Page 24 of Too Lethal to Love

She snapped her mind from her what-if party and yanked her gaze away from the crowd. As she faced Kane, he gently pulled her hand from her hair. Threading his fingers through hers, he guided her into his truck and shut the door. As he spoke to an officer, she searched the crowd for Chavez one last time.

Kane shook the officer’s hand. “Thanks for your help. We’ll be in touch if we think of anything you should know.”

The officer inclined his head to his squad car parked haphazardly behind Kane’s truck. “Give me a minute and I’ll get out of your way.”

Kane nodded as he shot a glance at Beth in his passenger seat. She seemed to be surveying the crowd, no doubt wondering if Chavez or her stalker, if they weren’t one and the same, were out there.

“Degenerates,” he muttered under his breath.

Last night after Nic and Linc had left Beth’s house, he’d lain on her couch and read through the history of the stalker’s communications. The things the fucker said had been so disturbing he’d gone up to her bedroom to check on her.

It wasn’t the first time he’d watched her sleep, and it wouldn’t be the last. He wouldn’t stop watching, protecting Beth with his life until whoever scared her was behind bars or in the ground. He’d been trained to defend and built to kill. He didn’t have a problem with the latter if it wasjustified.

Edgar had instructed him to only use his weaponry if it was life or death. Well, a gun pointed at Beth didn’t get any more dire than that. If he’d been alone, he could have taken down both assailants without stunning them with a V-Strike, but he wasn’t taking any chances with Beth nearby. He’d hit them with an intensity so low no hint of the powerful laser would show on their skin or in any medical test. It had been enough to get the job done though.

As soon as he’d sensed trouble, he’d thought his passphrase. In an instant, he’d catapulted into phase two. The passphrase not only activated his weaponry but also engaged his communications system. The team at headquarters saw and heard the whole incident go down via the cameras embedded in the comms unit secured to his wrist. As he’d talked with the cops afterward, his arm chimed like a Christmas carol with requests from headquarters to check in.

Keeping one eye on Beth and the other on the now thinning crowd, he spoke over the mind comms. The cybernetic enhancement translated thoughts into electrical impulses. It was damn cool how he and his brothers could communicate with each other and the team back at headquarters without speaking a word or needing an earpiece to hear.

“Just finished with the cops. Getting Beth to a safe place and will check in soon.”

“Roger that,”Ryan said.

The police officer nodded as he moved his vehicle from behind Kane’s truck.

“About damn time,” Kane muttered. The feeling that the robbery was some sort of sick taunt sat like a steaming heap of horse shit in his gut. He didn’t like the taste, the smell, or the idea.

As he yanked open the door, he caught sight of Beth’s pale face and froze.

The chilling text message Beth received moments ago blurred her vision as she held up her phone for Kane to see.

Welcome home, querida. Excellent choice of wine, although you should be sharing it with me.

Kane read the message and swore. “Did you give this number to anyone? Or make any calls?”

“No. I haven’t even given it to my parents yet. Who did you share it with?”

“Just Scarlett and the team.” His jaw tightened as he threw the truck in reverse. “Fuck.”

“I thought you said this phone was secure.”

“No technology is impenetrable, but whoever sent that message is a damn good hacker.”

The gravity of his words, and gravity itself, jerked Beth sideways. She grabbed the handle above the door and held on as Kane sped out of the parking lot. As soon as she let go, a beep sounded from the roof. She jumped and grabbed the handle again. “What the hell is that?”

Kane held up his arm with a black device strapped to it. “My comms unit is networked with my truck.”

“Status.” Edgar’s voice cracked through the air.

“Secure.” Kane glanced in the rearview mirror but didn’t slow down.

Edgar cleared his throat. “I’m here with Nic, Linc, and Ryan.”

Beth shot a look at Kane. “Tell them not to call Scarlett and Chris.”

“We can hear you,” Nic said. “And we won’t call the lovebirds.”

She didn’t like the unspoken “Not yet” in his voice.