Page 7 of Guarding Grace (Hawk Security #2)

Grace

After pushing my apartment door open, my heart slowed, and I breathed easier when I spotted the trash bag. Val always left it for me to take down to the dumpster.

“Everything okay?” Millie called.

“Peachy,” I replied before closing the door and latching the deadbolt.

Clyde, my American shorthair, ran over to brush against my leg, while Bonnie, my Persian, watched from her perch on the back of the couch.

Picking up Clyde, I crossed over and closed the window. Good thing it was only cracked open, not wide enough for a cat to get through.

Things were off. I cataloged the discrepancies. Two drawers in the kitchen were partially open, and my tiny desk wasn’t as orderly as I’d left it.

Val was more careful than this. My blood chilled as I held my warm cat closer. Somebody had been in my space, looking for something.

Setting Clyde down, I pulled the treat bag from the cupboard. The crinkle of the plastic bag motivated Bonnie to jump down and hustle over. They each got two treats before I toured the rest of my space.

I seethed when I went into the bathroom and found the toilet seat up. That was my answer. Only three people had ever had a key to my apartment—Serena, Val, and Elliot, because I’d taken him in last summer when his girlfriend dumped him .

He promised he’d given back his only copy when he’d moved out, but obviously not.

After checking my watch, I rushed to my nightstand and retrieved the extra copy of the warehouse key from the small wooden box at the back of the second drawer. I certainly wasn’t giving him the one from my keychain.

Elliot was a shitty cousin with a very loose relationship with the truth. But he was blood. I owed it to him to help, no matter what. But family or not, I’d be giving him a piece of my mind when I saw him, the little shit.

With no time to spare, I swapped last night’s heels for a pair of Nikes and pulled out my phone to type the location into the rideshare app. I’d have to come back afterward to change for work and do my makeup. Swapping the useless clutch for my oversized handbag, I headed out.

Terry

I was almost at Grace’s address when the call came in.

“What’s up, Jordy?”

“You need to divert. She’s not there anymore. She caught another Uber.”

“Work?”

“No. A Burger King on Weatherby. Me? I prefer the Waffle Palace for breakfast.” He read off the address for me.

“How far behind am I?”

“I’m not tracking the ride, but she got picked up ten minutes ago.”

“Thanks, man.” Clicking off the call, I took the next left at speed.

It didn’t add up… I clenched the wheel harder and let the V-8 roar. I’d just passed a Burger King close to her building. If she was hungry, why go all the way to Weatherby?

Grace

I pointed when my driver approached the Burger King. “In the parking lot will be fine.” After she pulled in, I exited, looking around for Elliot. The parking lot only held a few cars and a van. When I didn’t see him, I started for the door.

“Gracie.”

I turned to find him standing behind a parked SUV in the far corner of the lot. “What the hell, Elliot? What’s going on?”

He waved me over.

“You broke into my place.”

He held up a key. “I didn’t break in.”

“You’re not supposed to have that.”

“I made a copy just in case.”

I rolled my eyes. As I’d suspected, Elliot felt he was entitled to everything. He’d had a shit upbringing, and in the past I had always cut him slack, but that would not include him moving back in with me again. Last summer had been a disaster. The cats had gotten out twice.

“Came in handy, cuz.” He pulled a breakfast sandwich out of a bag.

I walked over and held out my hand to solve this before I forgot. “I can’t trust you. Hand it over.”

He laid the key on the hood of the SUV and unwrapped his sandwich. “Did you bring the warehouse key? I didn’t find it, and I need to lie low for a while—at least until I get this shit sorted out.”

“What shit? What are you mixed up in?”

“Nothin’. I just gotta…lay low.”

“Not good enough. Why are people after you? And more to the point, why are people beating up on me to find you?”

“You don’t look that bad,” he said around the food in his mouth as he looked past the SUV toward the street.

I felt the painful lump on the back of my head. “I don’t like being a punching bag. So, no explanation, no key.”

His eyes shifted the way they did when he was about to lie, which was pretty often. “I had a delivery go bad.”

He’d told me he’d gotten a job with a courier service, which sounded like a big step up from the fast food job he’d had at Burger Castle. “What’s that mean?”

“I got ripped off, and my boss is pissed.”

I shook my head. “Man up for once and go explain the situation to him.”

“No way. He’ll kill me.”

“I’m done. You sort it out like a big boy for a change.” I turned.

