Page 22 of Kiana's Hero

“And did she?”

“I don’t know. She didn’t say.” She stared into Dev’s eyes. “It might be worth looking into. I bet she had all that stuff on her laptop.”

At that moment, Kiana’s cell phone buzzed where it lay on the bar.

Kiana frowned at the number. “I don’t know anyone at that number.” Still, she answered the phone and held it to her ear. “What?” Her face paled, and she looked around the room. “We have to get out of here? Who is this?” She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it. “Someone just called and said to get out of the bar. Now.”

“Did you recognize the voice?” he asked.

“No. But whoever it was seemed convinced we needed to get out.”

Movement out of the corner of Dev’s eye caught his attention. Three large men wearing black T-shirts and jeans entered the bar. Each one had similar tattoos from their wrists all the way up their arms and around their necks, like gang members.

When one man waved toward the bar, Dev recognized the tattoo on the inside of his arm as the same stylized tribal mask he’d seen on the man who’d attacked Tish.

These guys had to be from the same gang.

Dev stiffened and slid off his stool. “Your caller might’ve had the right idea.” He gripped Kiana’s elbow and helped her down from her stool.

When Kiana started for the door, he steered her away and toward the hallway at the rear, where there was a sign indicating the bathrooms.

“This isn’t the way out,” Kiana whispered.

“Those three men who just walked in are headed our way. I don’t think they’ll let us just walk by.” He hurried her down the hallway toward the restrooms. There was no rear exit they could duck out. With little time to spare, Dev guided Kiana into the women’s bathroom, praying there was a window they could crawl through to get out of the building.

The ladies’ bathroom was a dead end with two stalls, two sinks and no windows.

“What do we do now?” Kiana asked.

“We go out the front entrance and pray those men aren’t here to stop us.” He turned her toward him. “I’ll distract them as best I can. You run past them and go to the car.” He dug the keys out of his pocket and handed them to her. “If I’m not right behind you, get into the car and drive to the nearest police station.”

She shook her head. “I’m not leaving you to handle three men by yourself.”

“I need you to get out and away.”

When she opened her mouth to protest, he pressed his lips to hers, stemming the flow of words.

It was a brief, hard kiss, but it made her stop talking.

When his head came up, he stared down into her green eyes. “Please. Do as I say. I can handle them.”

She nodded, her eyes wide.

“Okay.” He set her at arm’s length. “I’ll go out first and distract them. You come out a few seconds later and head straight for the front door.”

He let go of her arms and eased open the door. The hallway was clear. Dev wondered if he was reading something more into the three men showing up when they had.

After a quick glance back at Kiana, Dev walked back to the barroom. The three men stood near the end of the bar closest to the hallway.

When Dev appeared, the lead guy’s eyes narrowed. He glanced past Dev as if looking for Kiana.

Not wanting to wait for the men to come to him, Dev advanced on them, smiling. “I’ve been thinking about getting another tattoo. Where do you suggest I go?”

“Go the fuck to hell,” the biggest meanest-looking man said. He planted his hands on Dev’s chest and shoved him.

“Shouldn’t have done that, man,” Dev said. “Now, it’s game on.”

Chapter 6

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