Page 13 of Deadly Sins: Lust
Bad manners weren’t all he lacked. He didn’t have an Australian accent either. He was American. I took off after him, tackling him from behind. I pinned him to the ground using a knee mount, a technique I’d learned in jiu—jitsu. Using most of my body weight, I pressed my knee onto his diaphragm, making it hard but not impossible for him to breathe, and easy for me to immobilize him for now.
Through staggered breaths, he said, “What’s your problem, lady? I said I was sorry!”
“You took off without introducing yourself. You’re Shawn Hayes, aren’t you?”
“How do you know my—”
Before I could answer, I heard footsteps in the distance. Nick caught up to us. He dropped to his knees and glanced at me. “Let go. I’ve got him.”
The distraction caused me to lose focus. Shawn wiggled backward, trying to release himself from my grip. Nick slammed his fist into Shawn’s face. Blood spewed from Shawn’s nose.
“You asshole!” Shawn screamed. “I’m not the crazy one.Youare! I would have explained if you let me.”
But Nick wasn’t interested in explanations. He brought his fist down again, the band of his wedding ring cutting into Shawn’s forehead. Shawn’s head slammed against the pavement.
I wrapped my arms around Nick, yanking him backward. “Nick, no! Stop it. It isn’t worth it.”
Maddie joined me, the two of us managing to pry Nick away, but Shawn’s eyes were closed. Even though he’d only had two blows to the head, the hits were hard and precise. Shawn wasn’t moving. Maddie dropped to his side.
“He’s breathing,” she said. “He probably just passed out.”
A woman peeked around the side of the hotel building and yelled, “Get off of him! I called the police!”
Nick closed his eyes, registering her words and what he’d done.
He’d just assaulted a guy in a country with laws we were unfamiliar with.
“Let’s get out of here,” Maddie said. “Now.”
Nick tossed me the keys to the car. “You two go. Hurry up.”
“I’m not leaving you,” I said. “We’ll explain what happened. You just lost your wife. Hopefully, they’ll understand.”
“This isn’t like home where we can take a verbal beating in Coop’s office for something we’ve done and then go about our day. We’re in another country. I have no idea what they’ll do. I need to deal with this, and I need you two to keep checking things out.”
There was a good chance his actions could have us all deported, and then we might never know what really happened to Marissa. “Do you still suspect Shawn is to blame?”
“I don’t know what to think anymore. I should have never laid a hand on him. When he took off running, I assumed it was because he was guilty. Maybe he is. Maybe he isn’t. I need to know for sure, and I’m not rational enough to be objective. So, please ... just go.”
“Come on, Sloane,” Maddie said.
I wanted to stay, wanted to find a way out of this, but as the sound of sirens whined in the distance, I knew he was right.
CHAPTER 11
“What happened when you went to Shawn’s hotel room?” I asked.
Maddie was too busy rifling through her bag to hear me. After chucking a few things out of it, she said, “Do you have any gum in your purse? I need something to chew on.”
She always needed something to chew on, and gum had been her go-to for as long as I’d known her. I pointed to my backpack. “Should be some in the side pocket.”
She opened it, looked inside, and frowned. “I want squares, not sticks.”
“That’s all I have. Wad it up. You’ll be fine.”
Shewasn’tfine and plopped my backpack back on the floor without doing what I suggested. “What did you ask me before?”
I repeated the question.