Page 65 of Fire and Ice

It felt like an anvil had settled in his gut as he pushed away from his crouched position to tear back towards the house. He heard a crash that sounded like shattered glass. Maia!

Jack drew and cocked his gun. He sidled up by the wall and peeked through the slats of the blinds of the balcony. The only lighting was from the few emergency lights and the glow cast by the fireplace, but he clearly saw a giant of a man hauling Maia up by her hair. Fury ratcheted up inside him as he dashed to the front door and carefully opened it. The scene before him made him lose all control. The intruder had ripped Maia's shirt apart, his intent apparent and she was struggling against him like a wild cat, gripping his wrist that held the gun.

With a roar, Jack tackled the assassin off of Maia, toppling the man to one side and pounding his face with his fists. The man threw Jack over, reached for the gun that had slid under a side table and lurched up to shoot him. Jack delivered a roundhouse kick that knocked the gun away, so the two men continued to tussle with each other. The assassin had 50 lbs. (probably of solid muscle) over Jack, but Jack was the better brawler.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Maia pick up the gun.

"Stay out of this, Maia!" Jack ordered. This man was his. He was going to pour out all the frustration he had felt when Maia went missing and all the rage that was consuming him right now.

A right hook to the face followed by a sharp jab to the solar plexus sent the behemoth hunching over before Jack finished him off by cracking the guy's forehead brutally against his knee. The assassin teetered backwards, falling unconscious on the floor.

Jack scrambled over to Maia who was pointing the gun at the fallen intruder. Lit up by the fireplace, he did a quick body scan and noted furiously that Maia was bleeding from her mouth. He cupped her face and said, "Guard him. I'll go get some restraints. He moves, don't even hesitate to shoot him, you hear me?"

She nodded. Jack hated to leave Maia with the assassin, but he needed a minute to clear his head before he ended up shooting the guy to get it over with. He was racked with self-loathing: he couldn't fucking keep Maia from being harmed. He found some plastic restraints and quickly returned to the living room. The assassin was still out cold, and Maia was sitting on the arm of the couch looking drained. Jack nudged the man over and secured his feet and hands behind his back. He then hoisted the body across his shoulder in a fireman's carry and deposited him in a chair by the kitchen.

"Let's try this one more time," Jack said ominously. He had worked Boris over for some answers, striking him repeatedly with his taped fists. "Where is Reznikov?" The thugs Reznikov had sent in the boat were European mercenaries. This one was Russian. He said his name was Boris which was probably a lie. So far Boris had not revealed much except that Reznikov now knew that Maia was in Westcove. They had been casing out the small Outer Banks community even before Brett's picture had hit the tabloids. The disappearance of Benny, Syd and Tommy had tipped off Reznikov's radar, so Westcove received priority reconnaissance.

The assassin laughed mirthlessly as he spat out some blood. "That's all I can tell you. Cut off my fingers, my balls, I don't care. Nothing you can do could be worse than if I go back to Reznikov now."

"Jesus, and you work for this guy?"

"He pays well."

"Well enough to have your balls served to you?"

The man clamped his mouth shut. He'd give him credit for a mean left-hook, though, Jack thought as he rubbed his aching jaw.

There was a knock on the door.

"Will you get that Maia, that must be Tanner."

He called the detective/DEA agent the minute he had gotten Boris settled in the chair. Rick wasn't too happy heading out in the eye of the storm but was more than interested when Jack told him who he had in custody.

"Hey sweetie, you okay?" Tanner asked and kissed Maia on the forehead before striding into the house.

"I'm good."

"We really need to stop meeting like this," Rick added teasingly as Maia laughed softly.

"Tanner, quit flirting with my woman and get over here," Jack growled.

Maia's brows knitted together at his words.Yeah, deal with it, you're mine, Jack thought to himself.

"Well, you seem to be doing a bang-up job of taking care of her," Rick shot back but stop himself short when Jack skewered him with a murderous look.

Observing Boris's bloodied face, Tanner said, "Damn it, McCord, have you not read all the news on police brutality?"

"I'm not the police."

"Well, I can't take him back to the station looking like that."

"I'm sure your other boss will take him."

"Personally, I can't fault your methods, interrogation by candlelight—charming."

"Quit with the wise cracks, Tanner, it's been a long day," Jack said wearily.

Rick whistled as he saw his face. "I can see that. Looked like you ran into a brick wall."

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