them face-to-face.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  The calm words brushed against her and she answered with the truth. “No.”

  His gaze traveled all over her. “Were you hit?”

  “I don’t think so.” She closed her eyes to keep the room from spinning, but the reality of where she was had them popping open again. She tried to sit up, hoping her legs would hold her if she somehow wrestled her fatigued body to her feet. “My employees and the people—”

  He put his hand on her noninjured knee, and the light touch held her down. “Everyone is fine. They don’t even know anything happened back here.”

  The noise. The slamming doors. The grunts and yelling. None of that fit together with his assurance. “How is that possible?”

  “I need a team and possibly medical.” He talked to the air.

  He kept issuing orders. Something about identities and watching the front. She really focused on him then, letting her gaze wander over the firm chin and across his broad chest. Apparently he threw knives. He had the attacker’s gun plus another one.

  In a matter of minutes he’d morphed from cute flirty guy with an injury to scary fighter guy.

  “Is the limp real?” She blurted out the question before she could stop it.

  “Yes.” He touched his ear. “Now, Joel.”

  “Joel?”

  Then she saw it. A tiny piece of silver. He had a microphone and was talking to someone who wasn’t actually in the hallway.

  Her eyes closed as a wave of nausea rolled over her. She hadn’t dreamed any of it, and all of her fears of walking into the middle of a terrifying gun battle had come true.

  That left one very big question.

  She opened her eyes and stared at him again. “Who are you really?”

  “Same guy you served the coffee to.”

  She tried to scoff but she didn’t have the energy or extra breath. “I don’t think so.”

  “You should probably call me Pax.” He had the nerve to smile at her as he stood up.

  This time she didn’t buy the full mouth or twinkle in his eyes. “You’re not a normal coffee customer.”

  “I am, but I’m also something else.”

  Dread spilled into her stomach. “What?”

  “Your informal bodyguard.”

  Chapter Two

  From the huge brown eyes to the grim line of her mouth, Kelsey looked about two seconds away from striking out. Maybe screaming her head off. Both options sounded bad to Pax. He wasn’t a fan of throwing up, either, and the sudden green taint to her skin suggested that was a real possibility.

  He reached down to help her up, but she shrank back against the wall, her petite frame curling in on itself. In the tucked position, her long hair fell over her shoulders, shielding her face from view and hiding the ripped strap holding her shirt on her shoulder. The denim shorts showed off her lean legs and a red welt right above her knee.

  Seeing her injured and scared dropped a black curtain of rage over him. Every cell inside him craved revenge. He seriously considered removing his knife and then plunging it into the bad guy a second time.

  But attack mode would have to wait. They had to get out of there, which meant providing a dose of comfort and reassurance. Not two of his strengths, sure, but since joining up with the Corcoran Team he’d been polishing the skills.

  These jobs weren’t like the ones he’d worked at his old employer, the Defense Intelligence Agency. There, he’d tracked down military intelligence leaks. He dealt in bad guys, dangerous situations and threats to service members.

  In his new life he still went after bad guys, but now his main objective centered on rescuing kidnapping victims. Or even better, stopping kidnapping threats before they happened, something he’d basically failed to do with Kelsey.

  “Kelsey, it’s going to be okay.” Pitching his voice low and keeping it as soothing as possible, he said the words even though he knew she was in no condition to hear them.

  She glanced at the body on the floor just a few feet away from her thigh and then back to Pax. “How can you say that? Look around you.”

  He wasn’t sure what to say or how much to share about his real reason for visiting her shop almost every day for weeks, so he tried to evade. “Admittedly, the attack was a surprise.”

  Her eyes narrowed as fire sparked behind them. She added to the angry-warrior-woman stance by brushing her hair off her shoulder and staring him down. “That’s your response?”

  So much for thinking she was scared.

  She shook her head. “You pretend to be injured—”

  “I actually am injured. Well, was.”

  “—and you storm in here.”

  “By that you mean walked in the front door and ordered coffee, though from your comment I would guess my limp wasn’t as well hidden as I thought.” And didn’t that tick him off.

  The cracking sound came the second after she clenched her jaw. “You flew across the hallway a second ago, so stop pretending you’re hurt and tell me who you really are.”

  “Maybe we could agree on the term recovering.”

  She blew out a long breath as her shoulders slumped. “Are you trying to be annoying?”

