Page 200 of Beyond the Badge: Nox

One side of Magnum’s mouth pulled up. Did Nox see a sliver of respect in the man’s eyes?

“Wanna know that, too. Plan on gettin’ more info than that outta them. And if we can’t convince them to talk, the men outside sure fuckin’ can. And I can guaran-fuckin’-tee these two motherfuckers don’t want that.” He glanced over at T-Bone and Saint and made his point by saying, “That’s gonna be a horrible way to fuckin’ die.”

“Then I’m glad I’m not in their shoes.”

“Not yet, anyway,” Magnum muttered under his breath.

Nox ignored the threat. He had both the man’s daughter and wife on his side. He doubted that Magnum would cross either of those women, no matter how big of a badass the Knight was.

“I also want to know how they tied her to me.” Even though he could guess, he wanted to confirm his suspicions.

“Not sure why you think you can make fuckin’ demands. Just be glad you’re not sittin’ on that floor next to them.”

“And what do you think your daughter would say to that?”

Magnum’s jaw shifted. “Get her the fuck outta here. We’ll take care of the rest.” He locked eyes with Nox. “But you saw nothin’. Got me?”

Nox nodded. “I’ll take her to the ER.”

“The fuck you will. You take her home and that’s it. If she has any kinda issue, you take her then and not before. And if you do, you make up some fuckin’ story that ain’t gonna trigger an investigation. We don’t want shit on record. You got that?”

“I do,” Nox answered.

“Now get the fuck outta here before I decide I don’t give a fuck what my wife or daughter think.”

“Need the key fob for her car. I brought my bike, and I don’t think she’ll be able to hang on in the condition she’s in.” He’d worry about his Harley later. Liyah was more important to him than a fucking bike. It was replaceable. She wasn’t.

Magnum stared at him for a heartbeat or two, then with a grunt, he dug deep into his front pocket, pulled out the Mercedes’ key fob and tossed it at Nox. “Since you’re all fuckin’ cozy with my wife, let her know where you’re takin’ Aaliyah and the second you fuckin’ get there. Don’t make me fuckin’ hunt you down.”

“I’ll take care of her while you take out the trash. Deal?”

When Magnum gave him a chin lift, Nox returned it and headed back into the bathroom to grab Liyah and get her the fuck out of there.

ChapterForty-Five

“I gotout to open the gate and…” Aaliyah’s voice caught and cracked. “He ambushed me, Nox.” Her tongue not only felt twice its size when she tried to speak, it was bone dry, too, no matter how much water she drank.

Hopefully the man driving her Mercedes understood what she said.

“I know. I should’ve been waiting for you at the fucking gate.”

When she looked over at him, she noticed he was gripping the steering wheel so tight, his knuckles had turned white. His jaw was also sharp enough to cut glass. “It’s not your fault.”

“The fuck it isn’t,” he growled.

He was wrong, but she didn’t have the energy to argue. “What did he inject me with? Why did I feel that way?”

“Since the Demons were selling meth, my guess is, he shot you up with that.”

“That would make sense. At first, I experienced some sort of adrenaline rush. My heart raced so fast, I actually thought it would explode. After that, I hovered in this weird state of euphoria. It was both calming but frightening because I hate the feeling of helplessness. Worse, I was powerless to stop any of it.”

She had to be crashing now since her head throbbed, she felt physically drained, and her limbs had grown heavy.

“Do you want to go to the hospital?”

“My father probably told you not to take me there.” The tightening of his mouth was her answer. “I don’t want this coming back on him. And you know if I go, there will be questions.” She sighed softly. “I’ll be fine. I was drugged, not injured or beaten.” Or even raped, thankfully. “It’ll wear off.”

She wanted to say she was lucky, but it more had to do with timing than luck. She was sure she would’ve been sexually assaulted and worse if Nox hadn’t notified the cavalry.

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