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Loved who she’d become just knowing him.
She crossed onto the boardwalk, past the SUV, headed toward the dock, and lifted her hand.“Mo!”
He looked up at her from the far end of the dock and raised his hand too.“Tennie!”
And then the men standing with him turned.
Sunburned, their clothing soiled, and one of them wore a bandage on his arm, the sleeves of his shirt torn off.His blue eyes covered in a pair of wraparound shades.
But her gaze went to the man beside him.Dark hair, aviator sunglasses, wearing a white dress shirt, grimy and rumpled, a pair of shorts, and...flip-flops?
She stilled.Caught her breath.Then, “Declan!”
Just like that, he took off for her, running down the dock toward the lot.
Movement out of her peripheral vision.A woman with long dark hair moving straight at her.
She glanced over just in time to see Captain Teresa, holding a handgun.Apparently, the woman didn’t have a problem shooting someone in broad daylight.Or double-crossing her boss.
Or betraying them to the Russian Mafia.
Who knew—maybe shewasthe Russian Mafia.
She lifted the gun and pointed it at Declan.Or maybe Steinbeck.Or even Mo?—
And that was justit.
Because Declan just kept coming, andno, nope, nyet,she wasn’t going to watch a man she was falling for—maybe wanted a future with—get murdered in front of her.
Austen launched herself at the woman.
Teresa turned and started to backhand her, butsorry?—
Austen knew how to deal with sharks.
She deflected, slapping Teresa’s arm away, then stepped up to her and—what was it Hunter had said?A shot in the nose?
Yeah.She slammed her fist into Teresa’s face.
The explosion nearly crumpled her hand, but Teresa fell back, stumbling.Tripped.She fell with a smack onto the pavement, the gun jerking out of her hand.
Austen picked it up, breathing hard.“I know how to use this.”
And that’s when she spotted the Russian...Sergei?—appearing from behind the SUV.
“Stop!”She pointed the gun at him, then back at Teresa.Then back at Sergei, who just kept moving, so?—
Her shot took out the back window of the SUV.
Sergei jerked, ducking, growled, and maybe would have launched himself at her?—
But backup arrived in the form of Declan, who tackled the man.
She looked away from the fight, her gun on Teresa, whose nose had exploded, her face, chin, and chest covered in blood.She held her face, backing up.
“Stop!”
Austen looked up to see Fonzie running hard toward them.