  In light of her response, Pax wasn’t sure how he should play this. “My brother would tell you that comes naturally. I don’t have to try very hard at it.”

&nbs
p; He’d hoped to take her mind off the death choking the air around them by keeping the mood light. Seeing her pressed against the wall a few minutes ago started his mind unraveling. He’d assumed he’d clean up the mess and she’d be grateful. Maybe do the terrified thing and shake and cry, possibly need some consoling.

  That was a normal reaction. This was not. She came out swinging. He half expected her to fight off his attempts at calming the situation and punch him in the groin.

  Tension continued to zing around the enclosed space. Guns down and his knife still in use in the unidentified man’s stomach, and yet Pax couldn’t let his guard ease. Not when the woman in front of him vibrated with unspent energy and seemed determined to question everything he said.

  She didn’t even blink. “So now you have a brother?”

  “Technically I’ve always had one since he’s older.” When the mumble of conversation from the front of the shop seeped through the walls and someone banged on the door to this back area asking why it was locked, Pax talked louder to drag her attention back to him. “His name is Davis.”

  She waved the comment off. Came very close to knocking against him while she moved her hands around. “I don’t understand who you are or what’s going on. And who are these two guys and why did they try to drag me outside?”

  Pax surveyed the carnage. He had to move her off the property before these guys’ friends missed them and came looking for trouble. “All good questions.”

  “Care to answer one?”

  “Once we’re out of here.” Pax tapped the mic in his ear. “Ben? Finish clearing the shop and close the place down. Blame a gas leak and then get a medic because we have two down. Joel, I need you back here. Now.”

  Her sneakers scraped against the rough floor as she bent her knees and brought her feet closer to her butt. “Really?”

  Pax wasn’t clear which word led to the reaction. “What?”

  “You’re really doing some sort of spy-act thing in the middle of all this?”

  He despised that word. The way Hollywood portrayed undercover agents and people in law enforcement as if they all used shoe phones and exploding pens was ridiculous. “It’s possible you watch too much television.”

  She sat up even straighter, her shoulders coming off the wall and her hands falling to the floor on each side of her hips. “Okay, Mr. Good Samaritan. How about calling the police...and what do you mean by medic? Call an ambulance. I have customers and employees out front and need to know they’re safe.”

  From the clear eyes and stronger voice he guessed she’d found her emotional and physical footing. That likely spelled trouble for him.

  “Then there’s the mess back here. That one will wake up eventually.” She pointed at the downed man closest to the back door. “And that one is losing blood thanks to your knife skills.”

  Pax hoped she didn’t expect an apology. “Yeah.”

  “He’s not dead, is he?

  “Unfortunately, no. Unconscious and bleeding.” Pax glanced at the other man. “And that one is lucky not to be bleeding. I’m thinking about stabbing him just because.”

  She swallowed and made a face that suggested she didn’t like whatever she’d tasted. “In a few seconds I’ll have to go over there and try to help the bloody one, and the idea of touching him after...well, it makes me want to throw up and kind of furious at you.”

  Yeah, she’d definitely moved from scared—and that had been pretty fleeting—to ticked off. As the clear target of whatever thoughts bounced around in her head and put that scowl on her face, he dropped the lighter tone. It wasn’t working anyway. Didn’t take a fancy shoe phone to figure that one out.

  He held up his hand in a gesture he hoped telegraphed peace and maybe a touch of surrender. “Everything will be handled, but not in the way you’re suggesting.”

  Then it started. She slid her hands closer to her body and shifted in a move so slight he almost missed it. He guessed she intended to struggle to her feet and then make a run for it. He was ready for the bolt. He just wished they could shortcut the disbelief and go right to the part where she got in the car and let him take her to safety.

  Not that he deserved that level of trust from her. They barely knew each other. Sure, they’d flirted and he’d benefitted in the form of free bear claws now and then, but doughnuts didn’t change the facts. He was there to watch over her, to see if her missing brother made contact.

  It was supposed to be a simple surveillance op, since that’s all anyone at the Corcoran Team thought he could handle post-shooting incident. Little did they know the supposed “easy” job would lead to a backroom shoot-out.

  “Don’t even think about it.” When she frowned at him, he filled her in. “Whatever big exit plan is in your head? Forget it. You’re not getting by me. We need to get you somewhere safe, and then we can talk all of this through.”

  “We?”

