Copy That

The memories of the horrible morning bombarded her. The headache kicked in a second later. “True.”

“Sorry.” He exhaled as he put his hand on her knee. “Look, someone tried to kill my brother, to kill you. I need to know who and why so I can protect you both. And time is slipping away. The guy has a huge head start. It may already be too late to find a trail.”

“Good.” The answer worked for both his comment and for the warmth spiraling through her body at the touch of his palm against her bare skin.

“I’ll be careful, but I do need to do this.” He gave her leg a quick squeeze then tapped on the back of Joel’s seat. “Stay here.”

She was no longer panicked about her safety. Now she was ticked off. Being dragged around without any explanation did that to a woman.

“Absolutely not,” she said in her best teacher voice.

The locks clicked right before Joel turned around. “For the record, I agree with the lady.”

“My name is Meredith.”

“Meredith.” He smiled at her before his mouth flat-lined and his attention returned to Jeremy. “How does this play out? There are cops everywhere. We have a civilian in the car.”

Civilian?

“Unlock the door.” Jeremy’s deep voice rattled with a deadly echo.

A second click bounced around the silent car. Then he was gone.

The whole rescuer thing should impress her. In some ways it did. In others it filled her with flaming frustration. If Jeremy intended to save her, she needed him to be alive to do it.

“Let’s go.” She opened the door before Joel could lock her in. That would teach him to hesitate.

“Whoa.” He jumped out of the car and raced around to meet her at the hood.

“That’s the fastest I’ve seen you move since you drove up.”

“I’ll be running pretty damn fast when Jeremy tries to kill me for letting you out of this car.”

“I’m not rushing in to help. You are.”

“Wait, what?”

The plan seemed simple enough in her head, but Joel’s scowl suggested otherwise. “I know you won’t leave me alone. I also know Jeremy should have backup. So, you move and I hang back and then maybe, just maybe, we’ll live through the next ten minutes.”

“I can’t guarantee that.”

“Or I can scream for the police and end this now.”

His entire demeanor changed. His hand went to his gun and he rolled his shoulders back as every inch of him vibrated with a new alertness. “You don’t fight fair.”

She doubted he even knew how. With the mention of a battle he automatically prepared to step in. That instinct appeared to be ingrained. “I have a feeling it might be the only way to win an argument with you or Jeremy.”

JEREMY TRIED TO concentrate on tracking but Meredith’s comments ran through his head. He’d seen her survival instinct in action. He’d expected her to shake and cry after being pawed and nearly blown up. Any sane person would. Instead, she’d soldiered through.

Now she talked about guns and protection like a woman who had done battle and knew there were rarely any real winners when it came to violence. Made him wonder what she’d seen in her life and who had taught her those tough lessons.

The idea of her being on the receiving end made him want to hit someone. He still wanted to kick his own butt for not being able to disarm the device at the back door and get to her faster when that animal touched her in Garrett’s family room.

In a little over an hour she’d managed to worm her way into his thoughts. Instead of focusing on the task in front of him, he was thinking about her past.

It wasn’t the first time that worrying about a woman had thrown him off stride. He had the knife wound in his side as a constant reminder.

He stopped along the side of a house. Without moving, he drew on his powers of concentration, trying to bring his focus back to the hunt. He shoved out the sirens and talking, the roar of the fire and chatter from all the people gathered to watch Garrett’s house melt into ash.

Centered again, Jeremy slipped into the backyard of the beige bungalow at the end of the block. He took in the small patch of grass and the fenced-in vegetable garden in the far left corner. Two steps led up to an entrance and an open screen door. No one lingered, but the attacker could have dragged a new victim into the house as his shield.

The tingle at the base of his neck had Jeremy glancing behind him. The sight of Joel sneaking across the lawn and Meredith hovering within shooting range sent rage burning through him. He didn’t need a team. He’d planned to go in and out before Meredith faced one more second of danger.

Not going to happen now.

At the near-silent tap of a shoe against cement, Jeremy tensed, waiting for the shot to come. He ducked as he spun around, but the attacker made his move and launched his body off the top step at Jeremy’s midsection.

The flash of a gun and a hint of a feral smile. A heavy body crashed into Jeremy, slamming him into the flagstone path leading around the house and sending his gun skidding into the grass. Air rushed out of his lungs as his side screamed with blinding pain.

In the second before his vision cleared and his senses returned, his attacker pinned his arm to the ground with his knee. Jeremy’s muscle cramped and tore as he tried to roll the other man off him. He shifted enough to nail the guy in the back with his leg.

Jeremy could hear Joel’s shouts and Meredith’s cries for help. Knowing they were closing in and drawing unwanted attention, that with one simple shift the attacker could shoot and take them out, Jeremy dipped into his strength reserves. He bucked his hips and grabbed for the gun in the grass as he knocked his other fist into the side of his attacker’s head.

“Put the weapon down!” Joel yelled.

Footsteps slapped against the walkway as Joel and Meredith came closer. Jeremy grabbed for the attacker’s gun. Anything to keep it from pointing in Meredith’s direction. Joel could fight back and defend. He had the training and the skills. She was an innocent bystander.

Jeremy’s fingers wrapped around the hot metal as he strained to push the barrel toward the other man. Jeremy braced his back against the ground as he kicked out to unbalance his attacker. The guy’s quick look at Joel gave Jeremy an opening. He slammed his elbow into the attacker’s jaw, sending his head flying back and loosening his hold on the gun.

Jeremy tore the weapon away, ready to fire, but the attacker stopped him with a sucker punch, right on his fresh wound.

Fire raced through Jeremy’s body as his breath hiccuped and his body jackknifed. Pain exploded in every brain cell. His fingers went numb and the gun dropped to the ground next to him.

With a sound somewhere between a roar and a laugh, the attacker slipped a knife out of his belt and aimed it right for Jeremy’s gut. One second he saw the other man’s teeth and a face splotched red with rage. The next a boom thundered around them.

As if in slow motion, the attacker slid off Jeremy and fell to his side. Blood trickled from the small hole in his forehead as a sea of red pooled beneath him in the grass.

Jeremy looked up in time to see the bleak determination in Joel’s eyes as he lowered his weapon. He’d done exactly what Garrett had taught him to do…kill the bad guys. The question was whether the answers they needed stopped with the man bleeding out on the ground.

“Jeremy!”

“I’m okay.” He could barely move his mouth, but he forced the words out. He also put up a hand to keep Meredith from plowing into him as part of her rescue plan.

A few more seconds and he’d pass out. Being knocked unconscious would be the perfect ending to this crappy day. But instead of hugging him, she dropped to her knees and brushed her hands over his chest as if he were made of glass.

“He shot you.”

“How did that happen?” Joel checked the attacker for a pulse then took up position on Jeremy’s other side.