He lunged and grabbed my elbow. He shook his head, his eyes crazy. “You don’t get it. He’ll literally kill me.” He sliced a finger across his neck.

I yanked my arm free. “You can’t be serious. ”

He blinked rapidly. “These guys don’t mess around.” He checked the street again. “Oh, shit.” He crouched behind the SUV. “Duck.”

“What?” His change of mood alarmed me.

“They’re here.” He dropped his food and peeked through the window.

“Who?” I asked.

“My boss’s guys. They must have followed you.”

Of course, in the world according to Elliot, this was my fault.

I raised up to peek. Two tattooed bruisers, one taller than the other, got out of a Suburban on the street, then closed the door. They were not the kind of guys you’d like to meet in a dark alley.

I ducked down as their heads turned in our direction.

“Shit, shit, shit…” Elliot’s voice grew shrill. “You let them follow you. Now I’m screwed.”

After another peek, I confirmed that they had started into the parking lot. “Stay down,” I urged him.

I couldn’t have waited for Terry this morning, but it sure would have been good to have him here now.

“We can’t stay here,” Elliot whimpered.

“And how are we going to get by both of them?” I glanced again.

The taller, bald one turned toward the door to the restaurant. The other went between two cars to check behind them.

I watched. “This is going to be our chance. The bald one is going inside. If we just wait until the other guy goes behind that van, we can make a run for it.” As soon as I looked back, I realized I’d spoken too late.

Elliot had already scurried away along the wall behind the cars.

“Got ya now,” yelled the bruiser still in the parking lot as he spotted Elliot and gave chase.

Looked like he had Elliot cornered. I darted around the SUV to race toward the street. He couldn’t go after both of us. “Hey, fatso,” I yelled.

It wasn’t my best insult, but it shifted his attention to me for a second.

“Yeah, you,” I added as I ran along the building.

It worked. With Short Stuff distracted for a second, Elliot sprinted past.

My legs burned as I gave it my all and poured on speed to make it to the street before Baldy joined us from inside. At least my running shoes gave me an edge.

Short Stuff decided to follow Elliot, but he wasn’t as fast as my cousin.

When I reached the sidewalk, I turned right. My distraction had given Elliot the seconds he needed, and we could now both outrun this goon in opposite directions.

“Oh, no you don’t, bitch,” sounded from behind me. Baldy had joined the chase .

Then, the awful pain started, and my muscles seized up as I fell to the ground and rolled.

Baldy trotted up, sneering. The Taser he held continued to click as he held down the trigger.

With every terrible electric jolt, pain shot through my body. I tried and failed to make my arms and legs respond. I tried to yell, but it was useless.

“Not so fast are ya now, bitch?” He yanked me up and heaved me over his shoulder. “Now you and me are gonna have some fun.”

I heard the bleep as he unlocked the Suburban they’d driven up in, but I still couldn’t get my body to obey. Slung over Baldy’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes, with my limbs shaking, I couldn’t move. I couldn’t kick or hit. This was true helplessness, and I hated it.

“Good. You got her.” Short Stuff wheezed as he jogged back to us.

“Where’s the kid?” Baldy asked.

“He got away.”

I looked over at the window of the restaurant. Everybody was facing the other way, enjoying their meals. So much for a Good Samaritan rescue.

Baldy shifted me on his shoulder. “You had one job to do, Gio. One job and you fucked it up.”

Fighting through the numbing tingles, I finally got a few fingers to move on one hand. Maybe I could scratch Baldy’s eyes out, if I could lift my arm.

“Fuck you, Mario. He’s a fast little shit.” Gio yanked my hair to lift my head. “She’s a looker. I call dibs.”

Nausea rolled through me, and I spat at him.

“That’s gonna cost you, stupid bitch.” He used his sleeve to wipe his cheek, then punched me in the face.

It stung something wicked. It should be illegal to hit a woman this hard, especially when she couldn’t move. “Gio,” I croaked through the pain. “My boyfriend’s going to wipe the sidewalk with you.” I didn’t have a boyfriend, but I’d pulled the line out of a romance novel, and it sounded good.

“Enough fucking around,” Mario said as he opened the car door. “We gotta get her to Victor.”

It was now or never to get away from these guys before they got me inside the car. I used all my willpower to lift my arms and fight.

It wasn’t enough. They hung down like useless, limp fish.