  “I think he’s referring to me.” Joel stepped over the man at the back door and moved inside. He hitched his thumb over his shoulder toward the alley outside. “Car’s waiting.”

  Pax reached down a second time to get her off the floor. “Come on, Kelsey.”

  Her gaze bounced from him to Joel and back again as she crowded closer to the wall. “No way.”

  “These guys on the floor could have partners,” Joel said.

  Pax welcomed Joel’s verbal assist but could do without the smirk. “I can guarantee that’s true.”

  “Why should I trust you? I don’t know you.” She peeked around Pax’s legs at Joel. “Or him.”

  When she drew in a deep breath, Pax dropped to his haunches again and bit down on his lip to keep from yelling. Ignoring the shot of pain, he held a hand over her mouth, careful not to get his palm too close to those teeth.

  “Don’t do that.” She mumbled something against his hand but he ignored it and kept lecturing. “I know you want to yell for help but screaming could bring more attackers. Do you want that?”

  She took several breaths before she shook her head.

  Pax inhaled long and deep, trying to see this from her perspective and keep his anger in check. With her family history it was no wonder she went with wariness over fear. He knew only the scraps in her brother’s file about a deceased mother, but the background of Kelsey’s criminal father wasn’t a mystery. His name had seen a lot of time in the papers a few years back. The truth, whatever really went on in this family, could be much worse.

  “You see me every day,” Pax pointed out as he stood up again. This time it took longer and more energy. Too many more deep knee bends and he’d crash to the floor.

  “As a customer only.”

  Joel chuckled. “And she lands a verbal blow. I bet that hurt.”

  “You’re not helping,” Pax said under his breath and included a string of profanity to make his point.

  Last thing he needed was a real-time reminder of just how attracted he was to Kelsey and how it suddenly seemed to run in only one direction. Especially since she was scowling at him, looking as if she might be planning his funeral.

  “Joel, is it?” She shifted her weight and slid her body up the wall. When her knees wobbled, she reached out for Pax, grabbing on to his forearm and steadying her balance again. Her hand dropped a second later.

  “Joel Kidd. Yes, ma’am.” The corner of Joel’s mouth kicked up in a smile when she talked to him.

  “Call the police.”

  The smile fumbled. “I’m afraid I can’t—”

  “Do that. Yeah, I get it.” She stepped away from the wall and inched closer to the far end of the hallway. “Paxton...or whatever his name is, said the same thing.”

  “My name really is Paxton. I just prefer Pax.”

  But she’d stopped listening. She glanced around the floor and took a wide jump over the bleeding
attacker’s body. “I’m going to go out front and check on Mike. I might even scream if it looks like it’s clear and you’re the problem instead of the solution.”

  Pax grabbed her arm in time. He had her spinning around and standing only a few inches in front of him. At six feet he loomed over her by a good six inches. All those years playing football and the genes from a father he never knew had gifted Pax with broad shoulders.

  His size tended to intimidate people. Using the factor to get his way never bothered him before. If it meant saving her, it wouldn’t bother him now, either.

  “No.” Enough talk. He started walking toward the back door, taking her with him. He didn’t squeeze or pull, but with his elbow tucked and her body swept in close to his, he had the balance advantage and moving her didn’t take much pressure against her skin.

  “Excuse me?”

  He kept the lock on her elbow. “I tried this the nice way.”

  “When?”

  They blew by Joel, who had dropped to the floor to check the pockets of both fallen attackers. “Uh, Pax.”

  The tone signaled caution as much as if Joel had thrown up a flashing red light. Pax shortened his stride and stopped a few steps from the back door.

  “We are going to walk out there and get into the SUV.” He lowered his voice, forcing the tension to leave his jaw before it cracked from the pressure. “We are going to get out of here and to somewhere safe. Then we can talk all of this out. But, Kelsey—and you need to understand this—we are leaving. No discussion.”

  The muscles in her arm went slack. All of a sudden it was easy to glide her across the floor and direct her where he wanted her to go. Pax knew that was a very bad sign.

  This lady had the moves down cold—force your body to relax, and the person holding you will ease the grasp. Pax knew because he taught self-defense classes at the YMCA and had advised more than one class of women to avoid ever getting into a car with an attacker.

  As the realization hit him, her body jerked. She slammed to a halt and pivoted away from him as she whipped her arm up, shrugging out of his hold. When he reached for her again, she ducked under the arc of his swing. Doubled over and head down in determination, she sprinted.