Page 1 of Jina

CHAPTER ONE

Tactical police officer Jina Wheeler threw her gym bag over her shoulder and walked into the crisp autumn night air. There was nothing better than a hard-core, sweaty round of kickboxing to end the day.

When Jina had first joined the mixed martial arts gym four months ago, she’d been irritated when the guys had instantly hit on her. When flat refusals didn’t work, she’d invited them to a sparring match. After putting several of them down on the mat in record time, they’d backed off. Now they let her work out in peace.

There was one guy, Cole, whom she saw frequently but who had never once approached her. She only knew his name because Mike, the gym owner, called out to him one day. The two guys were apparently on a first-name basis. Cole was probably married, yet she’d caught him watching her a time or two. Looking wasn’t against the law, and maybe he was just curious about how she’d come out on top over the guys.

It didn’t matter; she wasn’t interested. Okay, she was a little curious about him, but she had no intention of acting on it. Her experience with men wasn’t good. During high school, she’d dealt with a creepy stalker, then in college, she’d been attacked and sexually assaulted. On top of that, she and Jaxon Palmer had been best friends in high school, but he’d gotten upset when she’d refused to relocate to Nashville with him. She hadn’t understood why Jaxon had thought she’d leave her sister behind in the first place, and after she’d flat-out refused, she’d never heard from him again.

Proof that men weren’t worth the time or energy it took to find a good one in a sea of losers. Not to mention, most of the guys she met were put off by a woman who could fight and shoot better than they could.

A rueful smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she headed toward her car, a boxy black Jeep Wrangler. The early September weather was nice enough that she still had the top off, making it easy to toss her gym bag into the back seat. Just because half the members of her tactical team were settling down and getting married didn’t mean she planned to follow suit. She was fine on her own 99 percent of the time. She chose to ignore the other 1 percent that she found herself envious of her younger sister Shelly’s life.

From somewhere behind her, a car door slammed. She glanced back over her shoulder, cop instincts going on full alert, then relaxed when she saw a pair of headlights flash on. Just someone else leaving the gym.

As she wrenched open her driver’s side door, she caught a glimpse of a shadow moving along the side of the building. A man? Adrenaline still zipped through her veins from her strenuous workout, and she quickly reached across the front seat to pull her service weapon from the glove box.

A nanosecond later, the sharp crack of gunfire echoed through the night. There was no metallic ping of her vehicle being hit. She ducked, her fingers closing around the handle of her gun. In a smooth movement, she held the weapon in a two-handed grip while crouching alongside her Jeep, wishing she had the top on for added cover.

Who was the perp trying to hit? It couldn’t be her, unless the guy had terrible aim.

A second crack of gunfire ripped through the night. Okay, now she was getting mad. This guy was going to hurt some innocent bystander if he didn’t knock it off.

“Police!” she shouted. “Drop your weapon!”

Listening intently, she heard nothing but silence. Hopefully, Duncan, the new second-shift gym manager, would call 911. She peeked up from behind the Jeep, scanning the area next to the building.

Spying a flash of movement, she darted out from behind the car and ran across the parking lot. Pounding footsteps indicated the perp was running away.

No way would she let him escape!

“Stop! Police!” she shouted again, putting on a burst of speed. When she reached the corner of the building, though, she paused, as there was no one in sight.

The gym was located on a mostly empty stretch of road, with a long, wooded area a few yards behind it. Rushing into the possible line of fire wouldn’t be smart, but she really wanted to get this guy.

“Jina? Are you okay?”

She froze at the unknown male voice behind her. Then she whirled to face the new threat. Two perps working together? Wait, that didn’t make sense as this one had called her by name.

“Duncan?” She tried to see the bearded man through the darkness. “Is that you?”

“No, my name is Cole. I heard gunfire. I’m hoping Duncan is inside calling the police.”

Cole knew her name? For some reason that knocked her off balance. “I’m fine, except for the fact that the shooter is getting away.”

“Let’s split up and see if we can grab him.” Cole came up to stand beside her, and she noticed he was also carrying a gun. “You head right; I’ll go left.”

“Got it.” She didn’t need to be asked twice. Darting across to the woods to the right, she heard Cole doing the same to the left. His movements and actions screamed cop, which shouldn’t have been surprising.

Several cops hung out at Mike’s MMA gym. Her included.

The woods stretched along the length of the building but weren’t deep. She quickly found herself in another parking lot of what appeared to be a strip mall of small businesses. Glancing to her left, she noticed Cole had come out of the woods several yards away as well.

Without saying anything, he waved his gun toward the strip mall. She nodded and headed that way, staying to the right. Upon reaching the back side of the mall, she narrowed her gaze at a parked dark SUV. The lights abruptly blinded her, and the driver hit the gas, going from zero to thirty miles per hour before she could blink.

She wanted to fire at the vehicle but couldn’t be certain the driver was their shooter. Until he continued heading straight for her. She was forced to dive to the ground, tucking and rolling to avoid behind hit. Lifting her head, she tried to get the license plate, but the vehicle was already gone.

Swallowing a silent curse—she’d given up swearing since joining Rhy’s tactical team—she pushed herself up to her feet just as Cole rushed toward her. “What happened?”

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