Page 29 of When He Defends
“No worries,” Rylan assured her as he sprawled in the booth. His arm brushed against Emerson’s. “If you’re not scared of Stone, then something is probably off with you.” An incline of his head toward Trinity. “I mean, did you hear about the time he was taken prisoner? Tortured for days?”
Beneath the table, Emerson’s fingers pressed to the tops of her thighs. “What?”
“Oh, yeah.” Rylan glanced around the busy bar. They’d picked a spot in the back, away from the small band that played on the stage. The lighting was dim. The music slow. His gaze darted back to the group. “I’d just started working with his teamat the time. Get this. One minute, he’d been all secretive and shit with some joint-task-force case. Him and his military buddies.”
“Marines.” This came from Malik. Agent Malik Jones was definitely the quiet type. Quiet. Still. Watchful. No accent in his voice.
“Right. Right. His Marine buddies. One minute, Stone is dealing with them, and the next, the guy just goes totally dark. I have no idea what’s happening. Supervisors won’t tell the team shit.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t be telling us this,” Trinity murmured, biting her lower lip.
But Rylan waved that away. “Not like it’s classified. I mean, the man vanished for days. Then had to stay in the hospital because he was beaten to hell and back.” A low whistle. “When he finally arrived in the office again, Stone looked like the walking dead. Can you imagine how much pain it would take to put him down?”
Emerson’s hands curled into fists. Her nails bit into her palms.
“And about that case he was working…the task force case…the one that got him snatched and tortured…” Rylan hunched forward.
Everyone at the little table leaned inward, too.
“It was all about some seriously high-profile witness.” His voice was low. Barely above a whisper.
Everyone leaned a bit closer.
“He made the witness disappear. Poof. As in, gone from the face of the planet. He does that stuff. Works task force stuff with that US Marshal buddy of his, Tyler Barrett.”
She’d met Tyler before.
“Agent Stone made the witness vanish while he was running some covert investigation. Only he knew where the person had gone—because his Marshal buddy had gone dark withthe witness. The investigation apparently turned into a major clusterfuck, with even some powerful folks at the Bureau getting involved. Some of those individuals were reportedly dirty as hell.” He swallowed. “The bad guys needed the witness eliminated. So, Agent Stone was taken. Gone.” He snapped his fingers. “Like that.”
“Bet he fought like hell.” From Malik. His intense stare didn’t waver as he studied Rylan.
“You know it.” Agnes saluted Malik with her beer bottle.
“And I bet he didn’t spill a single secret.” Malik nodded. “He’s one of those types that would die first before giving up an innocent.” Admiration filled his tone.
“He almost did die,” Rylan informed him. “The dude was seriously the walking dead, had to be carried out when he?—”
“If you’re going to tell my story, get the details straight.”
Holy hell.Emerson jumped. So did everyone else at the table. They’d been positioned close to the back of O’Sullivan’s. They should have seen anyone approaching, but Gray had just snuck up on them all.
“Dammit!” Beer dripped down Rylan’s shirtfront as he leapt to his feet and grabbed napkins to mop up the liquid. “How did you sneak up on us?”
“How, indeed.” Gray stood behind Rylan. “There’s a back door, genius. And you always come to this bar on Friday nights when you’re in town. The group’s behavior is very predictable.” His gaze swept the group. Lingered on Emerson. “Most of the group. Someone is a new member.” He did not look away from her. “Collecting more data for your profile on me?”
“I’m just having a drink.” She motioned to the beer bottle.
“You don’t drink, Dr. Marlowe.”
“Emerson,” she whispered.
Their gazes held.
Now I’m the one asking him to call me by—Wait. “How do you know that I don’t drink?”
His lips curled into a half-smile. “Because I have a thorough profile on you.” His gaze left her. Took in every person at the table once more. Finally landed on Rylan. “I have a profile on every single one of you. I know your strengths and your weaknesses.”
The group had gone dead silent.
