Page 1 of When He Defends
Chapter One
“What have I always wanted to do? Stop monsters.”
– Emerson Marlowe
“What does she mean to you?”The tip of the screwdriver shoved beneath Emerson Marlowe’s chin. Her head tipped back, and her wide, blue eyes met Gray Stone’s stare as her attacker held her against his fat, sweating body.
The attacker. A prick who got off on hurting those weaker than him.
Rain pelted onto the roof of the garage. A 1988 Camaro—sporting a bright red coat of paint—waited with its wheels off on the lift to the right. A million tools and parts were scattered around the dusty garage, and the owner of that garage—the man currently shoving the tip of that screwdriver into Emerson’s delicate skin—heaved out rough, gasping breaths.
Jake Waller. Age forty-seven. Divorced, three times. A loner who’d been unlucky in love and in life, thanks to the battered knee he’d got the first year he tried to play college football. Angry, jealous, disenchanted. Pissed at the world.
A man who fit the profile of the killer that Gray had been hunting to a perfect T.
One of Jake’s beefy arms had locked around Emerson’s waist. The other greasy hand held the screwdriver beneath her chin. If he shoved up that screwdriver, if he hurt her…
You will be a fucking dead man.
Gray had his gun out and aimed. He could pull the trigger and blow out Jake’s brains right then and there. He’d prefer not to take that path.But if you push that screwdriver up even a millimeter more, you are done, asshole.
“What does she mean to you?” Spittle flew from Jake’s mouth as he repeated his screeching question. His voice cracked on the words. He hadn’t been expecting a visit from the FBI. He’d panicked as soon as Gray had introduced himself and flashed his ID.
The perp had freaked and grabbed a human shield in the form of Emerson. An Emerson who should have been waiting her sweet ass in the car. Only the woman could not follow orders for shit. Truly. She’d prissed into the garage, thrown open the door, and Jake had pounced on her.
After all, Emerson was his preferred prey. The predator always took women. Delicate builds. Pretty faces. And he left them broken and dead.
He won’t be hurting my partner.But, as to the question the jerk had just posed…
Gray inclined his head slightly to Emerson before he took his gaze off her and focused completely on the threat. “Nothing.”
A deep furrow appeared between Jake’s brows.I can make that furrow deeper. I can plant a bullet right between those brows.Keeping his gun leveled at his target, Gray added, “The woman means absolutely nothing to me. Or, actually, if you want the brutal truth, she’s a complete pain in my ass.”
Emerson gasped.
Not because the screwdriver had moved. It hadn’t. Gray would have pulled the trigger if it had. She’d gasped because he’d called her a pain in the ass.
She was one, though. Case in point, the woman was being held by a sweaty psycho who wanted to drive a screwdriver up through her chin when she should have been in thecar.
“What?” Jake blinked his squinty eyes. He seemed to have trouble processing what Gray had just said.
So Gray said the words again. Slower. A bit more clearly. With a hint of relish as he took one gliding step forward. “She means nothing to me.” Another gliding step. “She’s a pain in my ass.” One more step. “A partner I did not want.”Hello, yet another step.“The current bane of my existence.”
Jake blinked more. Rapidly. Confused, he began, “The bane of your?—”
“But I can’t let you hurt her. No one hurts her.” Gray was inches away from Emerson and from Jake. “Because pain in the ass or not, she’s mine.” Wait, that had come out wrong. Time to clarify. “My partner.” There. Way better. “And either let her go, right now, or I will put this bullet into you.” Fair warning, he would be firing. Gray never bluffed. Correction, he bluffed when he played cards. He bluffed like a rock star when he was at a poker table with his former Marine buddies. But as far as the rest of his life was concerned…I never say shit I don’t mean. I will fire this gun and have zero regrets.
The rain struck the metal roof ever harder.Rat-tat-tat-tat.Thunder rumbled. The very building seemed to vibrate around them.
“I could count,” Gray mused. Counting was an option. Not one he planned to take, but, still, an option. “Start at five and count my way down. Tell you if you don’t let her go by the time I reach zero, I’ll pull the trigger.”
Jake’s mouth hung open.
“But I don’t feel like counting.” Seriously, he was just not in the mood for that crap. Not in the mood and he did not have the patience for a countdown. “I have the shot, and I’m taking it unless you let my partner go right the hellnow.”
Jake snapped his mouth closed. He also didn’t release Emerson. A huge mistake. But Emerson used that moment to slam her right high heel down on Jake’s foot as hard as she could. Jake howled.
Emerson elbowed her attacker even as her other hand tried to wrestle the screwdriver from him. She managed to get it away from her chin, and she surged to the right.
